You Think You Live in a Free Country? The SEC says NO.
SEC is the acronym for the Security Exchange Commission. This is the government’s bureaucratic committee, that oversees what is going on in the stock market. A regulatory body, it checks on hanky-panky, like insider trading or predatory trading. I suppose you could say it endeavors to protect traders, both large and small.
Thanks but no thanks. I believe that I will pass on your “protection.”
I have a very small IRA in Charles Schwab. In the last market meltdown, my husband and I lost $100,000. We felt blessed to have that amount to lose, as the majority of US citizens live paycheck to paycheck. So, I was checking one of my emails today, and got a rude shock.
At first, I thought it was a yet again, the work of hackers. I had another email this morning , supposedly from Costco Online. It even had the Costco banner, identical to the real store. After a quick call to Costco I found out that this was a scam. This con artist informed me that I could have my pick of pricey prizes, solely by paying for the shipping fee. The next email was from Schwab, so I called, expecting that it too was the work of one of our friendly con artists.
Due to Covid, I believe that scam artists now outnumber normal people. If you roll out of bed in the morning, and go to something called a job, and receive something called a paycheck, then you may be one of the normal people. It matters not if you like this thing called a job, as one of the other places you go, known generically as a supermarket, expects you to spend most of the proceeds from that paycheck thing. Unless of course, you are lucky enough to be a trust fund baby.
Supermarkets sell things like food, and that, as you may be aware, greatly assists in the process of staying alive. Disposable diapers, paper towels, detergent and hundreds of other everyday items can also be found at supermarkets.
So, I talked to the trading desk at Schwab, and found to my dismay that due to an amendment to SEC Rule 15c2–11, I had to dump all of my stocks related to the marijuana industry.
Those are the most profitable, and my little cookie-jar was doing fine. This cookie jar of mine has two main functions: I make a bit of IRA money, and, it also keeps me out of the blackjack tables, conveniently placed at several locations on our island of Puerto Rico.
So far, I have doubled the cookies in my little cookie jar. Marijuana is legal in some form, medical or recreational, in twenty-three states. I figured that this was a surefire way of increasing my cookie allotment. I only chose stocks that were ‘’pick and shovel,’’ for the industry. For example, for a time I had Miracle Grow. That worked out marvelously. My other stock picks included Kushco, and Cresco Labs. These charmers are for testing the quality and strength of your chosen strain.
My best pick and shovel bet was GrowGeneration. I originally bought this at $4, and sold it for 9.10. Not a bad profit. Once or twice, I kept a stock past its due date; often, a stock soars, then like Icarus, crashes. In many cases, it is wiser to gather ye rosebuds, or pot buds when they bloom. Not even Nostradamus, if he were alive in this century, could have predicted the maze and ways of the stock market.
Now, I know that I should have stayed in. It went up to $40. Most analysts believe it will go to $50 or above. I took a look at their business plan, and it is aggressive, while bursting with brilliant and disciplined execution.
So, I bit the bullet and bought a few more shares at a whopping $38. Some day, it could go to $60, if the business plan stays the course.
The Broker from Schwab, Mr. Paul Casey, was kind enough to call me back, although I am only a cookie jar investor. Remember this: Anything I invest, I invest with my money. Therefore, it is my business what stocks to choose.
According to Mr. Casey, this amendment caught them by surprise, and it was 116 pages, not all of them connected to marijuana. Although reading government bureaucratic mumbo-jumbo is akin to watching paint dry, I intend to look for myself. So, I shall take one for the team, and watch paint dry for 116 pages.
He also said that this whole enchilada was cooked on September 20, 2020. To that end, my first mission today is to go on President Trump’s website , which is now a political action website, DonaldJTrump.com.
I will also connect via his social platform, Gettrr.It is hard for me to believe that the anti-regulation President put this nefarious plan in place, and I intend to get to the bottom, or, I do hope, top of it.
Meanwhile, Mr. Casey told me that one of my REITS (Real Estate Investment Trusts,) Innovative Properties, was not on the ‘’list.” That is odd, considering that this REIT only deals with land leasing for marijuana growers and dispensaries. The very term list hits me the wrong way. There were lists in the McCarthy era, and our old friend, Hitler and his Nazis, were scrupulous about lists.
Come to think of it, The Soviet Union had that list thing down pat; so the very word troubles me. And it should trouble you.
As an American citizen, I believe that it is my right to invest in anything I deem appropriate for me. That would include stocks that are obviously insane. Just for fun, consider this. What if I wanted to invest my last nickel into Beanie Babies, invented by TY Warner. Or, here is another mad scheme: How about I invest in apple orchards in Antarctica. Of course nothing would grow there, would it? Unless you believe that humans, driving combustion engine cars, are causing the polar glaciers to melt.
To me, that smacks of real, bat-sh*t crazy!
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