Notebook Digest
What I've Been Thinking & Sharing During Week 13 (2026)
For active investors, this market environment serves as a vital reminder of why we do what we do.
We develop these skills to manage risk when price action turns sour and conditions become uncomfortable. Equally important, we prepare ourselves to capitalize when conditions improve. And they will.
Passive investors should also welcome these markets. When friends who focus on more important pursuits, like teaching, cancer research, care giving, building homes, dentist to veterans—ask for my investment advice, my answer is always the same.
It may surprise you.
Buy a few low cost index funds. Use dollar cost averaging every month with whatever you can afford. When markets correct or crash and fear is widespread, invest more.
Do not try to pick the bottom. Do not try to pick the top. Just keep buying and leave it alone. Do not overthink it. Check the accounts once or twice a year to ensure your plan remains on track.
That is it.
Many will say this sounds overly simplistic or even foolish. I agree. Yet, this is the same advice I have given for over thirty years to anyone willing to listen. I can always tell who followed it.
They are the ones who later enjoy true freedom. They do not worry about inflation or rising costs. They can handle whatever volatility comes their way. By putting their money to work early and often, including during periods of stress and anxiety, they are no longer held captive by the market and its various moods. They took care of their future selves. That is the essence of investing.
On the surface, it might appear that I treat this like a game or that I am having too much fun given the stakes. In some ways, I am. That is how I manage the stress of active investing. I enjoy the challenge. Actually, I love it.
If I did not, I would follow the same passive approach I recommend to others and focus my energy elsewhere. In fact, that is exactly how we manage my wife’s retirement accounts. It has served as a steady benchmark over the years. I am not just preaching this strategy - I live it through hers.
At times, her steady, no-nonsense passive approach has outperformed my active trading. It is a humbling reminder of how difficult this game really is and how trying to outsmart the market can expose your blind spots. Can exploit your weaknesses.
No matter how much you have learned, there is always more to master.
Then there are years like last few that make the effort completely worthwhile. Fortunes are made in those windows, provided we protect capital ferociously during periods like this when the market tries to claw those gains back.
Being an active investor is a lifelong pursuit for me. It will be until the day I die. I love it, and I hope you do too. Through thick and thin, we move forward to find and exploit the next set of opportunities together.
Thank you for reading, my friends. I truly hope you have a wonderful weekend!
In case you missed them, some of the many notes I shared this week - ENJOY!
FRIDAY (MARCH 27, 2026)
THURSDAY(MARCH 26, 2026)
WEDNESDAY (MARCH 25, 2026)
TUESDAY(MARCH 24, 2026)
MONDAY (MARCH 23, 2026)
Remember you can see these anytime, in real-time, as I post them at the Notes!