Maria’s Note: Maria Bonaventura here, Rogue Economics senior managing editor. Today’s guest essay comes from master options trader Jeff Clark.
Jeff has made millions trading the markets. He made enough as a money manager to walk away at age 42. And he has spent the years since then sharing what he knows with everyday people.
And tomorrow night at 8 p.m. ET, he’s unveiling a new strategy called “The Breaking Point.” It’s proven to generate quick gains like 12x… 39x… and even 48x – all in less than 37 days. You can sign up for all the details here.
Then read on below to learn about a pivotal moment in Jeff’s childhood that informs everything he does to this day…
I only have one memory of my grandfather.
He was a poor Kansas farmer.
While I was born in a hospital just three miles down the dirt road from his house and spent the first two weeks of my life in a homemade bassinet in his kitchen, I didn’t meet him until I was seven years old.
It was a hot August night – just before sunset. We were sitting on Grandpa’s front porch. He was teaching me how to play gin rummy.
And, I kept getting distracted by the lightning bugs that were flickering off and on in the bushes just in front of the house.
“What do you want to do when you grow up?” Grandpa asked me.
“I want to be rich,” I said. “I want to have a big car and a big house, and a pool and a horse and…”
I forget the rest… It was a big list. But, I remember my grandfather just sitting there patiently, listening to me as I rattled off all the things a seven-year-old boy could ever possibly want or desire for the rest of his life.
Grandpa smiled. “Those are all good things,” he said, “and I’ll bet you’ll have everything. But…”
Then he went on to tell me stories about what it was like trying to raise a family during the depths of the Great Depression (my father was the youngest of seven children).
I don’t remember the details of the stories very well. But I do remember the intensity on Grandpa’s face as he talked about the tough times he and Grandma went through.
“No matter how much money you have,” Grandpa said, “you can’t feed your family if there’s no food to buy.”
“Go ahead and get rich,” he continued. “But before you do that, learn how to grow a tomato.”
Grandpa’s Message Lives On
His advice hit home the other day as I noticed all the empty shelves at the local grocery store. That’s not something my generation has ever experienced – at least, not to a large degree.
We trade our stocks, flip our houses, post content all over the internet, and do any number of things to earn that weekly paycheck and increase the cash in our savings accounts.
We’ve always trusted that somehow, someway, all of the things we need to survive will be available at the time we need them – and we can just exchange some of our cash in order to meet whatever needs we have.
But that may not be true anymore.
Many folks’ savings accounts are smaller than they were before, thanks to a number of factors…
Prices are up on everything from gas to groceries. Because of global events, supply chains are still suffering from shortages.
Stocks are officially in a bear market. Inflation is causing the value of your dollars to go down.
Maybe this is a temporary hiccup. Maybe everything will be back to normal in a few months.
But maybe that’s what folks thought in 1929, too. I don’t know. I wasn’t there.
However, I remember my grandfather’s face as he told me his stories. I remember how he went from being playful and light-hearted to being intensely serious. And, his message lives deeply engraved in my brain.
Passing the Advice to the Next Generation
My grandfather died penniless. But his family never went hungry.
My father kept a small garden in the backyard of the house I grew up in. Mom would complain that he spent so much time in the garden when he could just buy all the vegetables he needed at the local store.
Dad would ignore her, politely. And, he’d wink at me as I took the hoe and tilled the soil where we’d plant his garden every spring.
My dad had a good job. He worked hard. He could easily afford to just buy whatever food we needed at the grocery store.
But he insisted on planting his garden every spring. He certainly could have spent his afternoons, evenings, and weekends relaxing inside the house, on the couch, or in front of the television. But he took far more enjoyment in hanging out in his garden.
He took a lot of pride in knowing he could grow a tomato if he had to.
Advice for Today’s Investor
I eventually achieved all the big dreams I told my grandfather. It took 42 years for me to retire… that’s a lot earlier than most. Now I can spend more time with my family in our beautiful home in California, or take them on vacations in Europe…
It’s largely thanks to a simple strategy I’ve used throughout my career, even in down markets like 2008. Essentially, trading what I call “penny options.”
These are much cheaper than regular options, costing just a fraction of the price.
So, it doesn’t take much to get started. Yet, the potential gains can be explosive.
For example, gains like 815% in 13 days… 900% in 31 days… even 941% in just 11 days.
Just like growing a garden starts off small, with seeds and dirt, with time you’ll have a collection of ripe fruits and vegetables.
Treat options the same way, with each trade potentially bringing you that much closer to retirement… college tuition for the kids… or paying off the mortgage.
If you want to learn more about these penny options, I’m hosting a special presentation on July 13 at 8 p.m. ET.
I want to share what I’ve learned during my 40-year career to help you take care of your family. It’s entirely free, and you can sign up right here.
Best regards and good trading,
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Jeff Clark
Editor, Market Minute