Scuttlebutt, circle of competence, invest in what you know and other advice is really just another way of saying about paying attention to your surroundings and stick to what you know.

2020. Well, we all know how that year turned out. 

Despite the pandemic, it turned out to be a transformational or transitional period of sorts. 

Transitional, if you happened to belong to the population who ventured to turn one's hobby or interests, into something capable of providing sustenance, or an alternative lifeline, if you will. From baking, to cooking, to floral arrangements; many have managed to get through yet another black swan.  

Transformational, if you, like me, finally mustered enough of..whatever it is one musters, to try something you've always thought that "hey, if I gave it enough time and attention, I could make something out of it" eg making sandwiches - i just found out about sandwich crisps; such a game changer - or investing in the stock market.

It has always been something of a peculiar thing, the stock market. It is a place I understood where great fortunes have been made, great companies be made renown, and more lost; a place where some seem to understand the idiosyncrasies, anticipate the endless ups and downs, and be unaffected by the dreaded periods of stagnancy; an avenue where one could multiply one's fortunes, changing your future, and creating a timeline where your wants are a reality. More than all that, it seemed like The Way to get out of the rat race

I have been interested ever since I got to know about Microsoft, it being the primary way almost everyone used a computer. It's crazy - if you'd invested a 1,000 investment in Microsoft @ IPO, on March 13, 1986, it'd be worth more than $1.6 by 2018. I should have pestered my parents to dump everything they had into Microsoft when I had just learned how to speak. 

So fast forward through phases of kiyosaki & etc readings, some time spent in the beneficial thralls of the tertiary system, and into this pandemic, I took the plunge and dived into the world of investing.

Boy was it not totally not like how jordan belfort pictured it. Could have done with some of that Quaalude haha.