I’ve been burnt pretty badly by GLD, TNA, and TZA. I made over 20% on YCS but that was a no-brainer, and I got a lucky 10% on TNA once. I’ve never traded TVIX, VXX, etc., before, and I never plan to. I know too many people who have been completely destroyed by this evil incarnate, that it’s just not worth it for me. Why gamble like this when you can do the hard work and find companies that will move up/down, regardless of the overall market. That’s what I try to do.

I plan on shorting solar, again/more, after today’s moves. If there was a short solar ETF, I would not be a buyer.  Instead I would short a basket of companies, with position size based on risk/return. I know, it sounds like a lot of work, but that is how you do great things. The only time I would tell somebody to buy an ETF would be if the person was saving for retirement, then I would probably have them buy an index ETF, on a decent dip. Then I would get them in safe companies, that would look to have decent growth, but also have a decent dividend yield.

Traders are hating how boring this is, but all of my ex-finance professors would be huffing and puffing about how you can’t beat the market. This is a low risk way to do so, but you have to still make the right picks, and for someone not watching their accounts everyday, I would probably put a trailing stop on. Don’t be against me on solar either, unless you have done your “revenue recognition” homework.

On to my “Power Cocktail,” I have a horrible sleep schedule, horrible dreams, and a mind that refuses to shut off. A byproduct of this, is the change from my stomach being referred to as the “Iron Gullet,” to not even having a name because it is so pathetic. Every morning I wake up and my stomach is hungry, and queasy. It sucks. the docs want to push more pills, tell me to expose myself to less stress, etc. It’s not happening.

I realized if I ate a bunch of pistachios and cashews at night, I woke up without the hungry and queasy feeling. It was the fiber. I had tried to cut expenses while I was getting ready to launch my two new companies, and cut out fish oil/omegas and a multi-vitamin. This made a huge difference, in a negative way. Here’s what I do now.

Before Bed: A full serving of Nordic Naturals Complete Omega 3-6-9, 2/3 a serving of OptiMen multi-vitamin by Optimum Nutrition– both taken with water, –and a single serving of Fitness Fiber by Optimum Nutrition in 1/2 of a 32oz G2 low-carb Gatorade.

Upon Waking: 1/2 of a 320z G2 Gatorade with a single serving of Fitness Fiber, 32oz of water, then a can of Monster Recovery. I don’t like coffee, it frankly disgusts me, but I love this new Monster, it has awesome electrolytes and aminos in it.

I also add 1/3 of a serving of fiber to my pre and post-workout shakes, this has made it absorb much better, and not make me queasy, or give me stomach cramps.  The fiber makes you feel satiated, without you knowing it, and is only 6g of carbs per serving, with only 1g not being fiber, and thus counting.

When I say counting, that is because I eat very little– to no –carbs before I go to the gym. On max effort day, I might have some sushi, or pho right before the gym, but these days I am going to hit more than 400lbs, I might add a little on “oly lift” days; even though I am only going up to 245lbs in the clean and press, etc., the movements are just so demanding. Eating a big bowl of oatmeal first thing in the morning effectively shuts your metabolism down, and slows your mind too.

I like to be sharp when trading, and on most days I have no more than ~20g of carbs before I hit the gym. I eat some high glycemic carbs to produce an insulin boost post workout, and then eat a bit of carbs at night, plus beer. The human body was not designed to eat a bunch of grains and oats, we only have one stomach. There are a few applications for carbs, like being a high class MMA fighter, but how many people do that?

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