Monday -- From The Window Seat

ES Futures:
Completed a small five-wave sequence on a 15-min chart from the early hours of the morning.

News:
Reuters reported that Fitch downgraded Japan, following a similar move by Moody's last year. More bad news for Abenomics which basically must succeed, or else.

FX:
Tremors in JPY surrounding the Fitch downgrade, but nothing terrible. Elsewhere rather quiet. AUD looks best of late.

Treasuries:
Yields up slightly across the curve.

Energy:
NG new low. WTI crude continues to ponder its next move from the 23.6% retracement level.

Metals:
Gold sprung to life this morning, up over 1%, but how it handles 1200 is key.

S&P Outlook:
2125.40 was exceeded. Ticks and A/Ds good enough for more -- possibly to the next area of confluence, a tight one too, at 2149.55-2149.70. Will consider acting on the bear case there, though am thinking that it could simply be wave three of the ending diagonal that may be culminating.

There are two important Bradley turn dates on May 10th that could make things interesting and possibly line up with this wave count.

Anything below 1980.90 though would be a stark warning.

Travelogue:
Had a great visit with my parents who are always fun to be around, and was very grateful be together with them, however briefly. We had a great time

Have never had a more beautiful flight than the one between San Juan and Fort Lauderdale. I am rather tall and usually book an aisle seat for extra room, but one of the first things I did after arriving in Florida was to reserve a window seat for the flight home.

Then got to see the Bahamas from above in all their shimmering glory, everything from deep blue azure to miles of turquoise waters, and could see all the way to the Dominican Republic.

Bimini, on the edge of the Gulf Stream

Crystal clear turquoise waters as far as the eye can see
off Andros, Bahamas

The Exumas, including Staniel Cay,
home of Thunderball Grotto (below the middle flap track fairing pod)

Providenciales, Turks and Caicos

Gucci, Cartier, Chanel, Ferretti . . . You know Palm Beach's Worth Avenue is a world apart when you see a luxury yacht dealership on it. My grand Uncle chose a great place to enjoy life.

Take a stroll, buy a yacht

Farther down, being the gear head that I am, I noticed a vintage Yamaha enduro in a shop window and instantly had to go inside. Ended up making a great discovery: The Island Company.

Their motto is QUIT YOUR JOB, BUY A TICKET, GET A TAN, FALL IN LOVE, NEVER RETURN ®

They even offer complimentary rum drinks and beer. Like an ice cold Kalik? It's yours.

Eye candy for gear heads 

I was intrigued by this small but growing brand and loved the strategy behind it.  Well conceived, well written, well executed by the company's founder & creative director, Spencer Antle.

Here's a description, the next best thing to being there  . . .

The Island Company mantra explained by Spencer Antle

QUIT YOUR JOB

It isn’t exactly about just quitting your job. It’s about getting unstuck. If you’re not happy, what are you waiting for? Quit following the path that is unfulfilled and consider doing something else. The time is Now. For most of us, this is the hardest part of changing your life. Making that first step. You have two choices in life: the path of least resistance, or the path you can’t resist. I say, “Why resist?”. Quit. Go. Now. 

BUY A TICKET

The world is a big place and there’s a million dreams we’ve all had, most of which will go unrealized, unfortunately. Buying a ticket means finding a destination where you think improvement can be made and pointing yourself in that direction. The great thing about travel is when we get somewhere new our lives usually appear different to us when we look back into them from the outside. I’ve always thought that as a society we don’t spend enough time vacationing. We spend 50 weeks a year working for the goal of taking 2 weeks off. There’s an obvious problem with this equation. But even one day off, if lived correctly, can be a major return on a small investment. The ticket doesn’t cost that much in the scope of life.

GET A TAN

It’s not about the tan. It’s about letting yourself go, to really learn to relax and become a “local” in your new environment. I’ve found through extensive island travels that it takes a considerable amount of time to become “unstuck” and become a “local”. Our day-to-day jobs, efforts, trials and tribulations build up a lot of scar tissue and we put up a lot of barriers in dealing with them. This makes seeing the good things hard sometimes. It takes nearly a month to truly decompress. Another month to become yourself again – and by yourself I mean that person who was once full of ideals and dreams that has been slowly silenced by the monotony of life that changes us and puts us off course. And it takes another month just to become indoctrinated in becoming a “local” in whatever new environment you are in. The locals know the roads, the hideaways, the places that make you smile. They are freer than us. So yeah, I guess I’m saying that to really “get a tan”, and not just a “tourist tan”, you need to be somewhere 3 months. We’ve seen them on vacation – those dark-skinned, ex-patriated locals that make us jealous. Their tans are different than ours. Well … so are their minds, too.

FALL IN LOVE

I think this is a testament to becoming yourself again. It doesn’t necessarily mean “finally finding that perfect person that only exists in faraway fantasy locales”, but by returning to the state of mind that allows you to be open to falling in love. In love with where you are, who you are, and in love with the potential of your future. This love is what allows great things to happen again. And it usually isn’t dependent on anyone other than ourselves to achieve.

NEVER RETURN

The best ending to being reborn. Don’t go back to the past, keep moving forward. Life can be as great as we want to make it, so never move backward. The past makes up who we are. No matter how great, or how bad some events have shaped us, it’s what we’re left with today that we have to work with. This is where true growth happens in our life. By moving forward, building upon the past, seeking greatness in the future. Never returning.

© 2004 copyright Spencer Antle

Spent $5 on a patch. Big spender.