I have a secret. I love video games.

One of my favorite games a few years back was a game called Batman Arkham City. It was a childhood dream of mine to BE Batman and fly through Gotham City, fighting crime, helping the police, and chasing the Riddler – and this game allowed me to do exactly that.

I am just wrapping up my first week of hosting my closing bell show on StockCharts TV, The Final Bar (you can catch it on weekdays at 4pm EST). Most of the days this week I have had the opportunity to have a guest on the show. This has given me the opportunity to pick the brain of some really capable market strategists and analysts. The one thing that has struck me the most is that I give them 3-5 minutes to give me their individual take on the market and most of them are coming at me with really long term charts.

When I first started to learn how to fly an airplane I very quickly learned the value of checklists. You don’t just take the plane out to the runway, and fly. There are a hundred odd meticulous steps you must go through individually to ensure that the mechanics of the airplane are fully functioning, and the safety gear is also ready to go.  While a checklist does not minimize the chances of something going wrong, it certainly lessens the probability.

In digging through my cavernous repository of articles in my Pocket queue, I uncovered a piece from Slate that declared The Death of the Telephone Call.  I’ll never forget when a prominent investor once shared the story of dismissing America Online as a viable investment option because, “Why would I send someone an e-mail when I can just pick a phone and call them?!?”

One of my goals for 2019 is to read more long-form, timeless wisdom which will further my quest toward being a more thoughtful investor. 

It’s been two months since I last posted a book list, mainly because I did not do a lot of joy reading when my entire library was still in moving boxes!  The good news is we’ve settled in well to the Pacific Northwest and I’m happy to report that the Dave Keller Library is back open for business.

This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend the TSAA annual conference in San Francisco. TSAA, for those not familiar with it, is a technical analysis organization founded around 1970. One of TSAA’s founding members, the late Hank Pruden, was a professor at Golden Gate University and a remarkable teacher of technical analysis out on the west coast. It was a unique experience to attend the conference since Hank’s passing in 2018, and see the conference is still thriving and watching Hank’s legacy live on.  

A former boss of mine was fascinated by the Japanese art of Kaizen, which centers around the principle of continuous improvement. It teaches us to always be on the lookout for even the smallest of steps we can take in our lives that will be the most meaningful and impactful in the long run.

My family and I recently relocated from Cleveland to Seattle as I prepare to join up with the good people at StockCharts.com.  So far, that has meant 37 hours on I-90 West (which was a fantastic adventure for the Kellers!), unpacking a great many moving boxes, holding endless family meetings on where specific chairs will go in the new house, and many other key issues.

“The road to mediocrity is paved with good intentions.”

One of my goals for 2019 is to read more long-form, timeless wisdom which will further my quest toward being a more thoughtful investor.