Podcasts about michaelas

Sun, 30 Mar 2025 06:26:16 +0000 https://schlafversteher.podigee.io/95-demenz 1cabd9fe4e1d918f389f249d4e7c52bf Einsprecher Fehlender Tiefschlaf erhöht das Demenz-Risiko. Wir können jedoch einiges dafür tun, unsere Risiken zu senken. Wir können unser Verhalten so anpassen, das wir nicht nur direkt das Demenz-Risiko senken, sondern wir auch gleichzeitig den tiefen Schlaf fördern. Begrüssung Eine Verkettung wilderer Umstände hatte für unsere lange Podcast-Pause gesorgt. Michaelas neueste Gesundheitsprojekte. Andreas Sportverletzung aus Japan Euere Fragen zur letzten Folge Franziska fragt: Wieder mal eine spannende Folge von euch. Unglaublich was alles in unser Schlafuniversum gehört. Hier meine Frage: Wie schnell bemerkt man spürbare Veränderungen im Schlaf, wenn man solche Schlaf-Frequenztherapien anwendet? Jens fragt: Kann man Frequenz-Methoden auch bei Kindern oder älteren Menschen einsetzen – gibt es Altersgrenzen? Das Thema de Woche: Demenzrisiken In Deutschland leiden rund 1,8 Millionen Menschen an Demenz. Die meisten von ihnen sind von der Alzheimer-Krankheit betroffen. 440.000.neue Erkrankungen kommen pro Jahr hinzu. Demenz steht als Überbegriff für eine Gruppe von Symptomen, die mit einem fortschreitenden Verlust von kognitiven Fähigkeiten (Gedächtnis, Denken und Orientierung) einhergehen. Sekundäre Demenzen (körperliche Störung) Vaskuläre Demenz (Durchblutungsstörungen im Gehirn) Alzheimer-Krankheit (Verlust von Nervenzellen und Ablagerungen) Bei Demenz sterben Gehirnzellen ab, was zu einem Verlust der Kommunikationsfähigkeit zwischen den Nervenzellen führt. Häufig sind dabei abnorme Ablagerungen wie Beta-Amyloid-Plaques und Tau-Protein-Tangles zu erkennen, die das normale Gehirngewebe schädigen. Eine Diagnosestellung erfolgt durch kognitive Tests und bildgebende Verfahren wie MRT oder PET, die die typischen strukturellen und funktionellen Veränderungen im Gehirn sichtbar machen. Wissenschaftlich bestätigt! Fortschritte in den Therapien (ganz kurz) Seit Jahren wartet man auf den großen Durchbruch in den Therapien. Immer bessere Medikamente, welche jedoch immer nur den Fortschritt der Erkrankung verlangsamen können. Im Vorteil sind Menschen, welche ihr Gehirn mehrfach vernetzt haben und immer unterschiedliche Denkwege gegangen sind. Das Fortschreiten der Erkrankung betrifft diese Menschen weniger, da sie den Verlust von einzelnen Zellen/Wegen besser mit alternativen Wegen kompensieren können. Das beschäftigt alle: Ich möchte nicht daran erkranken! Sich aktiv gegen Demenz zu wenden, das beschäftigt wiederum NICHT alle. Bei Demenz helfen nur zwei Dinge: Das Gehirn für den Fall multivernetzt vorbereiten Denn Eintritt der Erkrankung möglichst weit an das Lebensende zu verschieben - also Risiken vermeiden, Das vergessen wir ständig: die Risikofaktoren Normale Risiken: Mangelnde Bewegung, Übergewicht und einhergehen Erkrankungen: …. Mangelnde geistige Beschäftigungen und Herausforderungen: … Vermeidbare Gifte: … Top-Risiken: Sportverletzungen (Boxen, …) Genetische Veranlagung Schlafmangel Das Alter Wenn wir das gewusst hätten: Krafttraining und Myokine Studien zeigen, dass insbesondere Kraftsport zu einer vermehrten Ausschüttung von Myokinen führt. Schätzungen zufolge produzieren die Muskeln insgesamt etwa 600 verschiedene Myokine. Während intensiver Muskelarbeit schütten die Skelettmuskeln Myokine aus, die im gesamten Körper, auch im Gehirn, wirken. Myokine werden nicht ausschließlich beim Kraftsport ausgeschüttet. Sie entstehen bei jeder Form von Muskelkontraktion: Diese Botenstoffe können Entzündungsprozesse reduzieren, die Neubildung von Nervenzellen fördern und so zur Prävention von Demenz beitragen. Sie können sogar Krebsrisiken senken. Insbesondere Irisin Studien haben gezeigt, dass Irisin in Tiermodellen Alzheimer-Symptome mildern konnten. Selbst kleine Zuwächse an Muskelmasse (etwa 30 Gramm bei einer Person von 1,75 m) kann das Alzheimer-Risiko um bis zu 12 % senken. Wiederholung muss sein: Tiefschlaf Plaques ausspülen Im Tiefschlaf tritt ein Reinigungsprozess in Gang … Zusammengefasst: Im Tiefschlaf erweitert sich der Raum zwischen den Gehirnzellen wodurch die CSF (Flüssigkeiten) vermehrt in das Hirngewebe eindringen kann. Dieser tägliche „Aufräumprozess“ ist essenziell, um die Ansammlung schädlicher Substanzen zu verhindern und die Gesundheit des Gehirns zu fördern. Wann: Insbesondere In der ersten Nachthälfte! Unsere Tipps heute: 1) Krafttraining und viel Bewegung 2) Ruhe und geistige Herausforderungen abwechseln lassen 3) Ernährung 4) Alles für den Tiefschlaf tun Bei Fragen oder dem Wunsch mitzumachen: info@schlafversteher.de (wir behandeln euere Daten vertraulich) Überall da, wo es Podcasts gibt: https://www.schlafversteher.de/abos/ Mehr Infos finden Sie hier: https://www.schlafversteher.de Die Schlafversteher, eine Produktion der vAL Ton, Schnitt und unsere unermüdliche Gastgeberin: Michaela von Aichberger Redaktion und unser unnachgiebiger Experte: Andreas Lange full no Demenz,Alzheimer Michaela von Aichberger & Andreas L

1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because Gods love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. 6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous personthough perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Rom 5:1-11 ESV) As we begin a new year, many of us are filled with hope and expectation. We set resolutions and goals in anticipation of making even more of the year ahead. However, we dont really have control over the actual outcomes. Illness can beset us. We may experience the sudden loss of someone close to us. National or global events beyond our control can intrude upon our lives, affecting our businesses, jobs, or financial situations. On top of the uncertainty of life, we are constantly bombarded with stories of what could potentially go wrong. Will the stock market crash and take your retirement fund along with it? Will the economy enter a recession and cause my company or department to downsize? What if this country goes to war with that country? Now, the question that I want to address today is: how do we, as Christians, think about and address the uncertainty of this world and suffering when it happens to us and those close to us? When contemplating this passage in Romans, I thought of a story and what it means to rejoice in suffering as a believer in the risen Messiah. This story is about a Chicago lawyer and businessman named Horatio Spafford. Now, Horatio had invested much of his wealth in real estate in the city. Unfortunately, most of these properties, and thus much of his investment, were reduced to ash during the Great Fire of Chicago in 1871. The fallout from this loss and the work that he and other property owners in Chicago had to undertake to rebuild and restore would take years. The scale of this tragedy cannot be overstated. Over 17,000 buildings were destroyed, and more than 100,000 people (1/3 of Chicagos population) were homeless. If this were not enough, the Spaffords young son died of scarlet fever at the age of four not long after the fire. A couple of years after the fire, Horatio decided to take his family on a trip to Europe to escape the constant work and stress of rebuilding. Who wouldnt want to get away after all that had happened? He and his family were also going to meet up with and help the famous evangelist D.L. Moody, who was working on the continent at the time. However, some urgent business came up that needed his attention as the trip neared, so Horatio sent his wife and four daughters ahead of him. One week after the ship set sail, it was violently struck in an accident by another boat at two in the morning. Because of how the ships collided, the vessel the Spafford family was on sank within 12 minutes. Of the 313 people on board, 226 perished. All four of Horatios daughters perished that night. His wife, Anna, was found unconscious, held up by floating debris. Nine days after the accident, Anna landed in Europe and sent a telegram. It read, Saved alone. What shall I do? Upon receiving the message, Horatio booked the first passage he could find. However, this was during the 1800s, so this was far from a rapid process. One night, the captain called Horatio aside and informed him that they were currently sailing over the location where the ship carrying his family had sunk. As I contemplate this situation, I cant help but ask myself how I would have responded. Would I be overcome by anguish or anger? Would I have broken down and wept or shouted out words of rage at God for allowing such a thing to happen? Instead of either of these things, Horatio returned to his cabin to attempt to try to sleep and felt a sense of comfort and hope overcome him. He wrote down these words, It is well; the will of God be done. These words would soon become his timeless hymn that resounds with so many gospel truths. The name of that hymn is It Is Well with My Soul. It is worth reflecting on that there is a similar story in the Bible. Job, the man God Himself called blameless and upright, lost everything he owned in a single day. Additionally, his sons and daughters all died that very same day. Job responded to these events with the statement, Naked I came from my mothers womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD (Job 1:21). Notice the similarities? These are not words of quiet resignation or defeat. The LORD may give, and He may take away. In the words of Horatio, the will of God will be done. However, regardless of what happened to these two men, their response is instructive and encouraging beyond belief. Despite what comes, the believer can say, Blessed be the name of the LORD, and It is well with my soul. Now, these stories may be inspiring, but youd be right in asking, How do I develop that kind of abiding faith and trust in God? It is so easy to marvel at the faith of others. But the reality is that knowing the stories is not enough. These same types of tragedies, and many more besides, can happen in our lives. Thankfully, as in all things, God does not leave us alone. And I know this because the verses we are looking at today have been my anchor through the most challenging times in my life. They acted as my north star, the way that God guided me through trials and kept me traveling on the path that leads to Him. So, lets dive in. 1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. The chapter opens with the word, therefore. This means that what Paul, the apostle who wrote this letter, is about to say directly follows what he has already said. It is essential to keep this at the forefront of our minds as we read scripture; what is the context? Uncountable numbers of irresponsible teachings have come through taking verses out of context and misapplying them. So, lets take a high-level view of what was said in the letter before our passage today. Paul was writing to the believers in Rome in anticipation of him traveling there, something he had long wanted to do. He wanted to accomplish several things. The letter to the Romans primarily concerns the gospel; Paul wanted to unify the church in Rome around the good news of Christ. Romans is a great place to start if you want a comprehensive understanding of the gospel message. Additionally, Paul wanted to prepare for the missionary journey he was planning to Spain; he wanted the Roman believers to help him on his way after he was able to visit them. Finally, Paul wanted to get in front of a growing division in the church between Jewish and Gentile believers. The focus for our study today aligns with the primary purpose for which Paul was writing: the good news of what Jesus has done. Or, as we more commonly call it, the gospel. Paul starts his letter by pointing to the grandeur of the universe as proof of Gods existence and that we can even learn some things about Him through creation. However, many, instead of worshiping the God who created everything, worshiped the things He made. 20For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature,have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world,in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.21For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but theybecame futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.22Claiming to be wise, they became fools,23andexchanged the glory ofthe immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. 24ThereforeGod gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, tothe dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,25because they exchanged the truth about God fora lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator,who is blessed forever! Amen. (Rom 1:20-25) Paul addressed this because pagan worship was the norm in the Roman Empire. It is important to note here that the people Paul is talking about were the ones who exchanged God for created things in nature. God allowed them to choose and gave them up to what they wanted. N.T. Wright perhaps sums up this concept best. You become like what you worship. When you gaze in awe, admiration, and wonder at something or someone, you begin to take on something of the character of the object of your worship. N.T. Wright This is a critical point that Paul made. It spoke directly to the heart of Roman culture and society. And it speaks directly to ours as well. The Romans, like the Greeks, worshipped a pantheon of gods who were very human in nature. They were spiteful, filled with lust, and sought their own pleasure above the good of others. Paul was saying that if you venerate that type of activity, you will act the same way. Now, consider our culture today; we may not wrap it up in religious language and ritual, but it is the same. Think about the lyrics of many of the most popular songs today. Consider the lives and actions of celebrities and others that our society lifts up and puts on a pedestal. Reflect on how often we are told in advertising by the rich, powerful, and famous how if we only buy this item or consume this service, we will be as happy and fulfilled as they are, or supposedly are. Think about how society as a whole treats marriage as trivial or that it is entirely ok to objectify other human beings, especially with what is deemed acceptable to view on the internet for our own pleasure. Paul then addresses those who did know about the one true God, namely the Jewish nation. However, instead of commending them, Paul has a very different message. What he said was precisely what Jesus did. It doesnt matter that you come from the line of Abraham or how well you know the Old Testament Law. God cares about and judges people based on what we actually do. 12For all who have sinnedwithout the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.13Forit is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. (Rom 2:12-13) And if we stop for a minute and honestly look at our own lives, this is what we see. We know at our core that there is an absolute standard for good and evil. We know that saying one thing and then doing another is both hypocritical and wrong. We have all, myself included, done things that genuinely hurt other people, damaged relationships, and were contrary to what we know in the deepest parts of ouor being are good and right and holy. Paul quoted the Psalms to sum up this point. 10None is righteous, no, not one;11no one understands;no one seeks for God.12All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;no one does good,not even one. (Rom 3:10b-12) Now, this is a pretty bleak letter so far. This is not something that you read at the beginning of a year to feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Were left with all of these questions that seem pretty important and rather urgent. What if there is a creator of the universe? Spoiler alert: there is. And what if He genuinely cares about right and wrong and how we treat each other? Another spoiler alert: He does. If weve all fallen short, and there are consequences for that, is there something that can be done to restore ourselves to God? And here is the best spoiler alert: There is. Paul tells us how this happens. 21But now apart from the law the righteousness of Godhas been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.22This righteousnessis given through faithinJesus Christto all who believe.There is no difference between Jew and Gentile,23for all have sinnedand fall short of the glory of God,24and all are justifiedfreely by his gracethrough the redemptionthat came by Christ Jesus.25God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement,through the shedding of his blood (Rom 3:21-25a, NIV) And there it is, the gospel, the good news that Paul based his entire letter around. There is a God who created both us and the universe we live in. He is perfectly good and, therefore, has made a moral law that we all are to live by. However, all of us fall short and sin. This causes a separation between us and God. However, God did not see fit to leave us as we are. He sent Jesus to live the life we never could and die the death we deserved so that we could be reconciled to Him. This is the good news that Paul was proclaiming. So, we return to the opening verses of our passage today. 1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. We now see what the therefore is there for. We were separated from God, but we can now be justified before him by faith. And because of this good news, that we have been justified by faith, certain things happen in the believer's life. First, we have peace with God. You see, it wasnt that we were just separated from God. We were, in fact, working against Him and were enemies. In another letter, Paul said, 21Once you were alienated from God and were enemiesin your mindsbecause ofyour evil behavior. But now he has reconciledyou by Christs physical bodythrough death to present youholy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation (Col 1:21-22, NIV). We just wrapped up an extremely deep study of the book of Ephesians here at Meadowbrooke. Remember what we were told in that letter about the state we were in before being saved? And you weredead in the trespasses and sins2in which you once walked, following the course of this world, followingthe prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work inthe sons of disobedience3among whom we all once lived inthe passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the bodyand the mind, andwere by naturechildren of wrath, like the rest of mankind. (Eph 2:1-3) When Paul says that we now have peace with God, he doesnt mean that we have a tranquil state of mind or something like that. Instead, when we become followers of Jesus, we go from being against God or an enemy of God to having peace with Him. Remember what Paul said earlier in the letter. Nobody is righteous; nobody does good. But it doesnt stop there. We arent just in some truce or ceasefire with God. What has happened is so much more glorious and incredible than that. We also, through Jesus, have obtained grace. Now, grace can be a mysterious-sounding religious word. All it means is that somebody has received unmerited or unearned favor. It means we dont deserve the favor or good things God freely bestows on us. Remember, we all sin and fall short of the glory of God; we all were, by nature, children of wrath. The Greek word that is translated here as access literally means to approach or to bring into. We are brought into Gods grace and can actually have a personal relationship with Him. How much has changed because of what Jesus has done for us. We who were enemies not only have peace with God but also can draw near to Him and have a personal relationship with our Creator. Finally, we can rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. And given what we have just read, there is so much to rejoice in. But again, there is something even more glorious behind these words. We rejoice not just in our newfound peace with God or our ability to be brought into His grace. We rejoice in the hope of something else. The word hope in our English language is quite weak. Typically, it means something like, I hope this year is better than the last or I hope my team wins the Super Bowl this year. It expresses the desire for something to be true, but with the realization that it may not turn out that way. However, the Greek word employed here means something more like joyful and confident expectation. Our hope is in something that we are confident and sure of. Tim Keller remarked on this passage that, Christian hope is not a hopeful wish it is a hope-filled certainty. But what is it that we are hopeful for? If we were to poll random people about what they most hoped for or were most looking forward to regarding the promises of God, we would likely get a broad range of answers. Many would almost certainly revolve around seeing loved ones again or being eternally happy and without pain or suffering. However, notice what Paul says here. His focus is on the glory of God. More than his own happiness or desires, the reason for Pauls rejoicing is in the hope of being in the presence of Gods glory. John Murray remarked on this passage, [Believers] are interested in the manifestation of the glory of God for its own sake. The glory of God is their chief end and they long for and hasten unto that day when with undimmed vision they will behold the glory of God in its fullest exhibition and vindication. What this means is that the hope of the Christian is not in the hope of our wants, desires, and comfort. Instead, our hope is in being with and living within the glory of God. The focus is on God, not on us. John Piper put this better than anybody else I have heard. He said, The critical question for our generationand for every generation is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ were not there? Pauls answer would be a resounding no. What makes the restored heaven and earth what they will be is that we will finally be with God in all His infinite glory. Everything else pales in comparison to that. And any heaven without that is no real heaven at all. Now, Paul has covered a lot of ground in his letter so far. The people listening to this being read for the first time would have been on a real rollercoaster of a ride. First, they heard about this God who is powerful and mighty enough to create the entire universe in which we live. But then they heard that this God is also perfectly good and, therefore, has a moral law. They, just like all of us, broke that law. And they, just like us, broke it repeatedly. They heard about how this created a separation between humanity and God, a chasm we could not overcome ourselves. However, when everything seemed lost and without hope, they heard about how God, through Jesus, redeemed them, and they were now justified. This justification was not through anything they had done but what Jesus had done for them. They heard that they did not have to try to earn Gods merit, and in fact, they never could. They heard that what God really sought after was their hearts and faith in Him. Finally, because of that faith, the believer has peace with God, access to Gods grace, and the hope-filled certainty of witnessing God in His full glory one day. What an experience it must have been to be the first people to hear this letter being read. Can you imagine hearing this fantastic news? Then, the church in Rome would have heard the words, Not only that Wait! There is more!?! What more could there be after being told this fantastic news? I can only imagine sitting there and anticipating new promises and hopes the apostle was about to relay. Instead, the audience heard, Not only that, but werejoice in our sufferings. Wait what? We rejoice in our suffering? Werent we talking about drawing close to God and witnessing His glory? But this is reality, isnt it? When we decide to follow Jesus, all the hardships and suffering weve experienced dont magically disappear. We still get sick. Our finances dont magically improve; we all dont suddenly receive private jets and mansions. We still lose loved ones, and we all certainly still experience getting older and all the wear and tear that comes from that. As I reflect upon this past year, the single word that comes most to mind is difficult. This was a challenging year for our church family, and we had to go through things, including church discipline and the termination of a staff person in a pastoral role. Individuals and families in our church have also been going through extremely difficult things. There have been cancer diagnoses, losses of family members, struggles with chronic illnesses, sudden visits to the ER, heart issues, urgent and completely unexpected surgeries, and many, many more things besides. Personally, this last year, especially the past six months, has, if Im being completely honest, been extremely difficult. Due to an autoimmune disease, my health spiraled to a place I have not experienced in over a decade. This resulted in a 10-day stay in a hospital after losing 15% of my body weight and a substantial amount of internal bleeding. But, more importantly, it put a lot of strain on my marriage and meant I was less present as a father than I should be. The stark reality is that suffering is still a part of our lives. It has real impacts on us and those around us. But, as well see, faith in Jesus is not about the cessation of pain and suffering but instead giving that suffering over to God in faith that He will use it for good. Paul lays out how this looks for us: 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because Gods love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Notice here that Paul says we rejoice in our sufferings, not because of our sufferings. Paul does not say that suffering suddenly becomes pleasurable for us or trivially easy to endure. He does not say that God is giving us a way to prove ourselves to Him or earn His favor by persevering through hardship. Instead, we rejoice in our sufferings because of something we know. We know that suffering can produce something within us. That something is endurance. For most of my life, and by that, I mean since I was eight, I have participated in endurance sports. This has included distance running, cycling over 100 miles in a day over multiple mountain passes, and summiting 20,000 ft peaks. I bring this up because I have learned a lot about myself and quite a bit about endurance through these activities. The first is that endurance is not something magical you hope to have on the day of your event. It is something that you train for diligently. It may take months or even years in some cases to train your body and mind to accomplish the goal you have set before yourself. It is possible to train and not reach the goals you set. However, if you dont train, the goals will forever remain out of reach. And the thing about training is that a substantial amount of suffering can be involved. Mile repeats hurt. Hill training on a bike can be painful. Interval sessions have left me draped over the handlebars of my indoor trainer like a rag doll. Watching cyclists or other endurance athletes achieve the incredible can be awe-inspiring, often making it look easy. However, it isnt. What we witness when we watch world-class athletes is the outcome of a lifetime of training and preparation. And I can tell you from experience, every day Ive had where Ive looked like this, cycling up mountain passes feeling in great shape and like I could tackle the biggest of obstacles, Ive had many more days where Ive looked a bit more like this. The key here is that, like in athletics, in life, endurance is not something that happens automatically or magically. It is something that is produced. And often, the production of endurance happens through the crucible of suffering. But, unlike endurance training for sports, the type of endurance Paul talks about is not the end goal. It serves a greater purpose. You see, our character is also changing when we develop spiritual endurance. Now, this word in Greek doesnt just mean something like, He is a really good person and has good character. Instead, it is about something proven, or something tested and found to be approved. An example of this can be seen in Pauls letter to the Philippians concerning his protg, Timothy. 22But you know Timothy'sproven worth, howas a sonwith a fatherhe has served with me in the gospel.(Phil 2:22) The phrase proven worth is the same word that is translated as character. And to some extent, weve all experienced this. If we have endured something before, when we have to endure it again, there is a confidence we didnt have before. Or, thought of in a different way, if you had to go into battle with somebody, would you rather go with a special forces soldier who had been on multiple deployments or somebody who has never been through military training but plays their fair share of Tom Clancy video games? The choice is easy, right? What Paul is saying here is that when we go through suffering, endurance is produced. And when we endure our trials and tribulations, we are tested successfully or, as Paul says, our worth is proven. But Paul does not stop there. He says that this testedness produces something else: hope. And here we return to this idea of hope. Remember, this idea Paul is talking about can be best thought of as a hope-filled certainty. As we go through suffering, the endurance and character that result produces an ever-greater certainty that God is exactly who He has said He is and that His promises are sure. Paul then offers a proof of this. He states that hope will never put us to shame because God has given us the Holy Spirit, who dwells within us. In fact, the relationship between the believer and the Holy Spirit is so close that he has been poured into our hearts. I had mentioned earlier that these verses have been my anchor verses through suffering. That is not an understatement in any way. I had grown up in the church. In fact, I heard hymns and the words of the Bible before I was born. As I grew up, I did all the church things, camps, and confirmation; I even started participating in lay-level leadership roles in my church. If any of those things sound a bit foreign, it is because I grew up in the Episcopal tradition. Ultimately, instead of letting God into my heart and being the Lord of my entire life, I was going through the motions. Especially in college, my life looked no different than anybody elses. Remember those verses from Ephesians about living in the passions of our flesh and carrying out the desires of the body and the mind? That was me. Until that is, God got ahold of my heart. A group of us in ROTC decided that we wanted to start getting serious about our faith and started going to church together. We formed our own Bible study and as a small community of college-aged believers, we began trying to figure out what it meant to be Jesus followers. To make a long story very short, one of the members of this group would ultimately become my wife. As we deepened in our faith together as a group, I was drawn to what God was doing in her life. However, two weeks after we started dating, I started noticing an immense amount of pain in my abdomen and, even more concerning, evidence of internal bleeding. I started losing weight at an alarming rate and was ultimately diagnosed with an autoimmune condition called ulcerative colitis. Effectively, my immune system goes into overdrive and starts attacking and causing ulcers and a crazy amount of inflammation in my large intestine. Unfortunately, I have a rather severe form of the disease that affects not just a part of the intestine, but the entire thing. As is common with autoimmune diseases, finding the therapy that worked for me took a long time. Because of the severity of my diagnosis, this ultimately led me to being hospitalized seven times in the first 18 months following the onset of my symptoms. In addition to the pain, frustration, and confusion over what was happening, other things also started falling apart. A military career was now no longer an option for me. Because of the impact the disease was having on my body, I was sleeping 12-16 hours a day and was unable to continue pursuing my master's program. What is more, because of how the insurance I had purchased through the university was structured, it did not cover costs from chronic illnesses beyond $20,000. But through it all, God was working on my heart and my mind. He was showing me things about himself that I would likely never have learned had it not been for this. He was teaching me that my future job was not what defined me. Who I am in Jesus is what defines me. He was teaching me that the highest goal in life is not academic or professional achievement (Im a bit of an A-type personality and struggle with making my life about accomplishments). Instead, He showed me that following Him is the highest purpose in life. Now, perhaps the most incredible thing about this entire story is that Michaela stayed by my side throughout all of it. We had only recently started dating, but she was there for everything. I can still remember her voice as I was coming out of anesthesia after the scoping procedure that resulted in the diagnosis of the disease. I was insanely sick, my planned career was completely shattered, treatments werent working, and I had a sum of medical debt that was growing increasingly large. There were so many times when I felt absolutely lost and without hope. Yet, because of this community of people, especially Michaela, I was constantly reminded of God's goodness and how He works all things for the good of those who love Him, even if we dont see it in the moment. The Bible was my source of refuge, reminding me of the eternal promises of God that transcend our momentary afflictions. Things ultimately improved for me, and through a lot of help from my doctors and a lot of prayer, my condition was able to be controlled. There were still some rough points, and I experienced the occasional flare-up, but things returned to normal. Michaela and I got married, we found a way to pay off the medical debt, and life seemed to be going just fine. But what I didnt know at the time was that as I was going through all my medical issues and seeing Michaelas character displayed, God was showing me what it means to stand beside somebody as they are suffering. About two years after we got married, Michaela started showing symptoms of something, but the doctors couldnt figure out what it was. Finally, they had her stay on a heart monitor for an extended time, and the results were so concerning that the hospital in Laramie told us that we needed to come to the hospital here in Cheyenne because they were not prepared to deal with whatever the issue was. When Michaela arrived here, they took an Xray, and they found out that there was a mass about 12cm in diameter in her chest next to her heart. We were once again told that she needed to go to another hospital because the one here had no idea what was going on. However, this time, she had to travel via ambulance. We had come in the same vehicle, but as she was leaving in an ambulance, I followed in the car we brought over. It was such a good thing that it was the middle of the night because I was an absolute mess. If there had been any traffic whatsoever, I probably would have crashed. On that drive, I was confronted with an absolutely petrifying truth. There was nothing I could do for my wife but pray. I was helpless in the face of whatever it was that she had to face. I could not protect her, and I could not save her. And this was an earth-shattering realization for me. Of course, we all intellectually know that our time here is limited and that when it is time for us to leave this world, there is nothing we can do to stop it for ourselves or those we love. However, facing that reality directly is an entirely different notion. The radical realization that I had was that in this situation, she was entirely in the Lords hands. The even more radical realization I would only have reflecting later on, was that this is true every moment of every day. I just dont live like it. To capture this idea in his book The Problem of Pain, C.S. Lewis wrote, God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world. This has been precisely my experience. The eternal truths that God exists, that we desperately need Him, and that He alone is sufficient for all our needs are sometimes most clearly heard when we are in our most desperate times of need. Upon arriving at the University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora, we learned that the mass was a tumor, and it was an advanced stage of lymphoma. The doctors recommended that she start an aggressive form of chemotherapy immediately. We didnt have time to go home and talk about it. We didnt have time to prepare in case the therapy made it difficult or impossible to have kids. It was almost as if everything had been put onto tracks, and we were just along for the ride. Now, soon after all of this happened a good friend of mine who has been a mentor in many ways to me came by and prayed with us. Her prayers included pleas for healing, comfort, and everything else we typically lift up to God during these types of events. However, she prayed something else as well. She prayed that our hearts and minds would be open to what God had to teach us during this time of trial. It literally felt like a physical switch turned in my head. Despite all that I had been through, and all God had done in my own heart during my battles with illness, I had not stopped to consider that God may have something to teach us here as well. And teach He did. I learned how incredibly strong of a woman He made when He created my wife. I learned that I am not sufficient for her; only Jesus is. I learned that life can be extraordinarily fleeting and what we consider normal and act like will go on forever can end in an instant. Michaela spent the following months going to Denver for a week of treatment every three weeks. I tagged along and slept on the pullout bed on the couch in her room. That was our lives for almost four months: two weeks at home and one in the hospital. When I had to travel for work, her mom took my place. Now, you may be wondering who the better caretaker in our relationship is when the other is undergoing adversity. The answer is Michaela. You may also be wondering who deals with suffering better. The answer is also Michaela. Ultimately, Michaela completed the chemo regimen and has been in full remission for almost 10 years. Despite not being able to make alternative preparations, we have two incredible boys who are miracles in the fullest sense of the word. It can be easy to praise God and extol His greatness when things work out the way we hope and pray they will. However, there will come a day when I and everybody else whom I love will draw in their last breath. And in those moments, God still deserves all the glory and all the praise. I want to relay one more story before I wrap up about one of those times. My stepmoms father, my grandfather, or as we called him, Papou (that part of my family is Greek), had been extremely sick for a long time. He was born in Alexandria, Egypt. His wife, my Yaiyia, was a missionary in Kenya when he proposed to her in a letter. After starting their young family, they moved to Athens so he could pastor a church while they served as missionaries. When they moved back to the States, their home was always a place of love where all were welcome. Toward the end of his life, he was unable to care for or even feed himself and had to be placed in a home to receive the care he needed. As the end of his life was drawing ever closer, he came down with a severe infection that left him almost entirely incapacitated. One day, some of our dearest family friends were visiting him. As they prepared to leave, everybody gathered to pray, potentially for the last time, over this man who had lived his life faithfully for God. However, before anybody else had a chance to speak, this saint (by the way, if you are a follower of Jesus, you are a saint as well) who could not feed himself or even sit up started to pray. I was not there to hear these words, but they still reverberate in the deepest part of my being more than a decade later. Our precious heavenly father, he said, we just cant thank you enough. You have been so good to us. That is the strength that a life lived in the service and love of God bestows upon a person. The Christian lives not in quiet resignation in the face of a world that can be so cruel and cause so much suffering. Instead, the Christian can raise a triumphant cry that in our weakness, the strength of the Lord will be made perfect, and that is enough. We can, as Job did, bless the name of the Lord, come whatever may. We see this in the letter to the Corinthians: 9But he [God] said to me [Paul],My grace is sufficient for you, formy power is made perfect in weakness.Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so thatthe power of Christ may rest upon me.10For the sake of Christ, then,I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. Forwhen I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Cor 12:9-11) This is why Paul ends this passage with a reiteration of the gospel message. Even though each of us who follow Jesus has the real experience of having the Holy Spirit residing within us, there also is an objective truth for all to see. Christ came and died for us while we were still sinners. And this point is even more important than the point that we are physically broken and endure sufferings in this world. That point is that we are spiritually broken and separated from God, desperately in need of a Savior. Reflect with me on these closing verses. 6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous personthough perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. Jesus did not wait until we were perfect and had everything figured out before he came to die in our place. Instead, he came when we were still in sin, weak, and enemies of God. Unlike us, who so often act out of self-regard or do something because we view somebody as good and deserving, Jesus came to save us while we were still standing in complete opposition to God. This is the incredible news of the gospel. As much pain and suffering, as much physical brokenness that we may experience in this world, it is nothing compared to the spiritual sickness we suffer because of our separation from God. We all were far from God before coming to Christ, but he died in our place regardless and rose again, conquering death. We are justified, reconciled, and saved by what he did. And if you dont know Jesus yet, all you must do is accept him as your Lord and Savior and begin walking with him. Before we leave, I wanted to review some of the things I have learned from other believers and scripture about how to endure times of suffering. None of this is groundbreaking, but it works. Dont wait until you are in suffering to prepare If you wait until the morning of a marathon to train, it wont go well for you. The same is true here. If you wait until the moment of your trial to prepare, you are too late. Be in your Bible daily The stories of those who suffer in scripture are incredibly instructive and helpful. The principles you will learn from this book will help you in your time of need. But I never would have had these verses constantly in my mind and nourishing my soul if I had not read them. God uses scripture to help His followers in their time of need. Build relationships with fellow believersWhen Michaela and I have experienced times of suffering, it is the people of God, the Church, who have helped us more than anybody else. I have experienced the benefit of having somebody just come sit with you. Recently, while I was in the hospital, several friends visited throughout my stay. Mostly, we talked about the goodness of God. It helped me raise my eyes above my situation and stay focused on my Lord and Savior. Pray without ceasing Pray for those who are going through trials. Ask others to pray for you as you endure suffering. The Church was designed so that each member could help one another. And as you pray, follow Gods Spirit in how you can help. If you feel drawn to visit somebody who is ailing, go. If you feel called to cook them a meal, do it. Look for what God is trying to teach you Until our dying breath, we are running our race. As believers, we are walking down that narrow path that leads to Jesus. That path can be difficult and filled with obstacles sometimes. But even in our worst suffering, God is faithful, and He works all things for the good of those who love Him. If you let Him, He will develop in you: endurance, character, and a hope which will never be put to shame. Even in our greatest trials, He is still so incredibly good.

Anke P. (65) ist besonders stolz auf ihre Enkelin Maja und pflegt mit ihr ein inniges Verhältnis schon seit Kleinauf. Auch über die unzertrennliche Freundschaft mit Majas bester Freundin Lina, weiß Oma Anke natürlich Bescheid. Als Maja eines Tages ein Treffen mit Lina absagt, schlägt das Schicksal zu: Lina verunglückt tödlich bei einem Unfall. Maja ist von Schuldgefühlen geplagt und leidet unter wiederkehrenden Albträumen. Ihre Oma Anke ist sehr besorgt um sie und auch Majas Freund Hannes bemerkt, dass sie sich immer mehr zurückzieht und sich abkapselt. Während ihres Studiums wirkt Maja immer distanzierter und isoliert sich zunehmend. Auch die Hilfe einer Trauerbegleitung oder therapeutischer Hilfe lehnt Maja ab und zieht sich stattdessen immer weiter in ihre neue spirituelle Welt zurück. Dort findet sie auf Esoterik-Plattformen Trost und Antworten auf ihre Fragen und knüpft Kontakte zu sogenannten „Witchfluencern“. Als ihre neuen Interessen sie auch sichtlich in finanzielle Schwierigkeiten bringen, läuten Ankes Alarmglocken.Der Magie den Rücken zuzukehren, hält nicht lange an und Maja sucht erneut nach einem Ausweg in der magischen Online-Welt – jedoch nicht ohne, dass sie dieses Mal dabei in Lebensgefahr gerät.Wer mehr über unsere großartige Gästin, Sprachliebhaberin, Comedian & Improspezialistin Michaela Obertscheider  wissen mag, der:die checke mal hier ihr Insta aus und alle Infos zu Michaelas Schaffen und Scheitern, wo, wann und mit wem und zu ihren nächsten Vorstellungen findet ihr unter https://www.michaelaobertscheider.at/ ! Die nächste Vorstellung von „Vergnügt Euch!“ gibts am 29. 11. in der Kulisse Wien! GEWINNSPIEL!Wer für die Vorstellung am 10. Dezember im Kabarett Niedermeier ein Ticket gewinnen will beantworte bitte folgende Fragen und schreibe uns eine PN:Wie oft hat Hannes vom Essen nachgenommen?Was macht Anke eigentlich beruflich? (kreativste Antwort fetzt!)Wie oft kommt das Wort Hannes vor? (Schätzfrage)Wer in ihren Podcast reinhören mag -> MERF - Mach es richtig falsch! Empfehlung!& am Sonntag, dem 15. Dezember findet Michaelas nächster Workshop "Mach es richtig falsch!" (Resilienz und Kreativität durch Improtheater) statt. Anmeldung und Info: Michaela.obertscheider@gmx.atAusufernd, großartig! --NEUER PODCAST!Wer in den neuesten Podcast, den Tatjana und Asta für HAPPY HOUSE MEDIA Wien produziert haben mit dem vielversprechenden Namen "Wo die Geister wohnen" reinhören mag - schaut mal hier & hier findet ihr den Geister Instagram Account! Es wird schrecklich schön!!--Euch hat diese Geschichte gefallen, aufgeregt oder ihr habt euch darin sogar wiedererkannt? Das interessiert uns brennend!Schreibt uns in Kommentaren über Facebook und Instagram unter @dramacarbonara. Dort werdet ihr auch die in den Geschichten besprochenen Fotos finden und endlich sehen können, was wir sehen ... Falls ihr noch mehr fantastische Geschichten mit uns lesen wollt, können wir euch schon jetzt versprechen: das Repertoire ist unerschöpflich, wir staunen jedes Mal aufs Neue, was möglich ist. Abonnieren per RSS-Feed, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Deezer oder Google Podcasts ist der Schlüssel zur regelmäßigen Versorgung. Über Rezensionen freuen wir uns natürlich extrem und feiern diese gern auch prominent in unserem Social Media Feed.Jede zweite Folge kommt übrigens ein/e GastleserIn zu uns ins kuschelige Wiener Hauptquartier und unterstützt uns mit Theorien zu Charakteren und Handlungssträngen. Wenn ihr einen Wunschgast habt oder gern selbst mal vorbeischauen wollt, sagt Bescheid. Wir können nichts versprechen, aber wir freuen uns immer über Vorschläge.Wenn ihr Lust auf Extra-Content und Community-Aktivitäten habt, unterstützt uns mit einem Abonnement auf Steady und kommt in den Genuss des kompletten "Drama Carbonara"-Universums: https://steadyhq.com/de/drama-carbonara/aboutFalls ihr daran interessiert sind, Werbung in unserem Podcast zu schalten, setzt euch bitte mit Stefan Lassnig von Missing Link  in Verbindung. Verbindlichsten Dank!  Link zur Podcast Hörer:innen UMFRAGE!Danke für die Mitarbeit und euer wertvolles Feedback :) & hier zur legendären Spotify Drama Carbonara Soundtrack Playlist - folgen folgen folgen!! liebe Freund:innen des unberechenbaren Musik-Algorithmus!

Get excited, Body Hacking community! In today's episode, you will meet Bill!  He is a loved husband and grandfather who has lived a normal life in Arizona, USA.When he started having high blood pressure in his 40s and knew his dad needed a triple bypass around the same age, he started becoming aware of his mortality.   Over the years, he was trying to implement some healthy habits, but the result never showed as his high blood pressure kept on creeping up, and his need for medication increased until he was on the MAXIMUM dosage of 2 different kinds of medications. We met at the gym, and today's talk is about his journey from being an unhealthy 68-year-old who had a great need for medications to becoming the happy 70-year-old he is today, proving anything is possible! He has a doctor who keeps lowering the dosage of medication because his body is responding so positively to the nutritional changes he has made.   Bill will also share more exciting side effects of his healthier lifestyle like improved skin, increased energy levels, and even his hair color that has gone from white to darker shades!   After this episode, You might ask yourself:IS HE REVERSING THE AGING PROCESS?  I wanted to record this episode to inspire you who might feel you have been using medication forever, or for you who feel like you are already too old, that no matter where you are today, it is never too late to start your BodyHacking Journey! SHOW NOTES:04:00 - The story of Bill04:45 - His need for medication05:00 - Met Michaela05:20 - Skin started improving06:30 - Dizzy 110/60 instead of 145/9007:00 - His Dr started dropping his medication08:00 - Blood pressure is GOOD, skin is GOOD, hair color is COMING BACK???11:00 - Statins11:30 - Bills Books recommendations13:15 - Michaelas on the KETO diet15:15 - My life is worth living16:00 - How Bill feel today19:00 - Planted seven different trees20:00 - More and more active as he is aging21:00 - Bills share ONE THING you need to do22:00 - Overjoyed to see his son get rid of his back pain23:00 - A healthy body begins with a healthy cellIf you want to find out more about BILL?Bill got a free Ebook HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE GUYhttps://www.thehighbloodpressureguy.com/Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/thehighbloodpressureguy/Send us a textIf you LOVED this episode, please LEAVE A REVIEW and help us grow!DISCLAIMER: Welcome to BodyHacking - Build a Better You podcast! Please note that the content provided on this channel is for informational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice. The information shared here is based on personal experiences, research, and general knowledge. Always consult with a qualified healthcare professional before making any health-related decisions. Additionally, some of the products and services mentioned on this channel may be affiliate links. This means I may earn a commission if you make a purchase through these links. Rest assured, I only recommend products and services that I personally use and trust in my daily life. Things I have spent countless hours researching and feel is the best of the best! Your support helps me continue to create content to educate and inspire you. Thank you for listening and supporting my channel! I got inspired to create a BodyHacking community for you, and if you want to join it on telegram, here is the link: https://t.me/+iR89vPIBk5IyYTJk

Gina Michaelas arrived at Chelsea Football Club aged just 11-years-old. Her time at the club coincided with legends like Fara Williams and Siobhan Chamberlain.Gina began playing in tournaments with the first team aged just 14, and made her "official" debut aged 16 in 2001.Sadly, in March 2002 she suffered an ACL injury, but having made her comeback in the December that year, her career seemed to be getting back on track.However, during a tour to Dubai, paid for by Chelsea's sponsor at the time Fly Emirates, a second ACL, just one-year since the first, this time to the other leg, which ended her career.Gina speaks openly about her time at the club, how her injuries affected her and her life after football.You can follow the show on Twitter @MowKingsmeadow. We're also on Instagram @WentToMowKingsmeadow.Please consider joining our Patreon and support the show! Head to patreon.com/wenttomowkingsmeadowBuy your copy of Kingsmeadow Chronicle by heading to kingsmeadowchronicle.bigcartel.comTo become part of our Discord Community head to https://discord.gg/Y6jp6UMr Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gina Michaelas arrived at Chelsea Football Club aged just 11-years-old. Her time at the club coincided with legends like Fara Williams and Siobhan Chamberlain.Gina began playing in tournaments with the first team aged just 14, and made her "official" debut aged 16 in 2001.Sadly, in March 2002 she suffered an ACL injury, but having made her comeback in the December that year, her career seemed to be getting back on track.However, during a tour to Dubai, paid for by Chelsea's sponsor at the time Fly Emirates, a second ACL, just one-year since the first, this time to the other leg, which ended her career.Gina speaks openly about her time at the club, how her injuries affected her and her life after football.You can follow the show on Twitter @MowKingsmeadow. We're also on Instagram @WentToMowKingsmeadow.Please consider joining our Patreon and support the show! Head to patreon.com/wenttomowkingsmeadowBuy your copy of Kingsmeadow Chronicle by heading to kingsmeadowchronicle.bigcartel.comTo become part of our Discord Community head to https://discord.gg/Y6jp6UMr Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I detta avsnitt av Empower Her gästas Sanne av profilen och entreprenören Michaela Forni och delar med sig om livet som entreprenör, det stora och sårbara i att vara mamma och om att våga drömma stort.3 min - Om att connecta på djupet med någon.7 min - Vem är Michaela?12 min - Om känslan och självbilden olika tider under menscykeln17 min - Vad gör hon idag?18 min - Hur ser en typisk dag ut för henne?T1,Hur ser en typisk dag ut för henne?22 min - Om att bygga en hälsosam företagskultur26 min - Attityden som påminner om Jantelagen27 min - Vad ger Michaela ångest och oro?37 min - Hur började Michaelas karriär?41 min - Idén bakom Baby Journey49 min - Om att vara en kvinnlig entreprenör50 min - Hur tänker Michaela kring ekonomi?54 min - Hennes bästa tips till de som vill satsa på sina drömmar.Vill du veta mer om Female Fund hittar du deras hemsida på femalefund.eu eller @femalefund på Instagram och LinkedIn.Hemsida:femalefund.euInstagram:https://www.instagram.com/femalefund/Linkedin:https://www.linkedin.com/company/female-fund-ballerina-umbrella-holding-s-a/Följ Michaela här:https://www.instagram.com/michaelaforni/?hl=en https://michaela.forni.se/https://babyjourney.se/en/Här hittar du Sanne:https://www.linkedin.com/in/sanne-alexandra-josefson-93257294/?originalSubdomain=sehttps://www.instagram.com/sannealexandra/https://sannealexandra.com/Poddens klippare:https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaela-dorch/ Tack snälla för att ni lyssnar! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I veckans avsnitt av podden Under Your Skin gästas Lovisa av influencern och entreprenören Michaela Forni. 2.50 min - Att flytta och renovera x2.5.44 min - Hur det har varit att ha två barn med kolik och att lyssna på sina intuition som förstagångsförälder.11.00 min - Tiden efter förlossning.15.13 min - Barn och sömn.19.42 min - Resan med Baby Journey.30.42 min - Att driva bolag med sin familj.38.40 min - Michaelas resa med bloggen och influenceryrket. 41.47 min - Om att dela livets baksidor och ångest på bloggen och sociala medier. 47.30 min - Rutiner för välmående.50.27 min - Tips till att må så bra som möjligt under småbarnsåren.53.27 min - Hur ser MIchaelas liv ut om 5 år. 55.43 min - Tre sista frågor. Här hittar du Michaelahttps://www.instagram.com/michaelaforni Här hittar du Lovisa:https://www.linkedin.com/in/lovisa-hahn-falkman-7109b7a1/ https://www.instagram.com/lovisahahn/ https://underyourskin.se/ Poddens producent Sofia Haag:https://www.linkedin.com/in/sofia-haag-893b1714b/ Tack snälla för att du lyssnar! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I avsnitt 306 av Karriärpodden möter Eva Michaela Berglund, CEO Feminvest, som arbetar för en mer jämlik fördelning av förmögenhet mellan kvinnor och män och en mötesplats för kvinnliga entreprenörer och investerare. Feminvest´s ambition att utbilda, stödja och inspirera kvinnor att investera, växa sina bolag och sina tillgångar. Efter att hon för 1,5 år sedan köpte loss Feminvest – står nu Michaela precis inför att lansera Nordens första fond med endast kvinnoägda bolag.Det här är kortversionen av originalintervjun där vi får höra lite om Michaelas tankar kring jämställt ägande och hur vi kan ta oss dit. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ever felt your heart racing and palms sweating at the thought of speaking before an audience? Michael Davis, founder of Speaking CPR LLC, joins me to decode the world of public speaking and offers strategies to transform your fear into magnetic influence. Together, we dissect the needs of post-pandemic audiences and the crucial role of interactive elements in both virtual and in-person settings. You'll learn to navigate the nuances of audience engagement, utilizing multimedia techniques to avoid the pitfalls of waning attention spans and ensure your message leaves a lasting impact. Michael's insights and my own experiences combine to empower you with the tools to craft not just speeches, but stories that engage, influence, and inspire. Join us, and amplify your voice to carry across boardrooms, stages, and digital platforms alike.NOTABLE QUOTES"I want to hear more in people." – Michael"Anxiety is natural and you're never going to get rid of it. What I do is help people…manage the anxiety." – Michael"As a speaker, it becomes that much harder to keep you audience captivated because they expect more from us." – Philip"I don't think we have an attention problem. What we have is a material and a delivery problem." – Michael"We need to involve all three senses (visual, auditory, and kinesthetic) and keep changing it up through [the presentation]." – Michael“As speakers, we've got to consider what's the thought process in [the audience's] minds with every part of our presentation." – Michael"It takes confidence to stand in front of a group of people saying nothing when they haven't [heard] a thing from you." – Michael"As parents, when [the children] get silent, that's when you know I got to go pay attention." – Philip"Silence gets attention." – Michael"Our job as presenters is to make our audience uncomfortable [because] people don't change until they're uncomfortable." – Michael"When you ask questions of your audience, answer the question in your head…because now, you're on the same wavelength [mentally] as your audience." – Michael"You can't get to version two until you do version one." – Michael"Our role as speakers is to be there for the audience, but we're not responsible to them for taking our wisdom and doing something with it." – Michael"[The] audience's desires, goals, and objectives [are] constantly changing and we've got to be in tune with that." – Michael"Learn to trust your gut and that you have a valuable lesson based on your life experience." – MichaelRESOURCESMichaelWebsite: https://speakingcpr.com/LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeldavisspeakingcprFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/SpeakingCPR/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/SpeakingCPR PhilipInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamphilipsessions/?hl=enTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@philipsessionsLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philip-sessions-b2986563/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/therealphilipsessions Support the Show.

Patrick and Cyrus discuss the new and improved relevant radio app, and the importance of show notes for easy navigation and sharing. Listeners also learn about the provision for general absolution in the Catholic Church, and the responsibilities it entails for both priests and the faithful. The conversation then turns to the prevalence of LGBT issues in today's culture, and the challenges of engaging in meaningful dialogue with those who hold differing views. There's a new Relevant Radio app and it's 100% free! Lisa – What is a communal general absolution and is it allowed? Steve - Why do you think the culture emphasizes the LGBT movement so much today? (10:37) Ellen – Comments on “misguided mercy” in regards to the LGBTQ agenda. When getting a blessing in general from a priest does it have more power based on our soul's state? Michael - As someone who came out of sexual sin, I am very against the blessing of the gay unions. Are there any Bishops who have spoken out against the document? (34:35) Patrick shares the article “Bishops around the world are divided over Vatican's same-sex blessing declaration”

Vinterkräksjukan är här och självklart är också familjen Delér drabbade. Frågan är om man ska kasta de nu mera oranga kuddarna eller inte? Och vad har spådamen att säga om Michaelas ekonomi? Klipps av Victor Ganguly Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In dieser Episode von „ICH BIN DANN MAL ERFOLGREICH“ wird es sportlich. Michaela Peiffer ist ehemalige deutsche Nationalspielerin im Badminton und blickt auf eine erfolgreiche Sportkarriere zurück. Heute verkörpert sie in Ihrer Verantwortung bei der Fritz Manke GmbH die Verknüpfung von „high performance“ und dem werteorientierten, eigenverantwortlichen Führen von Teams. Wir sprechen über Michaelas persönlichen Weg im Sport sowie im Führungsalltag und erfahren, was beides vereint. Denn wer an der Spitze steht, egal ob im Sport oder im Business muss performen. Ihre jahrelange Erfahrung in den unterschiedlichen Welten von Leistungssport, Finanzdienstleistung und KMU machen sie heute zu einem wertvollen Austauschpartner. Erfahren Sie, wie der Umgang mit Rückschlägen und Niederlagen wichtige Meilensteine auf dem Weg zum Erfolg waren und warum sich Durchhalten immer lohnt.Micha auf Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mpeif/Micha auf Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaela-peiffer/

Hon är en av Sveriges största influencers och hennes följare har fått hänga med genom två graviditeter – in i livet som småbarnsmamma och techentreprenör. Med appen Baby Journey har Michaela Forni varit med om att skapa en digital bebisbubbla värderad till över 300 miljoner, som sopar banan med konkurrenterna. I det här avsnittet av Digitala influencerpodden hör ni Michaela berätta om en idé som föddes bland kolik och vaknätter, om att driva bolag med brorsan och maken och om hur Baby Journey lyckats vinna de blivande föräldrarnas förtroende. Dessutom får ni ta del av Michaela Fornis allra bästa mom hack.   Tidskoder  1.45 Så är nya livet som tvåbarnsmamma. 3.45 Om att starta bolag samtidigt som man blir förälder. 5.10 Så uppkom idén till Baby Journey. 6.33 Så mycket energi har man lagt på den tekniska utvecklingen av appen. 7.40 Här står Baby Journey idag. 8.11 Så många användare har Baby Journey. 8.54 Detta är framgångsreceptet. 10.08 Så har man byggt medvetenhet om Baby Journey.  11.44 Om att Baby Journey idag är en hel byrå.  13.27 Därför fortsätter Michaela att kalla sig influencer. 15.11 Så är det att jobba med sin man och bror. 18.04 Om att fira framgång. 18.34 Hade bolaget funnits utan Michaelas bakgrund som influencer? 19.39 Därför fungerar influencer marketing så bra. 21.45 Om boken Jag är inte perfekt, tyvärr. 26.31 Om näthatet som många offentliga personer utsätts för.  27.17 Detta leder näthatet till. 28.32 Om bloggen som form. 29.33 Michaela Forni rekommenderar en gäst eller ett ämne för kommande poddar. 30.11 Detta händer härnäst för Baby Journey och Michaela.

I veckans avsnitt av podden Under Your Skin gästas Lovisa av manusförfattaren, entreprenören och filmskaparen Michaela Hamilton som delar med sig av sina tankar och känslor kring att förlora någon, sitt yrkesliv och att skapa nytt liv.Presentation av Michaela.2:30 min - Hur går det till när man ska skriva ett filmmanus och hur ser just Michaelas rutiner ut? Hur handskas man med ett “nej” när det kommer till ens drömmar och mål?18:45 min - Sorgen över att förlora en närstående och hur vi sörjer. Vikten av terapi. Förväntningarna om föräldraskap. Här hittar du Michaela Hamilton:https://www.instagram.com/mjhamilton/ Här hittar du Lovisa:https://www.linkedin.com/in/lovisa-hahn-falkman-7109b7a1/ https://www.instagram.com/lovisahahn/ https://underyourskin.se/ Poddens klippare Michaela Dorch:https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaela-dorch-6a9a84113/?originalSubdomain=id Tack snälla för att du lyssnar! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Måndagen den 21 juni 2004 började som vilken annan dag som helst. 43-årige Jim Donnelly åkte till jobbet vid stålverket Glenbrook Steel Mill utanför Auckland i Nya Zeeland. Han sa hejdå till sin fru Tracey och parets två barn. Väl på plats stämplade han in, bytte om till sina arbetskläder och försvann därefter spårlöst. Snart har 20 år passerat, Jim har fortfarande inte stämplat ut och det är än idag oklart var han tog vägen, varför han försvann och om han någonsin ens lämnade sin arbetsplats den här morgonen.SAMARBETE NEXTORY:Registrera er via denna länk för 6 veckors gratis lyssning/läsning hos Nextory:www.nextory.com/rysarpoddenHär kan ni läsa mer om Michaelas boktips:https://nextory.com/se/book/brotten-som-skakade-sverige-polismorden-i-malexander-och-andra-handelser-vi-minns-86966Här kan ni läsa mer om Annies boktips:https://nextory.com/se/book/mindhunter-inside-the-fbis-elite-serial-crime-unit-3028671_________________________________________________________________________________________________Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/rysarpodden/Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/rysarpoddenMail:rysarpodden@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tjejerna är på ny resa, denna gång i Monaco. De överlevde flygresan tack vare Michaelas goda karma, men fick däremot genomlida Barbie-filmen.Klipps av Victor Ganguly Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to Behind the Service Podcast we're so glad you're here! Today Libby sits down with Michaela S. Cox.Michaela S. Cox is a multi-published author/ speaker who is the author of 5 series. Michaela S. Cox writes about a wide diverse range of topics she is passionate about. Drawing on her own life experiences with disability (of legal blindness), divorce and the death of her beloved husband, Michaela S. Cox knows what it's like to face tribulations and preserve to thrive through challenges. Her journey offers hope to those who are facing their own tribulations so that they may thrive in their own lives.Have you ever in life felt overwhelmed by your grief?Have you ever felt as if you're drowning in your ocean of loss?Have you ever felt you are just struggling to survive? Have you ever wondered if you would find your way on your own path you are traveling? Have you ever wondered will I climb my way out of this valley of hardship, struggle, tribulation of grief and loss? 38DDD takes you on a journey of going from much tribulation to thriving in all things in life. Michaelas takes you on a journey of discovering what it is to travel a life of 38DDD going from much tribulation to thriving in all things: Lifelong Disability of Legal Blindness, Divorce at 26, and then at 38 the Death/loss of beloved husband and thrown into solo parenting. Through traveling this journey of her 38DDD and the journey of grief and loss Michaela S.Cox shares her story and message of thriving in all things to help in inspire and empower you to thrive on journey in life no matter what you may be facing.Traveling the journey of 38DDD you will learn and discover the following:How to go from surviving to thrivingHow to navigate this journey of GriefHow to find your own way through your griefHow to be an overcomer and thrive in life.You will be given the keys to thriving in lifeYou will hear of a 5 step systematic approach and methodology of which the process will empower you to go from surviving thrive in life no matter what you may go through even the journey of grief and loss. So come on this journey of learning how to be empowered to overcome by finding your own path to follow on this journey through grief and loss.Michaela website Thank you for listening!Visit our linktree Follow us on our socialsYouTube Behind The Service Instagram Behind the Service Facebook at (1) Behind the Service | FacebookInterested in sponsoring our podcasts email us at behindtheservicepodcast@gmail.comCheck out some of our other podcasts: Peace After CombatFreedom Sisters ShowThe Optimal Response Initiative

In dieser Episode: Du hörst die harte Lektion, die Michaela, eine ambitionierte Führungskraft, lernen musste, als ihr Mangel an Respekt die besten Mitarbeiter dazu brachte, zu kündigen. Du erlebst hautnah mit, wie eine fehlende Anerkennung und respektlose Kommunikation das Teamgefüge zerstören können - insbesondere bei einem prägenden Meeting, bei dem Michaelas entwertende Worte einen talentierten Mitarbeiter entmutigten. Du siehst, was passiert, wenn talentierte Mitarbeiter sich nicht respektiert fühlen und daher beschließen, das Unternehmen zu verlassen. Du folgst Michaela auf ihrem Weg der Selbsterkenntnis und siehst, wie sie lernt, ihre Mitarbeiter als Menschen wertzuschätzen und ihre Autonomie anzuerkennen. Du beobachtest, wie diese Änderung in Michaelas Führungskultur dazu führt, dass die Kündigungen aufhören und die besten Mitarbeiter bleiben, wodurch die Moral und Produktivität des Teams gesteigert wird. Diese Episode ist ein Muss für dich, wenn du eine Führungskraft bist oder es werden willst. Denn sie zeigt eindrücklich: Respekt ist keine Option, sondern eine Notwendigkeit für jedes erfolgreiche Team. Hier ist der Link zum Workshop am 29.6.2023 um 19:30 Uhr, wie du eine Kultur des Respekts einführst https://elopage.com/s/mitarbeiterfuehren/Workshop-Respekt-einfuehren/payment

On this weeks episode the girls discuss Michaela's trip to Massachusetts, seeing the Newport mansions that no one actually lives in, why museums always lead you back to the Metazoic era, everyone in Boston being caked up, plus we learn Hunter literally doesn't know any History or what the Mayflower is! The girls also touch on Michaelas tour in Salem which included ghost stories, witch hunts, and a lot of stuff that Hunter would be rebuking. 

Willkommen zu der ersten NBE-Folge aus dem wunderschönen Kölle! Den Anfang des NBE-Köln-Specials macht die Medienwissenschaftlerin und Professorin Michaela Krützen. Tatsächlich saß Nilz Anfang der 2000er schon in Michaelas - pardon - Frau Krützens Seminaren an der Hochschule für Film und Fernsehen in München. Gibt es heute noch einen Filmkanon? Wie steht sie als Professorin für Filmgeschichte zum Streaming? Und warum ist Nilz einer der Gründe, dass Frau Krützen auch heute noch an der HFF unterrichtet? Erfahrt es in dieser NBE - zum allerersten Mal aufgezeichnet an einem Kölner Wohnzimmertisch!

“I was trying so hard to be who I thought other people wanted me to be. I spent so much energy wanting to be accepted or wanting to look cool or look successful, but that wasn't authentic,” explains R. Michael Anderson, serial software entrepreneur, author, leadership coach, and speaker with advanced degrees in psychology and neuroscience. Michael went from being a self-proclaimed ‘bad leader' to quite literally writing the book on leadership mindset. Learning how to be a more effective and authentic leader was life changing for Michael, and now he aims to help other leaders put their egos aside and overcome obstacles. Michael's first foray into leadership found him with a successful small business and unhappy employees. Although he was successful from a money standpoint, he did not understand at the time what it really meant to be a leader. He became easily frustrated with his employees and was unable to put aside his ego. Things got so intense with his employees that one even assaulted him after an argument. He knew something needed to change, and it all clicked into place when he began studying for his Masters in Spiritual Psychology. Understanding why people behave the way they do opened the door for Michael to learn how to know, like, and trust himself, and become a more impactful leader in the process.  Becoming a more effective and authentic leader requires personal growth. If you do not take the time to get to know yourself better and improve your mindset, it will be much harder to manage your employees without ego getting in the way.  Quotes: “I was achieving my goals, but it was like I was getting away from happiness.” (7:35-7:38 | R. Michael)  “Up until then, I thought leadership was just getting a bunch of to-dos in and passing them out. And if people didn't get them done as fast or as well as I thought, I would just get frustrated and angry.” (7:55-8:03 | R. Michael) “I was trying so hard to be who I thought other people wanted me to be. I spent so much energy wanting to be accepted or wanting to look cool or look successful, but that wasn't authentic.” (9:46-9:58 | R. Michael) “I teach leadership mindset because that's what moved the needle for me. And I see so many other leaders struggling with the same.” (11:36-11:43 | R. Michael) “I'm a big believer in self compassion.  I know we can get frustrated and things, but your ego is just doing what you've trained it to do.” (20:30-20:37 | R. Michael) “All poor leadership is when people are in their ego.” (21:40-21:44 | R. Michael) “As you grow as a person, you grow as a leader.” (23:24-23:26 | R. Michael) Connect with R. Michael Anderson: Website | https://rmichaelanderson.com/   Connect with Nesha:  Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/neshapai/ Youtube | https://www.youtube.com/@neshapai1480/videos Buy a copy of Nesha's book, Overcoming Ordinary Obstacles: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1943070741?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_dp_KEGQ1539QQ5N8Z8XHRNC Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm  

Michaela försöker överleva dag för dag medans Janni lever sitt bästa liv. Har detta att göra med att man är kejsarsnitt-unge eller inte? Systrarna ringer även upp mamma Carina och konfronterar henna om det livslånga traumat som deras mor har utsatt Michaela för… Klipps av Victor Ganguly Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this weeks episode the girls discuss "Lotion Gate" which happened during Michaelas high profile casting, the absolute drama behind the Vanderpump Rules cheating scandal, plus a racy game of "Never Have I Ever"

Koks yra filosofijos ir politikos santykis? Kokia idėjų vieta politinių sprendimų priėmimo procese? Koks politikos vaizdinys atsiveria paragavus politiko duonos? Kokia yra šiuolaikinio konservatizmo būklė Lietuvoje ir kitose Vakarų valstybėse? Kodėl pastaraisiais dešimtmečiais konservatyvūs mąstytojai vis labiau radikalėja? Kaip atrodė filosofijos studijos Lietuvoje vėlyvuoju sovietmečiu? Apie visa tai – išsamus pokalbis su politologu, Mykolo Romerio universiteto docentu dr. Virgiu Valentinavičiumi.Ved. Simas Čelutka

In this weeks episode we welcome for the very first time Michaela's Husband, Martin!! We play a juicy game of "Who Knows Me Better" where Hunter and Martin go head to head in one of the greatest battles of our generation. Hunter gets cocky and judges Michaelas answers about herself and the winner has to buy Michaela something...

Influencern och entreprenören Michaela Forni återvänder till podden för att berätta om bolagsresan med sin app Babyjourney. Idén till appen föddes när Michaela själv var gravid för första gången och hon saknade en hel värld för blivande och nyblivna föräldrar. Två år efter lanseringar har appen hundra tusen användare och nyligen köpte Länsförsäkringar in sig som delägare på en värdering om 325 miljoner kronor. Hör Michaelas bästa entreprenörstips och hur hon gjorde för att ta steget från idé till verklighet.Programledare för Fundamentalt är Anna Hegestrand och Jacob Liebermann på uppdrag av Fundler.Redigering: Elin SjödénMaila dina pengafrågor till: fundamentalt@fundler.seFölj Fundler på Facebook och Instagram: @fundlerappLäs mer om Fundler: www.fundler.se Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Recently I was recording a Paranormal Podcast with my good friends and fellow podcasters Deborah Singleton of COTU and Michaela Cooke of the Paranormal or what project when Michaela shared a weird experience she had in Clapham woods. I was unsure if she knew of the other reports that had come into myself and others over the years? She was not. She explained what happened to her and then I shared the other reports there with her, some of which are similar to her experience. First I share Michaelas experience and then we can look at the other reports in that woodland.Michaela was travelling home with her husband and as they passed Clapham woods they noticed some strange lights within the trees. Michaela felt the whole event was eerie.

In dieser Episode gibt es mal wieder ein Küchentisch Interview und ich spreche mit Michaela Pludra über tibetisches Heilyoga, ätherische Öle, die Gesundheitswerkstatt und wie gesunde Routinen das Leben verändern können. Dafür braucht es meistens zunächst die bewusste Auseinandersetzung mit den eigenen Werten und Bedürfnissen, um überhaupt zu wissen, was man will und warum- dann wird es immer leichter mit Vertrauen neue Wege zu gehen, so wie diese tolle Frau es getan hat und tut. Wenn Du mehr über LuJong und die Kraft ätherischer Öle im erfahren oder an Michaelas wunderbaren Kursen teilnehmen magst, dann schreib Ihr einfach eine Mail. Und wie angekündigt hier der Link zum kostenlosen Online Kongress „Alternative Heilmethoden“, bei dem ich als Speakerin vom Ayurveda erzähle und davon, wie Du ihn ganz pragmatisch und intuitiv in Deinem Alltag für Dich nutzen kannst. https://www.digistore24.com/content/448928/38831/DrPetraBarron/CAMPAIGNKEY Falls Du mich bisher nicht kennst, schau gern mal hier vorbei: www.drpetrabarron.de/fuer-Dich Da findest Du auch eine Menge kostenloser Werkzeuge und Meditationen zum ganz praktisch einsteigen. Wenn Dir die Episode gefallen hat, freue ich mich sehr über Dein Feedback und eine Bewertung. Lass mich auch gern wissen, wenn Du Fragen, Themenideen oder Vorschläge für Interviewpartner hast - ich mach den Podcast ja schließlich für Dich! Und wenn Du jetzt durch Michaela inspiriert gesunde Routinen ganz pragmatisch und selbstbestimmt in Deinen Alltag integrieren möchtest, um mit mehr Klarheit und Energie durchzustarten, dann komm in Deine Gesundheitswerkstatt! Meld Dich gleich an -Ich freu mich auf Dich! https://deinegesundheitswerkstatt.de/kurs/

Feminvestpodden är för första gången tillbaka med ett avsnitt på en tisdag, det är nämligen så att vi byter dag för feminvestpodden, Yay!!  Denna vecka bjuder Michaela och Elin in oss till ett varmt samtal om Pridefestivalen. Vi får även ta del av Michaelas helgplaner, något som hon aldrig gjort tidigare. Veckans gäst är en mycket spännande entreprenör, Wendy Heijne som har grundat och driver klädföretaget Studio Heijne.  Som arbetar fram mode anpassat av dig och producerat i endast en storlek: din storlek!  Varje kvinnas kropp är unik och att hitta rätt storlek kan vara en utmaning.  Vi är så glada över att vara igång med podden igen, hoppas du gillar avsnittet!

Rich Fettke has a passion for helping people improve their businesses, grow their wealth, and live more fulfilling lives. He is the author of The Wise Investor, Extreme Success, and the audio program Momentum. Rich is also a co-founder of RealWealth®. Since 2003, the company has helped over 60,000 members improve their financial intelligence and acquire cash-flowing income properties — so they can live life on their own terms. As a licensed real estate broker and an active investor, Rich was selected as a Rich Dad Author for his expertise as a Wealth Mindset Expert.   The real estate industry is not easy for everyone to jump into. If you have just gotten your real estate license and feel you need extra support before getting your feet wet, or if you are an experienced agent looking to take it to the next level, you may decide to get a real estate coach. Rich who is a coaching mentor and investor will discuss the value of having a coach and mentor and what you can expect to find in his new book.   Episode Links: https://realwealth.com/ https://realwealth.com/the-wise-investor-book/ --- Transcript Before we jump into the episode, here's a quick disclaimer about our content. The Remote Real Estate Investor podcast is for informational purposes only, and is not intended as investment advice. The views, opinions and strategies of both the hosts and the guests are their own and should not be considered as guidance from Roofstock. Make sure to always run your own numbers, make your own independent decisions and seek investment advice from licensed professionals.   Michael: Hey, everyone, welcome to another episode of the Remote Real Estate Investor. I'm Michael Albaum and today I'm joined by Rich Fettke, who is an author, investor, coaching mentor, surfer, among many other things, and Rich is going to be talking to us today about some of the mistakes he seen investors make the value of having a coach and mentor as well as what you can expect to find in his book, which is soon to be released. So let's get into it.   Rich, what's going on, man? Welcome to the Remote Real Estate Investor. Thanks for hanging out with me.   Rich: Good to be here. Great hanging out with you.   Michael: Super excited. So before we hit record here, you and I were chatting a little bit about some sports where you both share in common, but I would love if you could give our listeners a little bit of insight into who you are, where you come from and what it is that you're doing in real estate today.   Rich: Sure, absolutely. My name is Rich Fettke and yeah, interesting. The way we got into real estate investing, I'm an I'm an investor and my wife and I also have a company that helps investors but that was what really got us into it was despair. It was about it was exactly 20 years ago, I was on top of my game, I had a book deal, just signed with Simon and Schuster. I was a business and personal coach had a thriving coaching practice, I was giving keynote speeches all over the country. It was like I was just crushing it and I felt so good. I was 37 years old and then I was diagnosed with melanoma, which is an advanced skin cancer but that's not the biggest deal is that they thought it spread to my liver.   So they had me do a CT scan and ultrasound and it kept showing these masses on my liver and so I met with an oncologist and he said, you know, it looks like you got about six months to live and we had a 10 year old daughter. Yeah, it just rocked my world, I had a 10 year old daughter, a three year old daughter. My wife is amazing but she was a stay at home mom and so she was freaking in the sense of what am I going to do financially if Rich dies and so she started to she had a as a coach, we were doing things together, she was also a trained coach and so she had this small radio station in San Francisco that she used to do a radio show on about all areas of life being your best self and personal development and all and she said I gotta figure this out. So she started to help people on that were financially successful, and was interviewing them about how do they create wealth and how do they create financial success and most of them turned out to be real estate investors. No surprise, so she came home all excited. One of them was a mortgage broker and he said, if you get your license, you can come become a mortgage broker. This is about 2003. So you know, things were still the mortgage world is pretty easy back then. So she went and did that. In the meantime, we figured out I had a PET scan, which is the most advanced scan for cancer, and it showed me cancer free. So it was just it was a false diagnosis. It was just hemangiomas little clusters of blood vessels on my liver but that was enough for me to go for those three months of not knowing if I was going to be alive, it was enough to give us the kick in the butt to get out and, and make things happen. So Kathy, and I see after that after I was healed, we started to invest together. We bought a bunch of properties in the Dallas, Texas area and it just took off from there and then Kathy started to help other investors with their mortgages. We had a bunch of friends and family saying, tell us how are you doing this? We you know, how are you doing this out of state investing and so we started we formed a group that we thought would be just a small group of family and friends and people that listen to the radio show. We thought it'd be a couple 100 people and today it's over 64,000 members now at real wealth that we're helping invest.   Michael: It's pretty amazing. Richard, good for you guys, so I I'm curious in your coaching business before you got diagnosed, did you ever come across real estate investors?   Rich: That I coached? Yes. Yeah and my mindset was, I want to invest in real estate someday when I have enough money and so and I was thinking I needed, you know, several $100,000 you know, to buy that first rental property or first investment, not realizing the power of leverage and how much banks love to lend money on real estate and so that was that was the eye opener for us.   Michael: Okay, I love it and what made you go remote? I mean, you're in California and your wife live in in San Francisco. Why did you pick to invest outside California?   Rich: Actually Robert Kiyosaki. It was she because Kathy was on the San Francisco radio station she was and it got bigger and bigger or she was able to attract some pretty big names and then this guy who had just written a book called Rich Dad, Poor Dad, not long before that, and he had this cashflow game that he was promoting and we had a friend who was his distributor for crypto cash flow game back in the day and so he was on the radio show, and he warned Kathy's listeners to sell their overpriced California properties and to invest in Texas and so we took his advice. Not we didn't sell all our expensive property, sadly, because 2008 crushed us with our California properties but it was, you know, he just saying for cash flow and what's going to happen, he was currently kind of calling out what was going to happen in 2008-2007. That's what sent us out of state.   Michael: Love it. So you also recently have written a book, haven't you?   Rich: Yeah, I just finished my second book. 20 years later, well, I have an audio program back then, too but yeah, it took me 20 years to write my second book and it's called the wise investor and it's a lot different than my first book that was mostly coaching focused. It was a nonfiction, basically a personal development book and this book is a modern parable. So it's story forum, and it tells a story of creating financial freedom and but also living your best life.   Michael: That's awesome and why did you decide to write it?   Rich: Interesting process, you know, I've had my own coach, to walk the talk to over the last 25 years now, I started coaching 25 years ago, and this coach that I that I still talk to every week, or every other week, now, he kept kind of he had read my first book, so he's always kind of knocking on me saying, when are you going to write your next book? When are you going to write your next book and I was like, I'm too busy running this company, you know, we have 27 employees and but then what we did is we applied story branding to our company. Are you familiar with that story branding?   It's a guy named Don Miller. He wrote a book called Building a story brand and it's all about basically telling the hero's journey, Joseph Campbell's work, using the hero's journey, just like great movies, do great books do weaving a story where your customer is the hero, and you are the guide. So the company is the guide, you help your customers and so we changed everything on our marketing around that, and how we served our members as being the heroes and I just got into this whole storytelling thing. I'm like, this is fascinating the structure of how to write a story, a compelling story that engages people that elicits an emotional change all that and so one day when in a coaching session, I said, you know, if I was going to write a book, I'd probably tell a story and then he heard that and you just like, What do you mean, tell me more and then that was the spark. So then then I get obsessed with it and I'm like, I could write a parable about what I've learned over the last 20 years as an investor, what I've learned in the last 25 years as a coach, yeah, and kind of weave them together into a story.   Michael: How cool and without giving away too much of the book. I mean, what could people what should people expect to find when they when they get a copy?   Rich: Basically, it's about this family, man, his name is Ryan Brooks and he's like a hard worker. He's got a wife, he's got a couple kids, and he's making a decent six figure income maxing out his 401k but he has no time for his wife or his kids or even his life and he's not investing. He's basically what we call today, Henry, right? A high earner, not rich yet. So he's…   Michael: I love it.   Rich: Yeah, they're out there does a lot of people you know, especially in California, where I'm based, and that make a lot of money, make a good income, but they're not rich, they're not wealthy, and they're not investing their money. They're spending it on things and so this guy is, is in that same trap. So he just starts to learn from he meets this new friend and mentor, who takes him out on adventures. Of course, it takes him out climbing takes him out mountain biking in in the sessions, when they're having fun together. He teaches him about investing about how wealthy people think, how rich people operate, and how and how poor people operate and think and he really goes over the difference between, you know, truly wealthy people, and people with a lot of money. He even says, you know, I know some people who are so poor, all they have is money and I see that in Malibu, you know, where I live there's a lot of has a lot of money and some of the people are really stoked and really happy and getting the most out of life and investing their money at some of the people are grumpy and miserable and, you know, that's rich in money but not in life.   So there's a lot of lessons about helping Ryan Brooks and his mentor walks them through this on how to invest how to how to really look at life through a different lens. One of my favorite things a mentor says to his mentor is about assets and he just kind of puts it in a different frame. He's like, you know, assets is are anything that will provide you income, or better health or happiness or two time and liability is anything that detracts from your income, or your health or your happiness or your time. So it's kind of a cool that type of perspective is this mentor is like, he's the me I hope to be in the future. He's that in that wise investor who's you know, he's got it all together, he's got this sage advice. He's very stoic, but he shares these lessons. So it covers the journey of five years of when they first met, and Ryan Brooks is struggling and just doesn't know what to do and it shows five years later, what happens and how he becomes wealthy in more ways than just money. I love it in money, too.   Michael: I love it. I love it enrich. Where can people find the book?   Rich: It's on Amazon, all major booksellers, published through Rich Dad advisors. So Robert Kiyosaki wrote the foreword for me, which I'm very grateful for… Come full, full circle, right.   Michael: Totally.   Rich: Yeah. So it's on Amazon. It's called the wise investor. Subtitle is a modern parable about creating financial freedom and living your best life. I got the cover right here. So it's out on eBook. This is what the cover looks like. Perfect. So it's out on eBook. But the printed version, the hardcover and the audio book won't be out until August and it's because of just like real estate supply chain issues. There's not enough paper at the printers, so it's a long wait six, seven months now to get a book printed.   Michael: Holy smokes…   Rich: Isn't it wild?   Michael: Yeah, okay. Well, I'm interested, get your order in now, because it might be a while.   Rich: Right, yeah. So hopefully it all comes out in August. Hopefully it comes out earlier in August but yeah, and the audio book was, that was a fun challenge for me. Big goal, because, you know, it's a story and there's 10 different characters, females, older people, young kids, so I had to become, I had to learn some voice acting skills over the period of a couple of months and really practice it. Oh, how can I think I pulled it off, we'll see how the reviews are.   Michael: Right on. That's great. Well, Rich, I'm curious to get your opinion on something because you're a coach, I will also work as a coach and there are folks out there that say you can take the horse to water, but you can't make him drink and so thinking about kind of the Henry's out there, and I think a lot of our listeners might find themselves in this boat, too. They have friends, family, folks around them that don't get real estate investing, right? I have a six figure job, I got a great job, why would I bother investing, I can make more money at my job. So what do you say to all those people and really, how do you position investing in general or real estate investing specifically to the people that think they haven't really good as things stand?   Rich: Yeah, I mean, first of all, you know, as a coach, I'm going to help point out what is good first, you know, this is the way I coach, the gratefulness piece and, you know, it's like, well, you know, be stoked on that six figure job, or whatever it is and it's about creating freedom and so many people don't have that freedom and that's what the Henry's don't have. If they have a short runway, if they stopped if they lost their job, which we've seen happen, they don't have many months left of cash flow, to be able to live their lifestyle, or any type of lifestyle. So that's the biggest thing would be that, do you want to create freedom for yourself, and not have the stress of losing your job, or wanting to move to a different job, if you're not loving what you're doing, a lot of people stay trapped, struggling, just trapped in their jobs, because it's like, this is my income, this is the way this is what I need to make ends meet. So that's the biggest thing, it's really about having your money, make money, so you can create freedom in the future freedom of time and everything. I think that's the biggest one and then so then flipping on the other side, there's something too about America, in the world that we are preprogrammed.   When we think invest, we think stock market and you know, I have nothing against it and Kathy and I are and my wife and I are invested in the stock market, but our major focus and the big aha, back through that story is, you know, we were doing that we were contributing to our IRAs and, you know, doing everything we were supposed to do investing in the stock market. But when we learned about leverage the power of leverage and how you can like 5x your money, just through the power of leverage. I mean, that's a standout and that's one of the lessons the mentor goes over in the book. He, he has Ryan compared to say, say you have $200,000 to invest and you invest 200,000, and gold, you put 200,000 and you buy, you buy maybe 400,000 in the stock market on that, you just leverage it and then you invest that same amount into real estate and then he kind of plays it out over five years, and over 10 years, sorry. So he's like 10 years later, and he said, so how much would the gold be worth at the same appreciation that's gold has been at and they look at that outcome and he said, oh, now let's look at your stocks and he looks at that. It's like good, he's got a decent return. Another investment, you know, he's got home and he's like, almost tripled his money but then the real estate, he looks at it, and he's 5x his money and more and then he's like, and that doesn't include the cash flow. It doesn't appreciate all the depreciation write offs and the tax benefits. So it's kind of like an eye opener to be like, oh, wait a minute. Now I see the, you know that the angels sing about investing in real estate and all those amazing, amazing benefits.   Michael: Totally, totally. Yeah, that makes that makes complete sense and curious, rich to get your thoughts on when looking for a coach because I think that that's something that some people have trouble wrapping their head around, it's like, oh, I you know, I don't have a coach in life and so I would never be inclined to go get a coach or pay for coaching and so if people are inclined to do so if people are okay, accepting that, what are some things they should be looking for when selecting a coach, or a mentor or whatever, you'd have someone to help walk them through their journey?   Rich: Yeah and that's a great question. It's like, I'd actually like to start step back a little bit, because you said what if they want to coach I would even go as far as there's a lot of people that I meet who say, Why do I need a coach, you know, I can hold myself accountable. I, I know how to set goals. I know how to go after what I want and everything in so why would I… Yeah, like you said, Why would I even pay someone or do anything like that and it's, you know, it's that age old metaphor or an analogy of an Olympic athlete, right? Did they get to the Olympics without a coach? No, you need someone to point things out. So for me, I know the power of coaching has been incredibly amazing because I have a coach to basically hold up the mirror to ask me the questions that I'm not asking myself, to help me look at myself and be like, you know, asking those tough questions. How are you operating? Are you being your best self? Are you, where are you getting in your own way? What's that inner Gremlin in your head saying to you? What's your limiting beliefs and what are you going to do here, what and look at new perspectives, new ideas. So there's a power in that, that it's called, I'm certified in CO active coaching, which is two people, you know, when you come together, you come up with ideas that you neither would have thought about their own? So that's another powerful piece of coaching. So that's, that's the first part of my answer and then the second part is, when you're looking for a coach, I think it's really what you're looking for.   So are you looking for a mentor, which is I think, different than a coach, a mentor has kind of been there, done that, just like the mentor, and in the book I wrote, he's been there and done that. So he can say, if you just do what I did, you will be where I am, which is awesome, and very valuable and that's a mentor and I think some people are looking for training and consulting, where they sign up for a coaching program. But it's more about teaching to learn a specific skill and that's very valuable to so and then the third one would be looking for a coach who's more like that coactive approach where it's someone who I first shared, and what I've gotten from coaching is someone to ask the most powerful questions, someone who's intuitive, someone who can really help you shift your mindset and be your best self and operate at your best self. So that would be a another type of coach or a peer coach in my eyes and sometimes it comes together, you know, I'll say to my clients, do you mind if I throw on my consulting hat right now or my mentoring hat? So they know that I'm stepping out of that coat peer coaching role and be like, you know, I've invested in real estate for a while I can give you some advice here, I'm not going to have you, you know, go and search it and try to learn it elsewhere when I've got it right here, and I can share it with you. So I think that's it, it's like looking for what is it that you want? What are you looking for and that would be the first thing and when I was interviewing for a coach and looking for I've had several coaches over the past 25 years, when I interview a coach, I'm always coming from the place of like, what's the vibe? What's it feel like to be coached by this person?   Do they? Do they ask powerful questions? Are they really hearing me and are they into my vision? You know, I think the biggest thing would be connecting with that coach, and really, really noticing, like, is this coach, really seeing my vision? Do they really get me who I am and what I want what's going to help me be fulfilled in my life, and in my career, and it's just a sense thing. So you can get that sometimes you you're talking to a coach, it's like, oh, this guy's or gals just coaching for the money, you know, just looking for another client. Sometimes you talk to a coach, it's like, wow, this person is really like, wants to coach me on their ideal client and so you can sense that   Michael: Interesting and how should people be thinking about it for themselves? If maybe they're not sure if someone is just getting started out in this journey, they know they want to invest in real estate, that's the goal but they don't know how to approach it to the to coaching and mentoring a consultant. I mean, what are some questions that they could be asking or things they could be thinking about, as they're starting?   Rich: That process gets great, I mean, experience, I would ask for experience and you know, I think it's great, you can find you can definitely find a coach, you know, or whatever they call themselves. They might call themselves a mentor, but it's like asking those questions. and talking to that person, just you know. So here are some of my goals. I know that you invest in real estate, can you tell me about your real estate background? What's your investment, investment philosophy? What have you invested in and I would even ask the coach, you know, what's been your biggest challenge your biggest failure as a real estate investor, you know, get see how vulnerable and real they are and if they're willing to, you know, to share that, and what's been your biggest, you know, what's been your biggest win as a real estate investor and what's your greatest strength? So I would ask some of those questions of a coach and then also like, what's, where do you I mean, real estate investing so broad, right and so it's like, what do you specialize in? What do you know best? When it comes to real estate investing?   Michael: Yeah, I love that. You mentioned tell me your biggest failure, biggest flop. I had a mentor back in the day, and he said, I don't trust anybody without a limp. Yeah, because like the people that have only had successes don't know how to do save no right to ship when things go sideways, and they will go sideways.   Rich: They will, they will. Yeah, I know that people who got into real estate in 2010-2015, who are just, you know, knock it out of the park, and they think they're, you know, superheroes. Sometimes I'm like, oh, careful, careful   Michael: We are all superheroes in this, you know, the last decade.   Rich: Exactly. Yeah, yeah.   Michael: So Rich, talk to us a little bit about what you've seen. Some of your coaching students or mentees get right and what have they gotten wrong because you really we have the beauty of hindsight now…   Rich: When it comes to investing, specifically?   Michael: When it comes to investing specifically…   Rich: Yeah, wrong and it's the same mistakes that Kathy and I made too. And it's that you try to talk people out of it and it's like buying an overpriced property in a non-landlord friendly state that is maybe slightly negative cashflow, or just breakeven, and they're looking at and say, but look at how this is appreciating in five years, it's going to be worth this much and it's like, no, so honestly, that's the biggest mistake I can see and I can see it in single family all the way up to multifamily. You know, just speaking at these conferences and meeting with a lot of people are doing multifamily. They think they're superheroes. They're doing this short term, short term lending short term loans, and bridge loans and really dangerous stuff at this time in the market because it's what's worked in the past and they think that they just like, Well, yeah, it's like, I know, this is a I know, it's only a you know, 2% cap rate, but that's okay because, yeah, just a one in three years… Yeah, exactly, so there's something there's something about, there's something about that. Yeah, it's just it's fundamentals, I think that's what it is, is comes down to investing fundamentals and that's what we preach at our company. It's how we help our investors, it's just really coming back to the fundamentals. Make sure you're doing it right.   Michael: Yeah, that makes sense and what about the other side of that coin for the folks that you've really just seen knock it out of the park? What are they doing and you can't say the fundamentals, you have to pick a different answer go?   Rich: That's great. I love that. Agreed, yeah, what value is that? Really, it's the people who, what I've seen, it's the people who take the long term game plan to the boring investors, the ones who are not trying to do this rapid growth, and trying to 10x their portfolio or 20, exit, or whatever it is. So it's keeping that long term perspective and just, you know, making sure that you can control the properties through any type of downturn and so the lessons learned that that, you know, being going through the whole recession, the Great Recession, and the whole mortgage meltdown, and all that big lessons came from that and so that it's the people who take out long term, continuously reinvesting to so it's like, you start this small, small portfolio, whether it's passive or active, and then you just start expanding and expanding and expanding it and I would say, it's the people who focus on the overall cash flow, not just I mean, brink weaving into appreciation, but looking at it, like five years from now, this is what my portfolio will most likely be doing based on everything, even if there's a recession, or whatever and then looking out 10 years and looking at it 15 years.   So it's that big picture and then reinvesting. The opposite of that would be someone who's I have some friends who were only flipping, so very transactional, and they had to find the properties either flip it and that's where their income was coming through into constantly flipping it and they adjusted the wise ones and the smart ones adjusted and switch to the bur stead strategy and so they started to find these properties, fix them up, but then they would hold them and rent them out and now they're the ones that have amassed a good amount of wealth, whereas the other people who are flipping are still in the transaction game.   Michael: Yeah. Ah, that makes sense, that makes sense. Okay. We've had a pretty good debate on the show over episodes about something called an alligator, which I don't know if you know Michael Zuber at all he's an author of one rental at a time. He's a good friend of the podcast, but in his definition alligators any property, that's negative cashflow, you have to feed it every month to keep continue owning it. So as you're talking about big picture, are you okay? If you say for instance, take out a cash out refinance a property to make that property a go negative, but to buy property B and now your global cumulative cash flow is greater than that a property a alone.   Rich: I'm in the camp of no, don't, do not no, no negative cashflow and negative cash flow and I'll be completely honest and transparent that the house at Kathy and I were in in Malibu before this, we bought it, we fix it up, we bought it for $747,000 in Malibu, which is rare, hard to find, it's like unheard of. Yeah, it was like it was a one bedroom, one bath built in 1927 and we had to completely gutted it and rehab and we put about 300,000 into it and then we didn't get permits. So we got busted in that process and now there's still a lien on title from LA county building department and so we can't sell that place and we can't even get a refi until we get those liens off title and get it all permanent everything which is a, that's a whole different stories…   Michael: Trying to get us to do an entire podcast series…     Rich: Coastal Commission and all that stuff. So oh my gosh, so we have a tenant in there and it's slightly cash negative cash flow. So that's like 150 to 200 a month negative cash flow.   So being completely honest, we do have a negative cash flow, it drives me crazy and that house has gone up probably $400,000 over the last couple of years in value. So we could look at it that way. But we can beyond that everything that we hold is positive cash flow, even if it's just like $100 a month positive. That's fine and if we're going to do a cash out refi we make sure that it's appreciated enough where we can do that cash out refi and not have the loan payment, PTI go over what we're gonna get for rental income.   Michael: Yeah, makes sense. Well, I appreciate you sharing the misstep and the vulnerability here on the show but it wasn't intentional, that was just a series of consequences. That hadn't be negative. You wouldn't you would intentionally do that.   Rich: Yeah, we did bring it on ourselves and but yeah, wasn't intentional. We didn't want to get caught.   Michael: I've played that game before, too. It's a risky one.   Rich: It is. Yeah, so you're always looking out the window and yeah…   Michael: Who is coming in, roday gonna be the day get caught o maybe tomorrow?   Rich: Exactly. When we were almost done. We were building the final deck in the back and all of a sudden, this building inspector shows I'm investigating you because one of your neighbors called…   Michael: I was gonna say but it's probably one of your neighbors.   Rich: Yeah, because it would make the cut and concrete and it was so loud or for the whole week. I think it just drove this neighbor crazy and so it is what it is.   Michael: As soon as a quick aside one of the other hosts on the show with me, Tom he, one of his neighbors called on him he was adding an offer a small prefab office in the backyard of his property. neighbor called he gets in trouble. Same thing didn't pull permits. So now he's going through that whole rigmarole. But the funny part is the neighbor that called Tom found out that their fence is on Tom's property, it's on the wrong side of the property. He's like, thanks for calling and alerting me to that little fact.   Michael: Unbelievable.   Rich: So he's, he's playing that game. How do I how do I want to you know, play my next hand?   Rich: The revenge game…   Michael: That's it, that's it, best served cold on ice. Okay, Rich. Let's wrap up here. I'm curious to get your thoughts. We are in this very unique time in our economy in our market in this country and I'm just curious to kind of get your thoughts on what are you doing, personally as an investor and what are you doing in your business and what are you telling your students to do, as well?   Rich: Absolutely, yeah. I have the benefit of being married to Kathy Fettke, who has been around for a while she's on the on the market podcast on Bigger Pockets and so she's constantly doing her market updates every year, she does predictions and has done that for the last 15 years and then at the every quarter, she doesn't investor update and at the end of the year, she puts herself on the line says okay, here's what I predicted back in January. Let's see how accurate I am and yeah, and she's been really good. She's like almost 95% on her predictions, which is awesome. So I just listened to her. You know, she's always interviewing experts and she's connected with like John Chang from Marcus and Millichap and so many just, you know, experts, as I said, with Kiyosaki and all that. So what she's saying I'll just speak, you know, because I get to hear through her office door when she's doing all her interviews and everything she think He said interest rates are not going to go up that much more, maybe even dip a tiny bit for mortgages, and then maybe level off.   But even though the Feds gonna keep raising the rate, the lender and great mortgage rates can't kind of withstand that going up too much. So she thinks mortgage rates are going to hold around where they are and then there's such a glut in such a need for properties and not enough inventory. It's like a whole different world than 2008-2009. So yeah, I think we're, it's estimates are between three and 5 million homes shy right now, for housing units. So inventory still low and also, there's that whole thing where people are locked into these amazing interest rates, so they don't want to sell. So they just, it doesn't make sense to sell something and when you got a 3% mortgage or lower and go into a higher mortgage, so the real estate is gonna hold strong is what she's predicting, it's even going to increase a little bit rents are even going to increase a little bit surprisingly, even with, with the economy and inflation, rents are still gonna go up a little bit, that's her prediction and then a recession will hit well, most likely, sometime around late 2023, early 2024 but it will be a mild one, just kind of more of a correction that that's needed.   Michael: Okay. Okay and does either her or you think that there will be any kind of pullback in demand as folks go back into the office or are we going to be seeing remote work kind of indefinitely, which I think was a big driver of that single family rental demand?   Rich: Yeah, that's a big one. Yeah and the cool thing is like, we have teams that are like the boots on the ground. So there's different 15 different property teams in our company that find properties and so and we just did a mastermind with them in Tampa, Florida and we spent two days and we really talked about all this exact same stuff. So it's, it's something around not like a big hit on it. There still will be some availability, but not much different than if you look at today's current market right now is not going to be a lot different than that over the next year and a half.   Michael: So for instance, we don't expect there to be much pullback in terms of demand. Dude, because we're expecting people to continue remote working basically…   Rich: There's definitely a return to the office. There's there are definitely companies that are saying no, it's time to come back now that we want to look over your shoulder, we want to hold you accountable and all that stuff. It's so funny, because it's like the surfing lineups are getting a little bit lighter thinning. So funny. Go Oh, it's like why are so many people surfing? Oh, they're supposed to be orange. They think they're working. Their bosses think they're at work right now. Yeah. So I'm seeing a pullback there. So that's my gauge.   Michael: So funny.   Rich: Yeah, but not as much. There's definitely, with so many people how they've learned to use Zoom and GoTo Meeting and being remote and all that stuff. It's we're in a new world, there's no doubt about it. So I think there's going to be a slight pullback on buyers and transactions and all that. As far as the rate, but it's still not going to it's not going to drop to like dismal levels.   Michael: Okay, sweet. Well, we will definitely have to stay in touch and see how you do how you and your wife do on those percentages. Rich, this has been so much fun, man. Thank you again, if people want to learn more about you want to learn more about real wealth, where can they do that?   Rich: For the book? Like I said, it's on Amazon or if people want to learn more, before they buy it, just go to https://realwealth.com/the-wise-investor-book/  and then our website is just simple, real wealth: https://realwealth.com/   Michael: Perfect. Alright, thank you again and I'm sure we'll be chatting soon.   Rich: All right, man. Thank you, it was fun.   Michael: All right, everyone a big thank you to Rich for coming on. Super, super insightful. I know I learned a ton as a coach myself in what to look for in a coach and mentor going forward as well. So as always, thank you so much for listening, and we look forward to seeing the next one. Happy investing…

Pasaulyje: apie retų europietiškų kalbų Euroviziją, Kanų kino festivalį ir ukrainiečių kariškių archeologinius radinius iš senovės Graikijos.Vilniuje atidaryta pirmoji Baltijos šalyse šiuolaikinės Afrikos dailės paroda. Jos rengėjai sako, kad apie Afriką žinome labai nedaug, nors pasaulinė meno rinka jau kelerius metus savo žvilgsnį yra nukreipusi ten. Ką apie didžiulį ir margą žemyną gali papasakoti 30 dailės kūrinių?Kodėl žmonės kolekcionuoja tuščias kasetes? Kotrynai Lingienei pasakoja kasečių kiosko įkūrėjas Armantas Gečiauskas.Britų scenaristas Michaelas Hirstas sukūrė kultinius, Auksinių gaublių ir Emmy apdovanojimuose ne kartą nominuotus istorinius serialus „Vikingai“ ir „Tiudorai“, o dabar pristato naują tikra istorija paremtą serialą „Vaikis Bilis“ („Billy the Kid“) apie bebaimį kaubojų XIX a. Amerikoje. Pokalbis su Hirstu apie įkvepiančias istorijas, heroizmą ir istorinę tiesą kine.Menotyrininkės Agnės Narušytės komentaras apie praeitį ir ateitį.Marius Abramavičius-Neboisia fotografuoja, rašo kelionių knygas, tapo, kuria skulptūras ir reikšmingai prisidėjo kuriant Vilniaus Užupio dvasią. Kūrėjas sako, kad Užupio etapas jo gyvenime baigėsi, rajonas keičiasi nepaisant menininkų valios, o pats Marius ieško naujų kelių kūryboje. Šį pavasarį po Lietuvą jis keliauja pristatydamas naują knygą „Šiaurinės Šinšilos polėkiai“ apie vyrų ir moterų pasaulius. „Lyčių kova niekur neveda, abi pusės tik eikvoja energiją ir nieko nesukuria“, – sako menininkas.Ved. Juta Liutkevičiūtė

Om att jonglera med två barns olika uppmärksamhetsbehov, Michaelas röstbekymmer och nedsatt luktsinne efter corona.

Om Jannis resa till Jeddah, Michaelas operation och att unna sig en hel dag med serier och Netflix.

Zu Gast: Michaela Dotterweich, 31 Jahre Sport war schon immer ein riesen Teil ihres Lebens. Doch entschied sie sich für einen vernünftigen und soliden Weg als BWL Studentin in den Bankensektor. Doch als sie dort immer unzufriedener von der Arbeit kam war ihr klar sie muss etwas ändern. Gesagt getan. Es wird nochmal studiert! Von einer Vollzeitverdienerin zurück zur Studentin also. Durch die Hilfe von ihrer tollen Familie und Freunden hat sich Michaela mittlerweile als Personalcoach etabliert. Außerdem erfüllt sie sich bald ihren eigenen Wunsch in dem sie ihr eigenes Fitnessstudio eröffnet. Erfahrt alles zu Michaelas fittem Weg in dieser Folge von inspirierend anders. Michaela findet ihr auf Insta unter: michaeladotterweich Den Podcast findet ihr auf: www.inspirierendanders.com Abonniert gerne den Newsletter um immer auf dem Laufenden zu bleiben und noch mehr Insights zu den Gästen und dem Podcast vor allen Anderen zu erhalten. Ihr könnt auch gerne auf www.patreon.com/inspirierendanders eine kleine Unterstützung für den Podcast dalassen, wenn er euch gefällt und ihr gerne weiter Content hättet.

Today's show we welcome Juliana Kittel, our latest (and possibly greatest?) member from the Catholic Office for Youth and Young Adults along with all her wild and wonderful stories from her journeys through Brazil and the US with the Marist Brothers. James returns the challenge back to Michaela with a hint of Pink Floyd. And we revisit the word... what word you ask? (Don't ask)

Michaela har ett förflutet som fetischmodell med en mångårig internationell karriär och i det här avsnittet får du som lyssnar äntligen höra mer om det! Gäst är Michaelas modellkollega Psylocke Model som också har arbetat många år inom fetischscenen. Lyssna och njut! Stöd oss på Patreon! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I det här avsnittet sitter vi ned med Michaela Forni som är livsstilsinfluencer, bloggare, författare och entreprenör med appen My Baby Journey och boken My Baby Book. I samtalet pratar vi om alltifrån Michaelas upplevelser av menscykeln och hur hon använder insikterna kring sin cykel i sin vardag. Vi pratar om graviditet – ett ämne Michaela verkligen brinner för – och hon delar med sig av allt det där man önskar man vetat innan, under och efter en graviditet. Hon berättar öppenhjärtigt om oron för missfall, hur hon hanterat babylängtan och mycket mer.Vi går bland annat in på:– Tankar kring influenceryrket och att hjälpa andra genom egna erfarenheter– Om menscykeln och hur Michaela upplever skiftningarna under cykeln och använder det i sin vardag– Michaelas tankar och tips kring babylängtan och oro för missfall och hur hon hanterat det– Allt det där man kan uppleva under och efter en graviditet som ingen pratar om, som hemorrojder, läckande bröst ochsammandragningar långt innan själva födseln m.m.– Första tiden med barn, sittkuddar för nyförlösta och laxerande medel– Varför yoga blivit en viktig del i Michaelas liv– Att det inte behöver vara självklart att veta vad man ska göra som nybliven förälderAvsnittet är i stolt samarbete med Under Your Skin som erbjuder veganska och kemikaliefria hudvårdsprodukter. Med koden WOMENSYNC får ni 15% rabatt på www.underyourskin.se. Rabattkoden gäller t.o.m. den 5 december 2021.Avsnittet är även i stolt samarbete med Werlabs hälsokontroller. Med koden vänd “womensync” får ni 10% rabatt på valfritt hälsotest hos dem på www.werlabs.se. Erbjudandet gäller till och med 31/12 och kan ej kombineras med andra rabatter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jeanette hatte die Woche ihren letzten Arbeitstag und sie hat zu diesem Anlass eine Tasse mit einer Abbildung von ihr im Anime Stil von einer Kollegin geschenkt bekommen. Darüber hinaus ist sie etwas im Stress da einige Conventions anstehen und wo sie ihren Mars Rover zeigen möchte. Sie war auch letztens mit dem Mars Rover im Fernsehen und ein kurzer Radiobeitrag ist dabei auch daraus entstanden. Sie hat sie ein paar Folgen der Serie Squid Game auf Netflix angeschaut und meint, dass die Serie nichts für Michaela sei. Michaela hatte ihren letzten Urlaubstag und war im Büro gleich sehr beschäftigt mit der Suche eines Fehlers in einem Programm. Michaela spielt immer noch Dauntless und ist ziemlich gut vorwärts gekommen, ist aber immer noch nicht so gut, wie die Top-Spieler in dem Game.

What you'll learn in this episode: Why you won't see results if you have a “set it and forget it” mentality about your website Why jewelers should give their website as much attention as a brick-and-mortar location How jewelers can use tricks of the trade to encourage customers to purchase items online, even if jewelry is traditionally bought in person  How jewelry brands can take advantage of the new shopping feature on Instagram Why the jewelry business is more like Crate & Barrel than Sephora—and why that distinction is important About Michael Burpoe Michael Burpoe is Director of User Experience for Punchmark, a digital marketing agency that specializes in the jewelry industry. Michael created Punchmark's UX team, which was assembled to take very specific initiatives toward fine-tuning tools and features, and improving the platform on both the front-end and back-end. Since early 2019, Michael has also headed up the strategy, planning, and execution behind Punchmark's Livestream Education program, the In The Loupe podcast, and the Punchmark Community on Facebook. Originally from Saranac Lake, NY, in Michael's spare time you can find him practicing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu or painting cityscapes.  Additional Resources: In the Loupe on Spotify In the Loupe on Apple Podcasts Website Blog Facebook Photos: Design Themes: Podcast Logo: Website Samples: After working with jewelry brands of all sizes for the last several years, Michael Burpoe has learned a thing or two about the strategies that make jewelry businesses more successful online. As Director of User Experience for Punchmark, Michael has helped even the most hesitant jewelers invest in their websites and reap the rewards of a fine-tuned digital marketing strategy. He joined the Jewelry Journey Podcast to explain why selling jewelry online is only going to become more common; how to make customers feel comfortable buying luxury items online; and how jewelry companies can use digital marketing tricks to increase sales. Read the episode transcript here.  Sharon: Do you find that the people who are calling your company, prospective clients, do they tend to be in an older demographic, like a baby boomer? Not that they don't understand what you're saying, but do they see themselves in you, let's say? Michael: That's a great question. It depends. If you had asked me when I started out at Punchmark about five years ago what the average demographic of people coming to us for a website is, a lot of the time, it's an older demographic. Probably 60, 65 or so, looking for their first website or saying, “Oh I have this really bare-bones website and we need to get a modern website.” The reason why is because they went to some jewelry show and they were told by a speaker, “Hey, you need to have an online presence,” and they're like, “Alright, I'm here,” but they haven't really been convinced of the value of it.  Now what I'm seeing is that, again, we're in a Covid world where the impending-ness and the seriousness of business are paramount. A lot of times the people who are running the website aren't the owners anymore. They know it's a full-time job, like I said. You can't have the business owner being the only one that touches the website. It's not going to get the love it needs. A lot of times we're seeing younger people who are involved in the online business, whether that means it's their store manager or the children of the owner. Sometimes they are specialists who they hired specifically for their website, which I advocate for. We're seeing a switch in that. I think a lot of people still need to be convinced of the value of a website, but it's becoming better, I'd say. Sharon: I'm almost afraid to ask, but once you've done the website, do your clients understand that's just the beginning? That there's SEO, PPC and social media? Do they understand there's a lot more? Michael: Early on when I first started here, they did not know that. They thought that it was a set it and forget it methodology. They get it up, they launch their website, they push it live, and they think it's going to do all the things for them. That is not the case, and we do our best to communicate that as early and often as we possibly can. I always say to people, “Your website will never be done—ever, ever, ever, ever. It has to be constantly updated.” We do have services for that kind of stuff. This isn't a sales pitch. We do have services where people can pay for us to do a lot of the ongoing work: creating landing pages, doing their social media, taking on their SEO strategy. There are services out there for them, not just with us, but we need people to understand that you can't just set it up and it's going to make $1 million on its own. It takes some work. It takes some thought. Sharon: You said an important word, strategy. How do you explain to them that you can't have it look like the Lifesavers package over here and the Tiffany package over there? How do you explain this? Michael: It depends on your service. Every business, it's like its own unique person. They all have brand voice and brand ideology and all those things that come into it; that's the bigger picture. When it comes to the web presence in general, it comes into things like what are your goals as a business? What is your brick and mortar doing as far as dollars? Is it a $1 million dollar store? Is it a $5 million store? Is it a $20 million store?  We service the entire gambit. Are you in a small town? That gives you a different strategy. Do you have competitors? Are there other jewelry stores in your town? I'm from a town of 4,000 people. There was one jewelry store in the next town over, and those people have a different strategy for, for example, pay-per-click or SEO than people in Los Angeles, where there's a jewelry store every mile. That is a different strategy as far as how centralized they should be targeting, how broad. The people in the next town over who have a jewelry store, they can set their search radius to 40 miles or 50 miles, whereas the people in Los Angeles need to be targeting very hyper-specific keywords. It's also going to cost a lot more money because the competition is more. So, it all depends. There's no hard-and-fast rule when it comes to, “Oh, you need to be doing X,” because it has to be tailored to what your business approach is as well as where you're located. Sharon: I'm sure you're thinking about this when you're thinking about the user experience, but tell us more about how that role differs. Doesn't everybody in a sense have direct user experience? Michael: I think that's a great question also. User experience is very much the nebulous specter that we're always trying to catch. I always say I can feel it when I feel it. Buying with Amazon—I hate using Amazon for the experience, but let's even talk about Nike. Nike makes great shoes. I buy all my shoes from Nike. Well, what Nike does that is so incredible is that they make it so you can find your product as seamlessly and without pause as possible. When I am buying a pair of shoes, I know I can go in and find the shoes I want without having to look. You go on. You click on shoes. They ask you men's or women's shoes. Well, I want men's. Do you want running shoes or trail shoes, because there's a difference? I want street running shoes. You click on those. They show you all of them. They have alternative angles. Those are all things that go into user experience. The other things that go into it are kind of magic tricks. For example, people who are listening at home, do this: go to Nike and add a product to your shopping cart. Go to check out in the shopping cart. What you're not going to realize until I point it out to you is that the entire navigation goes away; it disappears. The only thing that shows is the Nike logo on the top. This is true for Burberry. This is true for Amazon. When you get into the buy funnel—buy funnel, that's a fancy word for when you get into the checkout process—they get rid of as many distractions as possible. They understand that you are as close as possible to taking out your wallet and paying for those shoes or what have you, and they don't want to distract you with the opportunity to go back and read about the latest tube tops. They want you to go in and buy those shoes, and they get rid of all the distractions. That's one thing we're trying to improve as well as our checkout experience.  You can see this in real life. There is user experience in real life, and one of those examples is Michael's, the craft store. There's a reason why they make the checkout line so frigging long. It's because they don't want you to get in line and see how long the line looks and then leave. They want you to get into it, and the chance of your leaving and not converting on your sale is much lower if you're going to have to bump into other people and exit the—what is it called—the cattle line. It's very important. People have done the strategy and thought about this kind of stuff, and you can see it everywhere on websites with user experience. Sharon: That's interesting. Maybe you do this on some of the sites—I'm thinking maybe it's Postmates that does this—but you check out people who bought what you bought, those pants or this top or whatever. Michael: Right, upsells. Sharon: I guess. It seems like that might be another strategy. Is it Home Goods where the checkout line is full of all the little impulse purchase things, the dollar items? Michael: Well, they know that those impulse purchases, that's exactly what they are.  They're impulse, which means I'm going to reach over and grab the stuffed animal for my significant other at home without thinking about it. If they took that stuffed animal and put it in one of their aisles, the chance of my doing that is going be less. Also, the time I'm going to spend in front of that stuffed animal is going to be quite a bit higher while I'm standing in line as opposed to walking down an aisle.  It all comes down to data. There you can find all these really interesting things. I use this example all the time; you buy a pair of sapphire earrings. Well, if you have a little bit of a budget, maybe you should get a sapphire bracelet or a sapphire necklace and those sorts of things. Maybe you don't; no problem. But when it comes to offering that and the chance that they convert on it, one in 10, even one in 100, well, you just sold double the amount of your product. It's all about those little things that go into having a successful website. It's taking into account previous trends and things that are hot, you might say, and leaning into them. Sharon: As the Director of User Experience, I know it's all about data no matter what, but are you looking at that data and saying, “This is how we can improve the experience”? What are you looking at, exactly? Michael: You can do things in a variety of different ways when you look at data. Two years ago, Punchmark had a big switch where we measure everything now internally and externally. The mindset is that you can't fix what you can't measure. A lot of what we're seeing is that the average transaction size is going up. What that means, if you think about it a little bit, is that people are becoming more comfortable buying stuff online. The other thing we're seeing as far as data is financing. There are companies like Sezzle and Affirm where you can see a variety of different options. We're seeing that retailers that offer some type of financing, shoppers want the opportunity to use that. Affirm allows you to split payments into up to 12 payments.  Why is that good? Well, buying jewelry is a luxury. It's expensive. If I'm going to say, “O.K., you need to throw down $1,000 for this bracelet,” maybe they don't have $1,000. Maybe you won't ever be in a financial state where you can afford $1,000 off the top and hand it over, but if I was to say, “O.K., you can pay me $100 for 12 months,” the odds are that fits a little bit better. We are looking at the state of these retailer websites that offer financing options, and we see that they are converting on higher-ticket price point items a lot more frequently. That's an example of the things we look for that we can reverse engineer. Sharon: What differences do you see between a website for the rest of us versus for those in the jewelry industry? Are there certain things that jewelry industry professionals, whether you're a jeweler, a retailer, a maker, a bench jeweler, should keep in mind, as opposed to somebody who manufactures widgets? Michael: To make sure I'm answering your correct question, you're saying a difference between a small-town jeweler versus a Tiffany? Sharon: I'm saying more if somebody who manufacturers bandages decides they're going to do a website because they want to attract wholesale clients versus a jewelry industry retailer or manufacturer, are there certain things that you think are different? Michael: Yeah, absolutely. We have to look at the similarities in the products and also the prices of these products. Back to jewelry and luxury items, it's a one-time purchase, one-time meaning if you buy this $1,000 bracelet and you wear it every day for a year and you love that bracelet, you're probably not going to go back and buy the same bracelet again. Maybe you would, but probably not; that's not what we see. The reason is because that bracelet is still as good as the first time you got it, and that has to do with luxury, long-terms items.  A similar industry that has a similar buying state of mind is the furniture business. For example, think about the similarities if I buy a couch. Couches are really expensive if you're curious. We'll pretend this couch is $4,000. I love that couch. If I sit on it every single day for a year and I think to myself, “Man, this couch is awesome,” odds are I'm not going to go back and buy that same couch, but I could buy a matching loveseat. The same thing with jewelry. If I like that bracelet, I'll probably buy a matching earring. You mentioned bandages. Bandages would be a recurring purchase. I try my best never to compare jewelry stores to websites like Sephora. They make makeup and beauty products. I'm very fascinated by Sephora's business model. If I buy a concealer, for example, and I love that concealer—some women get really attached to certain products if it's the right fit for them—and I use it every single day for one year, I will probably run out. If I really like it, I'm going to buy it again. That's why there's a different mindset in the purchasing and buying state-of-mind for shoppers for luxury one-time purchases and recurring purchases. We try to lean into other sites, like a Burberry who sells a fashion product like a trench coat. If you wear it all the time, you're not going buy the trench coat again; you're going to buy something similar. Sharon: Interesting. There's so much to talk about when it comes to marketing this stuff.  Michael: Thank you. Sharon: What do you see as the top three mistakes that those in the jewelry industry make on their websites or when you're talking digital marketing? Michael: I think the first mistake—and we've already talked about this ad nauseum, so I won't spend too much time on it—is the crockpot methodology, thinking that it's going to sell on its own. That's unfortunately just not the case. You need to be thinking about it. You need to be updating things and creating new pages and working on your SEO. That's probably one.  Number two has to do with imagery. Jewelry is the most visually impactful product that might be out there. I really can't think of anything else, because what it comes down to is not the functionality of the jewelry. A bracelet, it's on your wrist and it looks good, and that's the functionality of it. Beyond that, maybe with earrings, how they move, but not really. It comes down to what it looks like. The end goal is I see it, I want it and I get it. I think a lot of times, these retailers don't put enough time into finding the right products, taking their own product photos or having lifestyle, which is to say having models with the jewelry on their website. As an example of a product details page, when you're shopping for a specific product, you can have, for example, a front view of the piece of jewelry, a side view of the piece of jewelry, maybe an up-close version if it has embossing or engraving or something like that, and then a photo on someone. You probably have a worker in your store; have them put the jewelry on. Snap it with a nice background. Now people can see how it wraps, how it looks around that person's body. I think that that is absolutely a driving force in how you can sell, so that's a good one too. Sharon: That's interesting. The positive would be that the websites that do have that—I see it more and more, where now it's frustrating when you swipe and that's it. There's only one hero shot and that's it.  Michael: If it's just one thing, like a pendant, I want to see what the back of the pendant looks like. It's going to be common that I have to see the back of the pendant. I want to see what the clasp looks like. Does it have a lobster clasp or some fancy clasp? Showing that information, like we talked about in the beginning, aids in that comfortability and that confidence when they fork over a couple of thousand dollars on this piece of jewelry. They need to feel confident it's the right purchase. Sharon: You want to see how it looks on somebody's wrist, even if it's just a plastic mannequin. How does it look on a neck? I don't know if this is my last question because I could ask you questions all day long. Michael: No, I appreciate it. Sharon: What I noticed, and I find it a little concerning being a baby boomer who's looked at marketing for a long time, it seems that everybody is moving onto Instagram. Every jeweler has moved to Instagram. They may have a Facebook page and they may have a Twitter—I don't know what the others are—but it seems they're skipping a website. It's like, “Oh, I don't need the website. I'm just putting everything on Instagram.”  What are your thoughts about that? Michael: Again, I might be biased—I'll get that out of the way first. I will say this: I think the shopping tools on Instagram are absolutely marvelous. Full disclosure: I really dislike the company Facebook. I'm not a fan of them, but what they have done is make a whole suite of tools that go with Instagram. For example, if you do these collection photos where you show a bracelet, a necklace, earrings and a ring all on one page, you can tag those products. A lot of the time, they do rely on having a website as the hub, so they're feeding the information in. I don't know if the website's time is heading toward the sunset and going fully Instagram is nigh, but I will say the tools on Instagram are incredible.  The other thing they do offer is fantastic retargeting. If you go on there and you like a product, as in double-tap it, they're going to re-serve that to you, and they can get better at fine tuning it. You can tell that Instagram is serious about being a shopping tool because they've replaced one of the five icons on the bottom of the Instagram app to become a shopping bag so people can buy easier. Sharon: Very smart. I also find it annoying, but understandable and smart, that every time I say, “Oh yeah, I like this,” “Well, we need your email address. Do you want to see anything else you want on your email address?” No, don't give me the discount. I don't want to give you my email address. Let me just see the product. But you can't do that. Michael: It's all about that retargeting. It's because it works, unfortunately. Sharon: No, it does. Michael: As someone who has worked in the industry for enough time, it can be very easy to get jaded about this kind of stuff and be like, “They're just flooding my inbox with all this stuff.” I get it. If I was on the edge of buying this product and I don't buy it, and you're hitting me back with a discount code: “Hey, get 20 percent off on this thing,” well, I was going to buy it for 100 percent. Now it's a little bit off, and now I can rationalize it better and get it. It does work. Sharon: Absolutely, or they wouldn't be doing it. I'm sure they're looking at the data. Michael, thank you so much. This is so interesting, and I'm sure it's given a lot of people ideas about what they need to go back and revisit or start doing. Thank you so much for being with us today. Michael: Thank you so much, Sharon, for having me on. I really appreciate it. If you guys want to hear more about emerging tech and information regarding the jewelry industry, we have a podcast called In the Loupe. That's on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, whenever you want it. We have a lot more information about different merging tech. You can learn more about Punchmark general at Punchmark.com. Sharon: Thanks. I do want to mention that you have a lot of very informative articles on your site. Michael: I appreciate that. Thank you so much. Sharon: It's definitely worth checking out. We will have images posted on the website. You can find us wherever you download your podcasts, and please rate us. Please join us next time, when our guest will be another jewelry industry professional who will share their experience and expertise. Thank you so much for listening. Thank you again for listening. Please leave us a rating and review so we can help others start their own jewelry journey.  

Det finns en fråga jag faktiskt aldrig tänkt på. En fråga som trots min ADHD, min autism och mitt sinne för skräck och mörker och det övernaturliga aldrig kommit ens nära mina funderingar. Måste man vara död för att spöka? Men någon som faktiskt tänkt på det är Michaelas vän. För något har hänt.. Men vad? Man Behöver Inte Vara Död - Skriven utav Michaela Schmidt och uppläst av Tommy Nordin Ljudeffekter & Bakgrundsmusik Intro – Tommy Nordin – Mörkrets Makter Uppföljaren Säsong 4 richwise (freesound.org) florianreichelt(freesound.org) szegvari (freesound.org) Setuniman(freesound.org) Producerat av Tommy Nordin för Mohawk Dawg Media. ©® Alla rättigheter för text och musik är oavkortat upphovspersonernas.

Who is Michael Barnett, and what was his path to being a business owner? (1:24) When should you get lawyers involved in a family business? (3:26) What was life like when he took over the company? 2012 - 2016: Growing the company, focused on sales, no idea how much money was in the bank. (6:12) What caused his vision of the company to change? What were the biggest issues he faced as a new business owner who was trying to build and grow a legacy? (7:18) How was he prospecting for new customers? (9:14) 2017: Focused his sights on commercial work because there was more money in it. (11:22) They hit a million in sales, but started to feel some cashflow problems. (12:46) Even though they grew in 2017, they lost money. So, Michael started talking to other business owners and took a mastermind class with Martin (14:41) Bookkeeping 101: How to use good books to make decisions. (17:16) Becoming a business owner, not just an electrician Being a business owner is fun. (18:43) They started focusing on service work because it had 40% margins without putting in any work to improve processes. (24:06) BUT, Michael DID improve the service processes. Here's how. (25:30) Michael's mentality through the changes? “Jump. We'll build the wings on the way down.” (30:18) The power of getting rid of the hourly rate and charging a service fee. (34:48) How Michael sets his costs AND protects his customers. (36:30) How technology supports his business. (38:30) What was the key to turning around his business? (42:58) The evolution of his vision. (45:28) What's Michael's advice for others who want success? (47:35) Ethan's Insights — Ethan's favorite moments from the interview. (49:25) Quotable Moments “If you're cheap enough, you can get as much work as you want, but you won't be around.” — Michael “We broke a million, so where's the money?” — Michael  “If you have 35 margins and you raise your prices 10, you can lose 22 of your business before you lose 1 penny of profit.” — M “Jump. We'll build the wings on the way down.” — Michael “As a business owner, you have to make those leaps of faith all the time. Otherwise, you just stay stagnant, get in a rut, and you don't improve. You miss out on opportunities and you don't grow.” — K ResourcesThe Discount CalculatorMore from Michael Barnettelectrical.com Facebook Instagram LinkedIn Twitter More from Martin theprofitproblem.com annealbc.com    martin@anealbc.com  LinkedIn Facebook Instagram More from Khalil benali.com  khalil@benali.com LinkedIn Facebook Instagram More from The Cashflow Contractor Subscribe to Our Newsletter Ask Us A Question Sign Up For A Free Consultation thecashflowcontractor.com  info@thecashflowcontractor.com LinkedIn Facebook Instagram

Om semesterkänslan när man sitter i bilkö som småbarnsförälder, järn & saltnivåer och såklart allt om Michaelas operation.

Om otroliga tårtor, Michaelas operation och faran med stark sol.

Planning extended leave from your practice: What psychologists and therapists need to know before going on maternity leave or other extended leave with Dr Rosie Gilderthorp and Dr Michaela Thomas  Summary and Key Learning pointsIt is my hope that this podcast episode will be useful to any psychologist or therapist who needs to take a longer break from their practice. For me, and for Michaela, our guest today and long time friend of the podcast, we are taking breaks from our practices because of maternity leave but you could also need to take a break for other life events, maybe even something fun like travel! This episode is not intended to give you a one size fits all plan for extended leave/maternity leave. Every practice and person is different and one of the things I love most about independent practice is that you can flexibly adapt everything to suit your values and needs. Instead Michaela and I will talk you through some key points that you need to consider and we will let you in on our thinking and our plans.    So before we jump into our maternity plans I think it is important that we both introduce our businesses and say a bit about what our normal working weeks involve as that obviously has a big impact on planning a break!   Michaelas's business: https://thethomasconnection.co.uk/ (The Thomas Connection) Tuesday- Friday: 3 days clinical sessions (9 clients) CEO day on Friday  Afternoons focus on passive income streams and visibility including - podcasts, speaking, online course, writing, managing her team.   My business: The Innovation in Mental Health Project  IMHP actually has three projects within it that all contribute to the overall social enterprise.  https://psychologybusinessschool.com/ (Psychology Business School) https://psychologybusinessschool.com/the-psychology-business-school/ (Psychology Business School Online Course) (building thriving & fulfilling) practices https://psychologybusinessschool.com/the-do-more-than-therapy-membership/ (Do More Than Therapy Membership) (growing and developing passive income streams to make more impact in your practice) https://psychologybusinessschool.com/1-to-1-coaching-for-mental-health-professionals/ (1: 1 coaching for psychologists and therapists) in independent practice   https://inmindconsulting.com/ (In Mind Consulting) A separate company with three other incredible psychologists, Kat, Boo and Kendelle! We offer bespoke training and consultancy packages to organisations that want to improve the mental wellbeing of their teams, particularly in the wake of COVID 19 induced change, uncertainty and conflict.   https://drrosie.co.uk/ (Dr Rosie Psychology Services) Therapy Perinatal online courses Hypnobirthing Associates   Michaela's maternity leave plan: Psychological flexibility is key! Saved money as a buffer of £12,000  Plan to take dividends of £1000 a month (limited company)    My maternity leave plan: 3 months off (while writing a book as I can't ever stop writing) 3 months teaching PBS and DMTT only  3 months teaching + consultancy Clinical work and 1:1 coaching to resume after 12 months   Key points to consider when planning your maternity leave/extended leave  How long do you actually want off?  This is my third baby and the honest answer to this has been different every time. It is also likely that you won't know in advance so it is important to model out some different scenarios and allow for flexibility.  Financially forecast different versions of your leave.  Model what it would look like if you needed to take longer than your plan or if you delegated more or less of your work. Eg. If I stopped the-clinical side of my practice all together I could pay my VA less so I needed to model if it was likely to be worth paying her + keeping the associates going. Consolidate outgoing expenses and reduce where...

Entreprenören och influencern Michaela Forni gästar podden Framtidens E-Handel och berättar om vad hon tycker om influencerlivet. Hur är livet med småbarn och blomstrande karriär? Vilka nitlotter kan man lätt gå på som influencer? Och vad tänker Björn angående influenceryrket? Ta del av Michaelas spännande resa i detta avsnitt i Framtidens E-handel. Michaela berättar om sina flertaliga projekt, om hur det gick med hennes första kollektion, och hur influenceryrket har förändrat henne som person. Hon förklarar även hur viktigt det är att ha perspektiv på livet, hur mycket data hon analyserar, och hur man blir en influencer 2021. Michaela berättar slutligen om misstagen som företag gör när dem kontaktar influencers för samarbeten. Här hittar du Michaela & Fornihttps://www.instagram.com/michaelaforni/https://forni.se/ Gillar du podden? Stötta oss & donera en slant

Folge 248 von Micha: Geburtsvorbereitungskurse, Kosten in Nerven gerechnet, 15 kleine Michas und Michaelas und welche Dynamik Selbstliebe sehr schnell einbringen kann. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

När man är barn finns det få som är så viktiga som ens mamma. Hon är den man söker tröst och bekräftelse hos. Den som älskar en ovillkorligt. Men hur är det då när det inte är så? När en mamma inte är den tryggaste av alla? När mamma hotar att ta livet av en och att skära av en tårna? När mamma är den man får fly undan. Det var systrarna Susanne och Michaelas barndom och verklighet. I dagens avsnitt får ni höra Susannes storasyster Michaela Kivelä.

Sneak, sneak, sneak. Karfreitag ist fast vorbei und da schleichen wir uns nochmal schnell mit einer kleinen Osterspecialepisode zur Katzenklappe rein.Sebastian und Nils waren beide unabhängig voneinander laufen und haben Euch einen feinen Ostergag mit Michaela Schaffrath mitgebracht. Schmeckt am besten mit Fanta.Bleibt gesund und uns treu. Demächst gibt es uns wieder länger. Versprochen.And don't forget: Always look on the bright side of life. KATZENGOLD. BREMENS MEISTER PODCAST ist eine Pape & Nils-Produktion mit freundlicher Untestützung von "Maßnahmen zur Verbesserung der Lebensqualität" sowie dermeckerling.com

I vårt 15e avsnitt får du veta mer om Michaelas och Karolinas ingångar till samt syn på flersamhet i olika form. Michaela berättar om första gången som hon och hennes partner hade en trekant ihop med en annan kvinna och Karolina berättar om sina erfarenheter av fyrkanter och gemensam dejting. Välkommen att lyssna och inspireras!Vår samarbetspartner och sponsor Lustgården Uppsala Kondomeri ger er lyssnare 20% rabatt på ett helt köp på deras webshop mellan datumen 19/3-1/4 när ni vid köpet anger koden ”trekanten”. www.lustgarden.se Stöd oss på Patreon! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tonia and Michael talk about the importance of thinking from the perspective of the other person's perspective and power of partnerships. Michael shares his professional networking tips and how to network more effectively. He says it helps to understand business partnerships and making business referrals. Links Michael mentioned: Website: https://websitesbyawakenedinnovations.com/ Email: Michael@awakenedinnovations.com More about Michael: As a previous business coach with ActionCoach, the world's #1 business coaching firm, I ask the questions other website designers don't ask. I give advice to my clients to give them the best chance of success in their online journey. Ways to Support and Grow with Us: Subscribe and Become a Financial SUPPORTOR: https://bit.ly/37qE8pO Coffee With T Clothing and Apparel Store: https://teespring.com/stores/coffee-with-t #ConfidentStrides #coffeewitht #toniatyler #strideflowcreate Our featured video podcast "Coffee with T" on Confident Strides is a 20-minute conversational interview on different topics ranging personal development to business strategy and entertainment to foster empowerment in others. We believe everyone has story to share. By creating this platform, people can share their wisdom and insight, gain exposure and allow their voices to be heard. At Confident Strides, we believe that if you strengthen the core of an individual, other domains to include relationships and vocation will flourish as a natural byproduct of that empowerment. Connect with COFFEE With T via Confident Strides: WEBSITE: https://confidentstrides.com/ Watch on YouTube: https://bit.ly/2Zv4jJJ Share with us: What was one of your favorite takeaways from today's show? Before we go, show some love by leaving us a review. Thanks for listening. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/confidentstrides/support

Jag har sagt det förut och jag säger det igen: det är KUL att lyfta fram dom som inte alltid står mitt i rampljuset.↠Hon föddes bokstavligt in i livet som entreprenör och när hon för första gången upptäckte Åre hade hon hittat hem - nu bygger hon ett liv och en verksamhet där på riktigt tillsammans med en stor och aktiv familj.↠Michaela Fröstad Askergren har skvalpat runt i mina flöden och tankar i flera års tid men det där givna intervjutillfället har inte riktigt uppenbarat sig. Men då jag i slutet av förra året hade anledning att göra en snabb visit i Åre lyckades vi synka min obokade kalender med Michaelas minst sagt späckade och vi kunde spela in en lång, fin intervju i den husbil från Acamp som jag reste i.↠Häng med i ett långt samtal om uppväxten på landet och bondgården, med ponnyridningsprojekt i Tomteland i Gesunda, upptäckten av Åre och om att parallellt driva Fors Golf i Stockholm.↠Om att bli Teamåkare för Peak Performance, om då hon beslutade sig för att plugga till systemvetare och om dagen då hennes man frågade henne om det inte var dags att flytta till Åre på riktigt.↠Historien bakom Arena Run på Friends Arena, varför hon trivs i Åre, varför hon alltid behöver fylla livet med projekt och inte minst om det senaste hjärteprojektet: Åre Ripmon. Support till showen http://supporter.acast.com/husky. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Consulting case interviews, office selection: McKinsey, BCG, Bain This episode is a short piece from a full session available to FC Insiders on StrategyTraining website and apps. NEW PILOT INITIATIVE - One-on-one advice session with Michael: As many of you know, we have a long waiting list for private coaching with Michael, over 3 years, and a very stringent selection process, very few people are selected. However, we launched a pilot initiative within which a few spots are available now. You are welcome to apply for a one-on-one advice session with Michael. Can be regarding any aspect of your career: helping you develop your career plan, getting Michael's input on specific career challenge you are facing, getting advice on growing/starting your own business, preparing for case interviews, lessons from Lisa's journey to her greencard, etc. To make sure it is a win-win, the advice session is recorded and made available to the FIRMSconsulting community and/or becomes part of FC training content. Additionally, a fee is charged to make this more of a win-win for both parties. This also ensures the seriousness of candidates. This is a very rare opportunity to do a one-on-one session with Michael. If your application is approved you can request additional sessions after your first session, subject to availability. Contact support@firmsconsulting.com for more details and to apply. If you would like to get access to sample episodes from StrategyTraining website, go to www.firmsconsulting.com/promo #MBB #McKinsey #caseinterviews

Michaela Prazak verarztet mal eben zwei Themen in einem Podcast. Episode 40 sollte entweder "Wie wichtig ist ein gutes Produkt" oder "The Secret - funktioniert das wirklich?" heißen. Zwei Themen die ich schon lange auf meiner Liste hatte. Herausgekommen ist ein Interview, das mehr als diese beiden Fragen beantwortet und hoffentlich eure Neugier auf Michaelas eigenen Podcast weckt: Spiritualität & Business bei iTunes Spiritualität & Business bei Spotify Spiritualität & Business bei Anchor

Who is Michael Barnett, and what was his path to being a business owner? (1:24) When should you get lawyers involved in a family business? (3:26) What was life like when he took over the company? 2012 - 2016: Growing the company, focused on sales, no idea how much money was in the bank. (6:12) What caused his vision of the company to change? What were the biggest issues he faced as a new business owner who was trying to build and grow a legacy? (7:18) How was he prospecting for new customers? (9:14) 2017: Focused his sights on commercial work because there was more money in it. (11:22) They hit a million in sales, but started to feel some cashflow problems. (12:46) Even though they grew in 2017, they lost money. So, Michael started talking to other business owners and took a mastermind class with Martin (14:41) Bookkeeping 101: How to use good books to make decisions. (17:16) Becoming a business owner, not just an electrician Being a business owner is fun. (18:43) They started focusing on service work because it had 40% margins without putting in any work to improve processes. (24:06) BUT, Michael DID improve the service processes. Here's how. (25:30) Michael's mentality through the changes? “Jump. We'll build the wings on the way down.” (30:18) The power of getting rid of the hourly rate and charging a service fee. (34:48) How Michael sets his costs AND protects his customers. (36:30) How technology supports his business. (38:30) What was the key to turning around his business? (42:58) The evolution of his vision. (45:28) What's Michael's advice for others who want success? (47:35) Ethan's Insights — Ethan's favorite moments from the interview. (49:25) Quotable Moments “If you're cheap enough, you can get as much work as you want, but you won't be around.” — Michael “We broke a million, so where's the money?” — Michael  “If you have 35 margins and you raise your prices 10, you can lose 22 of your business before you lose 1 penny of profit.” — M “Jump. We'll build the wings on the way down.” — Michael “As a business owner, you have to make those leaps of faith all the time. Otherwise, you just stay stagnant, get in a rut, and you don't improve. You miss out on opportunities and you don't grow.” — K ResourcesThe Discount CalculatorMore from Michael Barnettelectrical.com Facebook Instagram LinkedIn Twitter More from Martin theprofitproblem.com annealbc.com    martin@anealbc.com  LinkedIn Facebook Instagram More from Khalil benali.com  khalil@benali.com LinkedIn Facebook Instagram More from The Cashflow Contractor Subscribe to Our Newsletter Ask Us A Question Sign Up For A Free Consultation thecashflowcontractor.com  info@thecashflowcontractor.com LinkedIn Facebook Instagram

Introducing, One Last ThingOne Last Thing is a video experience accompanied by a digital lifebook; a place for everything you need to share the story about your life and plan for death. One Last Thing takes the guesswork out of how to get started. We guide you and provide thought-starters, so it feels natural to share memories, tell your story, and express what matters most.One Last Thing makes a tough thing easier. We cover the tactical aspects such as your:medical and healthcare directivesestate and financesdigital lifememorialpersonal belongings...and then we get to the good stuff, the lessons you've learned, your secrets to a good life, and so much more. We even guide and support you as you write letters that will be sent after you're gone, a treasure that will stay with your loved ones.One Last Thing is your story of living and dying well. The end result is a cover to cover, comprehensive lifebook that’s uniquely about you.Early backers will get access to our private online community for live Q&A's, interviews, webinars, and additional content.Fawn: As a hospice volunteer, an end-of-life Doula, and now an educator, I understand the complexities of dying and the difficulties loved ones face when managing their affairs after their loved one has passed on. There’s so much that’s missing currently in the way that we die.Michael: As a storyteller and visual arts creator, the thing I keep returning to is that I want my life to mean something. Something I can pass on that will be of use to those that come after me. When we share our stories, truths, perspectives with others, that's how we pass down our values and traditions.Join the Kickstarter...https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/onelastthing/one-last-thing?ref=project_emailThere is no greater gift to those we love and ourselves, then to have a chance to share that.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/death-by-design. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this Episode Tom, Michael and Emil share their systems that take the headache out of acquisitions and ownership to effectively scale up.  --- Transcript:   Tom: Greetings and welcome to the remote real estate investor. My name is Tom Schneider, and I'm here with Emil Shour and Michael Albaum. And today we're going to be talking about something that is near and dear to my heart. We're talking about building systems. We're talking about automation. We're talking about scaling. We're going to touch on these topics and a couple of specific strategies as it relates to acquisitions and ownership. All right, let's do it.   Tom: All right. Welcome back to The Remote Real Estate Investor. Before we get going today, we're going to do a quick introduction from the host a little bit about ourselves and our experience and background and all that good stuff. So, Michael, why don't you go ahead and lead us off?   Michael: Sure. So I'm Michael Albaum. I used to work in my past life as a professional fire protection engineer in the commercial property insurance industry. So everyone has to bear with me if I speak in math terms, cause I'm a reformed engineer. I've been an investor for the better part of a decade and started very traditionally with single families. And now I've found a, found my stride and niche with multifamily value, add projects out in the Midwest. And I'm also the head coach of the Roofstock Academy program and meal. Can you introduce us to yourself and your mustache?   Emil: Hey everybody. My name is Emil Shour. I work on the marketing team here at Roofstock. My fun fact is I actually bought a couple properties through Roofstock before I was ever working here. It was a big fan of what the company was doing and now lucky enough to get to help spread the word. And I own a couple single family rentals across the Southeast and Midwest.   Tom: And my name is Tom Schneider. I am the director of investor education here at Roofstock. My career has been focusing on putting technology process to scale and build systems. So this episode is particularly exciting for me is how I do this personally, with my investing. I've been in real estate investing for over the past 10 years, and I'm also a California broker.   Michael: Nice.   Emil: The only one of us who's licensed. Where do you have your license hung somewhere as a broker?   Tom: You can just hang it right around here.   Michael: Yeah. Hang it on yourself.   Tom: Hang it on myself.   Michael: The broker test. Isn't so much more work than just the agent test, right?   Tom: It is. They've made it harder when I got my broker's license, it wasn't quite as difficult, but they made the experience requirements a lot more difficult. It was kind of funny. I initially worked in acquisitions for one of the publicly traded rates and literally the day that I passed the broker test, the person who was leading our technology says, Hey Tom, we need a can-do guy to help build out a bunch of systems. And I was like, okay, cool. Let's do it. So I got my broker's license and then proceeded to never use it until I did use it when I bought my own house. So I guess it paid for itself there.   Emil: What is the difference between an agent and a broker?   Tom: I'll tell you, I should kind of have an idea on this. So an agent needs their license to be hung underneath the broker. The idea is a broker understands the business a little more and folks who are agents can eventually become a broker. If they wish to, they basically can operate on their own. So within California, you can apply for an agent or a broker. And the broker aspect of the test is a little bit harder and the requirements to get it is a little bit more difficult.   Emil: Got it. So a broker can do everything an agent can do, but an agent can't do everything a broker can do.   Tom: Yes. Yes, that's correct. That's a good way to put it.   Michael: Getting ready for my broker tests.   Emil: Awesome. I've already learned something on this episode!   Tom: Early and often, baby early and often. All right. We'll jump into some system stuff. So we have a variety of different things and we're going to have a different one of the hosts take the lead in talking about. So we're going to start with acquisitions. And Emil, why don't you lead us off on some systems, some practical systems that folks can do on their own.   Emil: It might be a little obvious, but I still think it's worth stating. Set up automated filters and alerts on the places you look for properties. If you're on Roofstock. If you guys are familiar with stock is our marketplace where people can buy and sell single family rental properties. You can go and filter by whatever meets your criteria and save that filter. So you get notifications when new properties hit the site that meet that filter requirement, same thing on other sites like Zillow or Redfin or realtor.com, wherever you're, once you've figured out your buy box. And I'll talk about that in a second. Defining it, plugging it in as a filter so you get automatic notifications cause you want to be on top of those listings, right? When they hit the site, right? It's a lot more effective than just constantly going on them and checking your listings. Even though I do that all the time anyways,   Michael: I don't know about you guys, but I constantly get notifications from Zillow and Redfin about new properties that have hit the market, but I didn't save a filter even, you know, I searched there twice or three times and now I was like, Oh great. You're super hungry for properties in that market. So I'm just getting blasted by these emails. Yeah.   Emil: Every time I look@realtor.com, like I was curious the other day about like, what do multifamily in Bakersfield sell for? And now I've just, I've been getting Bakersfield filter notifications from realtor.com. It's like, man,   Tom: What's cool about these websites and the filters, a little pro tip is you can get really granular with your filters and set up multiple filters. So what I'll do is on my inbox that I have all set up multiple inboxes and I'll set up a filter within my I'm gonna, we're gonna do filters on filters. This is a very layered,   Michael: Filter-ception   Tom: Yeah. Very meta. So within my inbox, shout out Gmail, just kidding   Emil: @Gmail, let us know if you want to sponsor us.   Michael: Yeah. I've never heard of this Gmail, but this Tom Schneider guy talked about it.   Tom: Anywho, I set up like a master folder for like incoming property leads. Right. Then within that I'll set up additional folders for each different type of either region or property type. So as new listings that meet my criteria are hitting. I have them in a nice clean folder, so, Oh, great. A new Florida property. That's a duplex in this area and I have a special folder for that. What I'll also do is oftentimes timing can be pretty important and moving quickly, instead of setting up a filter that comes just once a week or once a month, since I have this infrastructure within my Google Gmail, shout out again, I'll have it actually doing real time. So I'm not getting pinged in my main inbox if I'm working on some other stuff, but I have a way to see immediately based on whatever that criteria it's hitting that inbox. So again, the super simple paraphrase, but this isn't that complicated. I have a bunch of different inboxes within my Gmail. And then within the, my buying platforms, I'll set up many filters and many alerts and many immediate alerts. So it'll hit right into my Gmail and I'll know at that time, all right, this one looks pretty good and I can move pretty quickly. And I don't have that issue of, Oh, Property. It's already pending. Like I'm not passively looking for it. It's proactively hitting me as soon as it hits the market and I can act and jumped on it. So that was my extra tidbit on that piece of mill,   Michael: That description Tom was amazing. It gave me such a visual of kind of how you operate. And it made me reflect about how I operate. And you, I'm picturing this nice, neat cubby with nice section organizers. And mind's like just a fricking melted pizza, but it's just crap everywhere. It's, I'm so jealous. I want to be like you and I grow up and have these systems, but in place, I love that.   Tom: That's why we make a great team, Michael. That's why we make great team   Michael: Coffee-man, and melted pizza.   Emil: Oh yeah. I'm not surprised Tom is like the most organized out of all of us internally. And I'm not surprised when it comes to acquisitions. You're equally as organized with the pick and choose you pick and choose. There's definitely lots of messages. So one thing, if you're going to one of the sites we mentioned, and you're not sure how you should set your criteria, just know that it's okay to start a little wider. And then as you've looked at more and more listings, I think you'll get better at defining your buy box. I know we talk about it a lot and we say, okay, build your buy box. And sometimes it's hard to just like, know what to choose. Right. I kind of started larger. For example, I chose a couple of different markets, couple of different properties, size, like a bigger property size.   Tom: I like it. You feel that you need to shoot with a sniper. I keep using these weapon analogies, but it's okay if you're not sure to start with like a broader spray and then work your way down as you refine what you're looking for. But I'd say it's better to keep it an open, an open range, and then, then shrink that down.   Michael: Nick it down.   Emil: Yup, exactly. And also because sometimes whoever uploaded the listing, sometimes they don't include that information. Right? So if you have like really, really specific defined criteria, you may miss something where whoever listed at the seller or the agent or whatever, just didn't submit that information. It doesn't hit the filter. I've noticed that on a couple of things.   Michael:   And just a pro tip for everybody listening to, if your budget is a hundred grand on the high end, set your filter up to one 20 to include properties that are listed above that because you might offer a 100K and get it. Versus if you set your filter criteria right at your end budget, you might never have seen those properties.   Emil: Yeah great tip, go like 10, 20% above what you are actually planning on spending.   Michael: It also gives you an idea of what the next tier of property looks like. So if you did want to ultimately spend more, no. What would that buy you?   Tom: One last piece of advice on building a bike box is to think about how many properties do you practically want to evaluate at a given time? And yeah, you can control this with your buybacks by how targeted it is. So if I have a lot of time and I want to look at a lot of product properties, I'm going to have a really wide buy box. If I don't have a lot of time right now to evaluate properties, I'm going to tighten my buybacks down a little bit. So one way to think about it is to work backwards about what your kind of capacity is for evaluating effectively.   Emil: It's also, I think when you're first starting out, I think it's okay to, again, to nail this point of going a little broader, I think with time and experience and having different property types, you'll start to get an idea of like, this is the exact property I want in this exact area.   Tom: Awesome. Michael, do you wanna jump on your next acquisition system?   Michael: Yeah, absolutely. So, so much of this, in addition to searching, can be done socially kind of quote unquote. And so just talking to everybody who's willing to listen and maybe even some of those who aren't, about what it is that you're looking for. So just in everyday conversations, talk to friends, family members, people in your network about what it is you're doing and what it is you're looking to do because so many eyes are going to be better than, than just one set. So if someone then comes across a property just in their everyday life and thinks, Oh, well, I remember Tom mentioning that he was kind of looking for something like this. That can be a great deal funnel for you as well. Property managers can also be a fantastic, fantastic source of deals for you, which is pretty automatic. You just tell them, Hey, this is what I'm looking for. You, you set your filter, so to speak with them and any property that comes across their radar. Oh, Hey. Yeah. I remember, you know, Emil, I kind of managed this property for him. And he's looking for something like this. It becomes so easy. And so automatic that it's one of those things you can just kind of say it and continue saying it and then forget it. There's not a whole lot of nurturing that has to be done with those types of things, other than some, you know, reminders. And don't be the person that, Hey, have you found any properties yet? Have you found any properties? Just put it out into the universe and just kind of let it, let it bake for a bit and see.   Tom: It's like The Secret. You guys remember that book?   Pierre: I'm still waiting for that check in the mail.   Tom: It's coming! Wasn't it The Secret and then The Answer as a followup or something.   Emil: Yeah.   Tom: Incredible. Incredible marketing.   Michael: I didn't read that one. What's The Secret about?   Pierre: It's the laws attraction.   Michael: Uh, okay. Okay.   Pierre: It's when you focus on something for long enough and eventually it comes to you, essentially.   Emil: That's right. You don't have to actually do anything. Just think about it every day. Hope for it every morning, but no action required. Just think about it.   Michael: Million dollars, Million dollars! So it's interesting. So for the Academy book club, we just did Think and Grow Rich. And I thought that, you know, that was such a great title by Napoleon Hill and we read it and I thought it was really awesome and talked about a lot of kind of high level things, mindset type stuff. And it was talked about very similar type stuff. And it was, it was interesting. They're all talking about, you know, if we stand around here and talk about blue cars, we'll probably go out and see a bunch more blue cars. And it's not so much that there are more blue cars on the road. It's just that now we're cognizant of that thing. It's kind of front of mind. So it appears more often for us.   Tom: Yeah. I love that example, Michael, cause not all systems are digital or not all systems are technology, but it's, it's leveraging the people side of your network of funneling in deals through that. So at the end of the day, like a lot of real estate is a people business and nurturing that and building a system that you want and funneling them in deals is excellent.   Michael: All the real estate meetups that I went to, um, pre COVID, they all talk about they'll usually start or end with the needs and wants section. So people talk about, okay, this is what I need or is it “have and wants”   Tom: Maybe it's a “give and a take”, I think I know what you are talking about.   Michael: Yeah. You announced to the group, what it is that you have to offer to the group and then what it is that you're looking for from the group or from in general, until people say I have money and I'm looking for a deal or whatever. And so it's that those are great opportunities as well. And so again, just kind of reiterating, put it out to the world, don't be embarrassed by it. Don't be shy about it. Just make it known what it is you're looking for. Cause it's tough to help people if they haven't told you what it is that they're looking for.   Tom: Awesome. Great example. All right. So I'll touch on the last acquisition related systems slash tip slash ways to scale. And this is a special perk that we have within Roofstock Academy is that members can actually export the listings on Roofstock into Excel. And whenever you can do things evaluating a lot of deals at once, like doing it in Excel, that's a great way to do it. So I guess that the main theme is, you know, try to batch processes together. And in this particular example of being able to download all the listings in Excel, batch that whole evaluation of the whole inventory, you know, in one run where, okay, I'm filtering down to these particular property types or, Oh, I'm filtering down for this particular return. So being able to, if you can get a spreadsheet of what you're evaluating or any kind of way, being able to batch it together, do it saves time.   Michael: And for anybody that's really intimidated by Excel because I know it can often seem very intimidating. There are some really great free courses on YouTube and there are also paid courses. If you want to get more in depth with it, about how to use Excel and maybe how to do some of that batch sorting because it's a really powerful tool. So I guess we're plugging Excel and Gmail in this episode.   Emil: Shout to Google and Microsoft!   Tom: Let's continue on. We're going to go into ownership now and Emil why don't you lead us off.   Emil: Cool. All right. So the first one we're gonna be talking about is cash flow automation. So the first thing I do and you guys let me know if you do this as well. I set up auto pay on all my mortgages. I don't want to think about, did I pay this mortgage? I have to mail a check. I auto pay everything just to make it super easy. Especially when you have multiple properties automating. It is like, step number one. You guys do that as well.   Michael: Yeah, definitely. Absolutely.   Tom: Do you also impound your insurance and property taxes when you pay your mortgage payment?   Emil: I do. I know a lot of people won't because they want that capital and would rather use it throughout the year versus giving it to your lender, to hold it to whatever you like to be able to use that capital. I just don't want to have to think about like, okay, I need to come up with X amount to pay my property tax and insurance. It's kind of like duping yourself into thinking you're richer than you are.   Michael: I don't, I don't use the impound accounts. I will, if they'll give me a better rate for the mortgage. And then as soon as the loan closes, I cancel the escrow account and just pay it myself.   Tom: Sneaky move Michael.   Michael: It's something I'm considering doing just from like a meal mentioned ease of operations. It's just one less thing to think about. So it can be great either way.   Emil: Why do you not impound it?   Michael: For the exact reason you mentioned there are significant funds that are going to be paid to property taxes and insurance on an annual basis. And so I'd rather have that kind of, well, that one time hit is kind of a bummer. I'm able to use that cash. I mean, it's a significant amount such that it's usable on a monthly basis to do other stuff with. And so I just know in the back of my mind that, okay, come this time of year, I've got this big, big property tax bill that's going to be due.   Emil: Yeah. I wonder if there is something there in terms of like at a certain scale, it's a lot more money to be working with versus like, let's say you have one to five properties just for ease and it's not that much extra capital that you'd be able to do something with.   Michael: Yeah, no, that's a good point. I mean, I think everyone should think about it for themselves because even at that five property level, one to five, your property tax bill could be, you know, $25,000 if we're talking about.   Emil: Yeah, that's true. Yeah. Good point.   Tom: Just to clarify impounding your taxes insurance is if you haven't deduced this or don't already know this, it's when you pay your mortgage payment, the mortgage company will also collect a percentage of the annual taxes.   Michael: They'll take one 12th of the annual tax bill, one 12th of the annual insurance bill with your mortgage payment on a monthly basis. So that you're paying equal payments every month. You're not getting hit with your tax bill or insurance bill just at one time.   Tom: And then the mortgage company will just pay it for you. So you don't have to think about it. So, boom, that's another system. So that's a good question about, you know, do you use that money in the meantime, if you don't have to pay it for 12 months, but that could be another potential system. Alright. Emil, I broke your flow.   Emil: Finishing up there. My favorite thing is when they audit your account and you have an excess balance and they send you like a check for a couple of hundred bucks and you're like, Ooh, it's like a Christmas bonus or something. Hanukkah bonus baby. For me,   Tom: I think I might've mentioned this on another podcast. I like it, but it pisses me off. Cause I'm like, oh geez, what check am I missing? Yeah, it makes me think like, okay, this is great having this check. But I'm like, like honestly concerned that like I may have missed something in the mail because man, there's just so much junk mail as a real estate investor. The wholesalers that email you all kinds of things and like just general, getting a lot of mail. I just get really concerned that I see a check here. That's awesome. But what checks am I not seeing? Because they're buried in between a Serina and Lilly or whatever, a  catalog, that's like five pounds and 500 pages. Anyways, go ahead, please continue your answer.   Emil: No, please continue your rant. I want to hear that.   Tom: I got to build it up a little bit. I got to build it up a little bit.   Michael: Tell us more about what other junk mail you received.   Tom: We Buy Ugly Houses Houses. So many of those. Yeah. If there's any wholesalers listening, I want off your mailing lists.   Emil: Okay. So the next one, this one's probably obvious a lot of people, setting up ACH auto payment from your property manager. So they collect your rent checks. I don't even know if any property managers do this, but like sending you a check in the mail. I imagine most people already set up you raising your hand, Michael. Cause do you do that?   Michael: I used to get paper checks because my property manager was pretty old school and I said, okay, please, please, please, please, please, please, please. Can we do this and other way? Yeah, this is just not awesome anymore.   Emil: I mean, so that should be like, even part of your PM property management vetting, right? Like, do you do, do you have an online portal where you ACH payments to me? So just make sure you set that up. If it's an option, most property managers in 2020, you will have that.   Emil: Maybe Michael went to one that was established in 1925 or something.   Michael: 1833    Tom: Is this is the one in Alaska?   Michael: No, it's actually properties that I've since sold, but out in Missouri kind, of rural Missouri. And so just to expand upon this a little bit is I think we've talked about in another episode, but my property manager, there was only willing to use a certain bank or the local bank branch wasn't anything that we had locally or that I use. So they would go to this bank deposit, the rent check and then would cut me a check to my bank. It was just a whole pain in the butt kind of thing. So what we've automated is now they'll deposit the rent check and then those rent checks we'll get bill paid from that bank to my local bank where I actually do my banking and then from there and get distributed. And so if you can automate as many of those processes as possible, it becomes much easier. So ACH transfer a potentially from multiple bank accounts to multiple bank accounts,   Tom: Are you're hiding something Michael? I'm just kidding.   Michael: I don't know. You ever been to the Cayman islands?   Tom: That's interesting that a local property manager had a preferred bank that they worked with and yeah, yeah.   Michael: They're just like no Wells Fargo or B of A or union bank out there. So they're like, this is what we use. It's like cool, pony express it over to me.   Emil: Carrier pigeon that's right. So the last one in this section, we recommend I do this. I have a separate bank account for all real estate stuff. It just makes things easier, especially come tax time. I also just like having it separate cause I try to treat real estate investing like a business to have its own checking account checking account. I use Chase, it's free to set up another checking account and it's just much easier to track things going in and out and it'll make your CPA's life easier. Do you guys do that as well?   Michael: I was going to ask if you guys have separate accounts for every property?   Tom: You know, it's funny, I just got off a Roofstock Academy coaching session before we started recording this episode and we were just jumping into it with a member exactly on this topic. I don't, I use just one account for all properties. It's just, I don't know, easier. And I don't understand necessarily see the value. Not that it's a lot of overhead to have different bank accounts because you can set them up for free on so many different banks, but I just use one for all the rental properties and yourself, Michael,   Tom: I have one account per LLC. And so I've got LLCs that own multiple properties. So all that was kind of funnel into that one. Yeah. What about you, Emil?   Emil? I'm just one checking account where everything funnels into nice. Just for ease. Makes it easy.   Pierre: What would be one of the benefits of setting up an individual bank account for each property?   Tom: The benefit of setting up, if you were to set up a different bank account for each property, you know, what I like about it at a portfolio level is I just have a really tight grip on cashflow within that portfolio. If I was to do it at an individual property, man, it would be just so clear if I'm making money or losing money. You know, we have these assumptions that we use when we are acquiring properties, but ultimately, you know, when the rubber hits the road, you hope to hit those or even exceed them. But you know, by having an individual bank account for that property, you have a really immediate, transparent view into, is this property performing to how I was projecting it with the cashflow.   Michael: I was going to say, it's a really good question Pierre. I'm glad you asked it. So because I only have the one bank account set up, I think I'm echoing Tom's viewpoints and opinions that, yeah, it's very easy to see what the actual numbers are, but I found that I just keep an Excel file, very detailed document of, Hey, anytime there's an expense on a given property, I log it the date, the expense, and then the dollar amount. And so that for me, suffices as a very similar type of scenario without the headache, I would argue of having 10 different property accounts searching through which one has what I've got it all in a file for me, that's worked really, really well over the years.   Emil: And your property manager, a lot of them you'll have a portal where you'll be able to see all your rent, all the management fees they've taken, they handle a lot of the smaller maintenance. So you'll see those expenses as well. So you also have your property manager, you can lean on, that's going to keep track off a lot of this stuff. The only other thing to track outside of that would be your payments to your lender and then property taxes and insurance.   Michael: There's all kinds of miscellaneous stuff that you'll likely have to pay outside of that. So like business licenses, if you're required in that state or LLC fees, franchise tax fees in, you know, wherever you live and wherever it's registered, just misc miscellaneous stuff. And I just attach that to each property and whatever it's paid for, you know, even might have to pay a contractor, something if they're that's outside the scope of what your property manager is doing. And so having a place to document all of that, I find it to be very, very, helpful.   Emil: Yup. I also keep a detailed Excel. I don't do it every month. I do it like bi-annually.   Michael: Do you do it when you incur the expense or you do it as a reconciliation, every, you know, twice a year,   Emil: The latter I do reconciliation. It's probably not the best, but I don't know.   Pierre: Yeah. I mean, we're talking about automation,   Emil: We're telling you what to aim for. We're not necessarily saying we all do this all the time.   Michael: Do, as I say, not as I do.   Emil: Exactly. And you know, you don't have to be perfect in all these areas. We're giving people just different ideas, you know, what makes sense to automate.   Pierre: Cool   Michael: It's one of those too like, we all have bad habits that we've fallen into over the years. And now in hindsight, we'd say, man, I wish I had formed this better habit. So here's what I would do differently. And it's so hard to break those bad habits. Like it's so hard.   Tom: Getting the grove for sure.   Michael: Yup. Very true.   Emil: One other thing, we don't have it here, but I want to talk about it as well. This kind of goes back to acquisition automation, but, it goes back to the concept of paying yourself first. So a lot of us, you know, we have a full time job or we have W2, whatever it is, make sure you set up like an automatic percentage that every paycheck coming in is going towards your investing. So right now, like my process is 20% of every paycheck automatically gets taken out of my checking, put into a separate investing account. And I highly recommend people who are listening, check out a website called I will teach you to be rich by Ramit Satie he has this awesome guide. If you look up, I will teach you to be rich, personal finance guide. It shows you how to automate all this stuff, like having separate accounts for different things you're saving up for. I found that super easy and like a really good way to separate your money and like have kind of different categories and use them for separate things. So I have a separate investing savings account that automatically, you know, income coming in goes into that. So that's another automation thing I do.   Michael: Piggybacking off that a meal I've also automated paying myself first from the rental amount every month. So when we do our analyses, we see, okay, we've got the mortgage payment, property taxes, all these other expenses that may or may not actually occur on a monthly basis, but we modeled them that way. So it makes the cash flow easier to understand. And so your property is going to collect rent. They're going to take their fee and are going to give you the rest. Well, now that's a huge chunk of change, but we've still got to pay some of these other expenses. And so we all have calculated on a monthly basis what our cash flow should be. And so I will automatically set up that deduction amount from my property bank account, going to my personal bank account, if I'm planning on using that cashflow for everyday life stuff. So if it's a hundred bucks a month, I just receive rent on the 10th or whatever of the month. And then I automatically have a hundred dollars transfer into my personal account. Everything else stays in the property account to then pay all those other expenses for. And at the end of the year, you had a good year. You might have some extra dollars left over and you can pay yourself again. Or if you had a bad year, you might need to put some additional money back into that. But it's a really easy way to just start collecting money from your properties without overdoing it.   Tom: I like it. So the next operational system I'll jump on, has to do with documentation. So if you're an active investor, you will be regularly buying new properties. You will be regularly refinancing had a good episode, I guess it would be two weeks ago. Once this episode is launched on ways to take out equity, anywho, when you are going through that exercise, you're going to need the same documents again and again and again, you're going to need a copy of the current lease. You're gonna need a certificate of insurance. You're gonna need a sample mortgage payment. And what I like to do with this is to streamline this process is set up a folder structure that is secure. There's a couple of different platforms out there, Dropbox, maybe even Google drive, but you know, in a secure folder online, I'll have my relevant documents in there.And then I can use sharing functionality to give it specifically to my lender or specifically to my CPA. That way I'm not needing to constantly track down these documents that I'm going to need again and again and again, and I can safely share it with whoever needs it. So the main takeaway for this system, I guess you can call it that is, you know, don't sleep on it, just have that document structure set up a do it once and do it right and do it early and then have that available for whenever you go through one of these maneuvers, be it refinancing or taking on a new loan or going through tax time.   Michael: It's so valuable. I know for my first property, I didn't have these systems really set up in place. I thought I did and then came tax time and I was like, Oh my God. So this is going to take so long to figure this out and go back and collect all these things. So, you know, it's one of those things. It's tough to know what you're looking for until you know what to look for. So ask somebody, ask, you know, ask your CPA, ask your tax professional. Hey, I'm investing in real estate. What things you're going to need from you at the end of the year, they're going to tell you, okay, we need your 1098. We're gonna need all your expenses, property tax, receipts, all these types of things. So that way you can start that ahead of time developing and building these good habits and systems. It makes it so much easier. Come tax time.   Emil: I don't have anything else that neither does my mustache. Good job guys. Excellent.   Tom: I actually thought of this while you were talking about it. So I love the concept of paying yourself first, right? And with paying yourself first, when you get your paycheck, it's pretty straight forward, right? You take the first 10%, 20%, whatever, and either save it or spend it. However, I like to think about this with your day. So paying yourself first, the first 10% of your day, how are you guys going to pay yourself first with the first 10% of your day? And you're not allowed to say surfing,   Emil: I'll go one level up then and just say exercising. I think exercising for me has become as equally as important for my mental wellbeing for the day as it is physical. So for me, that's how I pay myself first to start the day, right?   Tom: What are you doing for exercise?   Michael: Surfing!   Emil: I wish more surfing. Having a small child will put a dent in your surfing ability and it's summer, so the waves were a little slower. I will do. I'll either go for a run or I will do a combination of like pushups pull ups. Or I also use this thing called the seven minute workout app. It's literally a seven minute workout. I don't do long workouts. I don't like, I don't know. I used to spend more time working out, but for me, it's just a matter of like doing it almost daily to just start the day right. Whether it's seven minutes or 30 minutes.   Michael: Classic Emil fashion, he stole my answer. But that's why I went first because you're going to try to take that out. So not surfing, but I like to do kite surfing and I also work out. Do you exercise in the morning? I find that getting my blood pumping helps kind of burn off that haziness in the morning. But since the meal took that already, I really liked journaling in the morning. Just even for a few minutes, a few paragraphs, just kind of what I'm thinking about. What's going on personally in my life and what my goals are. I read that book think and grow rich. And that reaffirm that journaling is a super powerful tool. I've always known it, but again, it's one of those bad habits that it's hard to break into if you're not used to doing it. So starting slow and just trying to get my thoughts out on paper outside of myself, I find it to be helpful and worthwhile. What about you Tom?   Tom: So the first 10% of my day has gotten a lot earlier with a small child. So, you know, it's, it's now like the, you know, late five's early 6:00 AM is the first 10% of my day, but excellent partnership with my wife helping out. Well, she has the lion's share for sure, but on the extra early days, all right. I'm digressing. Okay. Going on a walk. So, I mean, I guess this is exercise. Sure. Why not? So getting the baby early morning, throwing him in a little jogger or the stroller walking around the street in the morning when like everything's still quiet and the sun's just creeping up over the Hills and the fog is kind of lifting journal in my head. I dunno. So like walking around in the early morning when nothing else is going on, I know that's a fine first 10% of the day way to pay yourself first.   Michael: As the only person without a baby, just a PSA, you know, you probably shouldn't throw babies into or at anything whether it be a jogger or cribs.   Tom: Oh, they're, they're pretty durable, but yeah, for sure,   Emil: They are very durable.   Pierre: Antifragile.   Emil: Antifragile.   Tom: Antifragile! Yes, they get stronger with it. Yeah. How about yourself Pierre? Your first 10% of the day?   Pierre: I like to save my working out for the end of the day so I can have a break between my work day and the evening. So the morning is a good time for me to read.   Emil: I used to read a lot in the morning, baby killed that.   Tom: Got anything good? Any good books going?   Pierre: I'm a little bit behind with the book club, but I'm reading the book that Michael chose for the RSA book club, Never Split the Difference.   Emil: Great book.   Pierre: And this morning I read the ebook that email sent me and the article on how to write better titles for the podcast.   Emil: Got to keep the audience clicking.   Michael: Yeah, that's great. Speaking of our audience, if anybody has any thoughts, suggestions, insights, hot topics they want to hear about. Please feel free to let us know at eshour@roofstock.com, malbaum@roofstoo.com, or tom@roofstock.com.   Emil: Or hit us up on Twitter. I'm @emilshour, Michael you're @albaummichael. and Tom you are.   Tom: I am not positive… I'm @tscnheido   Michael: Freaky deaky Tom   Tom: Yea, created like whatever, 15 years ago, something like that.   Emil: I like it.   Michael: Skater dude, 27 with an eight.   Tom: Exactly. Awesome guys. Well, thank you so much for listening today. To our episode, we hope that you got some value out of it. If you liked it, please don't be shy. Please rate us. Please subscribe as a meal set. And like Michael and Emil said, reach out to us. We love to hear your feedback on future content to do and to keep driving. So, alright, happy investing.   Emil: Happy, investing.   Michael: Happy investing.    

Tåget börjar närma sig stationen när vi får höra Michaelas historia, men även någon mer som har något att säga. Någon som sitter i ett hörn och bara har lyssnat hela vägen. Del 6 av Fantomminnen är absolut inte det sista och jag hoppas att ni följer denna underbara följetång. Håll podden vid liv! Swisha […]

Skål för fredag och Skumppapoddens tredje avsnitt för säsong tre. Sarah och Michaela pratar om ljusstumpar i ljusstakar, doktor Westerlund, Michaelas födelsedag och att vara utan sällskap. Men mest pratas det ändå idag om sexistiska gnomer i Vasa och varför feminism just är så viktigt. Feminist, javisst!

Julavsnittet kretsar kring Michaelas berättelse som hon själv beskriver den: från trasighet till ett helande. ”Ljuset lyser i mörkret och mörkret har inte övervunnit det.” LÄNKAR: Evangeliska Frikyrkan: www.efk.se Podden: www.efk.se/ettmissionelltliv Julkampanj: geforlivet.com/jul

Michaela war im Oktober zwei Wochen in Japan, genauer gesagt in Tokio und hat einiges erlebt. In dieser Folge berichtet Michaela hauptsächlich über ihre Erlebnisse in Tokio.

Veckans gäst är Michaela Sundelin, en utav grundarna till Women Ahead som är en rekryteringsbyrå med fokus på kvinnor.  Innan hon startade företag så var hon säljare inom IT branschen i många år och berättar i veckans avsnitt om hur det varit för henne. Hur hon många gånger blivit osynliggjord eller att man antagit att hon gjort helt andra saker än affärsmässiga för att få in affärer. Jag och Michaela har väldigt liknande bakgrund och därför kan jag känna igen mig i mycket av det som hon berättar.  Vi pratar också om hur vi kvinnor måste bli bättre på att stötta varandra då Michaelas erfarenheter av systerskapet inte alltid varit positiva. 

Allt ni vill veta om Janni och Michaelas pappa får ni reda på i det här avsnittet där han bland annat svarar på vad som gjort honom framgångsrik, vem som är hans livs stora kärlek och när han bestämde sig för att sluta dricka alkohol.

Michaelas medical school best friend comes to Colorado Springs to visit and unpack some jealousy. 

Are you sure your kitchen table or big-screen TV will fit? If you’re interested in renting or buying a specific property, there’s a few steps to take before actually visiting it. Watch a virtual tour video and get pre-qualified. Today, I am talking with Michael Sanz of Neesh Property, which started in 2009 and has more than 650 doors. We discuss the benefits of automating property showings, including the opportunity to spend more time with people and to travel. Who wouldn’t want to operate a property management business from beaches around the world? You’ll Learn... [02:25] Purpose of Neesh Property: Holistic real estate that helps people buy, sell, rent, and arrange financing. [03:20] Same Startup Suffering: Michael struggled to start a business, grow new doors, and retain customers. [03:37] Identify and Prevent Problems: Michael controls and protects his business and simplifies his life through systemization and automation. [05:45] Workforce Reduction: Michael went from 18 to 1½ staff members and replaced them with property management software to save money. [07:58] Eliminate Office Space: Doesn’t affect how you do business. [09:43] Competitive Advantage: Neesh Property closes deals and acquires new business by leasing properties quickly. [10:30] Retain Relationships: Be client-focused, not location-focused when managing properties. [12:40] Learn from Mistakes: Try and implement new things, which may or may not work completely; pivot when necessary. [14:29] What’s the problem? Any problem, big or small, should be documented and automated to disappear. [16:10] Build Knowledge Base: Take time to make “how-to, what to do...” videos, recordings, and other visuals to help people understand processes/procedures. [21:05] Leverage People as Process: Create core team of people who are thinkers and decision-makers. [27:38] Virtual Tour Stats: Neesh Property gets over 85% of its real estate booked based on the virtual platform and averages 1.8 showings per property. [31:05] Good Tenants Gone Bad: Rather than giving best to the bad, give it to the best of everyone; mesh type of tenant to property. [50:55] Common Beginner Pitfall: You don’t need to be cheaper than everybody else to get started and compete; change your value proposition. Tweetables Save Money: Replace staff members with property management software. Be client-focused, not location-focused. Meaningful Connections/Conversations: The rest just falls into place; it’s all systems. Automation offers the opportunity to simplify your life and spend more time with people. Resources Neesh Property Michael Sanz on Facebook Ricoh 360 Camera Matterport: 3D Camera and Virtual Tour Platform Vieweet Skype Zoom Housecraft GatherKudos Oculus Rift DoorGrowClub Facebook Group DoorGrowLive Transcript Jason: Welcome, DoorGrow hackers to the DoorGrow Show. If you are a property management entrepreneur that wants to add doors, make a difference, increase revenue, help others, impact lives, and you are interested in growing your business and life, and you are open to doing things a bit differently, then you are a DoorGrow hacker. DoorGrow hackers love the opportunities, daily variety, unique challenges, and freedom that property management brings. Many in real estate think you’re crazy for doing it, you think they’re crazy for not, because you realize that property management is the ultimate high-trust gateway to real estate deals, relationships, and residual income. At DoorGrow, we are on a mission to transform property management businesses and their owners. We want to transform the industry, eliminate the BS, build awareness, change perception, expand the market, and help the best property management entrepreneurs win. I’m your host, property management growth expert, Jason Hull, the founder and CEO of DoorGrow. Now, let’s get into the show. I am welcoming all the way from across the pond or even further maybe, Michael Sanz of Neesh Property Management. Michael, welcome to the show. Michael: Thank you very much for having me. Jason: I’m excited to have you. You’re a really cool guy. I got to connect with you in the past in person, which was great to meet you in person, and you’ve done some really cool things. But before we get into some of that, and today’s topic for those listening, is automating property showings. We’re going to be talking about that. But before we get into that, why don’t you give people a little bit of background on you and let everyone know why I think you’re so awesome. Michael: Thanks for the introduction and thanks for having me at the conference in Missouri last year. It was amazing. Perfect. As Jason said, I’m Michael Sanz. I am from Australia, from Melbourne, and I have a company called Neesh Property Residential that has been going since 2009, has over 650 doors. I started how everybody else started out in real estate and started from zero, or how much people started, started from zero doors. I had a new relationship started at the time. Add the pressure and the stress of a new relationship coming into a new business, setting all that up. I started from the study nook in an apartment that I had. I had left a previous business. It was quite a successful business. Left the partnership at the time and I started Neesh Property. What was Neesh Property to me? It was a holistic real estate that help people buy property, sell property, rent property, and arrange the finance. It’s holistic all under one roof. I had suffered the same problems everybody else has suffered from starting a business, trying to grow new doors, I guess retain business when people sell their properties or go to other agencies. I spent a lot of time methodically going through all the pros and cons of a property management business and I really started to systemize it, automate it, and not let the business control me from an early point, but how I could control my real estate business and what protections I could put in place to make sure that I could do some hyper growth, retain the customers that I had, and simplify life. A lot of people that know me would have say that I will operate Neesh Property from many beaches around the world. I would close down the company every Christmas time for two months. In real estate, people say, “That’s unheard of. What about maintenance? What about all the problems?” But I identified all these problems and I’ve been out of able to do a lot of travel, and I’ve spend a lot of family time while automating the business. Jason, as you’re talking about today, automating how I show properties and really break down that process meant that I could be in Missouri and show people property before I went on stage, after I went on stage, and successfully lease property without really having to do anything at all. Jason: This is wild. I think everybody listening goes, “Michael’s some sort of crazy, weird robot. This is some magical impossible thing. Nobody else can do this.” You’re maybe some sort of savant or guru. But you started your business and from the beginning had this intention of systemizing things and keeping things off your plate to keep that space, and some people, their intentions and focus is very different. They build a business that’s very difficult to manage and to run. Paint a picture. You’ve got 650 doors right now, I think you’ve said, right? Michael: I just sold a bulk of that and I’ve got Neesh Property. I’ve automated even more with a new portfolio, but that’s for a whole other conversation. Jason: Help people understand your business logistically. How many team members do you have? I think this is where it really showcases how different your business is than most companies that are at a similar size. Michael: Sure. At a point with the business, we had about 18 staff members. We had acquired another smaller business, and we acquired their team, and we had an office. A lot of which goes against the grain having office to me. But when I acquired another business, I took the office and it had a receptionist, it had a business development person, it had an account, they had all these people there. I couldn’t see, with total respect to their role, I couldn’t see the purpose of it, so I knocked them down from 18 down to 1½ staff members. One full-time property manager and one part-time who did routines and edit some showings as required. Jason: Wait. So, you went from 18, bring on another company, and then you whittled that down to 1½ team members. Michael: Yeah, correct. I couldn’t see the massive need to have all these people doing accounts when a lot of the property management software already did all the reconciliation. I was just having a bum on a seat to press a button to reconcile. I couldn’t see the purpose of having a receptionist when there are people there who could answer the phone, so we put in a good IVR, a good voicemail system, and we educated. We identified that a lot of the calls that were coming in were from tenants either trying to report maintenance or [...] it was. Then we put in automated responses there, too, and if there’s any business call, “Press one if you’re a landlord, press two if it’s new business,” and then it would come through to my cell where I could answer and respond to it quite fast. Identifying the flow of calls, the type of calls that are coming through the office meant I no longer had to have a receptionist there. In Australia, the wages are quite high. We’d be paying someone $50,000–$60,000 to sit at a front desk, to greet people if they came in. We have also identified that as property change, people will less and less likely to come to an office. Tenants wouldn’t necessarily walk into the office and let’s say they did walk into the office, we would be there to greet them but no one was really walking in. Owners rarely walk into an office anymore because they could call you, they could video call you. We ended up getting rid of the office. We have spent from a big 250 square meter office place to a two-bedroom apartment, and guess what? It didn’t affect how we did business, didn’t affect us picking up new business, didn’t affect us losing any business, and the world still spins. It’s not chaos. For us identifying all these headaches we’re able to see what mattered. If the team couldn’t adapt to technology changes, video, virtual reality, automated IVR systems, and things like that, then there wasn’t really a place in the business for them, respectfully. I actually have one property manager leave to go with a company where they still did paper condition reports because that’s how she wanted to do them. Jason: Right. You’re welcome to it. That’s so funny. Okay, so this will make a lot of sense and I think you and I have both significant, nerdy, technological side to us. This stuff sounds obvious to me and maybe obvious to you, some people listening maybe not so obvious. If they have all these questions, “How would I do this? I would I do that?” It’s scary. But if you make that your intention and your goal, you’ll figure it out just like you figured out whatever you’re doing now. One of your big competitive advantages now in closing deals and in acquiring new business is your ability to lease properties so rapidly. Paint this picture of how rapidly and how different your leasing process is, just to prime the pump here. Michael: To put it into another perspective—I know we touched on it previously—we were full suburbs. We manage properties in over 84 suburbs and we also have properties in two other states, which was Sydney and New South Wales in WA. WA is a four-hour plane ride and Sydney is 1½-hour plane ride from us. Now, we weren’t insane, crazy totally. We only manage properties of the clients that we actually had on our book and we did that so that we could retain the relationship with them and we would appoint other local agents to help with open inspections or routine inspections, or things like that. And because I’m a frequent traveler, when I was in the area, I would pop in, say good day to the tenants, and just touch face that way, so the owners knew that they are getting full kind of service. In Victoria, it is very much managed by our office and again, we are client-focused and not location-focused, which was one of our main selling points and is quite attractive to landlords that we had. Because we also offered mortgage brokering, we really didn’t do too many sales, we were mainly property management and then we offered mortgage brokering we saw the value in that. If it was [...] other agents that could help us do the menial tasks. It wasn’t a headache for us, we didn’t stress about it, but we covered a lot of space. You can imagine when properties come up for rent. It’s cyclical because people [...] properties around at Christmas time, they go home to their families and their friends. We would have sometimes 10%–15% of the book would start to come up for rent and you can imagine the franticness of trying to get out all the inspections, deal with tenants, vacates, and all those headaches that came with it. Now, it’s probably 11 where I started [...] this. This wouldn’t be a problem with the spread of properties. As I sat down, I started writing down all the problems that I could have. Petrol, time on the road, who am I going to have, how many staff members I need to to do this if I’m going to have potential growth? How do I automate this? That was the biggest thing. How do I automate this? What if it’s Christmas time and I want to go away on holiday? What am I going to do? The selfishness in me also came out because I still wanted to live and being an owner-operator. What would you do? I identified with myself that if I made mistakes, that was okay because being a business owner, if we don’t try and implement the things we’re looking, that ain’t worth. But it doesn’t mean that it’s not going to work in its entirety. It might mean that you just need to pivot a little bit and change what you’ve been doing to give another go. I had to automate the whole thing and I started the journey. Jason: I’m hearing a process here and I think you’ve mentioned this twice now. For those listening, you may have caught on this but it sounds like you have this mental process that you go through probably constantly where you list out potential problems, and then you sit down and figure out what are the solutions, and then you have this intention throughout that whole process of, “How can I have vacations? How can I make sure that I don’t have to always be doing it?” Which is a very different mindset than most ppl have. They’re just figuring out, “How to do I keep the business running? How do I make sure that we don’t drop the ball?” And you’re like, “No. How can I,” as you put it, “take Christmas and not have to work? How can I go on holiday and not have to do this, and it would still work?” That’s a different problem to solve. As entrepreneurs, we’re great at solving problems. But if we don’t give ourselves the right problem to work on, our subconscious isn’t going to work on it, our brains are not going to work on it, we’re not going to find those solutions. We stop prematurely at something superficial and that’s a whole level of depth to go beyond just making sure things work, it’s making sure things work without you. Maybe just describe that. What do you actually do? Do you just pull out a piece of paper and you write all the problems? Michael: A big point when I had staff in the office is that if anyone reported any type of problem, big or small, it had to be written down. If an owner said, for example, “I can’t reach you on your mobile phone.” Or, “I don’t understand the statement,” just general questions. If someone doesn’t understand the statement, what we did was we recorded what the landlord income statement meant. “This is your name, this is the date and everything.” We do a video. We do a screenshare/screengrab video and in that was a link. If anyone asks anything about statement, it was there for them. It was in one of our FAQs. People could see it. All of a sudden, we didn’t get all these calls. We worked out any problem in the business. Someone turned out in our office at 7:00 in the morning and said, “Why aren’t you open?” We address those things, we have better signage on the front door, and then all of a sudden, all these problems that a business would have were just disappearing and it was automated. By using video, by using written text, by having window displays, just simple things, the business became automated. So much so that religiously we close before Christmas and we open up towards the end of January, so that everyone gets time off to spend time with their family. Jason: And everyone being your 1½ team members. Michael: When I had a lot of team members, they were loving it big time. If people want to go on holiday, they can go on holiday because the business can run. Jason: All right, so this is really cool. Basically, what you’re talking about is you built a knowledge base of frequently asked questions and leveraged video screen shares, recordings, showing them how to do things so they visually could see, hear, and understand what needed to happen. As they would go through these and have these questions, or you send them a link to this frequently asked questions or in your knowledge base, or you send them this video, they would watch this video. The magic of video is they would feel like you’re right there, walking them through it, tell them, they’d hear you, see you, they feel like you’re taking care of them, and you’re not even there. You did it one time and now, it can be used for 650 different people or however many clients ;that you have. They can go through it multiple times instead of just once because they may not remember. But they’ll remember, “Oh, there’s this thing I can go to to get it.” Michael: Correct. A lot of the agents who I would speak to is on video. I don’t have to speak to video where it takes time, I don’t have enough time. A lot of the videos early on that I did [...] showing or like a routine inspection or open for inspection. I would just have the camera on a tripod and while I was waiting for people to come, I would do a video. “I’m at this property here. Look at this one,” or, “This is a leaking tap. This is how we address it. This is what we do.” Just small videos and I just built up content. I had the tenants any problems, what to do if it’s raining. What to do if your hot water service breaks. What to do if your dog runs out to your next door neighbor. Just simple things I turned into a video so I didn’t have to answer again and again. Again, this is like I’ve touched on before when people could call up and they address the problem or an issue or concern, we try to turn that into a video so that it was answered once, solved 100 times. Jason: The trick is that if you’re going to have to answer ever, once, take note of it, then put it on your to-do list to make a video so you don’t ever have to answer that again. Michael: Yeah. I think as business owners we need to give ourselves the emotional permission today to take the time, even if takes us half an hour to do it, so we bank up future time. That task is going to take us a 30-minute phone call or whatever it is, we spend 30 minutes recording it now, and you’re going to have that conversation a hundred times, you just saved yourself 50 future hours and you could be doing other things. Jason: Absolutely. We have done the same thing with clients who go through our program. I used to coach them all directly, but shifting it into video content allowed me to make sure that I said the same thing and got the best information to each client, and it allowed them to watch it more than once. My memory is not so amazing that I could remember every single thing I’ve said to every single clients about every single topic and not miss something. But I could put it into content. If I get a bunch of questions, I can add more content. I think some people would say, “Jason,” or, “Michael, you guys are really lazy.” I think there’s brilliance in that. I wouldn’t call it laziness; I would call it, we don’t like doing stupid stuff over and over. I mean, really simply, and that’s really frustrating to have to do redundant work. But some people, they love that. They would just do the same thing everyday. They love doing that. That’s not me. I would guess that that’s not really you, either. You like being able to have freedom and not have to answer the same questions over and over and over again. Michael: That’s the definition of insanity, isn’t it? Doing the same thing over and over again, getting the same result. I can’t understand doing the same thing over and over. I guess as business owners, we also get caught up in the really small things, and those small things we think become really important but they’re not. I’ve got some VAs that do the really menial, small tasks that I don’t even have to think about. Things that our software doesn’t do that a VA would do. Get out of that mindset that you have to do these really small things because it’s not important and when we identified that owners and tenants just want to get that problem resolved. If it needs to get escalated, then yeah of course, take it on. But the small things, they don’t really care who answers, it’s fine. As long as it’s clear, their problem is solved, they can walk away happy, then they’re good. Don’t stress. Jason: So, part of this automation, you’re leveraging technology, you’re leveraging video, you’re leveraging a database or knowledge base of frequently asked questions but also, you are leveraging people as process. You’re bringing people almost in a position of almost operating software in some instances. And then you have a core team of people that actually are thinkers and decision-makers that’s really small based on what you said. Let’s get into then the topic at hand, which is automating property showing. How can those listening start to move towards automating property showings and what are the benefits you’ve seen by doing that? Let’s get them excited about the why they should do this first. Michael: As a business owner, having staff members and having multiple properties that would come out open for inspection and also understanding that tenants are really demanding, they want to see the property, they would call you up and say, “Is it open now? Is somebody there now? Can I go now?” And then having a staff member get in the car, drive half an hour listening to music, speaking to their family and friends, doing whatever they want to do in the car, get to the property, wait for the tenant to turn up, show them the property, have them say, “Oh, yeah. It’s nice. The walls really look like they did in the photos.” Whatever it is, or they love it and again they’ll buy for it. “Can you wait for my friend to turn up? My partner’s on their way.” All these headaches. They do the inspection and then they spend another half an hour driving back or getting lunch on the way, or however long it is. One time, okay, but if you replicate that, you’ve got 8, or 10, or 15 properties for rent at that time, that’s a headache for any company because of all these inefficiencies on the road. I identified, “Okay. Well, what do we do?” My wife was working for a ticketing and event company based in San Diego. She was running it from Australia, it’s the operations. We’re in San Diego one time, I had this massive 3D 360 camera. I was going through all the theaters and from every seat there would be a 360 [...] so that people, when they go to buy a ticket, they could see their exact view of how they’re going to see the stage. I was like, “Hang on. Why can’t I do this in real estate? What’s stopping me from doing [...]? This is so simple.” The camera was huge. It was massive at the time. Even three months later, I couldn’t find an actual camera to do it. What I was doing was going to the room and taking 100 shots everywhere and then stitching it together. For one image it was taking way too long. At Christmas time, I was in London, closed the business down, before virtual reality [...]. It can be done. I was walking up the high street in London and I just thought, “I need to find something simple, cheap, to get the job done, and save me more time.” I just went on the phone, I looked at my phone, and I found a local supplier that had the Ricoh 360 camera. It has just been released. I went out and picked it up, and from that point in time, everything I did for real estate, for property had a 360 video. And went then into step two, and I made sure that all the rental properties had a normal video, just with a smartphone or SLR. From that moment on, when I brought the 360 camera, I really hit all our properties hard. Before I go with 360 virtual reality and video, a lot of people that I speak to, they go out and buy the camera, they’ll do one tour which generally happens after the tenant has vacated and they’ve already had marketing for 4–6 weeks, they’ll do the tour and they’ll say, “You know what? Michael, I tried that. It’s not for me. Didn’t help me get a tenant. It was no good.” That’s the biggest feedback I had. That’s cool. That’s fine. But for me, I want to persevere. I made sure that every single property we came up for rent, had a 360 virtual tour. Also in the start, it didn’t help with every single property because I had marketed without photos for four weeks prior, and I was able to find tenants thereabouts, most often than not. With the 360 virtual tours, it was the next time that it came up for rent. A tenant would give me notice to vacate. The day they gave me notice to vacate, the virtual tour went up on all the real estate platforms that are out there. We have the video and we have our photos which are okay. They’re good, they’re okay. But from day one, people could start to see the property without me having to worry about booking an open for inspection and the condition of the property is all boxed up, or the whole family’s home or whatever excuse the tenant was, people could start to see the property. That started to change things. Just to reiterate, if you’re starting off, you have a property that’s coming up for rent, the tenant’s moving out, you can do the 360 tour afterwards. You may not get the hyper result that you’re expecting. Don’t stress. Replicate it on every single property you’ve got and you will start to see massive change from the next time it’s for rent and every time after that. Don’t stress. Give it time. People fail because they give up straight away. Jason: And then each new door that you’re getting on, you’re going to do the virtual tour at the beginning so you’ll have that moving forward. Michael: Correct. I got to the point where if a tenant gave notice to vacate, I went in there, and I do the 360 tour with all the furniture in there as it was. I didn’t put that on publicly but I was able to show people with the tenant’s permission, just give them a link, and remove the link after they see it afterwards. I wouldn’t get it publicly on the real estate platforms but I would have the tour and I would give it to people. That changed everything, too. Tenants were okay with that because you can edit the 360 images to blur out photos in the wall and things like that. That was pretty good. I also just did on the iPhone walk-through videos that I could also comment on. I would take just photos, too. We had over 85% of our real estate booked on virtual platform. Can you imagine, Jason, having 85% of your business, that people can view the property without you having to worry about putting a lot box on, be physically attending the property, and having the issue of staff or even yourself going to have to show that property multiple times? To touch on that, we were averaging at 1.8 showings per property and I’ve got to cancel one showing per property on average. Jason: No kidding. Michael: Huge time savings. If you were to quantify that and you’re breaking out 15 properties a month, let’s say, that’s like $150,000 saving in a year, of time and profit based on our letting fees. Our letting fees are small than American letting fees. It’d be significantly higher in America but for us, it’s about $150,000 just the base saving in 15 properties a month. Jason: Oh, yeah. So, the cost savings compared to the cost of getting the digital cameras and maybe the little bit of work and labor that would take to get these virtual tours done and everything, it was an obvious no brainer, financially. Michael: Obviously, yeah. For me at the start, I would have spent a couple of thousand dollars, maybe more, trying to really solve it. I have a lot of cameras now, a lot of VR, a lot of 360 cameras, and I’m still using the same one that I bought years ago which was the Ricoh. But I’m trying to find the next camera that gives me more depth immersion like the Matterport but something that fits in my pocket. So, for me to do it, if it does not fit in my pocket, I’m not going to take it with me. The Ricoh fits in the pocket. I think it’s $170 or something like that on Amazon. A tripod is $30 or $40 on Amazon. To host 22 platforms of the year is $20. The platform that I use is Vieweet It’s one of the cheapest one out there. It’s robust, it’s simple, it’s no frills. If you’re an agency, you’re just starting out, and you’re looking for cheap ways to do 360 automated showings, $130 for the camera, $30 for the tripod, $20 a year to list 20 showings that you can put up and take down. A lot of people don’t have more than 20 properties available all at once. Jason: It's called Vieweet? Michael: Yes. If you're in $200-$250 US, you can be up and running today to do these things. But just remember, you may not get that sprinkled dust straight away. It’s something where you build that new catalog that does work. Results have been quite fast because I kept at it and you will, I can’t say, you'll get the same if not similar results that I was getting because what it all sold for us—that’s just kind of the odd part of things, Jason. Our property to more people around the world in different that [...] the property. Rather than having to rely on people to come into a lock box or view the property physically, they may not have been the best quality tenant. Rather than giving the best to the bad bunch, we’re able to give it to the best of everyone. Anyone who wants to see it within the markets to high-end income, at least they could go to relocation consultants that were actually being paid by people to come into the country to show them properties. We were showing it to the people before they go to relocation agencies in the end. If they will apply, they would inquire, “Hi, Michael. I'm actually relocating from America or Europe. I'll be there next month, try to arrange a viewing.” I’ll send in the link. They view the property. They don’t need to worry about looking at 10 properties when they get here. We can do the process, we can get them out of Skype or Zoom. At the end of the day, good tenants can go bad. Make sure you get landlord insurance if you can get that. We were so efficient with what we did and that’s probably for another conversation, but we got rent arrears to 0%. Not only will we have to get the best tenants in the marketplace, we get the best tenants that could afford to pay rent and not have any arrears and it solved a massive problem for us too. We are probably at about I think 3½ of rent arrears sometimes because people, they’re just lazy. By changing the type of tenants that we had, also made all the knock on effects that we had so that our arrears is 0% vacancy because we’re able to work credibly with our leases to make sure that longer leases we had better type of tenants. We’re also able to mesh the type of tenants to the property. For example, if we have an application that was someone 50 years plus as opposed to 18-25 year olds. An 18-25 year old would be more transient and they wouldn’t stay on the property for a long period of time, maybe 12 months. But someone who’s older is typically settling down, they don’t want to be moving around everywhere. We have a bit of a tenant selection too. Jason: I realized it might be a little different in Australia than here though. Michael: Well, what we did inside the office, we can verbalize it to the people that apply. Jason: Got it. Michael: No one from Australia is watching this, yeah? No tenants that I had. Jason: Right. This all makes a lot of sense. You have 0% vacancy rate. You’re renting out some of these places before they're even vacant because you're marketing them from the second there's a notice. You're getting people out of state or out of country that are able to look at it. I think it’s brilliant that you've got partnerships you've created in alignment with relocation agencies and relocation agents. I think that's sharp. All of this sounds really fascinating and this is something that anybody can do. Michael: Anyone can do it. Even like staff members. You’ve got people who work for bosses, there's no reason why [...] to help automate your showing. If a virtual tour or a video, or someone contact you at 10:00 o’clock at night and you're this type of person that picks up the phone at 10:00 o’clock and tries to make a time, you can send them link that’ll pre-qualify them. The good thing about UVR, it shows you the room, the whole room. They can be looking at the whole kitchen. They can be looking at the whole bathroom for so many times you go online and you just see a corner of the bathroom which shows the tiles, the toilet, the shower, and the bath. It eradicates all of that, it’s gone. I think I showed you too, when we got to the actual property, the other headache was, I'm not sure if my table would fit, or the fridge might fit in the cavity so then we included an incorporated AR, so the augmented reality which was just another boat. With the AR, you can record the screen, so you can be at the property while it’s taken and actually do a video recording of, “This is where your catch goes. This is where the fridge goes, and the TV goes,” and put the furniture down. Then you can send that video to people too when they inquire about, “Will it fit a king sofa bed, or what size is the fridge cavity?” Because people are visual, mostly. Jason: How are you doing that? How are you putting in beds, virtual beds and things like this into a video? Michael: The app that I use is a free app. I love this stuff. It isn’t going to cost anyone here. Housecraft. Now that’s free augmented reality application. Jason: Housecraft, it sounds like witchcraft, it’s like magic. Housecraft, okay. Michael: It is magic. Again, I have all these tools because they're objection handlers. I don't need to over complicate things because then it just starts making problems. These are free things that anyone can be using. Anyone can do anything that I've been doing. None of it is hard. It’s just I have a better use of my time. Jason: Yeah. You’re using Housecraft, you're using Vieweet, you’ve got your Ricoh camera, are there any other technological tools that help you automate the showing thing? Michael: Basically, how it would work for us was a tenant will give notice to vacate or we would have a brand new property come on. We would have the tour or take the tour. We would put that as a link on a description. A lot of the feedback I had from people around the world was, our property software, our showing software doesn't allow us to put a hyperlink in there. We just put it in the ads, we put it in the ad there too. We had every second photo for us was, “Did you know this property is in virtual reality? Make sure you click on the link in the description.” When people are looking on their smart device, because most people are probably looking ad property searches from their mobiles, it’s important that we could grab their attention with a nice bit of photo, grab their attention saying, “Hey, we've got a virtual tour, or a video, make sure you look at it and prequalify.” Rather than coming to the property and saying it’s for them. If someone did call and inquire the questions was, “Great. Have you seen the virtual tour?” If it was no, it’s like, “Okay, here’s the virtual tour,” and they all had to see it. We would not go to a property unless the person had seen the virtual tour. Jason: Right. Virtual tour first and then if you've watched that and it's still a go, then we will show you the property. Michael: Correct. When we did that, when we went to the property, we knew that it was really just a case of them checking if there's a smell, just their general feel, their juju. It was basically they’re going to apply for the property. Typically, if I went to the property, there's a 93% chance they got the property, and it was 96% that they would apply or they’d rent the property. Jason: Because the virtual tours have filtered out so much. Michael: Prequalified. Jason: Now, in the photos where you doing stuff like box brownie and like this kind of stuff or are we just getting photos? Michael: We change it to make sure that the header photo, the main photo in this sort of style—we’d have a blue sky, green grass—it was just a nice attractive image so that people would click on that, like a clickbait basically. It'll look nice, they click on it, and then the next image was the virtual tour. They knew that there was a virtual tour there and then there are the other photos. They were the only photos that were relevant like the way you actually see the room. If you couldn’t see the room or it was cut off, we wouldn’t show it, because the virtual tour was going to show the property in its entirety. This just meant that I would not put 20 photos up of a half-baked house when I can put three photos up, a virtual tour video, and a walkthrough video—far greater impact. That’s why we’re leasing properties four times faster than our competitors, and we were getting more than double the amount of views on all our properties according to realestate.com.au which is a massive property platform in Australia. What we were doing was, no major cost difference to competitors, but we were getting twice the people looking at our property, and four times faster with being leased. Jason: Michael, this sounds really incredible. Having all these stuff in place, it sounds really low cost, and it sounds like it actually saves you a ton of time, and a ton of money to get these things implemented. Now, what I love to do is connect this to how is this helping you grow your business. Obviously, it’s reducing cost, it's reducing staff, but this sounds like a huge competitive advantage selling point when you're pitching to new owners to say, “We have zero vacancy rate. We’re managing hundreds of properties…” which is unheard of in our industry, “…and we can we can get this thing taken care of and lease it out really rapidly. I've got the cameras on me, I'm ready to go. Let’s do this.” Michael: Correct. There’s a lot of white noise and noise generally in property management. When you're going to a listing presentation, it runs based on the same topics. “We collect rent. We have low vacancy. We are fantastic. We have good systems.” You can basically walk into a presentation and know verbatim what people are going to saying. If somebody inquired about renting out a property, they will get an email from me with our reviews, true statements, and things that we do differently. When I would go to the appraisal, I wouldn't actually bring anything other than a set of virtual reality goggles. For me, I didn’t go in with a booklet. Everyone kind of expects you to walk in with a booklet and pamphlet like all your competitors do. But me, it’s straight away, “Let's work on that trust that rapport with the owner.” I would walk into the presentation, I put the virtual goggles down the table which is a gimmick, they're a gimmick, and then I put them on the table and then I say, “Mr. and Mrs. Landlord, so tell me, what do you love about your property? What are the tenants going to love about the property? What would you do differently to the property that tenants might also think that they wouldn’t want changed?” I get them speaking about it. None of it is about my fees, none of it is about my service, none of it is about anything else about me, it’s just about them. Then it gets to the point where, “I can totally see why people fall in love in this property and it's so important that we show people what this property actually offers. Here are a couple of ways that we can do that.” Bear in mind, by the time they've already got to ask and called us, they've gone and seen our Google reviews. They've seen our social profile. They’ve already assessed us when they make the phone call. Jason: Sure. Michael: It’s so important that you’ve got some social proof and some history there. If you're just starting out as an agent, get reviews, get some social proof because you really are fantastic. As people, we’re fantastic, and there's so many great attributes. If you're starting fresh, you don't have to look fresh. Jason, you're helping build websites. You can make someone who's just starting out look as a major player in the marketplace. Jason: Absolutely. I tell potential clients, there's no reason why a company with zero doors or even five doors has to look any different than a company with a 1000 doors. They can have just as good a branding, just as good of a website, and we can help them with the reputation stuff. We have our service gatherkudos.com for those listening that you can check out, which helps you facilitate or lubricate I guess if you will, that process of getting more reviews from clients. Michael: There's no reason why you can’t. “I don’t have clients to get reviews.” “I'm sure you've done business with people before and they can leave you reviews.” That’s all you need, just that momentum. From the time that we’re meeting with them, they know a little bit about us. I'm not concerned about any other services because they all know that we collect rent, and we find tenants, and we manage maintenance, and we do all that stuff. It's going to the owners that we will love their property, and really focus on the things that they love also, and identify the weaknesses of the property too because it’s important for us at the start the owners to acknowledge their property may have some shortcomings. They wouldn’t have to have that awkward conversation later. The prospective tenants said that, “I like the pink wall in the kitchen.” We get the owners to draw out what they think is needed in the start, and then it sets the time. Then I bring out the virtual goggles, and I say, “This is one way that people are really going to immerse themselves in your property from their own lounge room. We also had virtual goggles and Oculus Rift in our office, so when people came in and they want to get a rental list, we stop giving out paper and we would say, “What are you after? A three-bedroom, two-bedroom?” And give them the goggles, and show them a property. We have far greater success than coming in, picking up some paper in the office, leaving, throwing it in the bin later on for one property they might be interested in. We cut down on paper too, Jason. That was a pretty good experience. We went paperless. For new owners, they could say that we were focused on serving the customer, rather than they burdened with admin and just a slow death in a real estate office. We could show them some of the other tours we've done. We were doing drone work too Jason, where we would showcase the aerial view of the property in proximity to shops because that was another question that people would say, “Probably looks great, but what's it near?” In Australia, with Google maps, sometimes, they hadn't caught up, so the area would look like just massive farmland, but actually, they’ve built up a state with shopping malls, and freeways going through it. We take aerial shot, and show it from what it was near. With owners, I think, I was at 140 doors and 141 appraisals. Jason: You show up for these initial contacts at the property, or these appraisals, or whatever you're doing, and you would pull out virtual reality goggles, and set your camera there, and start describing what you do. Michael: Correct. Now, fast forward a few more years, we didn’t have to go to the property anymore, because I had the virtual tours online, and people can see them, and it would tie on my websites, so people could see that too, and they got to the point where people would make an inquiry, and I will send them a video message. They're already seeing all the proof statements, and a video message to start the initial conversation. I didn't have to meet all these owners, I try to meet all the owners. Sometimes I make time for if they're interstate, they were overseas, whatever the reason. I found other ways to get inside the living room without being in their living room. You have the virtual tours, and then you get the video text messages, and a lot of people will say, “I’m too scared to do a video text message. What if I say the wrong thing?” I say, “It's easy, don’t send it. Just do it again.” Jason: Right, re-record it. Michael: If you're doing a video, you can edit it. If it’s not live, edit. If it’s live, I’d say laugh. So what? Make a mistake, we’re human. I will make the same mistake speaking with you, as I would do on a video. Recapping on it, our process was, every property had to have a virtual tour. When I had the staff, they weren't happy going out and taking a virtual tour, because it would take them between 15 minutes to 30 minutes, maybe depending on how many rooms there were. It's a very fast process to take photos and then you just copy them on to the Vieweet platform, and you put the hyperlinks, the hotspots, and the tour is done. The tour might take you 45 minutes to do. For me, that's no problem at all, if it’s a big one. If it’s small one bedroom place, might take you five minutes to stitch it together. It just depends. The more you do it, the faster you become. Every property had the virtual tour, had the video, had some updated photos. It just meant that as a tenant, trying to select for the property, all the problems were answered. As an owner, we're now looking at other agents online who’s going to rent out their property, they can take the methodical process of photo, virtual tour, application form. That’s very simple process. We then are going to back it up with proof statements, like the rent is zero vacancy. All those other things that were important, because if you guys are doing an appraisal and start just reeling off everything you do, you're the same as everyone else, but if you can show proof statements, then it's 97% there. Jason: Love it. You can easily send a video introducing yourself, and you can send them link to a page of video testimonials from clients. If you can give them all the social proof, and you say, “Look at how we market the properties.” Send them the link to your rental listings. “Here's an example. Here's a property similar to yours maybe.” Suddenly, they can imagine all of it, they can see it, and it becomes real to them. This becomes this huge competitive advantage in this huge differentiator between you, and other property management companies, and then it's allowing you to close more deals. I would imagine it facilitates word-of-mouth, because people are going to talk about you because they're probably impressed. I would be impressive if somebody showed up with goggles, and camera, and show me tours, and sent me a video text message. I'd be like, “These guys are on top of things, and they're tech savvy, and they're going to take care of me out of the gate.” Michael: I guess one of the great things is, I won't mention the exact pricing, but we were full fee. We weren’t competing with, “But that agent is offering a cheaper fee,” anymore. We’re full fee, we’re doing full leasing fee for management estate. In Australia, we can't charge as many fees as you can in America. I wish we could, but we were full fees. I was maximizing every potential fee that I could, so routine inspection fees, higher statement fees. We were full fees, we don’t have to compete with someone. I remember when I started, Jason, and I’m trying to get traction, I sent out a thousand flyers to people and offered a low management fee to people for three months. I got one person out of the thousand that I sent out, that was great, because there were multiple referring client. But starting out, thinking that I have to charge something low, so that I can get in front of more people was one of the biggest crazy thoughts that I had at the very start. Jason: It's one of the most common beginner pitfalls is, “I need to be cheaper than everybody else to get started and to compete.” Michael: Yeah. If I just realized back over 10 years ago that my value proposition had to change. Jason: Yeah. Michael: “Not with my fees but with my value proposition. How do I not complicate it? Now, I no longer have any other office. I work from a home office. I've restructured because I don’t want to have physical staff. I've got VAs that do all the menial tasks. All the properties that we have are on the virtual platform. I've got no properties arranged at the moment. No rent arrears. Last year, I was abroad seven months of the year. I was in Turkey for two months, Indonesia for two months, in and out of America, or like interstate. I traveled a lot. This year, maybe four months of the year. If I get a new business, I will have someone go and do the virtual tool for me. I’ll train a simple person who doesn't want to do anything else if I'm not around. I enjoy going to the properties and checking them out. I'm a bit of a property nerd, I like checking them out, seeing how we can add value and connecting. The most important thing for me as an agency was to make sure that we have meaningful conversations, getting rid of all the clutter and all the noise. Instead, we will focus on the good happy goals, the meaningful connections, making sure that we can add value to our customers and our clients. That was our end result, to have that meaningful connection. The rest just all falls into place, it’s all systems. Jason: You didn't go into it thinking, “I just want to automate everything to the nines.” Your core end goal was, “We want to have meaningful connections,” and then, “I want to have freedom as I'm doing this,” to just focus on that. Michael: Yeah. Automating it just allows the opportunity to spend more time with people. Jason: I love it. Michael: It wasn't to make it so easy that I could travel a lot. It just meant that I need to get better connections. I pick up properties from going overseas. So many Americans travel. I've been in Europe and picked up a new management system [...] abroad. It gives me that flexibility. Also, you get to actually get new systems. People do things differently, so go out and see how other people are doing things to make their businesses better and how can you implement it in your business. It’s so important. Jason: Yeah. I think I heard a quote the other day that was, “Travel is the language of peace.” The amount of tolerance, and learning, and growth that happens just from being in different environments and different cultures, I remember taking a trip to Israel and it just was so different than what I was used to in the US. Even the checkpoints where kids were holding machine guns. It was just all so different and it was just really eye opening. I've been in Mexico, very different. You’ve been exposed to so many different cultures. You get to really fill your soul with having this variety in life. I think that's part of why a lot of people are in property management. They love that unique variety. There's all these different unique challenges that come with it. There’s all these unique opportunities to meet unique people. You really got to focus on the even best and highest portions of that by being able to treat that freedom. Michael: Don't be scared of doing anything. Don’t be scared of making mistakes. Trial it. If it’s not 360 for someone, if it’s not video for someone. Go ahead and trial things and see how it can give you that freedom, but also to be able to engage with people, family, and friends. Imagine if you live in a suburb and you've got a sports club, a church, a local pub, or whatever you’ve got, all these meeting places but you never get to go there because you're so busy trying to do the admin. You're a local real estate agent and you're not even able to local. Flip that upside down. Imagine if you're a local real estate agent doing local things because you have all these other things automated and being done for you while you're networking, and meeting, and engaging with people in your area. Imagine for a second how different that looks. Jason: Yeah, I love it. I think, Michael, everybody listening has probably by now hopefully felt a little bit inspired that there's this possibility that you've painted for them that is probably for a lot of property manager still outside the current world view. I think that's exciting. I appreciate you coming on the show. How can people get in touch with you and what sort of take away would you want to leave them with? Michael: Well, if you’ve got any questions about anything we've spoken about today, just hit me up on Facebook and send me a message and I'll respond that way. It’s probably the easiest way rather than giving you a cell number or an email, just go to Facebook, we can connect there. I'm on messenger, it’s the simplest way. Again, I guess the constant message that we've been discussing today is try it; don’t give up, try new things that may automate your business and give you more time tomorrow even though you’re spending more time today to get it done. Jason: Perfect. This is an episode I will hope that people will listen to more than once. Michael, I appreciate you coming on the show. Michael: You're welcome. Jason: I think you gave a lot of value. I'm grateful to you. Thanks for being here and sharing so many ideas. Michael: Thank you. Jason: Alright, cool. That was really fun for me as a nerd to have Michael on. Message him through Facebook. If you are a property management entrepreneur that wants to add doors and make a difference, as I said in the intro, then you should be a part of our community. You would love it in there. Make sure you join the DoorGrow Club. You can get into that by going to doorgrowclub.com. Our Facebook group, there's really cool people in there like Michael, and there's just some phenomenal helpful property managers. People that buy into this vision that good property management can change the world. That what the industry needs here, especially in the US is collaboration over competition. These are people that are willing to collaborate, willing to help, willing to support you. Make sure you get inside the DoorGrow Club Facebook group and check it out. If you join that group, if you apply and join that group, it's free, but you have to apply. We will give you some free gifts including a fee bible and some other really cool takeaways and gifts over the next few days after we welcome you to the group, just to welcome you aboard, part of our Facebook group. Check that out at doorgrowclub.com. Until next time everybody, to our mutual growth. Bye everybody.  

Folge 205 Meine Freundin und Kollegin Michaela Steidl hat einen eigenen sehr erfolgreichen Zugang entwickelt ein Online-Business aufzubauen. Anlässlich der Veröffentlichung ihres Buchs „Du bist ein Magnet – Zum Businesserfolg ohne zu verkaufen“ spreche ich mit Michaela über das Prinzip, das sie in den Mittelpunkt ihres Buches gestellt hat. In dieser Podcast-Folge sprechen wir unter anderem über Folgendes: Welche Elemente du für dein Business nutzen kannst, um online zum Erfolg zu kommen – ohne dich aufzudrängen. Warum deine eigene Webseite der Mittelpunkt deines Unternehmens ist. Welche Rolle dein Blog spielt und warum er so wichtig ist, damit Menschen dich und deine Angebote finden können. Wie du Social-Media auf deine Art nutzt, um mit Menschen in Kontakt zu kommen und zu bleiben. Warum du weder komplizierte Funnels noch aggressives E-Mail-Marketing brauchst, um Erfolg zu haben. Wie ein authentisches Newslettermarketing aussehen kann. Warum großzügiges Contentmarketing so eine starke Sogwirkung entwickelt. Wie wichtig es ist, dass du DEINEN Weg findest und gehst. Hier die Links, die wir im Podcast ansprechen, und weiterführende Informationen, Tipps und Erfahrungsberichte rund um Bücher, eBooks und deinen Erfolg: Hier geht’s zu Michaela Steidls Internetseite: https://wp-bistro.de   Hier holst du dir Michaelas aktuelles Buch „Du bist ein Magnet – Zum Businesserfolg ohne zu verkaufen“ auf Amazon: https://amzn.to/2Hx3kA8 Hier kommst du in den Mission Bestseller Club: https://mission-bestseller.com/mbc Hier kommst du zu Toms eBook: „In sechs Schritten zum Bestseller“ www.mission-bestseller.com/dein-buch   Hier findest du die Mission Bestseller auf Amazon: http://amzn.to/2sV2hnL Einige der Links auf dieser Seite sind Affiliate-Links und ich erhalte eine Provision, wenn du über sie kaufst, die sich nicht auf deinen Kaufpreis auswirkt.

Janni har jetlag och låga omega 3 värden och Michaelas pustar ut efter helgen då lilla Valle haft en astmaattack. I veckans avsnitt får vi bland annat veta några saker vi inte visste om systrarnas lite udda preferenser.

YouTube eignet sich nur für Beauty und Comedy Themen? Falsch! In der heutigen Podcast-Folge erklärt dir YouTube-Expertin Michaela Engelshowe, wie du mit YouTube nachhaltig Reichweite aufbaust. → Melde dich hier für Michaelas kostenlose, 3-teilige YouTube Challenge an: https://michaelaengelshowe.de/die-youtube-challenge/

This week’s podcast showcases up and coming Indie author, Michael Evans, and coincides with the launch of the Indie Issue of Author Success Stories Magazine. Find out more https://writerontheroad.com/author-success-stories-magazine/ (here.) Michael Evans is a young adult author and futurist. He’s an up and coming Indie author, following in the footsteps of the likes of Adam Croft, with a business savvy to match. Evans has published  three novels and four novellas, under his brand, Boundless Press, and at the age of 16 he’s learnt a lot from his journey. He is a keynote speaker at the upcoming Young Eager Writers Conference and will be running a Masterclass on Finding Your Voice. He shows us how to build an author career from the ground up. In this episode, we discuss the following: building an author brand mistakes to avoid when publishing your novel time management how to use social media the right way structuring your life around your passion tips for new writers starting out (and for the rest of us) the importance of chasing your dreams how to overcome financial mistakes; the writing process being an Indie artist how to run a cost-efficient business building an author career from the ground up finding your writing voice You can find out more about Michael and his books https://mevansinked.com/about-me/ (here.) I also recommend you follow him on Instagram, Twitter and Youtube.   Read Full Transcript Mel: Welcome to Episode 146 of writer on the road. And what a special episode it is. I'm so very excited to bring you an up and coming Indie author, Michael Evans. Our chat today coincides with the launch of Author Success Stories Magazine and it's our special Indie issue. I'm really privileged to chat with a young man who is only just starting out on his indie author career. He shows us how to do it properly. Already at the age of 16 he's learnt a lot from his journey and he shares those mistakes with us. But more importantly he shows us how to build an author career from the ground up. But what also excites me is his his branding and its boundless. He talks about how we can all grow together and our energies are boundless. And after chatting with him this morning I've got to tell you that I'm really keen to get back into my own writing. I hope he has the same impact on you. So for all our Indi and hybrid authors out there go grab yourself a pen and paper. Michael's got some great advice for all of us including how to work social media to all our advantages. It's really great stuff. He's got some great tidbits for us and he's an amazing speaker. And if you haven't already, pop over to Writer on the Road and subscribe to our Author Success Stories Magazine. This month is a special Indie addition and it's got some more great advice for those of us who are trying to do it alone but discover that we need a whole world of help to go along with this. Mel: Michael a young adult author and futurist. This young man has blown me away. I've been talking about him about the professionalism with which he is approaching his career. He's building an author brand from the ground up and doing an amazing job of it. I've been following him around social media following his marketing efforts. And for someone so young I'm sure we're going to hear a lot more about him. I liken him to a young Adam Croft which is pretty amazing stuff. Michael first of all I'd like you to start and tell us a little bit about the books that you write. Michael: As of right now I have three books and four novellas out in the Control Freak series and the Control Freak series is a young adult post apocalyptic thriller series that follows Natalie and her two best friends on their journey to get their life and family back that was stolen from the government after the Great Crash. Trillions of dollars were lost. And then after protocols years years enacted a secret government program....

Für die "Entscheidungsarchitektin" Michaela Forthuber ist der Prozess der Entscheidungsfindung in schwierigen Ausgangssituationen Alltag. Durch ihre jahrelange Expertise kann sie mit Recht behaupten bereits vielen Menschen mit ihrer Arbeit zu mehr Erfolg verholfen und bei der Erreichung ihrer Ziele unterstützt zu haben. Doch der Grund, warum viele Menschen so sehr davor zurückschrecken Entscheidungen zu treffen, ist die Tatsache, dass jede Entscheidung auch radikale Eigenverantwortung nach sich zieht. An dieser Stelle treffen sich die beiden zentralen Lebensherausforderungen Verantwortung und Entscheidungsfindung. In dieser Episode manifestiert sich die Synthese dieser beiden Bereiche in einer konkreten Strategie, wie auch Du Entscheidungen in besonders herausfordernden Lebenssituationen treffen kannst und somit deinen persönlichen Zielen ein Stück näher kommst. Shownotes 00:00-00:14 Intro 00:15-04:56 Wer ist Michaela Forthuber und was ist ihre Profession? 04:57-07:20 Michaelas Werdegang 07:21-09:15 Tiefpunkte und Learnings 09:16-09:58 Die größten Erfolge 09:59-11:52 Michaelas intrinsische Motivation auf dem Beruf zum beruflichen Erfolg 11:53-17:47 Was heißt Verantwortung für Michaela Forthuber und wie manifestiert es sich in ihrer Arbeit? 17:48-20:05 Unterschiede in den Entscheidungsgewohnheiten in verschiedenen Lebensbereichen 20:06-22:05 Wann war Michaela Forthuber verantwortungslos? 22:06-25:17 Michaelas Stärken und Schwächen 25:18-27:15 Kann "aufgeben" sinnvoll sein? 27:16-28:50 Welchen Rat würde Michaela sich selbst geben und was würde sie anderen Menschen raten? 28:51-31:50 Michaelas Zentrale Werte 31:51-32:43 Worauf würde Michaela nicht mehr verzichten? 32:44-35:49 Michaelas Ziele für die Zukunft 35:50-39:36:An welchen Stellen kränkelt die Gesellschaft und was sich verändern müsste 39:37-43:45 Mehr Inspiration von Michaela Forthuber 43:46 Outro

July 2018 Podcast James Cordier and Michael Gross Michael: Hello everybody. This is Michael Gross of OptionSellers.com. I am here for your July Podcast. This month’s podcast will be in audio format. I’m here with head trader James Cordier. James, welcome to the show. James: Thank you very much, Michael. Always happy. Michael: Great. The topic of this month’s podcast is Fast Cash from Selling Options in Over-Bought or Over-Sold Markets. James, as you and I know, we’re not really in the business of looking for fast cash, but we’re more in the business of long-term investments. Every once in a while, when you’re selling options, there comes certain opportunities where there might be a place to sell the option and you see that time decay in just the first 30-60 days. Often times that can be when markets get to an extreme, like some markets we’re seeing now. Wouldn’t you agree with that? James: Michael, it’s interesting, we are very long-term investors. When we’re looking at seasonal positions or headlines that create a slightly shorter-term opportunity, then we do look at things like timing and certainly all the headlines going on right now with trade are probably offering some really good opportunities of the slightly shorter variety and we’re looking forward to taking advantage of those over the next 10 days or so. Michael: Great. I know, as you and I have been discussing, as are most investors right now, the big topic is trade tensions with China. I don’t know if we call it a trade war yet, but certainly having got some investors attention and pushing the stock market around. Maybe talk a little bit about how that’s affecting commodities right now. James: Michael, if this doesn’t turn into a trade war, this is the most well played game that I’ve ever seen between the U.S. and China. I mean, we are right to the brink of what could be quite a significant trade policy coming down the pike. It is definitely worrying some investors that are looking at certain parts of the global economy. Uncertainty is always not welcome. Anyone who is looking at investing for their company or inventories or what have you, when they see uncertainty they usually hold back and that is probably going to be swelling some economic growth globally if this doesn’t come to a head here in the next week or two. Michael: Okay. As most of you listeners know, as far as being an option seller, it doesn’t really matter to you which way the market or prices are moving, especially when you’re trading different uncorrelated commodities. Often times, situations like this can create opportunities and that’s what we’re going to talk a little bit about today. James, would you like to go ahead and move into our feature markets? James: Michael, certainly. Natural gas is one of the markets that are very near and dear to our hearts. In the very heart of winter and the very heart of summer, which is coming up relatively soon, we did take positions in natural gas much earlier this year, trying to sell put premium. We were fairly successful doing that. Generally, the market bottoms in winter and rallies into spring and the natural gas market did that. Right now, we are looking at a seasonality for natural gas. It has had a very nice rally over the last 3 months or so and basically a lot of headlines talk about the need for natural gas in summer for cooling homes and cooling businesses, of course. We think that’s quite overplayed. Generally speaking, when it’s extremely cold in the U.S. or throughout Europe, demand for natural gas does spike and that is real. As far as buying natural gas for summer cooling, I don’t think the numbers dive exactly. It takes approximately 25% of the natural gas to cool a home in the summer as it does to heat a home in the winter so, generally speaking, when natural gas rallies because the warmer temperatures are ahead, that’s usually something you want to fade. Of course, at that time, inventories are usually being built in a very big way. So, we’re looking at selling natural gas calls over the next 2-4 weeks to take advantage of that seasonal position. Michael: Yeah, you make a good point there, James. The seasonal tendency for natural gas used to get a little bit of a spike in summer and, yeah, you can but it seems like the tendency over the last 5-10 years seems to be more of, as they build that inventory into spring and summer as those supplies rise, it tends to just kind of overlook the summer demand for just the reason you mentioned. Now we’re seeing a seasonal where the seasonal prices tend to start declining in June and keep going right through fall so it appears they’re following that pattern right now. Now, we’re not at a particularly high level of natural gas supplies right now. From what I’m seeing we’re a little bit under where we typically are this time of year. Is that what you’re seeing as well? James: We are. Natural gas supplies in the U.S. are under the 5-year average and they’re below levels from last year, not a great amount, but what a lot of market participants are looking at is all the drilling all around the U.S. Of course, the bi-product of that is natural gas. A lot of investors and a lot of the analysts in natural gas feel that $3 natural gas is probably a fairly decent price considering that drillers are getting it for free as a bi-product. So, it used to be that natural gas was produced in the Gulf of Mexico in Louisiana, and when you had demand shocks it really moved the market a great deal. The beauty of option selling is that some of that volatility is still in the market even though we’re now producing natural gas all over the country. We have just massive fines in Oklahoma, Arizona, and Kansas, the Dakotas, Pennsylvania, Ohio. The supply is always going to be there for natural gas right now and taking advantage of small swings, up and down, during the year should be fruitful for selling options and that’s why we think selling calls over the next few weeks is probably going to be a very good idea. Michael: You know, James, you made several good points there. In talking about the seasonal tendency, when we go back to where you were talking about selling puts in the spring when we recommended that in the newsletter, prices have rallied almost 10% since that point. Now, with supplies building, as you said, it can start putting a little bit more pressure on the price of natural gas, at least that is what you’re expecting. We’re going back to Fast Cash from Selling Options in Over-Bought Markets… I think two points, and maybe you can hit on both of them, one is natural gas, as of at least a couple days ago, hit a pretty good level where it was and looked pretty over-bought, especially for this time of year when you have a seasonal. Technically, the market is over-bought, that tends to push those option premiums up higher to where they get to an over-valued level at some point, especially with a little jolt like that. Also, natural gas is probably one of the markets that would be least affected by any type of Chinese trade tariff. Would you agree with that? James: Michael, the natural gas market that we trade here in the United States is purely a domestic market right now. It’s not coffee, it’s not steel, it’s not sugar. Those are all world traded markets and the natural gas market is probably 99% influenced by the supply and demand that happens within the 50 states. Of all the markets that we follow, several won’t be affected by the tariffs and natural gas is definitely the bull’s-eye of the one that will probably deem what goes on with tariffs probably be the least of all of them that we follow. Michael: Okay. So, we’re here at the beginning of a potential seasonal downturn here, at least that’s what we might be looking for. When you talk about this, and for those of you listening, natural gas is the feature market in our upcoming July newsletter, which you can keep an eye out for. It should be out on or before the 1st of July in your mailbox or e-mail box. James, in that, you’re recommending taking a look at selling call strikes at the $4 or above level. Right now natural gas is under $3, so we’re looking at strikes at least 25% above the current market. So, you’re not really calling a top right here, what you’re saying is, “Hey, it’s a 3, it’s not going to go to 4, especially at a time of year where supplies are building.” James: Michael, it certainly does look like an opportunity. The natural gas market has risen off the lows that we spoke of earlier this year and the ones you just mentioned recently. Natural gas was down to $2.50 and $2.55 earlier this year. Right now it’s approximately $3 so it has had a decent rally. We’re looking at strikes at $4, $4.50, and $5 and we think that the time to probably jump into those positions is really soon. We have had a nice rally in natural gas. A lot of it is based off of the hot temperatures that we’ve had in the Midwest and the Northeast recently. I’m looking at the 14-28 day forecast and it cools off quite a bit. While I don’t make that big of a deal over the temperatures exactly, a lot of traders do. That’s why I think we got this rally and we really like selling it here right about this level that we’re at right now. Michael: We go back to what we’re talking about here… The Fast Cash in Over-Bought Markets. Even if you’re going out deeper out-of-the-money contracts, which you recommend going out to December and maybe even March contracts, if we do get a typical seasonal move, which there’s no guarantee that happens, but if the price does and we get a pretty decent price drop over the next 30-45 days, I’m guessing what the market is still looking a little bit over-bought, you could see some pretty significant decay in those options. Is that what you’re looking at as well? James: It is. The decay on these options that we’re considering would probably, if in fact natural gas does have a slight decline going into the 3rd and 4th quarter, we would expect these options to lose a great deal of their value well before the winter timeframe. So, we are probably anticipating decent decay where these options might start out at $600, might have a value of maybe $100-$200 before we even reach the winter season. As far as our looking at the market, that’s a relatively short position for us and we think the decay in selling these options over the next 60-90 days could be very good. Michael: Okay, good. And again, those of you interested in taking a look at this market and what James is describing here, you will want to take a look at the July Newsletter. It is in the premium sniper column there. James, let’s move into our second market, which is the soybean market. If you want to talk about a market affected by or potentially affected by a Chinese trading tariff, this would certainly be it. You have soybeans just off the rumors since President Trump announced he wanted to have another potential tariff on some Chinese products up to the tune of, I believe, it’s 200 billion… is that correct? James: That’s the latest that I’ve heard on the wire today, yes. Michael: Okay. If that has stoked fears that China is going to retaliate and put tariffs on U.S. products. Soybeans, one of the main markets that a lot of investors fear may be in the cross hairs because we export a lot of soybeans to China. Soybeans have declined sharply on these fears just in the last few weeks. That and the fact that planting has gone nearly perfectly in the Midwest. Right now, the weather is ideal so we’re looking at fundamentals but we’re also going to be looking at this China pressure, but you’re thinking they might have pressed, over-pressed, on the downside right now. James: Michael, it’s so interesting the gamesmanship taking place out of China right now is just being played to perfection. We certainly have the ability to see China import soybeans from other locations, of course, Argentina and Brazil. I think we spoke of that earlier this year. What’s so interesting is the amount of livestock that has to be fed both corn and soybeans. That will not change, but the brinkmanship coming out of China right now is excellent. I can’t believe I’m going to mention this, but here I go. There are elections coming up in the United States and with China playing the tariff card on soybeans and watching those markets just absolutely fall out of bed, that is going to certainly be a bit of an irritant to the Midwest and the great plains in the United States right before elections. Don’t think that these farming states don’t know that. We just saw soybeans fall practically 20% in value with corn and soybeans over the last 30 days on these tariff scares. The fact that soybeans are a global market and there’s only so many to go around, while we were bearish soybeans earlier this year, it really looks like that might be overdone on the downside. If this is simply brinksmanship and this is simply bargaining going on, this fall in soybeans, the fall in price is probably just about run its course. We were just pushing $11 on soybeans. Now they’re in the high $8’s. We think that this might be a good place to look at selling puts in the next week or two. Michael: You know, James, just to point out in your feature article in the Spring, you suggested investors selling calls in soybeans based on, one, the seasonality and, two, what you mention and you hit it right on the head, there was no guarantee China was going to put tariffs on U.S. soybeans but if they did or if people believe they were going to that would just be an added bonus for the trade and really sink soybean prices. It looks like you hit it right on the head. That is exactly what happened right in the middle of seasonality where soybean prices tend to decline anyways because when they wrap up harvest, that anxiety goes out of the market, prices tend to decline. They don’t tend to decline as much as they did this year and that looks like it’s right off that China fear, just like you said. You’re talking about the elections, there’s a possible factor that could mitigate that, but we’re also looking at the core fundamentals where we have ending stocks this year 385 million bushels projected for 18-19, next year. It’s not high but it’s substantially lower than we’ve been for the last couple of years. So, when you look at the longer-term fundamentals, we’re not that bearish. I think you’re right. It looks like the market probably overreacted here. If they would slap tariffs on do you think that would bring another leg down or do you think we may have already priced that, at least for the most part? James: Michael, this is truly speculation on my part, but I think all the leaders around the world agree that major tariffs that are being discussed right now are going to simply be detrimental to a lot of the economies. When you look at the locations like Japan and Europe, which are starting to slow already, so many of these nations and their economies are certainly in need of a strong U.S. economy and a strong Chinese economy. Without those they slow down. I’m starting to think that this is simply negotiating to hopefully get a better deal, I think, is what the administration is thinking. We really like the idea that soybeans are going to be in very good demand later this year. As livestock feeding continues, that has certainly not changed at all. As far as I can tell, we’re going to have record demand for soybeans this year and the beginning of next and this very steep fall-off is probably going to be a good selling opportunity for puts. In other words, taking a bullish position from these very low levels coming up quite soon. Michael: Yeah, that’s a great point, as well. Record global demand for soybeans this year and the market tends to be discounting that because it’s been all wrapped up in this China story. When you have record demand you have very little room for any type of weather error or weather problem developing. Right now, this market is pricing in a perfect harvest, it’s pricing in perfect weather, and they are just sinking the price. In addition to what you’re saying as far as maybe this whole China thing is a little bit overblown, I think the core fundamentals here are enough to prop it up at least from the levels it has been to the last couple of days. Just looks like a market that, when we’re talking about over-sold markets, this looks like an extreme example of that. James: You know, what we started out saying is headlines can often create slightly shorter-term opportunities. The headline right now with the potential tariff is certainly one of those. Record demand, that’s not about to change. The demand for production of livestock throughout Asia, that’s not changing, that’s only growing. Many metals and other soft commodities, these can be transfixed into using something else. Coffee supplies, we can use coffee supplies from 20 years ago. It winds up at Starbucks and McDonald’s and such. Cocoa supplies can be used from 15 years ago. Sugar can be stored for a decade. That’s not the case with soybeans and feeding livestock and, thus, there really is no alternative for corn and soybeans. That’s why we think these headlines are probably going to be an opportunity to be selling puts here pretty soon. Michael: Okay. One final point I wanted to hit on the soybean market, and you made this in your article this week on the soybean market, which is on the blog. If you’re listening and you’d like to read the article and James’ suggested trade, you can see that at www.OptionSellers.com/Blog. It is our soybean feature market this week. The point you made, James, is even if China slaps a tariff on U.S. soybeans, they still need the beans so they’re just going to have to go to Brazil or somewhere else, Argentina, to buy their soybeans. So, they’re still getting the soybeans there, the U.S. beans get cheaper and they become more attractive to other importers and it’s really just a shift of who’s buying from who, but on the overall global stage it doesn’t really have that big of an impact on soybean supply and demand. I think that’s a great point you made. James: Michael, that’s exactly right. Whether the soybeans from Argentina and Brazil and soybeans from the United States go to Europe, it really doesn’t matter. We’re still talking about the same global supply and the same global demand. At the end of the day, it really doesn’t matter which soybeans are going to what part of the world. It’s a supply factor and it’s a global market. I think that’s an excellent point that you made, as well. Michael: So, as far as the trade goes now, we’re talking about again Fast Cash from Option in an Over-Sold Market. As we said, this market definitely fits the definition of over-sold and I’m not necessarily calling a low there but you’re willing to go $1-$1.50 below the current price and sell puts. As far as a trading strategy goes, what are you looking at there? James: Michael, as long as the market is still considering record demand and they certainly are, that part hasn’t changed, as long as the U.S. is now going to be the main grocery supporter for soybeans as Argentina and Brazil runs out, we’re looking at selling puts and soybeans at levels that the market hasn’t traded in years. We’re looking at selling soybean puts around $7.80-$8 a bushel. We think that the market’s going to probably be in the low $9 to mid $9 level later on this year. That would be putting these puts out-of-the-money by 20-25% and I think that’s a really safe basket, if you will, for us to be outside of the money. As far as soybeans falling down to $8 or $7.80, that would be a real eye opener. That would really set up a long-term position to sell puts then even lower. We don’t think that’s going to happen and we really like the opportunity that we think it coming up at selling puts around the $8 level. Michael: As far as fast time decay, maybe and maybe not, but I’m of the opinion, and you tell me if you agree, that this market has gone so far in ignoring the weather, which has been ideal, but if you get one little weather blip this summer in Indiana or Illinois, I think the market is so oversold that you could easily see a $0.50-$1 rally in soybeans over a period of just a couple weeks. You know what it can get like in the summer. If that’s the case, you could get a pretty fast decay on these, as well. James: Michael, you mentioned just a short time ago that we have near ideal conditions in the Midwest, the growing regions of the United States. We will have a week or two of hot weather coming to Indiana or Ohio or Iowa this July and August and that’s all it takes. They show this ring of fire on weather maps later this summer and up go soybeans, probably $0.50 a bushel. Shortly after that, if in fact that happens, I think you’d see really rapid decay on the puts that we’re looking at selling at this $8 level. Michael: Of course, if you’re an option seller and you are selling puts down at the $7.80-$8 level that James is talking about, all these things we’re talking about don’t need to happen. The only thing you need to happen is for the price to stay above your strike. So, any of these scenarios could play out and, as an option seller, you still take the premium. So, that’s really why we sell options in the first place. There’s many ways to make money with it, there’s only one thing that can happen for you to lose and I know that’s why we started selling options in the first place, James. James: Michael, we’ve often said the market can go up, down, or sideways, just as long as it doesn’t exceed your strike price and, of course, there are a lot of books talking about how often they do expire worthless. You do keep the premium, you’re the house, and from time to time someone leaves the casino with a smile on their face, but often it’s upside down from that price. Michael: Of course, those of you listening, if you’d like to read more about our strategies, the strategy we recommend for selling options in commodities as an overall investment approach, you’ll want to pick up a copy of our book, The Complete Guide to Option Selling. It’s now in its third edition through McGraw-Hill. You can get it on our website at www.OptionSellers.com/Book. You’ll get it at a discount there, a lower price than you’ll get it on Amazon or at the bookstore. James, I think that’s it for this month. I think we’ve covered quite a lot of ground. If you’re and investor and you’re looking at these markets, certainly follow up on our blog where you’ll see the written parts of these or the newsletter. Take them on your own merit. We will be incorporating these into our trading plan for our managed portfolios this month. Speaking of managed portfolios, our waiting list is now out to September; however, we are still booking consultations through July and August for those September openings. So, if you are interested or thinking about opening an account, now is the time you’ll want to book your consultation. We’ll have those interviews and we’ll see if you match the profile for a client. James, as far as one final parting comment here, as far as this volatility goes that’s coming from the Chinese trade tariff worries, does that make it a better or a worse time to be selling options? James: Michael, once or twice a year inevitably there are headlines that create volatility. A couple years ago it was the talk of the Brexit, there was Switzerland leaving the Euro currency, it was 2 years ago the surprise election results. These headlines seem to come around once or twice a year and a lot of investors feel that while that type of uncertainty is something I don’t want to invest in, but that plays into our hands perfectly. The fundamentals of the markets that we follow change very in small fashion, you know, 1%-2% moves in commodities, but to listen to headlines it’s like the markets are moving a great deal. That plays right into our hands. We sell options so far out in time and so far out in price. We love headlines like this and tariff talks with China is just the second one for this year and we really enjoy having headlines like this. It causes uncertainty, it causes high premiums, and that is something that has been feeding us for the last several years. One or two headlines like this every year or two is just fine with me. Michael: All right. I hope everybody got something out of this month’s podcast that you can use or help you decide if option selling is a good strategy for you and your overall portfolio. Again, if you would like to book one of our remaining consultations in July or August, you can call the office at the main number… 800-346-1949 and speak with Rosemary. If you are calling from overseas, that number is 813-472-5760. You can also e-mail an inquiry at office@optionsellers.com. You’ll be able to hear this podcast on our blog but you can also subscribe to our YouTube channel and/or iTunes and hear it there. James, thank you for all your insights this month. James: Michael, it’s my pleasure. Michael: For everybody listening, have a great month of option selling. We will talk to you in 30 days. Thank you.

Michael: Hello everybody. This is Michael Gross of OptionSellers.com. I’m here with head trader James Cordier. We are here for your monthly May video podcast from OptionSellers.com. James, welcome to the monthly show. James: Thank you, Michael. Can you believe we’re going into May already? Michael: It sure went fast. This last month here we saw some key developments in the markets. We have a lot of tensions between China and the U.S. over trade, and then we’re, lately, looking at 10-year treasuries going over 3%. A lot of people are wondering how this may affect commodities. What’s your take on that? James: Well, the trade wars that are supposedly about to take place, I think, are simply negotiation. President Trump mentioned many times going into the election that he was going to do “the art of the deal” and get us some more fair playing field, especially with China. Certainly the deficit that many goes out to China and doesn’t come back is something that he’s going to work on and, I believe, it’s more negotiating than it’s actually going to be major changes, as far as trade tariffs and such. Will some be put in place and some enacted? Probably so, but I know Mr. Mnuchin is going to China I believe in the next week or two, and he’s going to have probably the checkbook ready so he can basically get an olive branch going out. Needless to say, everybody wants a strong economic global growth and a trade war is not going to help that; however, getting a more fair and balanced trade, especially with China, I think is a really good idea and I think that’s what we’re going to get over the next month or two. All the discussion about it, I think, is going to be more of just that: just discussion. Michael: So, you don’t see any major changes in any commodities in the immediate term? Any immediate strategies people should be doing right now or as a result of that or, primarily, do you just see things leveling out here? James: Michael, the discussion of a trade war, like in soybeans or something that’s going to affect the demand for oil, I think a person or an investor should use that to look at the idea that it’s going to be settled. It’s not going to be a large disruption to production or demand in any of these commodities. When the price of a commodity is affected by discussion of it, I think you should take advantage of that. 3-6 months later, the fundamentals that we see now are going to be in place then, and basically it was hype that was going on and I think it’s going to offer opportunities. For markets that you’re following, if there’s trade discussion that’s going to move up or down the market that you were hoping to sell either puts or calls on, I think that’s going to be great picking in order to do that. Michael: Okay. Well, for those of you watching, we have an exciting show for you ahead this month. We’re going to be addressing a very common question we get. A lot of times, people sell an option, they get into the trade, the option moves a little bit against them, and then the question is “Well, what do I do now? Do I adjust the trade? Do I get out of it? If so, where do I get out of it?” What we’re going to do this month is we’re actually going to take you into some of our real trades we are doing in portfolios. Some of these, you’ve probably seen us talk about before. Pull back the curtain a little bit and show you a risk-parameter we might use and then recommend something you can use at home, as well, if you’re trading on your own or just get a little bit better insight into how we might do it professionally. A good analogy, and, James, I know you can comment on this, is we all saw the incident with Southwest Airlines this month where they had the problem with the engine. Certainly a tragedy for the people involved that it effected; however, one thing that really stuck out to me is the pilots that landed that plane and saved all those people. Have you heard the transcripts? They’re just cool as a cucumber. They knew exactly what to do, they had processes in place for every situation or condition, and you pilots out there that are clients, you know exactly what I’m talking about. When people are trading, and you know this more than anyone, James, you should have a contingency. Anything that happens, you should have a plan for that happening and have that type of control. That’s how you avoid that “what should I do” when you get into certain situations. When you’re trading, you deal with the same thing, James, am I right? James: I certainly do, nothing like that pilot was facing this past week, but in a similar note, you do have a plan. We are generally positioned in anywhere from 8-10 commodities and when one is causing the plane or the bow to veer right or veer left you simply need to make the adjustment. It shouldn’t be a huge deal to your portfolio. You should really be able to make a minor adjustment. If you’re in 10 commodities and 1 is going really in a direction you weren’t thinking, you should have a plan for that. It shouldn’t be a panic. It shouldn’t be large turns like this. You should just be turning the wheel like this and we’ve got an adjustment that needs to be made, the cocoa market or the coffee market or the silver market, and you just steer the plane and get it flying level again. Your portfolio, whether you’re having a portfolio with us or you’re investing with one on your own, you should never have a position that makes that much variance to your account. If you have 1 position in your account, name the commodity- it doesn’t really matter, and if it moves 5-10% in a short period of time, if that makes your account move larger than it really should be, it shouldn’t have a large variance because the market moved 5% or 10%. If it is doing that, you’re simply not positioned correctly. Always have in your portfolio 8-10 commodities and if 1 is making the plane go like this then you just pull it back like that. You should never have a position on your account that you can’t, in order to make the plane fly smoothly again, if you would. It happens all the time. We’re not right all the time. We’ll have 8-10 commodities in a portfolio and by-goodness, 1 is going to be causing this to happen and you just straighten the plane. Just like that brave pilot did, he knew exactly what to do. My goodness, 1 engine went out and he was able to do that. We have 10 engines on our plane. We should never have one commodity or another commodity make the plane go like this. It really shouldn’t happen. For your investors at home, if that’s happening to your portfolio you don’t have a diversified portfolio, and that is something that we at OptionSellers.com always strive to have so that when something happens that was unexpected, there’s a big headline in a certain commodity, you just straighten the plane and that’s what we do. Michael: That’s what we’re going to talk about today. If you’re trading at home or you’re checking out this strategy, one of the biggest advantages you have as an option seller is that flexibility James was talking about where if you’re trading, and say you are worried about a Chinese trade war or this or that, you have the ability to build out a strategy that can benefit from nearly any type of economic condition. It’s one you should use if you’re an option seller. We’re going to address and use a specific example this month from a market we talked about. We’ll show you how to adjust a trade if you do get into those type of situations where it’s not working exactly the way you hoped it would, and we’re going to give you a couple examples here of how to do just that. James, why don’t we move into the trading room and we’ll talk about our markets this month. James: Sounds good. Michael: Welcome to the markets segment of the OptionSellers.com May Podcast. We are going to talk about a market this month that we featured in last month’s podcast and that we’ve got a lot of questions on over the past month so we’re going to talk a little bit about it. This does go into the topic of this month’s podcast, which is how to turn a losing trade into a winning trade. So, first let’s talk about the market… this is the cocoa market. You saw us feature this market in last month’s podcast. Cocoa we talked about selling the 32 December call options. The markets rallied a little bit since then, did not threaten a strike, but it’s up a little bit. James, do you want to tell us what’s going on with this trade and this market? James: Michael, what’s going on with cocoa right now is the last several years we’ve had a production surplus worldwide. In 2018 and 2019, some of the largest cocoa analysis around the country is predicting the first deficit in quite some time for world production. Basically, high prices cure high prices and low prices cure low prices. The initial trade is that we’re going to have a production deficit this coming year and then the market must go much higher because we’re running out of cocoa, but in all actuality what happens when the price of something is rising that is dampening down demand. So, for example, when cocoa was trading around $2,000 and $2,100 a ton, chocolate manufacturers were purchasing cocoa. As it rallies, they purchase less and less and less, and the demand has already taken place. So, when we do get an announcement of a production deficit, that usually gets the last of the buyers, the headline traders, to get involved with the market. We saw a spike here recently in the last day or two where cocoa was threatening $2,900 a ton. Keep in mind that’s up almost 50% in price over the last few months. Basically what that does is commercial demand then starts to fall and then basically it’s a speculatively driven market. Usually a market that has moved 50%, we have just a couple percent difference in production, 2-3 years ago up until now, and yet we’ve had a 50% increase in price; thus, we think that’s a temporary move in the market. While we were suggesting selling the $3,200 calls last month, the market did not get anywhere near that level but, as some of the viewers and readers have mentioned, the price of those options are up slightly from, maybe, when we discussed selling them. Michael: Sure. I think that goes back to a good point is, we always say this, we don’t know where the top or bottom of a market’s going to be. That’s why we are selling options in the first place. We’re not trying to pick that anymore. You don’t have to pick that either as an option seller. It’s an important point to make as an option seller… you’re not trying to call the market, you’re just picking a window where you think prices should remain and then selling options outside that range. James: Exactly right. Fundamentally, the price of cocoa over the next 3-6 months should be at this level. The price of coffee or crude oil based on fundamentals will be at a certain level, as well. Basically, you’re selling option premium that puts you out-of-the-money sometimes 40-50-60%, and some 8 times out of 10, that leeway is all you’ll ever need. As a matter of fact, anyone listening to us right now and, of course, our clients are long-term investors. So, if you are, like we discussed just recently, you are flying a plane and you want it to have several engines, okay? Your portfolio should have several commodities; however, when one does exceed a level that you thought it would, you can roll up your position. For example, each day that cocoa gets more and more expensive, the likelihood of it staying above its fundamental value diminishes. So, if you did short cocoa prices at, for example, $3,200 a ton by selling the $3,200 call, you may choose to roll it up to the $3,400 or the $3,500 if in fact it’s something that if you want to stay with the market or you want to stay with your position, but speculatively the market is driven higher than we thought it would do. That is certainly one approach that we often take and someone who maybe has that position on right now might want to take that, as well. Michael: So, what you’ve just explained is how to turn a losing trade into a winning trade, the title of our podcast here today. Let’s go back and just explore that briefly. When we talked about selling the call here, we talked about selling it and we were right about here, now the market has rallied a little bit. As you said earlier, it really hasn’t threatened the original strike. In fact, I don’t even think the original premium has doubled yet. James: No, they hadn’t. Michael: Yet, we got a handful of people writing, “Ah, I sold a cocoa call. What do I do now?” Well, there’s 2 points to that. One, we’re not really an advisory service, we are managed fund here, so we can’t really instruct you all the way through the trade. The bigger point here is when we went back to the beginning of the podcast that James just referred to, we talk about the pilot steering the plane. If you’re putting a trade like this on, you better have a plan for what you’re going to do for when you go into that trade if it doesn’t move the way you think. Now, the movement in cocoa right now, it hasn’t really been extreme, it is pressuring the strike price a little bit. James feels it’s still fundamentally justified trade, but if you’re getting uncomfortable or it keeps rallying or starts pressuring that, he’s talking about rolling the positions up. James, do you want to explain the mechanics of that if you were, or if somebody was holding a 32 call what they would do to recapture that premium? James: Okay, so let’s say you sold 10 contracts of the 3,200 December call strike and the price is now exceeding your risk tolerance. Let’s say you sold them for $500 or $600. Let’s say you have the 100% rule for your portfolio, so the option has now doubled to approximately $1,000-$1,200. Now what I would do, if you were considering staying with a fundamental trade, which I think cocoa will probably be in the high 20’s at the end of the year and nowhere near 3,200; however, you buy back your $3,200 call and you can sell 20 now of the $3,400-$3,500 call. Eventually, the fundamental factors are going to slow this market down and we think that come November, when the December contracts expire, we’ll probably be in the high 20’s… like 2,800-2,900 at the most. So, if we do exceed 3,000 for a brief period, I would use that certainly as an option selling opportunity in cocoa calls. 3,400-3,500, I think, the market will not exceed that level in our opinion. We’ll have to wait and find out, but come November I think the market will be much below that. Michael: So, you’re doubling up on those strikes. So, you sold 10 and then when you roll you’re selling 20. That allows you to, one, get back your original premium, but it also allows you to recover the loss. James: That’s exactly right. Keep in mind as we discuss this, we always want to be in 8-10 commodities. We are selling options sometimes 40%, 50%, 60% out-of-the-money. You can’t, or you probably don’t want to, base your entire investment and the viability of this type of investment for you based on the idea that you sold 10 contracts of cocoa. Okay? We are selling commodity options in approximately 8-10 different sectors and, over the long-term, selling options 40%, 50%, 60% out-of-the-money is going to work out quite well, but, by all means, we stub our toe. We get kicked in the shin once in a while, but if you’re a long-term investor, and everyone should be, whether you’re long stocks or the real estate market or you’re selling options as an investment portfolio, you just know that 1 or 2 may not go your way and you definitely need to manage your portfolio. This is one way to do it. Another idea is, you know, taking a losing trade. If the investment idea wasn’t correct, we’ll take a look at it again. Let’s see if the market continues to rally, we’ll sell options on another day, or we’ll come and visit cocoa again next year. Have that ability to do that. Michael: That’s an excellent point. If you’re watching some of the things we do and you’re trying to trade just at home online saying “Oh I like that trade. I’ll sell this and see how it goes”, that’s really not how these are meant to go. When we are putting trades on a portfolio, we are putting them on as part of an overall portfolio of, as you said, 6, 8, 10 different positions. Sometimes they’re hedged on the other side of the market, sometimes they’re balanced by a long or short position somewhere else. So, these are incorporated into a much bigger scheme. If you’re just taking them and you’re really selling them out of context, so if something like this does move against you it’s a big deal for your portfolio, where for us is just like the captain of the plane. It’s a flip of a switch, just something different you need to do to adjust the position. James: Exactly, Michael. You should always be able to have both hands on the wheel and just make small adjustments. If you sold cocoa calls recently, your positioning should only be going like this and you shouldn’t be turning the wheel like this. If you’re doing that with your portfolio, you’re not doing it right. Michael: And as we talked about earlier for managed clients, we are going to be taking a closer look at this market this month. It is starting to get interesting and maybe look to see what we can do there in the coming weeks here. Let’s talk about another market here for our second part of the podcast this month. That will be the crude oil market. If you want a market that has been in the news lately, one that has been in the headlines has been the crude oil market. We’ve been closing in on the $70 mark for the first time in 2014. It’s been one of the strongest commodities on the board since last fall. James, you want to tell us what’s going on here? What’s behind this rally? What’s been pushing prices higher? James: Michael, Saudi Arabia has done just an incredible job leading the OPEC nations, as well as Russian production. Someone sat down with members of OPEC and said, “Listen. We cut production by 2-3%, we’re looking at the possibility of a 20%, 30%, or 40% gain in crude oil prices.” Lo and behold, that math sounded good to the OPEC producers, they did start cutting production, not a great deal, just a couple percent. Basically, we were looking at a 300-400 million barrel of surplus floating around the world, both in tankers and at storage facilities in some of the OPEC nations. After some 18 months of oil production cuts by OPEC and along with Russia, that 300-400 million barrel surplus is down to some 30 or 40 million barrels… just a huge gain for OPEC. Their ability to cut production has just paid off in spades. We have approximately 35-40% increase in oil prices. OPEC is very cohesive right now, something that a lot of analysts are quite surprised at and we are surprised at it, as well. The ability to keep that production offline when prices are going up, my hats off to OPEC, they’ve done a very nice job in order to do this. The market is now balanced. Basically, for every barrel that is being produced there is a consumer right now. We have a very balanced market and, as you can see, it’s up some $20-$25 from where we were just not that long ago. Michael: Yeah, compliance has been surprising, too. I read somewhere that they’re at like 138% compliance. Before, they used to have trouble even getting half the members to hit their quotas, now they’re above 100%. James: Someone did the math for the OPEC producers and said a small 2-3% cut can possibly increase the prices 20-30%. They nailed it. Here are the final results. Michael: As you mentioned, that’s taking quite a bit of oil off the market. OPEC production down 11.4% since these started in January 2017. So, that’s a pretty good drawdown. That’s really, what James is saying, is behind this rally right now. That and we have a pretty good seasonal in effect that’s helping drive prices now, as well. James: Basically, as we get into driving season in the U.S., the largest consumer of oil and gasoline in the world, you have a ramp-up of production where you’re cracking oil into gasoline and, generally, that happens between the months of March, April, and May getting ready for summer driving season. So, that cracking of oil takes oil production and supply off the market, turns it into gasoline, so you have, once again, a temporary shortage of oil as not only OPEC taking barrels off the market but also you have the largest refining season coming up going into driving times of June, July, and August here in the United States. This takes barrels of oil off the market, they are cracked into gasoline, and that’s why you usually have this seasonal rally going into May and June. Michael: Which seems to be following it very closely this year, the seasonal tendency. Now, one thing we’re seeing this year, and you and I were talking about this earlier, is refineries are operating at a torrid pace right now. They’re really hitting it pretty hard as far as production goes. Right now, gasoline production running about 4.2% ahead of pace for where it normally is. So, you’re thinking that they may hit those levels earlier this year and we may see a topping action in crude a little bit earlier this year? James: You know, consumption for gasoline in the United States peaks in June and July right around the 4th of July, or so it seems, but the price of crude oil will often top before then. Crude oil is clearly where gasoline comes from, and as those barrels come offline, in other words, they’re cracked into gasoline, the price of oil will often top before gasoline does. So, the demand is still there but it has already been produced. So, while the greatest demand in the United States is around the middle of the summer holidays, the demand for oil to produce that gasoline has already taken place and thus the seasonal comes down sooner than you would think. Michael: Sure, and this chart’s showing you can see a top in crude any time between mid-May to early-July, as you said; however, if refineries are hitting those levels where they deem supply adequate, they’re going to cut back production sooner and that will hurt demand for crude. James: And then the crude barrels start to accumulate more. Michael: Okay. So, we have that and then also, on the other side of the coin, what we have coming up or what’s even surprised OPEC is the level at which the United States has been able to ramp up production. They’re taking advantage of these higher prices and you referred to high prices carrying high prices earlier. We’re seeing U.S. production just blowing up, going up about 10.5 million barrels a day. Is this having an affect right now on the supply? James: Well, basically it’s balancing… the additional barrels coming from the United States is balancing what OPEC’s not producing. The fact that production in the United States is going to probably exceed 11 million barrels a day coming up in 2019 and 2020. We do see this plateauing and the excitement in oil right now is probably going to be rolling over. If the United States wasn’t the largest consumer, let’s say all these barrels were being produced on the opposite side of the globe, getting them to the United States would be difficult and then maybe the largest producer, now the United States, wouldn’t be such a big deal, but the fact that we’re producing it exactly where we need it, here in the United States, that will offset some of the global demand and price shock around the world. Everyone always talked about, “The United States is susceptible to what OPEC does”… well, we’re producing all the oil we need now, so the fact that oil is approaching $70 and here in the United States we can produce it for between $35-$45, how long is it going to stay above $70? It can only exceed it by a certain amount of dollars per barrel and for a certain period of time. If this level gets to 11 million barrels a day or 11.5 million barrels a day, oil will be coming back down into the low-mid 60’s at the very least, and probably setting up a sale here that’s looking like in May or June for option sellers. Michael: Okay. So, your outlook for the intermediate turn, obviously we talked earlier and we’re not trying to predict what prices are going to do, only what they’re not going to do, but do you see a little more strength coming in and then weakening, or what’s just the general outlook for that window? James: What’s so interesting right now is in some global economies, especially throughout Europe, they are going to feel this large gain in the price of oil. Japan is going to start feeling this large gain in the price of oil. Basically, they are 100% consumers and produce nothing, so oil going from $45 up to $70 will start slowing demand from these major consuming nations. At the same time, when the United States is now producing the most they ever have and now the largest producer in the world, we see oil kind of plateauing here this summer right around maybe June or July, but not falling a whole lot. The fact that we had a 400 million barrel world surplus and it’s not approximately 40 million barrels, the market’s extremely well balanced right now. So, we see some of the excitement that’s going on now in crude oil plateauing somewhat, maybe coming down some $3-$5, but not falling through the floor by any means. Oil production right now is down with OPEC. They have been rewarded for keeping barrels off the market, and I don’t think they’re going to forget that any time soon. I don’t see them going back and ramping up production. They’ve been rewarded so well, they’ve learned a great lesson by keeping, at first, some 3% oil barrels off the market, now it’s up to some 9%, 10%, or 11% of barrels off the market. They’ve learned a great lesson and they’re being rewarded for it, so we don’t see production swamping this market. We see oil possibly trading at about a $10 trading range from where it is now throughout the end of the year. Michael: All that media coverage and, of course, the price rally has increased the volatility, which is what we like to see as option sellers. Taking a look at a trading strategy, how to trade that exact scenario you just described, you’re looking at one of your favorite strategies, a strangle. James: It certainly is. You discussed, just now, headlines and OPEC and trade wars with China and the value of a dollar. All of this really has the volatility of petroleum, especially crude oil, at record levels that I haven’t seen almost since I’ve been investing in commodities, but right now you have put premium extremely high, even with a bullish fundamentals, and you have call premium through the roof right now. My favorite position in crude oil for the rest of the year is practically a $45-$50 strangle around the price of oil. So, in other words, we would be selling calls at the $90 level and selling puts at the $45 level. We think that the idea that strong fundamentals right now will keep the market from falling, but yet the fact that prices are high right now and that’s going to start curtailing demand. My prediction for the rest of the year is about a $10-$12 trade range for crude oil and here we have one of the best opportunities I’ve seen to position in crude oil in a long time. That’s putting a $45-$50 strangle around oil. We’re not right all the time and every once in a while we don’t get it right, but for oil to stay between 45 and 90 through the end of the year, I think, is an incredibly high probability position and that’s something that we’re taking advantage of, as you know, Michael, right now. Michael: You couldn’t do that a year ago. You didn’t get that wide of window, and now we have it, it’s on the table, and you want to take it. James: Michael, that volatility is your friend. I know when it first happens and you already have positions on, “Oh, it’s too volatile for us”… that’s what you like. A year ago, 2 years ago, 3 years ago, the widest strangle you would write on crude oil was approximately $15-$20 and now you’re writing a $45 strangle. We, as well, are going out slightly further in writing and $50 strangle around crude oil. We’re pretty confident it’s going to stay inside that window. We’ll have to wait and see. Michael: And again, watching this at home, this is an example. We are not recommending this to you personally as the perfect trade. In our portfolios, we are diversified over December, January, February, and March. Different strategies and different risk management techniques, but in going out to a month like February, a lot of people think that’s a long time out. We’re about 9 months out, but your plan isn’t to necessarily hold these until February or March or whatever you’re writing out there. Often times, with the right decay, you can be getting out of these a few months early. James: Michael, as we discuss with our clients when they first become clients, we will sell options 6 months, 9 months, 12 months out into the future, but not with the idea that we’re going to stay into that position until the very last day and try and collect the very last dollar. It’s really not important to do that. If we select options fairly well, for example, on the position that we’re looking at right here, after maybe let’s say you sell options 9 months out, if you selected them fairly well, 5-6 months later you should have collected about 85-90% of the potential premium. That is a great place to ring the register and lower your risk and be happy with the position and get out of the trade and buy it back early. Often, we look at February or March or April when we’re talking about selling options. Basically, you’re Tom Brady and you’re throwing it to where the market is not going to be. That is what we’re doing. So, when Michael discusses layering different months and different commodities that’s what we’re doing. To own a portfolio like that, it looks like a great deal of layering in the market and that is what it is and it allows you to have 10 engines on your plane so that when one goes a little bit awry you have other positions to make sure that 80% of your portfolio is going the right direction. This is a great example of doing that. Michael: Great advice. If you would like to read more about the crude oil market, what we’re recommending there this month, or going into our managed portfolios, you will want to read this month’s newsletter… that’s the May edition of the OptionSellers Newsletter. That comes out May 1st. It should be in your e-mail box or showing up in your hard copy mailbox a couple days after that. Of course, if you want to learn more about the strategies we discussed here or the rolling or strangle or some of the other concepts James mentioned, if you don’t have it yet, The Complete Guide to Option Selling: Third Edition, you can get it on our website at a discount, on Amazon, or the bookstore. The link to that is www.OptionSellers.com/book. Let’s move into our closing section for this month. Michael: Thank you for watching this month’s edition of OptionSellers TV. James, thank you for those insights on the cocoa and the oil markets. You have any predictions for the upcoming month? James: The month of May 2018, Michael, I think is going to be the realization that the U.S. dollar is not the weakest currency in the world. The U.S. is looking at probably 2 or 3 rate hikes this year. The U.S. economy is still doing quite well and its counterparts, especially in Europe, the economies in Germany, Italy, France, and England have been doing pretty well over the last 12-18 months, but the expansion in countries like Germany especially, the major driver of the European economy, is showing signs that it may be peaking already. Consumer Confidence in Germany is down, a lot of the sales in Germany is down right now, and not that it’s going into recession, if it does that would be the shortest-lived recovery ever, now don’t see that happening, but the U.S. economy still is on this footing and the European economy is fluttering already. That is going to make the U.S. dollar more buoyant than a lot of investors thought it would be and that is going to stabilize a lot of the commodities. So, getting into short options right now, whether it be puts or calls on precious metals, energies especially, and some of the foods, I think it will be a great calming effect in the 3rd or 4th quarter of this year. So, any discussion about the U.S. dollar isn’t doing so good, any discussion about inflation, I would fade those ideas and sell options on those ideas and, I think, later on this year you’ll be well rewarded. Michael: Sounds like a good outlook. We’ll have to keep an eye out for that. Also, May is a very active month in the grain markets. We have corn and soybean plantings going on here in the United States, so that can often create opportunities there, as well, for option sellers, sometimes on both sides of the market. James: Practically every year we have large influx of volatility in corn, wheat, and soybeans and we are ready and waiting for that to happen. Michael: Excellent. For those of you interested in finding out more about managed option selling portfolios with OptionSellers.com, you can call to request a consultation. At this point, we are booked out through July for our upcoming consultations; however, I believe we still have some spots left for consultations in June for those July account openings. I believe I misspoke there. The consultations are open in June, the account openings are for July. So, if you are interested in those upcoming openings, feel free to give our office a call here and speak with Rosemary. The number is 800-346-1949. If you’re calling from overseas, the number is 813-472-5760. James, again thank you for your insights this month. James: My pleasure, Michael. It’s always great to give our wisdoms and our insight. We’re not right all the time, but I do like the landscape for selling options here in May and June. Michael: Perfect. We’ll look forward to the month of May and we’ll talk to all of you again in 30 days. Thank you.

Över en miljon människor har redan gjort det. Michaela Sandgren hoppas kunna ansluta till dem som genomfört Vasaloppet, men hon har knappt stått på skidor när hon börjar träningen hösten 2017. Lyssna på alla avsnitt i Sveriges Radio Play. I vårens första program av Ute med P1 vi följer Michaelas väg mot de nio milen med hjälp av personliga tränaren och skidåkaren Anna Lintzén i Luleå. Vi möter också hemslöjdskonsulenten Felix Wink för att ge oss ut i skogen i Nordmaling och hitta material att tälja med. Programledare: Linnea Luttu

Jesper ansöker om att få ta ut arbetstidsförkortningstimmar för att åka på långweekend till Michaelas födelsedag. Han får avslag nästan innan bläcket hunnit torka. ”Jävlas du med mig så jävlas jag med dig”, säger chefen...

„Diplomatijos ritualai labai susiję su gyvūnų ritualais, kuriuos jie atlieka asistuodami, kovodami dėl išlikimo, švelnindami konfliktines situacijas su kitais gyvūnais ar siekdami nustatyti hierarchinę tvarką savo bendruomenėse“, – sako Michaelas Žantovskis.Apie diplomatijos ir gyvūnų pasaulio ryšius, diplomatijos paskirtį ir tai, kas bendra tarp Vaclavo Havelo ir Woody Alleno – pokalbis su diplomatu, vertėju, buvusio Čekijos prezidento Vaclavo Havelo spaudos atstovu ir politinių reikalų koordinatoriumi Michaelu Žantovskiu.

„Diplomatijos ritualai labai susiję su gyvūnų ritualais, kuriuos jie atlieka asistuodami, kovodami dėl išlikimo, švelnindami konfliktines situacijas su kitais gyvūnais ar siekdami nustatyti hierarchinę tvarką savo bendruomenėse“, – sako Michaelas Žantovskis.Apie diplomatijos ir gyvūnų pasaulio ryšius, diplomatijos paskirtį ir tai, kas bendra tarp Vaclavo Havelo ir Woody Alleno – pokalbis su diplomatu, vertėju, buvusio Čekijos prezidento Vaclavo Havelo spaudos atstovu ir politinių reikalų koordinatoriumi Michaelu Žantovskiu.

Leider ist die Tonqualität dieser Live-Aufnahme nicht top, da der Inhalt jedoch so hochwertig ist, hoffe ich auf dein Verständnis. Michaela Steidl ist WordPress-Expertin und unterstützt Solopreneure bei ihrem Auftritt im Internet. Michaela schreibt derzeit mit meiner Unterstützung an einem Buch, in dem sie einen ganzheitlichen Ansatz zur nachhaltigen Gewinnung von Kunden und Kundinnen im Internet darstellt. Ein wesentliches Element in dieser Gleichung ist ein eigener Blog, das Bloggen auf deiner Webseite. Wir besprechen in dieser Folge unter anderem: Was die drei wichtigsten Gründe sind einen Blog zu betreiben. Was es bedeutet für die Suchmaschine und für Menschen zu schreiben. Warum Regeln hauptsächlich dafür da sind gebrochen zu werden. Warum jeder veröffentlichte Blogartikel – egal, wie lang er ist – besser ist als kein Blogartikel. Wieso es essentiell ist zu beginnen und loszulegen, statt sich die Latte künstlich hochzulegen und ewig in den Startlöchern zu verharren. Was Content Marketing ist, und welche Rolle ein Blog dabei spielt. Wie oft du mindestens Bloggen musst – oder ob dir der Veröffentlichungsrhythmus völlig freisteht. Worum es in Michaelas neuem Buch geht. Wie du erste Einblicke in den Entstehungsprozess ihres Buchs bekommen kannst. Hier die Links, wir im Podcast ansprechen, und weiterführende Informationen, Tipps und Erfahrungsberichte rund um Bücher, eBooks und deinen Erfolg: Du hast Lust in ein erstes Probekapitel von Michaelas Buchs hineinzuschnuppern? Bitte sehr: https://wp-bistro.de/ein-buch-entsteht-und-du-darfst-schonmal-reinlesen Hier findest du Michaelas Webseite: https://wp-bistro.de Und hier geht’s zu Michaelas Facebook-Gruppe, eine sehr hilfreiche Community für Fragen und Antworten zu Wordpress. https://www.facebook.com/groups/wp.bistro Hier findest du alle Aktionen des heißen Buchherbst: https://be-wonderful.com/buchherbst Hier kommst du direkt zum Online-Camp „Dein Buch – die Entscheidung“: https://be-wonderful.com/entscheidung Hier kommst du direkt in meine Self-Publishing Facebook-Gruppe, wo du dich mit anderen Autorinnen und Autoren – und solchen, die es noch werden wollen austauschen kannst: https://www.facebook.com/groups/missionbestseller1 Hol dir die gratis Anleitung »In 6 Schritten zu deinem Bestseller« als eBook: www.be-wonderful.com/dein-buch Hier findest du Toms aktuellen Bestseller „Mission Bestseller – Ratgeber und Sachbücher erfolgreich vermarkten und verkaufen. Eine Anleitung“? als eBook und Taschenbuch auf Amazon: http://amzn.to/2ax8GcM

Michael: Hello everyone. This is Michael Gross of OptionSellers.com here with head trader, James Cordier. This is your monthly Option Seller TV Show. James, welcome to the program this month. James: Always a pleasure, Michael. Glad to be here. Michael: We have a lot to talk about this month. We have turmoil in Washington, we have some activity coming back to the VIX, and we have OPEC announcements, so there’s some volatility coming back into a lot of the markets. We’re going to talk to James about how that might affect some of the commodities we’re looking at. James, what’s your take on the new burst of volatility we’ve seen? James: Well, Michael, there is a lot of uncertainty right now. The stock market continues to meander and make new highs practically once a week, it seems, to get a new sell-off, and then buyers come back into the market. The VIX, which has been in the news recently, under 10, which I believe is about a 2 or 3 decade low, basically is saying that there’s no fear amongst investors, continue to pile into the stock market and continue to buy. The volatility index is just starting to pick up, however, in commodities. We’ve seen a dramatic move up in basically the energies and some of the metal VIX indexes, and it tells us that there is some ideas that some large moves in either the stocks or in the dollar denominated commodities might be approaching soon. Of course, we like the VIX going up – that increases premiums on both puts and calls that we follow. Michael: Now, is that spilling over from equities or anything going on in Washington, or is that happening on its own accord for different fundamentals going on in the commodities? James: I think a lot of investors are taking the cue from what’s happening from Washington and abroad. We have North Korea, we have a situation with Russia and the election, we have things going on in the Middle East right now along with Washington D.C. and a lot of the proposed changes are meeting some stone walling right now that’s going on. It is causing a lot of uncertainty and, of course, that’s something we enjoy following. Some investors don’t care for that very much but it’s certainly something that we like to see happening and it pumps up premiums on commodity options. Michael: Well, with that background setting for the month, let’s move into our first market. We are going to talk about the grain markets this month. June is a big month in U.S. agricultural markets. This is typically the month where planting is completed in markets like corn, soybeans, to a lesser extent wheat, cotton, and those type of things. When you look at seasonal factors, the end of planting season can play a big role in that. James, maybe you want to talk a little bit about what that often means for certain grain prices? James: Michael, a lot of our viewers and listeners here today hear us talk about seasonal factors. Corn and soybeans, a lot of people don’t realize, are practically everything that’s consumed. Whether it’s in China, Europe, or here in the United States, it comes from a kernel of corn or from a soybean. Practically everything we eat, dining out or cooking at home, that’s what takes place. Corn and soybeans are an absolute essential to the food system for practically everyone on the planet. It’s a huge market. The corn and soybean market basically has some type of fear or anxiety going into planting season. The planting season has to be just right or a lot of investors feel that we’re going to have smaller yields and possibly a smaller crop. Generally, it’s either too wet or too dry or too hot in May or June, and that does bid up prices often. Generally speaking, at the end of that rally and once the corn and soybeans are planted in the United States, of course, prices then come back down to earth and, lo and behold, the U.S. farmers are some of the best in the world and sometimes a bumper crop. (4:18) Michael: Now, when we talk about a market like soybeans, we didn’t really see that big run-up this year. We had relatively stable planting season and I think that kind of moves us toward what the fundamentals were this year. There’s a reason we didn’t really see a big run-up in the spring. Would you agree with that? James: We certainly haven’t seen that run-up yet. Right now, we have soybeans and corn planting just about on schedule. There was some ideas that there would be delays because of too much rain, but boy… too much rain makes a lot of grain later on this year. There still might be one or two rallies in June or July, possibly, there’s a dry spell in there somewhere. People are also talking about El Niño, which can certainly change weather patterns here in the United States. For the most part, the fundamentals are already in gear for low grain prices at the end of this year. Ending stocks, of course, are extremely high and production out of Brazil is at all-time record highs. So, if we get this weather rally sometimes in June or July, that would probably be a selling opportunity. Of course, for our clients, we are already short the grain market based on the fact that, like you said, the fundamentals right now are going to probably overwhelmed seasonal factors this year. I think we’re on the right side of that market. Michael: I know you were a proponent of selling calls this month. As far as ending stocks go, as you said, global ending stocks are “over 90 million metric tons”, which would be an all-time record for world ending stocks for the ‘16-‘17 crop year. When we’re going into this seasonal time of year where prices often start to weaken in the summer, as you were talking about, we’re going at with a backdrop of record global supplies. Even though prices have come down, I know you were very interested in selling call options on soybeans, not necessarily because you think the bottom’s going to fall out just because you think it’s going to have a hard time rallying in this type of environment. Is that correct? James: Exactly, Michael. Of course, as option sellers, we’re not exactly trying to predict where the market’s going to go but, of course, where it’s not going to go. With world ending stocks at all-time record highs, record production out of Brazil and Argentina, record production likely here in the United States. Do soybeans fall 5-10%? We’re not sure, but then going up 30%, of course, seems very unlikely. Of course, as option sellers, we are basically betting where the market is not going to go as opposed to where it has to. This year, with record ending stocks and just huge supplies from everywhere, a 30% rally in prices seems quite unlikely. Michael: Great. If you want to read James’ feature article on the soybean market for May it is on the blog. You can go back and take a look at that where he really outlines the case for selling calls this month. For those of you that would like to read more about seasonal tendencies and the agricultures or other commodities, you can also read about it in our book, The Complete Guide to Option Selling: Third Edition. That is available on our website at OptionSellers.com/book. James, lets move into our second market this month, which is the crude oil market, which we’ve certainly seen a lot of developments there. A lot has been in the news about crude this month. There’s big talk of OPEC. In fact, today right before we came on camera, we just had a big announcement for OPEC. Do you want to talk a little bit about that and what’s going on there? James: Well, Michael, ever since you and I have been in this business there has been the old adage of buy the rumor and sell the fact. I think that happened in great text today as the OPEC nations and non-OPEC nations decided, and certainly have been discussing for a long time, to extend the production cuts that were announced approximately 6 months ago. They were going to now announce that there were going to be 9 months of further production cuts. Certainly, that has been well advertised. The market did rally on those ideas over the last few weeks. I think crude oil went up from around 48 to 52 recently based on the fact that they would be extending cuts. Today, the cuts were announced that 9 months would be prolonged into the smaller production of many OPEC and non-OPEC nations. The market answered that with a resounding $2 down and the price of oil went from 52-50. Basically, the world is awash in oil, and if the fact that production cuts are going to be extended, they weren’t really that bullish to begin with. Of course, what’s happening in the United States that we might want to talk about is really the deciding factor and what’s changing oil prices. Michael: I know, even going into these cuts, you weren’t really bullish on crude and that was because of the supply and the production situation in the United States. Is that correct? James: Correct. Going into the large announcement from OPEC and non-OPEC nations some 6 months ago, very few people are familiar with the fact that weeks leading up to the announcement, OPEC ramped up production to levels never seen before. Though they did cut for the first time in 10 years, or something like that, production just prior to that went up a million and a half barrels. So, cutting and announcing a 1.5 million barrel cut really doesn’t move the needle at all. Of course, here in the United States, mainly the Permian Basin in Texas, production is now ramping up into all-time record highs. If in fact the U.S. does start producing 10 million barrels a day, which is looking like it will happen late this year or early next year, that completely erases the cuts from OPEC, which were thought to be so bullish, and the bottom line is if we have one more barrel of oil than we need the prices go down. Right now, it looks like we’re going to have approximately 1-2 million barrels more per day than we need going into 2018. The real key is going to be can OPEC stay together, be cohesive with these cuts when prices start to fall in the 4th quarter of this year. They’re going to have to hang tough because if they start cheating, this thing can really snowball and come down. We don’t’ see that happening. There’s something going on in Saudi Arabia as far as their first IPO of the largest extent ever seen before, and they’re going to do everything they can to keep oil prices high. Michael: That in the backdrop of last energy report here this month, still looking at record supplies for this time of year in the states. I think were 528 million barrels or something like that, which is an all-time record for this time of year. All this news, they’ve really been playing up this OPEC deal in the media for the last couple of weeks. Yet, here we are with a backdrop of record supply. A good point you brought up as well in the newsletter was how U.S. frackers have really ramped up production. I think we’re at 9.3 and I think you said we’re headed to 10 here at the end of the year. You can see right where they made those cuts and you put a good chart in the newsletter of where U.S. production starts trekking up again, just making up for what OPEC wants to give away. James: Exactly right. It is an absolutely gift to the frackers here in the United States that OPEC and non-OPEC nations are cutting production. It’s keeping prices still relatively high, giving new developments here in the United States chances to lock-in hedges. We were reading in the Wall Street Journal today that no longer are producers in Texas and North Dakota and everywhere in between, they’re not so susceptible to the large moves in the price of oil. They’re getting very sophisticated. A lot of areas, especially in the south, they’re able to produce oil anywhere from $20-$25 a barrel, some as high as maybe $30-$35, but they are now locking in future production using the futures market. When you can produce oil for $25 and sell it for $50 and lock that in, that’s what they’re doing. They’re taking advantage of that. As prices do fall, possibly in the 4th quarter this year, they don’t feel any pain. They just keep pumping because they’re locked into futures price at $50 printing money basically. What that’s going to do is exasperate the overproduction and the large supplies, we think, and then we could look at some prices possibly in the low $40’s to $40 later this year. Michael: Now, one more thing to talk about here as far as the seasonal tendency goes. We talk a lot about seasonals. Seasonals have kind of been knocked a little bit out of whack since the OPEC announcement back in November, but you are thinking that with the latest OPEC moves, we might see that kind of knock the market back into alignment with the seasonal tendencies. James: We really see that happening. What OPEC will be likely be doing at the very least is coming close to balancing the market again. We’ve had this boom bust every 6 months for oil production and oil prices over the last 2 or 3 years. That did change with the last production cut announcement 6 months ago. We see a slight balancing of oil production versus consumption, and that should throw us right back into the seasonalities that we enjoy so much. We love going short crude oil just as we’re coming out of driving season going into what we call the shoulder season, which means no longer driving season and yet too warm to have to heat homes and businesses in the Northeast. That is shoulder season. The market rolls over in the 4th quarter of the year so we take advantage of selling calls here in the summer and then reverse that position later this year and beginning of next. Michael: So, although we are bearish crude, neutral to bearish, we are not positioning money that we need the market to necessarily fall. Let’s maybe talk about for our viewers that maybe aren’t that familiar with option selling yet how you would position to take advantage of this type of market. James: When we heard of the announcement 6 months ago, we thought that would probably neutralize both bullish and bearish factors. We have too much supply, however we have production cuts from OPEC. We immediately put on a strangle in the crude oil market. We did think that the seasonality would probably take a pause until the end of this year. We basically took the excitement by selling $75 calls, meaning we are betting the market can’t get to $75, at the same time putting on a strangle, and by doing that we sold $33 puts – an absolute enormous window for the market to stay inside. That position has worked extremely well. Both of those positions are approximately 20% of what we sold them for. We should now go back into a seasonal pattern where we top-out in summer. What we mean by that is if oil is trading around 50-51 currently, what we would do is look at the winter contracts, say January, February, March, and look to sell options there. If we sell a $70 call while price of oil is at $50, we are basically betting where the market won’t be. This winter, we do expect the smaller demand season of January-February to take hold of 40% rally in crude oil prices during the weakest season of the year. That’s a bet we like to make and with oil at 50 selling calls, for example, around 70, basically what you’re doing is you’re playing football. You’re not necessarily passing to where the runner is or the receiver is, you’re passing it to where you think the market is going to go. Everyone is bullish in the summer and that’s where you go short. What you do is you throw it to the receiver who is running in January when demand is going to be at its least. Michael: As far as the market goes, the bulls seem to be running out of arguments here. OPEC was a big thing a lot of them were hanging their hats on and that hasn’t taken place. Now we are into summer driving season, which they will probably be talking up a little more, but with the supply where it is right now, prices tend to actually top in early to mid summer. We are just betting it’s not going to go up. It seems like anything can happen, of course, but it certainly seems like pretty high odds position from that point of view. James: I think with what’s happened to the market here in the last 6 months, we will have some equilibrium. You have producers locking in hedges, you have smaller production, so these moves from 30 to 70 are probably behind us. Crude oil prices 40 to 55 are more likely going to be the norm here for the next few years. Selling puts and going long in the low 30’s, and selling calls in the mid to upper 70’s, I think, is going to be a cash cow the next several years. As you said, anything can happen. We will have to wait and see. Selling options 40% and 50% out-of-the-money in crude oil, I think, is going to be ideal. That market is going to start finding equilibrium and some sort of balance, and what we call historic volatility is still in when you price options. The new norm is going to be more of a $40-$50 price and the volatility that was created over the last several years allows us to sell options 40%-50% out-of-the-money. That’s why we talk about volatility. That is the life-blood of what we do. From time to time, whether it’s fear of turmoil in North Korea, something going on in the Middle East, that is ideal for us is something that pumps up energy price options and we like to take advantage of that. Michael: Hopefully the media keeps helping out with that and keeps public buying those distant option premiums. James: That’s the hope. Michael: For those of you that like to learn more about the crude oil market and our strategy there, it is our feature article in the June newsletter. That will be out at or around June 1st in your mailbox. Keep an eye out for that. Obviously, in addition to our outline for crude, we also have some lessons in there about how you can sell options and manage risk is our feature this month. So, there’s quite a bit of new information there. You don’t want to miss the June issue. James, lets move into our lesson this month. This is one we haven’t done on video yet, but it is one we have talked about in our booklets if you have received our booklets in the mail. A lot of people that call in will ask us, “How do you pick the option you’re going to sell?” It’s really a short question with a very long answer, but we thought what we could do is just provide a few bullet points that if you are looking at trying to understand how this is done, the type of things we look at when we’re selecting a trade in commodities. There is really 5 things that we look at, James, that you and I have discussed. We’ll just kind of go down that list and talk a little bit about each of them. The first one on that list is something we are very big on which is the supply-demand fundamentals of that individual commodity. Do you want to talk about how you approach that when you’re looking at a commodity? James: Michael, I think a great analogy is years ago when people were investing in dot-com companies and these are names that you’re seeing on TV, they’re names that people are talking about, and the market started falling and people are looking at dot-com companies… “My gosh, I can buy it at 50% of what the price was just a few months ago. It has got to be a great buy.” They buy XYZ dot-com company, it’s down 50% from its highs, it sounds like a great buy. Then it is down 75% from its high and people are just getting white-walled here back in the crash of 2006, 2007, and 2008. You ask that investor, “What are you getting beat up in?” … “Well, I bought this dot-com company.” “What do they make?”… Not sure. “What do they do?”… Not sure. It is very difficult to stay with a position like that. We do fundamental analysis on about 10 commodities. I’ve been trading silver since when I got my driver’s license. I’ve been trading coffee for the last 20 years. We count barrels of oil constantly to try and understand what the value might be. When selecting short options based on fundamentals, when the market moves a dollar against you or people are on TV yelling about OPEC announced the cut or the market is up or down, for an investment to work you have to have staying power. You can’t get bumped out of the market on a small move. So often, if you have fundamental research and analysis, you’ll know that when the market moves slightly against you it is just noise. Computerized trading is moving the markets a lot more than it used to. We love computerized trading, it’s making our options more liquid to trade, but it also does send gyrations through the market from time to time. Having the fundamental research already in place allows you to be patient with your position. We sell options based on fundamentals. If they are not there, or we’re not sure what they are, we simply wait 6 months for them to maybe become more clear in a particular market. We want to sell options far enough out in time and price so that small gyrations in the market doesn’t disturb our position. How often does someone who does look at selling options on commodities or stocks? They’re attracted to selling the short-term option, selling a 30-day option or a 60-day option thinking, “Well, I only have a short period of time. That’ll have to wait.” But what ends up happening is a small move knocks you out of that position. Of course, what happens once month later is that market’s doing exactly what you thought it would do, except you don’t have your option anymore. We look at selling options 6-12 months out. If we thought the sweet spot for short options was closer in than that, that’s what we would do, but I have found that selling options 6 months out-12 moths out allows you the selling power to stay in your position. We were based on fundamentals when the market goes slightly against us, we just aren’t able to have patience and let the market come to us. Michael: When you know the underlying fundamentals, it’s really giving you the confidence to stay in a position and not get shaken out by this or that or what’s on the news today, which, you know, we talk about over and over and over again in everything we do. James: Writing short options, you are one thing – you are paid to wait. If you know what the fundamentals are and if they’re on your side it makes it much easier to do that. Michael: When we’re looking at trade, we look at fundamentals first. Second thing we’re going to look at is seasonal factors, which we’ve already touched on a little bit here today with some of our other things, but seasonals kind of play into the fundamentals because they’re really just reflecting certain fundamentals that tend to happen at different times of year. James: Exactly right. With the grain market, seasonal factors are there’s fears of planting, too hot or too dry conditions in the summer, and then you go right back to supply and demand in the fall. What seasonals do is they are basically fundamentals. It tells you exactly when the demand might be the most for gasoline, when the demand for natural gas might be the least. What it does is it helps us decide whether we should be long or short that particular market. If you combine that with a supply and demand, basically you are putting everything in place to allow you to put on a position and to stay with it. Michael: So, those are going to be the 2 core factors we look at when selecting a market. Obviously, the third thing on the list is volume and open interest. We have to find a market that not only is seasonally or fundamentally favorable, but there has to be enough options in there for us to go in and sell some. If there isn’t sufficient volume rope and interest, it’s not a viable market, so that’s the third selection process. That’s kind of self-explanatory, you probably don’t need to expand on that I wouldn’t think. James: Just the algorithms and the computerized trading is just making option selling just such a pleasure right now. The volume and open interest is increasing dramatically, even on far-out options. Making sure that there’s the ability to get in and out of the market is, of course, of the utmost importance. With computerized trading it is certainly helping a lot. Michael: We are using those 3 things to really select our market. The last 2 things on the list we are using for timing. What you’ll find is the last 2 things on our list are usually the first things that most option books will tell you to look at, or option gurus or option traders. That’s volatility and the technical setup. Those are the last things we’re looking at because by the time we are looking at those we’ve already picked the markets we want to be in. we are just using those 2 things for our timing, correct? James: Exactly right, if you’re trading a 2 week or 4 week option, you do need to have perfect timing. We have done all of our homework basically telling us whether we want to be long or short a particular market. Once we’ve made that determination, we try to blend in a little bit of timing to help us sell options when they might be at their peak or close to it. The desire or the need to have perfect timing with our form of option selling isn’t there, but certainly when we can see some technical buying or selling it can increase options that we’re looking to sell maybe 10-15%. We will certainly take advantage of that when we can. Michael: For those of you that are interest in this, we do get a lot of questions on this so we are probably going to be doing some new upcoming videos on these things, how you can use them, how we incorporate them when we’re managing portfolios as well. You’ll kind of learn from both sides of that. As far as just a little update here for this month, our waiting list for accounts is booked into July now, so if you are interested in possibly working with us directly, you can call Rosemary to schedule a consultation and she is filling the final slots we have now for July openings. If you haven’t heard about our accounts yet and you’d like to learn a little bit more about them, you can request our Discovery Pack, which looks like this, and that will tell you all about OptionSellers.com managed accounts, requirements, and how you can get started in them. You can request that on our website OptionSellers.com/Discovery. We thank everyone for joining us this month. James, thanks for your analysis this month. James: My pleasure, Michael. Always enjoy it. Michael: We’ll look forward to talking to you again in 30 days. Thank you.

Michael: Hello everybody. This is Michael Gross of OptionSellers.com. I’m here with head trader James Cordier of OptionSellers.com with your February Option Seller Radio Show. James, welcome to the show this month. James: Thank you, Michael. As always, enjoy doing these and brining more and more information and educating investors out there to what we do. Michael: Excellent. We’re going to start off this month, to all of you listening, we’re going to answer some common questions we get through the blog or online. One of the most common questions people ask us is “I really like your stuff. Is there a way I can sign up for your course? Do you offer seminars I can attend? If I pay you, can you coach me how to do this?” … or various forms of that question. We get so many of those and we wanted to answer that question today and maybe shed some light on that for you as a listener. James, do you want to go ahead and maybe take a stab at answering that? James: You know, what’s interesting, Michael, we definitely enjoy getting feedback from everyone listening to this podcast each month. Please continue asking questions and any feedback is always accepted and we enjoy receiving that. Primarily, we don’t mind and enjoy educating the public. So often, investors are looking for alternative ways to take care of their nest egg or try and build the one that they’re trying to create. Basically, there’s a few investments out there. There’s being long in the stock market, there’s buying real estate, and as long as both of those are going up I think they’re very sound, great investments. But for people looking out 5, 10, and 15 years to expect everything to keep rallying indefinitely certainly is not the way. Educating yourself as to how to help manage your own portfolio, I think, is a great idea. We continue to give information and help teach people how to sell options and take in premium and, hopefully, make really good returns each year whether we’re in a bull or bear market. However, the majority of our clients and the most of the work that we enjoy doing is taking and investing with high-net-worth capitalized investors. That is our niche. That is what we do. The fact that we are a relatively small company and we don’t have thousands of clients, we’re able to be more nimble getting in and out of the market for some of these high-net-worth investors. As far as anyone wanting to follow along with what we do, educate themselves to selling options and taking in premium as we do, we’re going to continue educating people and allow them to do that on their own, if they wish. For the investors who are more apt to hire a manager to do it, certainly, that is our bread and butter and that’s what we’re doing here. Michael: It’s a good point, James. To shorten what James said a little bit and maybe sum it up a little bit is yeah, we do appreciate those offers and we do appreciate your questions, but we’re not in the education business here. We are money managers. That is the service we provide. We do provide a lot of educational material to anyone, the general public. We like to make it as high quality as we can. I think some of the things you’ll find on our website or that we send out to prospective investors is comparable to what you might pay thousands for in a course somewhere. That is something we provide for free. We enjoy that, we enjoy brining that message to the public and helping people understand this investment, because there really isn’t a lot of information out there on selling options in general but, especially, selling options in commodities. We’re simply out to help people understand that better and get more people involved in this because it can be a great investment if you understand how to do it. James, let’s move on a little into our main discussion here this month. We’re going to address what’s going on in the stock market because all investor’s eyes are on stocks now. They’ve been soaring. Some people are calling it still a post-Trump surge, but we’ve got some grayer clouds on the horizon. We’ve got North Korea and Iran shooting missiles off, we’ve got a lot of discord here in the United States. What’s your take on what’s going on right now in stocks? How do you feel about the market? James: Michael, I think that a lot of investors have just been waiting for the greatest country in the world to be run like a company and not like a politically correct viewpoint. Lowering corporate taxes, bringing money back to the United States, lowering personal income taxes, de-regulation, making it easier for companies to hire and re-invest, and it’s simply a near perfect platform right now for economic growth here in the United States. If you look at some of the European countries, they are starting to finally lift off. PMI numbers today out of Europe was some of the best in over a handful of years. We are certainly the boat that everyone follows. As the tide comes up, it comes up for everybody. People are extremely optimistic about the U.S. economy right now. Usually, the stock market is 6-12 months ahead and right now the stock market is telling us that the U.S. economy is about to start improving more than a 2% GDP… maybe a 3-4% GDP. So many people have been waiting for an economically friendly environment. Right now we have one and people are voting with their pocketbook. Michael: So, are you concerned at all about the lofty levels that we’re at? On Barron’s last week, Kopin Tan was talking about 76% of world stock markets are now over-bought. Does that concern you at all? James: You know, it’s interesting, Michael, overbought doesn’t mean over. I could see this exuberance probably lasting for a period of time. Right now, investors, I think, are so excited about getting into the market. Will profits match the soaring stock prices? That remains to be seen. There definitely needs to be some catch up. The market is either ahead of itself or very close to that; however, I think investors have been waiting for this for a long time. I could see 2017 probably being a decent return on the stock market, but there is no question that second or third quarter of this year a few people start taking profits and then all of the sudden there’s no one left to buy. For us to get a 5-10% correction on the stock market at some point this year is probably quite likely. Michael: Thus the need for sound diversification and that’s what we’re going to be talking about next here. James, we’re going to talk about one of your favorite markets next which is the gold market. You have a nice commentary this month on your bi-weekly videos where you’re talking about gold and a strategy investors can use right now in that market. Let’s talk a little bit about gold, what you like about it right now, and why you think that’s such a cash cow for investors. James: It really is. We have been following the gold market for a couple decades. It seems to be such a mystery as to what the value of gold should be. Sometimes it trades like a currency, sometimes it’s flocking to gold because of inflation or because of political concerns. It is absolutely, in our opinion, trading right now at fair value and yet there are so many questions about gold. “What will higher interest rates in the United States do? Will that push gold back down? I heard that there might be some inflation”, an investor might say. “That’s usually bullish for gold.” Talk about a goldilocks environment right now for gold. We have a stronger U.S. economy, which should provide some inflation, and yet we are definitely, in the United States, looking straight at at least 2, if not 3, interest rate hikes. That should keep the dollar firm. So we have people just absolutely wondering how high gold might go and you have an equal number of people saying, “With higher interest rates, gold is going to go down.” That uncertainty is the bread and butter of selling options. Gold right now, trading around $12.50 an ounce, there are people very interested in buying calls 50% above the market right now. Similar interest in people buying puts, believe it or not, 30-40% below the market. If you add up those two percentages, you’re talking about practically 100% strangle around the value of gold and, in my mind, trading gold now for some 25 years, that is about the best trade on the board. We think that’s going to probably carry on into 2018, as well. We’re just really happy about the enthusiasm that people have buying options on both sides and we’re going to take advantage of that. Michael: So, a lot of this political turmoil in the news right now is really helping that trade is what you’re saying, because that’s really bringing the public in. Gold is a great market to speculate in for the general public. When you get news of things that make people uneasy, when you see Iran shooting off missiles, when you get the daily news, people don’t agree with what Donald Trump’s doing sometimes, those are the type of things that can bring a lot of investor interest into a market like gold, and that’s why you get these wide strikes. That’s what James is explaining. If you’d like to learn more about the strategy of strangling the market, The Complete Guide to Option Selling gives a thorough explanation. That is the Third Edition. You can get that on our website- www.optionsellers.com/book. You’ll get it at a little bit of a discount there than if you get it at the bookstore or at amazon. James, let’s move on here to our next market this month, that’s the natural gas market. As most of you listeners know, we due follow seasonals very closely here. If you’re trading options in commodities, seasonals are a prime thing you want to look at first, especially in cyclical markets like natural gas. James, you want to take us through where we are with natural gas here in late February 2017 and what tends to happen there cyclically in that market over the next 30-60 days? James: Michael, natural gas is probably the most interesting of all the seasonals, I think, that we follow. Generally speaking, the investor public comes into natural gas to buy it for possible cold winter, they buy natural gas and natural gas calls in November and December. For those who are our clients or listen to some of the recommendations we made, generally speaking, you do the exact opposite. You fade what the public is doing. They’re buying calls, they’re buying natural gas going into winter season. We did that again this year. We saw about a 1 cent spike in natural gas prices. Natural gas generally tops out in December with cold temperatures going through the Northeast and the Midwest, only to come back down in February and March as the winter never seems to be quite as severe as they thought. Then, investors will think, “Well, if the market didn’t rally in this winter then it’s probably going to go down some more in the spring.” That’s just the opposite of what the seasonality is. Generally speaking, supplies of natural gas are their smallest as we come out of the winter heating season, then they start to build supplies and purchases need to be made and natural gas prices normally start heading up in March, April, and May. That is what we’re going to take advantage of the next week or two, is we will be selling put premium below the natural gas levels that we’re hitting right now. We’ve had an extremely mild February, probably March as well. We’re looking at very low prices right now for natural gas and we see the chance for 10, 15, 20% rally in prices starting in March and April. We’re going to be positioning in the coming weeks getting long this market. Seasonally it goes up in spring and we’re going to try and take advantage of just that. Michael: What’s the volatility like there now? Can you sell spreads there or is it primarily naked positions that you’re looking at? James: Well, natural gas used to trade at $10, $12, and $15 per million BTU’s. Now it’s trading around $2.50. It’s so interesting that this is probably the fuel of the future and right now it’s practically being given away. We would be selling naked natural gas puts primarily because the market is so low right now. If the volatility continues, and it has just recently, we’ll be looking at doing credit spreads on the put side, as well. So, basically taking a slightly conservative position and a slightly aggressive position because the market is so weak and so low right now. We’re looking at China’s involvement in natural gas imports for the first time since anyone can recall. At the same time, the U.S. is going to be exporting natural gas for the first time in decades. All of these items are going to be slightly bullish or very bullish for natural gas later this year. We think that’s probably the best seasonal to be getting involved with right now. Michael: Right now, in talking about natural gas, James, about 48% of all U.S. homes use natural gas for heating in the wintertime. Another 37% use electric, which usually comes from power pants fueled by natural gas. So, you do have your peak demand season in the wintertime and what James was just describing is, and we’re going to put a chart up here for you to look at, but gas storage levels tend to hit their lowest levels of the year in March and April. That’s the reason for this. When supplies are lowest, prices tend to get the strongest and they continue to get strong as they rebuild inventory. James, what you were talking about though, selling naked, some people that sell options, some in stock options, they shy away from that; but, in commodities we’re able to sell them so far out-of-the-money that you get a pretty big cushion there and you don’t really have to pick the bottom in the market. You simply sell and even if your timing isn’t right you can still get it. Do you see, if you’re looking at selling naked, what’s your cushion like? Do you still have a pretty good cushion there to give you some leeway if you’re a little early or a little late on the trade? James: Yeah, I think there’s a really good cushion and natural gas is probably one of the more historically volatile markets. When it was trading at $10 and $15, that volatility is still in the market, now it’s trading at $2.50-$2.75. For the spot contracts, we would be looking out September, October, possibly that far out. Those markets are well above $3.00 right now. Might be teetering on that in the week or so to come; however, some 20-25% below the market there’s excellent premium right now. That’s what we’d be looking at taking advantage of. If the market heads a little bit lower, probably selling premium 25-30% below the market. We think that’s an ideal way to get long the market. Natural gas, if you were to buy it at a certain level and fall slightly, that’s one thing. Selling puts some 25% below the market, I think, is an ideal way-- Actually, in my opinion, a conservative way to get into the market. Natural gas over the next several years is going to be in an up-turn based on Chinese demand, Chinese importation, and finally the U.S. getting to export natural gas for the first time in quite some time. Michael: That and even supply right now looking somewhat bullish in natural gas. Supplies this month are 9% below last year at this time… almost 9% below at 8.9%. So, you have a strong seasonal tendency, you have a bullish supply setup, and what you’re saying, James, is you’re able to go 25-30% underneath the market. For an option seller/a put seller to win here, he can take in a premium of what, $500.. $600.. $700? Is that the range you’re typically looking at? Correct? James: Yes. With the recent weakness in natural gas because of some very warm temperatures in the Northeast, yes a lot of options are trading right now between $600-$700 and that is certainly the sweet spot for where we like to write puts, especially in natural gas. Michael: So, what that investor would be saying is that as long as natural gas doesn’t fall another 25-30% at its most bullish time of year with a bullish supply setup, the option is going to expire and he’s going to keep that premium? James: Exactly. In addition, a lot of investors who are familiar with stock options selling and the high margin requirement, natural gas you’re looking at just 2-3 times the premium that you take in for margins. Your ROI looks really good, as well. Needless to say, we don’t know what natural gas is going to do the next 30 days, but we do know what the fundamentals are and the chance for natural gas to get a small or large rally this summer look quite strong to us. Michael: Sounds good, James. For you listeners, I know a lot of you listening have heard us for a while and you know what we’re talking about, you know the strategy, but we are making an attempt to over-simplify things a little bit for our new listeners out there that may be unfamiliar with how commodities options work. So, we want to make sure we hit all the bases for everyone listening. We’re going to take just a minute here and give you a little preview of the upcoming March newsletter. If you are on our mailing list, you can expect this next week first couple days of March. You should also be getting an e-version of that in your e-mail box. We have a pretty full issue coming up. We have a lesson coming up on how to use leverage in commodities. We have a lot of stock options sellers that have never sold commodities options. This is a lesson in the newsletter that’s really going to bring you up to speed on how the leverage works and how to use it to your advantage the correct way. We also have a strategy, it’s another little bit more advanced strategy this month- we’re talking about an options spread. It’s entitled The Crack Squeeze. It is in the energy markets. We’ll have to wait for the newsletter to read that and see one of the strategies we’re employing right now in those markets. Look for that in your mailbox or e-mailbox first week in March. James, talking about energies, let’s move over to the crude market. We have a really interesting situation setting up there between the seasonal and existing fundamentals that often times you don’t see, kind of conflicting things going on there right now. Do you want to talk about that a little bit for our listeners? James: Definitely. Crude oil is certainly one of the most liquid of all commodities as far as volume, open interest, and participation by investors all around. Not everyone is trading pork bellies and potatoes, but a lot of people know what the price of crude oil is. A lot of people bet with their pocketbooks what they think it’s going to do. Generally speaking, crude oil supplies are at their greatest in January and the market starts to rally as we approach driving season. As I think we all know, this year was different. OPEC together, along with non-OPEC nations, put together the first production cuts in over a dozen years and voila, we had a $15 rally. Crude oil is now sitting in the low 50’s to mid 50’s for the later months. I think right now is fully priced. Crude oil supplies in the United States are at all-time record highs. While the OPEC cut took a lot of people by surprise, and there are a lot of bullish factors right now from that, or at least a lot of analysts think so, it really is offering lots of opportunities now and coming up probably in April and May. Generally speaking, there’s a lot of interplay when you talk about energies. Generally speaking, what crude oil supplies and fundamentals might be might be different for heating oil or for gasoline or for natural gas. Probably the next 30-60 days we see crude oil prices very well supported by the idea that a lot of investors are pouring into that market because of OPEC production cuts. Some of the markets like heating oil generally are going to start heading lower after the winter season. So, often you’re going to see March, April, and May crude oil prices inching up while heating oil actually is falling. There is definitely an opportunity involved with that. For our clients, we manage that for them. For the novices, it can be a little bit much, but that’s another reason why you follow seasonality and why you keep well tuned into the market. We think that over the next 60-90 days we’re going to have really long lasting opportunities in energy. I would say in April and May is going to be the biggest one for the year, and that’s in the crude oil market. We’ll wait and see and talk about that when the time comes. Michael: As far as the energy seasonal goes, that is a major seasonal tendency. What James is explaining is being counter-balanced this year by fundamentals. As you mentioned, James, crude stocks at record highs… over 508 million barrels. That’s an all-time high for crude oil stocks, not for this time of year, but forever. That’s the highest it’s ever been. Also, interesting article in the Wall Street Journal today talking about bullish long positions in crude oil. 10 to 1 – is that what we were talking about earlier, James? James: Michael, every morning I have my favorite cup of Joe and I read the Wall Street Journal. This morning I read, and it has been well published recently, but today almost hit a crescendo, that fund traders in the world have amassed the largest long position ever in crude oil. It trumps their short position 10 to 1. That, in my opinion, is the most lop-sided position I’ve ever seen, especially in something as liquid as crude oil. While these speculators have time on their side right now, the months of March, April, and May are generally good demand for oil and smaller inter-production coming out of OPEC. That is definitely a wall that could come crumbling down. I would not want to be the last person to buy in that market and be holding on the last day because for crude oil to trade around $55 a barrel when in the United States, for example Texas, we can produce crude oil for around $15. You know that in many CEO offices right now and on napkins having a cocktail late at night in a bar there are business positions being put together where we’re going to produce oil at $15 and we’re going to sell it on the board of $55. There’s going to be an opportunity probably in April or May to take advantage of what the speculators have pushed up to probably over-valued heights right now. Michael: So, that big long position like that, sooner or later, that’s going to have to be unwound. We’ll see how that plays out. For the time being, you still have that strong seasonal in place that has to be respected, so you may have a little bit of balance there in the near term. That being the case, we have outlined a strategy in the upcoming newsletter called The Crack Squeeze. We’ll show you how you can take advantage of that. The premium available in that market right now, that’s a trade for now and the coming 30-60 days we have one of your favorite trades coming up, James, but we’ll save that for next month. For those of you that are interested in learning more about working directly with us through an account for high-net-worth investors, you can request our investor information discovery pack. You can get that at OptionSellers.com/Discovery. We do have a recommended $1 million account size. If you are interested in something like that, feel free to request our information package. It does come with a DVD. James, let’s move into our final portion of the podcast this month. This is our lesson for investors. We’re going to talk about diversification of asset class this month. In our videos, we talk about two important types of diversification. One is diversification of strategy, which some investors are not familiar with. Then, there’s diversification of asset class, which some investors are familiar with; however, our commodities often are overlooked when it comes to that diversification. We’re going to talk about this month some of the advantages, especially for stock options sellers, who are used to writing options in stocks, you understand how that strategy works, some of the big advantages you have by applying that strategy to commodities. James, maybe you want to cover this first. There’s plenty, there’s a couple right at the top though of most interest. What would you consider the top advantage of a commodities option writer over a stock option writer? James: Well, you know, stock option writers are a lot of our current clients. They eventually were introduced to short options through their stock account writing covered calls and such. A lot of investors started thinking, “Well, why don’t I sell options on stocks? That seems to be my best portfolio gains.” Generally speaking, selling options on stocks you’re selling approximately 5%, sometimes 10%, out-of-the-money, where in commodities when you educate the different ideas of applying short options to different asset classes, investors are absolutely amazed by the fact that you can sell premium 50%, 60%, 70% out-of-the-money. In some of the markets that we sell premiums it’s as high as 100% out-of-the-money with relatively low margin requirements to do so. A lot of investors that study for themselves what to do with their investment and what to do with their nest egg who discover short options, when they stumble across selling options on commodities certainly that is when our phone starts ringing. I think for the fact that we put ourselves out as the premier stock options sellers, rather commodity option sellers, it’s certainly an eye-opener to a lot of people who want to be diversified. Diversification is always the number one goal for a sound investment portfolio. The fact that the stock market right now is in a bull market, it’s at all time highs. At any moment, it can start a 5 year bear market and selling options on commodities allows you to be profitable in bull or bear markets. That’s what’s the real beauty of what we do. Michael: These don’t just come from us. A lot of these come from our readers/prospective clients that repeat this and these are the reasons we hear the most. That’s why we’re repeating them here. As James was saying, the biggest advantages here is, one, you can sell deep, deep out-of-the-money strikes. Two, you get a potentially high RI because the margins are so much lower than they are for stock options. I know the margins, most of the time, we pay are sometimes 100-150% of the premium. So, you sell an option for $700 and maybe you only put up $700 or $1,000 in margin to hold that. Is that what you’re seeing right now, James, in this condition? James: That’s exactly what we have right now. We have some of the lowest margins to hold short options on commodities that I’ve seen since I’ve been doing this. Not all of them are that way, but some of the most lucrative ones like the gold option strangle that we’re doing and the crude oil trade position that’s coming up. I’m looking at that already trying to get our ducks in a row for that. You’re looking at about 150% of the premium that you take in is what’s required for margin. That is really not tying up a lot of money to hopefully have very good results at the end of the year. Michael: We’re talking about selling deep out-of-the-money. That natural gas trade you described earlier, we’re talking about selling 25-30% out-of-the-money. That’s probably about the closest we’ll be to the money when selling options. Would you say that’s a fair assessment? James: Generally so. Any time someone is selling options on commodities on their own or with us, you’ll notice that the calls are always or most often can be further out-of-the-money for a simple reason. A market can only go to zero, it can’t go below that. When natural gas, which used to trade at $10, $15 per million BTU’s, is trading with a two-handle it can only go so low. The fact that we’re 25% below this market currently, I think, that’s way out-of-the-money. If the market inches a little bit lower, we’ll just continue to sell puts on that market. Often, we’re looking at puts some 40-50% below the money. The fact that natural gas is so cheap right now and the fundamentals look anywhere from friendly to bullish later this year, we think that’s selling them quite a bit out-of-the-money. We think that’s going to be a great position for later this year. Michael: Of course, one more thing I want to point out… you mentioned a diversification aspect. Commodities in general tend to be uncorrelated to stocks as a whole, but when you introduce the option selling aspect to it it’s a portfolio that’s completely uncorrelated to anything. It’s not going to correlate to equity, it’s not going to correlate to interest rates, the positions aren’t even going to correlate to each other because a market like silver’s going to have nothing to do with the price of corn and the price of corn will have nothing to do with the price of coffee. So, it’s a completely diversified portfolio that isn’t even going to correlate to the commodities indexes. That’s simply because you have the ability to sell options on either side of it. Those would be the three big benefits for you stock option sellers listening. You’re thinking about giving it a try, giving it a look. Those are the three biggest draws to this type of investment. Of course, they’re described in depth in our book or any of our materials on our website. James, I think we’ve had a pretty full session this month and I do thank you for your insights and your sharing of some of your thoughts on the markets this month. James: My pleasure. Talking about commodities and, not only that, but the approach of selling options on commodities is definitely an eye-opener to many investors and we look forward to doing more so in the future. Michael: Just an announcement here at the end of our podcast, for those of you considering applying for new accounts, we are closed for March. We are fully booked for March. If you are interested in one of our remaining April openings, please contact Rosemary. You can call her at the 800 number… 800-346-1949. You can also, if you’re an international caller, 813-472-5760. You can also e-mail her at office@optionsellers.com. That is to schedule a phone consultation. We do have a few of those left for March and they would be for April openings. Feel free to give her a call if you are interested in discussing one of those remaining openings in April. Everybody have a great month of option selling. We’ll be back here in March and we’ll talk to you then. Thank you.

I dagens avsnitt pratar vi om framtiden, vad vi har för planer efter studenten samt omgivningens förväntningar på vad man ska göra efter studenten! Instagram: deeptalkpodden Kontakt: deeptalkpodden@gmail.com Michaelas youtube kanal: Michaela Persson Kristinas youtube kanal: K__Amelie

I årets första avsnitt pratar vi om hur vårt nyår var, när någon bröt sig in i Michaelas trädgård, våra planer för året och mycket mer.

I det här avsnittet får du träffa en av bloggosfärens urdrottningar, Michaela Forni. Michaela började blogga när hon var 14 år helt enkelt för att hon älskade att skriva. Hon är nu 27 och bloggen har varit en del av hennes jobb de senaste 10 åren. Vi blir rätt nostalgiska kring gamla communitys och bloggens gamla glansdagar och pratar om Michaelas nära relation till sina läsare och hur det varit avgörande för hennes framgång att hon varit så personlig som hon varit. Nu har hon släppt sin tredje bok, ”Jag är inte perfekt, tyvärr”, där hon pratar om psykisk ohälsa och för mig berättar hon om hur det gick till när hon allt föll på plats på en yogaresa. Och hur bloggen har gjort henne till en mer välmående människa. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Welcome to Option Seller Radio, the podcast for high net-worth option writers. Here, you’ll learn option selling strategies you can use right now in diversified commodities markets, such as crude oil, gold, coffee, and soybeans. So, listen in and start putting decades of knowledge from the OptionSellers.com team to work for you. To learn more about OptionSellers.com, and their managed portfolios for high net-worth investors, visit www.optionsellers.com. Michael: Hello everyone, this is Michael Gross at OptionSellers.com here with your November issue of OptionSellers.com podcast. This is a special Thanksgiving edition and, boy, the world has turned upside down since our last radio show. The title of this month’s show is Trump, the Fed, and 2 BIG Markets for Taking Premium Now. I’m here with James Cordier, head trader here at OptionSellers.com. James, welcome to this month’s radio show. James: Thank you, Michael. It’s always a pleasure and, boy, have things changed since we met last. Michael: Well, if you’re listening to this before or after you’ve had your turkey-day, we hope to bring you some good insights here for selling options and understanding the commodities markets over the next 30 days. As we all know, on November 8th Donald Trump won the presidency and that has certainly presented a list of pitfalls and opportunities for the markets. We’re going to touch on some of those today. Also, have big Fed announcement coming up in December that will have a big impact on the markets, and we are going to discuss those today. James, why don’t we start out by just you giving your general comments on the election, what you think this means for commodities markets. James: What’s interesting, Michael, the pollsters both in England for the Brexit and here in the United States for the presidential election really did not get it. They weren’t even close. Hillary Clinton had a 5% lead going into election night and we all know what happened there. So interesting was the initial response to Donald Trump apparently winning the election. First thing was to sell stocks with both hands and buy gold, with the idea that is just so much uncertainty and how can this gentleman out of nowhere come in and run the greatest and largest economy in the world and, lo and behold, everyone said, “You know, maybe he can. He’s a great businessman, he has been very successful, and he doesn’t mind borrowing money and building things.” Certainly, that’s something that could definitely propel the U.S. economy to levels that it hasn’t seen in quite some time. I think, personally, that both the economy and inflation, something we haven’t had grow at any marketable levels in a long time, is going to really open some eyeballs here the next 12-24 months. Michael: We also have the other big news on the horizon here is the Fed is expected to raise interest rates in December. That could also bring some changes to the market, potential opportunities. Do you have any thoughts on that at this point? James: Michael, the topic of discussion, I think, going forward will be U.S. growth no longer at 1%, no longer at 1.5%. We think it’s going to have a crooked number for years to come, in other words, 2%, 3%, and 4% growth. What the Federal Reserve does in order to rein in potential inflation, I think, is going to be headlines constantly with the Federal Reserve talking about raising interest rates to fight inflation, but, lo and behold, I think that’s something that the Federal Reserve has just been waiting so long for and I think we’ll, behind closed doors, do everything they can just to stoke it a little bit and let it run hot. Michael: James, that’s a point you’ve been making in a lot of our articles recently, and recently, also on CNBC here this past Friday, you had a pretty informative interview on the gold market. Your big theme and our big theme here at OptionSellers.com is that we see inflation picking up in 2017 for a variety of reasons, which you, by the way, did outline very well in our gold piece earlier this month. It is on the blog. As far as your outlook on gold, you had a pretty good interview here Friday where I thought you made your case on CNBC. What do you see happening there over the next 90-120 days? How do option sellers who are looking at that possibly take advantage of that? James: Well, Michael, with what could be a stronger economy in the United States, what will likely be slightly higher interest rates, of course, we’re going to have ¼ point rise here in December – that’s already said and done, it’s like a 99% chance of a rate rise in December. This is what’s been pressuring the gold and silver market here the last 2-3 weeks, was the idea of higher U.S. interest rates. Initially, that is causing a very strong U.S. dollar and when the dollar is strong a lot of investors will dump their gold holdings in order to get possibly into securities. The timing on that is going to be really interesting. When will investors start looking at a slightly higher interest rate with the idea that that’s not going to slow inflation? The timing on this is going to be a little bit tricky this year. Whether inflation starts coming back and the Federal Reserve does little to stop it, that might not be determined until January or February of 2017, but what will get put in place and I think what will be released coming up very soon is the idea of a much stronger U.S. economy, 2.5-3%, and I a lot of people on the inside are going to think the Federal Reserve is not going to stand in the way of letting it run hot. That will be the ignition for gold and silver to start rallying next year is that January, February, we’re not sure, but going forward right now put premium is ginormous for June, October, December of next year. We are really wringing our hands right now with exactly how to position going forward. Gold puts are extremely overpriced and we really like what we see for getting bullish on gold for next year. Michael: You had some great points and you bring up a good point about the put premium- it’s higher. There are a lot of people bearish right now on gold and, from my perspective, your perspective probably as well, it’s hard to see what they’re looking at. If you do see a growing economy next year, Wall Street Journal had a recent survey showing GDP is expected to jump to 2.2% next year, possibly higher in 2018. They’re looking at inflation jumping 2.2% in 2017, 2.4% in 2018, which may not sound like a lot but, considering it may end up this year about 1.8%, that’s fairly significant as far as the ripple effect it can have. I think you made that case pretty well. As far as people looking at gold and saying, “Should I buy the thing here? Is it underpriced”, what are some of these bears looking at? Why are they bearish gold right now? Why this big premium in the puts? James: Michael, all anyone can see right now is a strong U.S. dollar. I think the dollar this past week hit a 13-year high. There is much less uncertainty about health of banking and the banking system around the world right now. Over the last 24 months, there was Greece, Italy, and the Brexit and it was negative interest rates in Germany and just certainly things in the market that no one has considered before, so a lot of investors had the idea that, “maybe I should own some gold” with a brighter picture for the U.S. economy and other economies around the world right now. People feel less need to own gold right now. It hasn’t been a hedge against inflation for several years, and that, I think, is the canary in the coal mine where for the first time, I think, in 2017 we will finally be hedging against inflation – something we haven’t seen in practically a decade. People are selling gold right now because of a stronger U.S. dollar, inflation has not been a worry for several years, and that is what we think is about to change and why someone should look at selling puts and going long on gold. Michael: Of course, put selling strategy where you don’t really have to pick the bottom, you simply go far underneath the market, that’s a little bit of confusion that mainstream investors don’t get. I think, for instance, to go back to your CNBC interview, James, you’re talking about bullish influence for gold in 2017 and one of the commentators there, I believe it was Evan Newmark, was just an all-out bear. Didn’t like gold at all, told a story about how he bought gold index and it went down and he lost 80% and that the market’s no good. Just to dismiss it like that, he has probably never heard of selling options. When people think, “We think gold’s at a value, you should buy gold here”- we’re not necessarily saying that. We’re saying it’s at a level where you can go far underneath it, collect put premium, the longer-term fundamentals support price, and you can really afford to just wait it out and wait for prices to go up. That’s the whole concept of selling options. It’s the same approach you’re taking in the portfolios now, is that correct, James? James: It is, Michael. So often, its herd mentality that drives prices too high and too low. When gold is rallying, everyone seems to be jumping on board. You have gold bugs coming out of the woodwork, buying gold coins and buying bars that you see on TV all the time. Basically, all we’re doing right now is saying that the value of gold right now is at fair value. That’s without any inflation. The gold market is down from $1,900 all the way down to $1,200 now. We really see extremely strong values selling puts at $9.50 and $9.25 for several months out in 2017. We don’t have a crystal ball, we don’t know when the gold market’s about to start rallying on any given day; however, if we do have strong growth in 2017, if we still have a relative easy fed, the gold market is going to look extremely strong as inflation numbers start coming out. Does gold bottom right here at $1,210? We’re not exactly sure, but would we go long by selling strikes at $9.50 and $9.25? We absolutely would. We think that in the 2nd and 3rd quarter of next year, gold will likely be $50-$100 higher than where it is right now. Certainly, that would put these gold options that we’re referring to $300-$350 below the market at that level. Of course, the premiums would be basically cut into maybe 90% from where the current position from where they are right now. We think the timing’s pretty good on it. When does gold start rallying? We’re not exactly sure, but the premiums are extremely large right now because of the down drafts since after the election. Michael: All right, and of course the title of this podcast is 2 Big Markets. A lot of times we’re talking about, well, last month we talked about soft markets, markets like coffee, cocoa, or we’ll talk about grain market. When you talk about major markets, for instance, like gold and silver where there’s a lot of liquidity, there’s just tons and tons of open interest there, open contracts, a lot of participation there. This is where you can really get creative with a lot of your option selling, and we’re going to talk about second big market today, which is one of our favorites. James, I know it’s one of your seasonal favorites… the crude oil market. This is a big time of year for crude oil. Would you maybe want to explain to our listeners why that’s the case? James: Crude oil certainly is one of the largest commodities traded worldwide. Energy prices seem to do quite well in the western hemisphere in June and July, as driving season and demand is as its greatest and often a time when supplies are at their least. Going into the 4th quarter of each year, we have something called shoulder season where we’re no longer heating homes in the northeast and we’re certainly not driving as far as long vacations. This is truly the smallest demand season of the year going into December and January. This year, we’ve had oil trading around $40-$45 recently, we have some discussion from OPEC that they’re going to try and reduce production, but each year we want to go long crude oil in December and January for the June and July time frame. That appears to be setting up quite well. Demand is at its least in December and at its most in June. December is when you would sell puts below the June contract with the upcoming driving season. Normally, you can sell puts $15-$20 below the current value in December and January, and you normally see a $10-$15 rise into driving season. Once again, our favorite seasonal play in all of commodities is possibly taking place in the next 30 days going long crude oil for next spring and summer’s driving season. Michael: Very detailed piece included in the upcoming December newsletter on crude oil that really talks about the seasonal and flushes it out, gives you some background info to trade this writing premium on it, how to get the biggest premium out of this market. James, you make this point well… as far as the seasonal for people listening that may not be familiar with what seasonal tendencies are, seasonal tendencies and commodities are the tendency, not the guarantee, but the tendency that prices tend to move a different direction at a certain time of year. Crude oil, for instance, as refineries start ramping up gasoline production to meet summer driving needs, they start doing it in December and January, and that’s when they start using more crude oil. Demand at the wholesale level rises. That is often coincided with the corresponding rise in price. So, these are the type of things that we look at while we’re analyzing a commodity that they don’t talk about on the news. They want to talk about what’s in the headlines but they don’t talk about these kind of invisible hands that are really pushing supply and demand. When you’re looking at commodities, that’s the kind of thing we look at here- the real underlying forces that are moving price, not necessarily what’s in the headline. James, that lead up to driving season, it appears, from looking at a seasonal chart, that that strength lasts all the way into May or June. Is that how you’ve tended to play it? James: That is how we see it, Michael. Here in Florida, and we probably have similar prices across the nation right now, we’ve seen gasoline prices dip below $2.00. Once again, you’re looking at gasoline at $1.90-$1.95 per gallon. Next May, June, and July you’re going to see gasoline around $2.50, $2.60, $2.70. I know that sounds like really making a simplistic argument to going long crude oil in December for the June and July timeframe, but it is as simple as that. The idea that prices are near their low around the holidays because demand is at its least. It’s not your imagination. Michael: As we discussed before, that is the feature piece in your December newsletter. You’ll see the seasonal chart we talked about. Also, one final thing to bring up about seasonals that we are going to talk about in this piece is these seasonal price moves, while they’re not guaranteed, past performance is not indicative of future results, of course, they tend to occur regardless of where the absolute supply of the commodity is… or the demand or the absolute price. They tend to operate independently of that. For instance, this year, gasoline stocks tend to dwindle. They hit a high in the spring and they tend to just fall off right into December. Even though gasoline stocks are higher than they typically are this year, they have followed that exact pattern straight down. This time of year they start to build them again. We have no reason to believe they won’t start building them again this year, and that’s typically what can cause that seasonal move. Going onto the December newsletter for those of you expecting it, you should look for that around December 1st or 2nd if you are on our newsletter mailing list. In addition to the feature oil piece, James, we put together a great piece this month called How to Make Your Portfolio Great Again. Obviously, a little play on the election there, but some really good pieces of advice in there you gave, especially for the upcoming year. I think anyone that’s interested in building a portfolio will gain something from that. Also, you’ll find a nice piece in this month’s letter about using premium ladders, something we haven’t talked a whole lot about on the show, and something we probably should. It is included in the book, The Complete Guide to Option Selling. It really gives you a blueprint for building a consistent income stream, if that’s what you’re looking to get out of this type of investing. James, lets move on to our trading lesson of the month now. We’re going to talk about a strategy that I know is one of your personal favorites. It’s one that we employ often in our portfolios. It’s the strategy of writing covered options. A lot of people that trade stocks think that means owning the stock and selling the option, but that’s not necessarily how you approach it. Lets talk a little bit about writing covered options and commodities and how you like to go about doing that. James: Michael, during times of low volatility, we don’t always have the luxury of doing a credit-ratio spread, in other words, a one-by-three, which is outlined in The Complete Guide to Option Selling chapter 10. Basically, what we’re doing during times of high volatility, something we just received now after the election, is the luxury of selling a ratio spread. In other words, for example, using our crude oil scenario…. We’re looking to sell the $30 crude oil puts. In order to babysit that position while we’re holding onto it we would buy 1 possibly $33 put. So, in other words, what we’re doing is we’re taking in a great deal of money selling the puts and we’re going to buy 1 contract to protect it while we’re holding it for 30-60 days to make sure that trade is exactly the way we though it would be. What it basically does is it controls the risk on your position and as you no longer need the insurance of buying that option, we can sell it off. In other words, we are taking in anywhere from $600-$700 per contract on our short puts. We’ll spend a little bit of money to hold that position as far as insurance using a long put option. It is basically, in our opinion, the very best way to take in premiums selling options and having a controlled risk parameter while you’re doing it. Michael: James, a lot of people when we talk about volatility and increasing volatility, mainstream investors that don’t sell options tend to run from volatility and they think, “Oh, I better get out of the market.” What they don’t understand and what option sellers do understand is that can be the time to really make hay as an option seller because it opens up these types of strategies. When volatility increases, that makes the premiums bigger. That means you can actually put on spreads like this and you can actually get a higher probability trade that goes a long way toward smoothing out the equity curve. You can get in a not only higher quality trade, but sometimes a, for lack of a better word, safer trade than you would otherwise. Would you agree with that statement? James: You know, volatility is certainly the low-hanging fruit for what we do. Any time we have the luxury of selling puts or calls 50-60% out-of-the-money in an area that we’re able to buy a long option to protect that position for just a short period of time, that is just the most low-hanging fruit landscape that we can ask for and we just received that since the election. Michael: If you’re listening to this discussion, and James and I have had this conversation in private over the last couple of weeks in regard to spreading the markets, and it has been a little bit more difficult to do in 2016. We’ve gone more to writing naked, which is certainly a viable strategy, certainly a good strategy to take premium out of the market, but when you can spread the markets when you get this type of volatility like we just got it opens up a whole new ball game for selling premium. We think that’s open now, we do think 2017 is going to be a much friendlier year to spreading options and certainly looking forward to that. James, I think one final point to make on this topic is you and I both know we get a lot of feedback from people that read our newsletter, maybe see us on TV, where we’ll write an article about something and recommend a possible trade – here’s a way you can take advantage of this – and there’s people out there that aren’t our clients that look at that and may take the trade. They go trade it themselves, and there’s certainly nothing wrong with that, but a lot of those people might not understand is that when we’re trading these markets we are trading them as part of an overall portfolio, as part of an overall strategy and not trading them in a vacuum, like I think some people take and trade on their own. So, when you put a portfolio together, you may be using a combination of different strategies, different strikes, different months, all designed to balance each other. I think that’s one thing that people just take a trade here and there don’t really understand. Would you agree with that? James: A balanced portfolio is certainly the key to success for any portfolio, whether it’s in stocks, or whether it’s real estate, or whether it’s selling options and commodities. We simply will have a blended cocktail almost, if you will, of our favorite positions that we see. Sometimes, it is a naked short position in coffee, sometimes it’s going long crude oil for the driving season, other times we see extremely large premiums on both the put and call side and in that case we would strangle the market. So, we utilize probably 4 or 5 different strategies and approaches to selling options on commodities and using a blending of all 4 or 5 is usually what a portfolio looks like. I know that’s what is going to be achieved here in the last part of 2016 and the beginning of 2017. Right now, premiums are extremely large and it gives us the ability to blend, what we think, is a very balanced portfolio using different strategies in applying short options. We’re really excited about 2017 and making exactly portfolios look just like that. Michael: All right, well I think that’s a pretty good analysis of spreading options and the strategy of the ratio-credit spread. As James mentioned, if you want to read more about that we have a whole chapter about it in our book, The Complete Guide to Option Selling: Third Edition. In closing, just a few announcements. As you may know or find out here in the newsletter, we unfortunately have no new accounts left available during 2016. All of our accounts are booked. The good news is, if you’re hoping to take advantage of some of these strategies we talked about in the gold or crude oil market, these should spill into January time frame. Would you agree with that, James? James: Especially what’s happening right now in gold and silver, it looks like an opportunity that even our listeners can take advantage of in January. Of course, if the oil market stays relatively low going into the new year, that is something we would certainly encourage our listeners to take advantage of. We only trade energies twice a year and one of those two times is coming up in the next 30 days. I would definitely encourage people to take a look at that. Michael: So, if you hear this and you say, “Aw, well I can’t really open the account” these things aren’t here and then they’re gone. They’re opportunities that could probably be available in January. We do have a few openings left in January if you’re looking to possibly have an account then. Consultations for those openings are still being scheduled in December. If you are interested in reserving one of those consultations, they will be taking place before the 15th of the month in December. So, if you’re interested in one of those, give Rosemary a call at our main number… 800-346-1949 to reserve one of those remaining openings. We wish everybody here a very happy Thanksgiving and, James, thanks for your insights this month. James: My pleasure, Michael. I hope everyone listening has a happy Thanksgiving. Very interesting times we’re going into. Sometimes, people feel that it’s a slow portion to the season coming up, but actually we find it quite exciting as investors are taking advantage of options and we’re going to take the other side. Michael: We will be back with you for a special New Years edition of the Option Seller Radio Show. Until then, everybody have a happy Thanksgiving, happy holidays, and a great month of option selling. To learn more about OptionSellers.com and their managed portfolios for high net-worth investors, visit www.optionsellers.com.

Michael: Hello, everybody. This is Michael Gross from OptionSellers.com, here with your August Option Seller Radio Show. I’m here with founder and head trader James Cordier and we’re going to talk a little bit about the markets here and things going on as we start September, back to school month, or, for a lot of investors and financial professionals, it’s back to work month. A lot of people go on vacation in August and when we get back in September it’s back to business. A lot of people start focusing on some of the stories they may have overlooked over the last month or two. James, welcome to the show – a lot to talk about this month. James: Thank you, Michael, there certainly is. Both markets moving, instruments happening, as well as the stock market, of course, the Federal Reserve is always interesting, and new highs in the stock market. We were talking recently about a couple articles that have some of the largest, most well known investors in the world saying that not only is the stock market going to pause but go into a bear market, then it continues to rally. Its just really interesting times right now with both the Federal Reserve and what a lot of people are considering with the stock market what it might do over the next year or so. Michael: You know, we’re going to talk about oil here in a little bit, but some of the stories coming out of OPEC talking maybe about a production freeze, and some people think maybe that’s helping the stock market, too, a little bump in oil here. James: It really is. This is so interesting how the oil market, especially, is a great example of a market that has extremely soft fundamentals. In the United States, we have all-time record supplies. We have Iran and Iraq and Saudi Arabia who are going to just duke it out for market share starting in October and November. What is OPEC come up with going into the soft demand season? Well, we are going to talk. We’re going to come up with some ideas and we’re going to try and freeze production. The part that is so interesting about freezing production, as we all know, is that productions are at record highs right now, so the market really is trying to grasp onto anything it can to try and get insight on what the market might make the next move. What’s so interesting is, as all OPEC discussions over the last few years, each country needs a specific amount of money to run their economy and if oil goes down to 40 or 38, they’re going to need to pump that much oil and everyone really knows it. This buying the market because of OPEC discussions coming up, that’s going to be a feudal end. I’ve seen it before the last several years and when the market rallies up because Iran is now going to join into the talks, they know that all they’re doing is jawboning. When push comes to shove and demand is low in winter, they’re going to be pumping oil like never before. Michael: Yeah, that’s a great point and we are going to talk about that in a second, too, because we have a big seasonal coming up in crude. I know you’re eager to point it out as well. September, as we discussed earlier, is a big month for seasonal tendencies. If you’re listening and you’re unfamiliar with seasonal tendencies, these are the type of things that happen at different times of the year - fundamentals in these underlying markets that can have an outside impact on price. So, being aware of what the seasonals are can really have an impact on your trading, really give you some direction when you’re starting to identify trading opportunities. It’s certainly where James and I start when we’re looking at markets and being aware of that underlying seasonal. September is a huge month for seasonals and one of those markets, in particular, is one of your specialties, James. That is the coffee market. As we end the Brazilian growing season here, we are at the end of harvest, some certain things happen when that harvest is done. Do you want to talk about that a little bit, James? James: Well, what’s interesting is a lot of investors were pointing to whether that wasn’t exactly perfect in many growing areas of the world for cocoa or sugar or coffee. But, in Brazil, we have a record harvest that just took place for Arabica beans. Those are the sought after variety that we drink here in the United States and through most of the western world. We have a record supply coming in. Harvest right now is about 95% complete and you’re going to see co-ops in Brazil wanting to turn those beans into cash. They’re going to try and hold back and they are going to make all kinds of discussion about how we’re going to have a retention plan and we’re going to wait for higher prices, but the bottom line is that they only have so much room for that coffee and it has got to go. As they say, bills have to be paid. If you’re in a third-world nation like Brazil and your cash crop is coffee, you need to turn that into the market. We expect those supplies to start hitting market channels in September and October as the harvest wraps up. Lo and behold, the United States, the largest consumer of coffee, we are currently sitting on the highest coffee supplies of green coffee stocks in the United States for the last 13 years. We don’t really need to bid up coffee prices to get the beans to get here. Coffee roasters can be very picky because we’re sitting on so much coffee here in the United States. With Brazil trying to find a home for their coffee, the United States has all the coffee they need. This seasonal for a downward move in java prices looks quite certain for September, October, and November, so we will be looking at selling coffee calls with both hands here in the next 30 days. Michael: James, that’s a great point. You’re talking about records Arabica production. Total crop out of Brazil, the latest estimate I saw, correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe they’re looking around 56 million bags, which isn’t a record but it is near a record. What you brought up, and maybe just a way of restating it to help some of our investors listening grasp it, is as these supplies hit the market, that excess supply is Economics 101. As supplies go up, price tends to come down. What tends to happen in the fall, if you look at a seasonal chart for December coffee, you hit the first of September and prices typically start declining. That doesn’t mean it is going to happen every year, but over the years that tends to be the cycle. It is something that we are expecting this year. An investor listening to this, you know, it sounds probably Chinese to somebody who just traded stocks and doesn’t know a lot about commodities… you’re talking about how we’re going to be selling options with both fists. How does an investor sitting at home grasp that? How does he take advantage of this? He sees coffee prices where it is right now and he’s looking at a chart. Maybe just kind of walk them through what he would do. James: Certainly. For anyone listening to our commentary today who have read our books on The Complete Guide to Option Selling and have read chapters that concern, for example, historic volatility, namely in the coffee market, years and years ago we had a large rally in the coffee prices because of a freeze that took place in southern Brazil, which caused coffee prices to jump dramatically. In southern Brazil, coffee plantations have migrated north. The chances of freezes that have caused prices to go up in the past are negligible. They no longer exist. However, the historic volatility that is still in coffee options will still be there and it does exist. We actually have the ability to go short coffee at double the price of its current level. In other words, we have a seasonal factor that should cause prices to go down in October, November, and December. The strikes and the coffee calls that we will be selling for clients, or someone listening to us today can do it themself, you are looking at selling coffee calls double the current price. As you mentioned a moment ago, will coffee prices slide 10 or 20 cents a pound this fall? It is really not that important. What we are positioning ourselves and our clients to do, is that we are wagering the fact that coffee won’t double during this price. Historic volatility gives us the ability to sell coffee calls at a very high price and at strikes that are almost double the current price. Michael: Yeah, coffee currently trading just above $1.50 per pound in that range. Good explanation there, James, of why you’re able to sell so deep out-of-the-money. I think that’s a big question a lot of investors have, is why can you sell so far our in commodities and not in stocks. A lot of it has to do with the leverage and the way commodities are priced, but it also has to do with fundamentals that may have changed over the years but that volatility is still in the market. Great, great example there. Selling calls into a harvest in a lot of markets can be a good strategy to pursue. That’s going to take us into another market that we are watching here in September. The grain markets are all big markets that have seasonals in the fall. In the United States, we harvest soybeans, corn, and wheat in the fall. As those supplies come in from harvest, historically speaking, that has tended to pressure prices because as that supply builds, it’s going back to that Economics 101. Higher supply tends to pressure price. That tends to happen in the fall as the new harvest comes in. Not always, nothing is guaranteed, but historical tendencies, however, have tended to drift that way. James, soybeans are another market we’ve been watching lately, we’ve already had kind of a drop-off there, but heading into a harvest now, talk a little bit about the crop there and what you see happening. James: Well, in corn and soybeans in the United States, it seems as though farming just continues to get more and more improved. Not only is Brazil able to produce more coffee beans, but here in the United States and places like Argentina and Brazil, growing more soybeans on the same number of acres here in the United States. We are looking at a huge crop in soybeans and corn that the Unites States is going to be harvesting starting in September and October. Once again, as you mentioned, too much supply and not enough demand certainly sets up ideas for shorter prices and going into this fall. Any rallies that we would have in corn and soybeans over the next 30 days, we would certainly be very interesting in selling call options on those, as well. I know that there is a lot to be made about something that’s called stocks to usage, which actually compiles how much demand there is worldwide versus how much supply there is. I know next year, Michael, you might want to refer to this a little bit, but from what I’ve been hearing, next year’s supply versus demand is going to be gigantic. Selling calls in that environment, I think, is a great addition to someone’s portfolio, as well. Michael: Yeah, you know, we talked about that this spring. We were looking at pretty big acreage this year. We did get a pretty big rally in June because we had some weather concerns, but once that crop was made, prices, especially corn, the corn prices just fell off the cliff since June. One of the reasons we are talking about soybeans right now is that they’ve fallen, but not quite as far as corn. The seasonal tends to kick in at the beginning of September, so we have some pretty good timing. In talking about the soybean crop, we are looking at the largest U.S. harvest ever. We are looking at a projected yield or crop size of 4.1 billion bushels. That’s an all-time high. If this comes to pass, our 2016-2017 U.S. soybean ending stocks are going to be at 330 million bushels, stocks to usage at 8.2%. Both of those will be the highest in a decade. When we talk about bearish fundamentals, that’s bearish fundamentals. That is a pretty big weight on the market. It doesn’t mean that market can’t rally, as you always talk about, but it certainly hinders rallies and certainly casts a bearish shadow, often a great setup for call sellers. It’s one of the reasons we’re watching beans right now – looking for those types of opportunities. James: Well, it’s interesting Michael, something that you and I referred to quite often – we may not know where the price of soybeans is going to go next week or two weeks later, but what we’re calculating and what we’re betting on is where it’s not going to go. That’s all we have to do is get that part right. Michael: Exactly. That is a good segway to talk about the crude market here. You started off talking about crude. You got a lot of media coverage lately… a couple of appearances on CNBC, you’ve had a lot of calls from the media on your call on crude oil because back at the beginning of summer everyone was bullish, you were bearish – you’re still bearish, and you’re still looking at that as a great option selling opportunity. So, maybe share with some of our listeners what you see setting up there and why you like it so much. James: Anyone listening to this right now who is thinking the idea that crude oil is going to continue rallying because of OPEC discussion or slightly smaller production here in the United States, I think you would be really well served to do a little research and find out how much supply is actually out there. In the United States we have record supplies. We have cars that now get 40 miles to the gallon instead of 20 miles to the gallon. We have Iraq, Iran, and Saudi Arabia that are producing record amounts of oil all at a time when we’re going into the weakest demand season of the year. September, October, and November, demand in the United States, the largest consumer, it falls off the table. We really like the idea of crude oil prices heading to softer levels, possibly in the 30’s and then bottoming out around November and December. This is one of the greatest seasonal plays there is, is being short oil going into late summer and early fall. Lo and behold, when the holidays come around, we get into December, we’re going to have some very low oil prices, at least that’s the way it looks from my desk. Then, the other seasonal kicks in and that is to go long when everyone is so fearful that the market is going to go down. So, we have two of our greatest plays as far as building a core position in crude oil, that come up now and then come up again in the 4th quarter of the year. It’s certainly something that has been a great addition to our portfolios over the last several years and we think it’s going to be again this coming year. Michael: James, you bring up a great point there on supply. When you’re talking about crude supplies here in the United States, the last report we are at 521 million barrels. That’s an all-time record for this time of year, as you said. 37% higher than the 5-year average for this same time of year. A key point here, it’s 14% higher than last year at this time. As you know, last year, we saw crude prices dip below 30 down into the high 20’s. We are headed into a seasonal time of year now with supplies 14% above where they were last year and if anybody listening to James talk about the seasonal tendency, you’ll be able to see a chart of that seasonal tendency in the September newsletter. It should be in your mailbox next week by the 1st of the month. You’ll see a crude oil seasonal chart there. I want you to take a look closer at what tends to happen to crude prices at the beginning of September. James hit on it pretty good there – this is why we look to build positions in markets like this that have strong fundamentals that don’t tend to change quickly. They tend to take a while to change why you build things called a core position, James, and I think a lot of our listeners might be interested to hear what that is. You talk about something like a core position and building a portfolio. That’s not something that people read about in books. That’s something that often comes from experience. Do you want to share that with some of our listeners? James: Michael, it is interesting because, for those of us that watch CNBC, Bloomberg, and Fox, you would think that there’s a bull market and a bear market in these different commodities and different stocks every 30 days, but there really isn’t. When the market moves 2 or 3% it gets so much fanfare if it’s going up and it gets so much depressed looks on TV if it’s going down. The options that we sell when we are building core positions, as we like to refer to them, they are 50 and 75% out-of-the-money when we sell calls and puts on these positions. So, when gold or silver or crude oil, in this instance, moves 2 or 3%, it gets so much fanfare. With the OPEC talks recently, they are going to bring one oil analyst or oil company CEO onto the set daily talking about oil getting to 55-60 this year and 65-70 next year based on nothing. You mentioned a really important point, and this is something we discuss often when we’re building core positions, crude oil supplies in the United States is 14% greater than last year. Last year’s low in oil was $27 a barrel. Fundamentals is the key to price projections in commodities. We like to project out 6-12 months and that is what we talk about when building a core position. The fundamentals in a market that is over-supplied won’t change in 30 days or 60 days or 90 days, so what we will do is when we get out of the high-demand season, which ends in May and June, we will sell calls for several months out. As we get into December and January, which is normally the low price-point for crude oil, we will then sell puts 6-12 months out based on the idea that the market will then bottom. Core positioning is basically the meat and potatoes of someone’s portfolio. I know we are not into the holidays yet, but commodities like gold and oil and coffee, these are core-building positions because the fundamentals don’t change and they have huge volatilities from the past. What we then like to blend in with them, it’s almost like Thanksgiving meal. You have the meat and potatoes, which will be things like gold and oil, and the cranberries, the gravy, and the dressing will be soybeans and cocoa and sugar. It’s interesting. Being diversified like that gives a portfolio a lot of staying power and the ability to withstand small movements in the market. So many people, Michael, as you know, look at commodities as a highly speculative, incredible form of gambling, and that may be true for investors who are trying to time the market. As we discussed earlier, we are building core positions at levels that the market cannot reach or very likely will not reach. Like options do, they expire worthless some 80% of the time, building core positions that last the entire year. Basically, that’s hitting singles for 12 months. Michael: Yeah, you talk about that quite a bit in the upcoming newsletter – that concept is a recipe for building a portfolio, structuring a portfolio, and if you’re listening and interested in that type of concept, you’ll get a pretty good dose of it in the September newsletter. While we’re on that subject, I wanted to mention that some of these markets we talked about today, such as the seasonal tendencies and soybeans, seasonal tendencies and coffee. If you missed those articles they are on our blog. You can go back and see those seasonal charts and see how some of these prices tend to perform different times of the year. If you’ve never traded commodities before, it’s a real eye opener to try and get a feel for maybe what some consider an invisible hand behind prices and getting kind of a peek at some of the things really affecting price in different commodities. While we’re on the subject of the upcoming newsletter, James, I want to talk about this for our listeners and readers. We have coming up, as I said – you’ll probably get this at the end of next week, we have an article called 3 Reasons to Love Commodities Now and we kind of go into why commodities are such an attractive investment at this point in time. We talk about some of the warning signs we’re seeing for stock prices right now. As you mentioned at the top of the show, a lot of big names getting pretty bearish on stocks, a lot of big investors thinking the prices are getting a little scary now with what’s going on in the world, so they’re looking for alternatives. We really dig into that a little more this month. Something we also have is a crude oil piece that you talked about here briefly, but we outline a little more detail in the newsletter. We also have a guest column this month by former commodity hedge consultant Don Singletary. James, I know we talked about Don and looking for ways to maybe work with him a little more. Don spent 25 years advising a lot of these big commercial hedgers on hedging hundreds, millions, and even billions of dollars worth of product, whether they are harvesting corn or hedging their oil or gasoline. He kind of came to the same conclusion we did as far as option selling – he came at it from a different angle, though. He came at it as he played, pretty much, to these individual investors. It is tough to compete with these pros, but here’s how they did it. He kind of came to the same conclusion we did and he talks a lot about the same philosophies that we do about selling options. Great piece in our newsletter this month - You don’t want to miss it if you have an interest in that. Let’s talk a little bit about our lesson this month, James. I know we talk a lot about fundamentals in this month’s lesson. We want to talk a little bit about technicals because that’s not something we discuss a lot when selling options, but we still use them and I think some of our listeners might be interested to hear how you use them when you are looking for a trade. James: You know, Michael, when we have very discernable bearish fundamentals, we are watching for a market to rally and reach over-bought conditions. Watching technical indicators, like Stochastic Bollinger Bands and RSI, basically that’s going to help us with timing. It is certainly not necessary, but when we see the oil market rally on short covering, for example, if you were to look at open interest in crude oil you can see that this entire rally was based on investors that were short and were forced to cover. That is an extremely important tool to have in your toolbox is watching open interest in a market that’s trending against its fundamentals. You can almost see by watching open interest when the market is rallying against its fundamentals or its falling against its bullish fundamentals, you can almost see when the last bear got out of his position. It’s not splitting atoms, it’s nothing that the average investors can’t do for himself, but it’s something to be cognoscente about. When open interest balloons to all-time highs in crude oil on the short side, you know what’s coming. Everyone who wanted to be short is already sold the market and the least amount of bullish factors that hits the market will cause the beginning of a rally. By watching open interest, you can see when the last guy got out of his short position. That just happened in crude oil here over the last few weeks. Watching fundamentals gives you the idea of which position you want to take and sometimes, being very cognoscente of the technicals, it can tell you when to get in. We’re not trying to be market timers, but when technicals and the fundamentals line up that is when we put our tuxedo on and jump in. Michael: You know, that’s a great point you bring up because a lot of people watch technicals and maybe they can time a little blip in the market or time a little turn around in the market for a short term, but the big point you make, and it’s one we make often in a lot of our writing, is that knowing the fundamentals is what tells you if that blip in the market is the start of a change in trend or is it a buying or selling opportunity on a correction. That’s what the importance of the fundamentals is knowing that big fundamental picture. I know that’s something you stress a lot. James: Well, Michael, these 8-10 markets that we often discuss have been my friends for the last couple decades. They have personalities and they have seasonal tendencies. You can tell when they get a lot of hype on TV and you can tell the difference between hype and fact. The more you trade these the more you get used to them. They are kind of like friends you keep in your back pocket, and when they are over-bought or over-sold against the fundamentals that is when you add to your core position and making building portfolios so much fun. Michael: As a trader, James, portfolio manager, I know a lot of people have their technical indicators. Maybe talk a little bit about the top 1 or 2 we like to watch in our office. You and I know what they are, but maybe our listeners would be anxious to hear just out of curiosity what we like to watch. James: As far as technical indicators, Bollinger Bands is one of my favorites. Putting a Bollinger Band calculation on a weekly chart, and it really helps you understand what the exact outer limits on what a market can reach simply on short covering or news item or headlines that often push the market because that generates computer buying and computer selling. I would suggest to anyone listening to us today who wants to get more averse with technicals, I would look at weekly charts instead of daily charts. I would look at things like Bollinger Bands instead of simply Relative Strength Index. We look at weekly charts because during the time that we are in a trade or in a position, it’s going to get several buys and sells and the fundamentals never budged. The name of the game is patience. The name of the game is fundamentals. We get paid to wait, and following weekly charts allows you to do just that and the noise in the market doesn’t affect you because you’re looking at the big picture. Michael: Well, what a great synopsis there. This has been quite an information-packed radio show, don’t you think, James? We’ve covered a lot of ground here! James: Michael, you started out by saying September is one our favorite months, and you and I talk about that because we’ve experienced so many Septembers selling options on commodities and we expect this September to be quite a lot the same. Michael: I agree. Well, everyone, I believe that is going to wrap up our show this month. For those listening, our September account slots are closed for this month, they are all filled, there’s no availability this month. We still do have a few slots remaining for October. If you’re interested in pre-qualifying interview for one of those slots, you can contact Rosemary at the office at 800-346-1949. For the rest of you, have a great month. We’ll be updating you on portfolio progress in the bi-weekly videos if you’re a client. Have a great month of premium collection. James, thanks for all of your great information this month. James: My pleasure, Michael. I enjoy doing these and look forward to doing them again many, many times. Michael: Great! Everyone have a great month, and we will talk to you at the end of September. Thank you.

In this MicroCast, live from HTCIA Conference 2015 in Orlando, FL, Michael and I quickly set the stage for a conversation on conference speaker/attendee engagement.  [Raf] One of my biggest pet peeves as a speaker is getting a room-full of people who watch (and listen) me speak, wait for me to finish, and leave when I'm done. [Michael] As an attendee, you need to know what you "do" and what you're looking for from the conference.   --> Here's the link to the article Michael mentions: http://paulsohn.org/how-to-connect-with-anyone-you-just-met-with-5-questions/   We welcome the discussion on this topic, #DtSR on Twitter!