Ask Doc My mind was racing the entire flight. Just how bad had things gotten?
A few months ago, I boarded a Delta Air Lines flight and got lost in a book while waiting for others to board. Within a few minutes, I realized there wasn't much activity around me. I looked up to see the door to the aircraft closing.
Behind me, the plane was empty. I counted fewer than a dozen people on this full-size plane. And I got worried.
If you keep your eyes open, you can spot new products, growing businesses, and abrupt shifts in the economy before anyone else.
That's why the empty flight alarmed me. I snapped a quick picture and sent it to my research staff with a note, "First empty flight in five years. Badness coming?"
Everywhere I go, be it vacation destinations like Las Vegas and San Francisco, working cities like Baltimore or Buffalo, or even little outposts like Bozeman, Montana, flights have been filled to the brim with excited tourists and weary business travelers.
So as I sat on my flight, I wondered... Was the economy declining... and fast?
Real-world observations are valuable, but they need confirmation.
By the time I landed, my research staff had the data in my inbox. It just happens that mid-January is a slow time for flights.
In some sense, investing and trading are about predicting the future. But as scientist Niels Bohr said, "Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future."
You can get a leg up simply by figuring out what is happening in the present. We take our personal experiences, anecdotes, and nuggets of information from experts and businessmen. Then we combine them with economic stats and data to determine if they reflect a wider reality.
In investing, you don't win anything for making a good argument... You win when you're right.
But when things are "too good," we want to have a more cautious viewpoint. And last week, most of you told me you're still bullish, but you're getting cautious.
Whether you're a bull or a bear, you'll want to watch our Bear Market Survival Event.
On Wednesday, May 15, Stansberry Research founder Porter Stansberry and legendary investor Jim Rogers are coming forward to detail the critical steps you can take right now to ensure you're ready for the next crisis.
They'll show you exactly how to safely profit from the final phase of this epic bull market and protect yourself from its inevitable collapse.
Let us know what you think at [email protected].
Q: Do frozen fruits and vegetables have less pesticides on them? Wouldn't they be washed thoroughly before they were frozen, therefore having less pesticide residue? – J.K.
A: Generally, frozen produce often has lower amounts of pesticides because they aren't necessary. Companies often pick fruits and vegetables several days or even weeks before you see them in your grocery store. Produce usually ripens during transportation so it's ready for you when you buy it. But the produce has to last, especially in terms of appearance. So the produce needs higher amounts of pesticides to keep it from going bad before it gets to a grocery store.
Frozen produce doesn't have this problem. It's picked when it's ripe, then goes through processing. The extra processing steps – like peeling for fruits or blanching for vegetables – also help get rid of some of the pesticides on the produce.
Q: Why not sell four month or longer calls on your existing positions? – W.M.
A: In my Retirement Trader options service, we use an option's "time decay." Shorter-dated options lose value faster than longer-dated options.
Longtime subscribers know that the best time decay in the value of options occurs between eight weeks and six weeks before the expiration date. So we make the most money per day from week seven to week five. That's why I like to sell options with about two months left to go... We ride right across that sweet spot of time decay.
To learn more about how we use time decay to make money when we sell options, click here.
Q: You said olive oil is good for you. Would it be a good idea to just take a teaspoon of olive oil a day? What are your thoughts on that? – D.D.
A: I love that idea so much that a few years ago, I dedicated an entire issue to it – Take Two Tablespoons and Call Me in the Morning. (If you read that issue, you'll also find our olive oil taste test results.)
I've always given a list of suggestions for people who want to include more olive oil in their diet... from dipping, to salad dressing, to using it as a replacement for butter. But there's nothing wrong with taking it straight. A few of our colleagues balked at the idea of drinking olive oil... But in some countries, like those in the Mediterranean, it's not unusual to start the day with a small drink of olive oil.
So if you're not getting olive oil any other way, go ahead and take that teaspoon (or even a tablespoon). Your body will thank you.
What We're Reading...
- Something different: NASA pretended an asteroid was headed to Earth.
Here's to our health, wealth, and a great retirement,
Dr. David Eifrig and the Health & Wealth Bulletin Research Team
May 3, 2019