Postcards: Things I Think I Thought

A quote anthology starts with the first page. So, it also helps that I kept copious notes on cocktail napkins and old beaten-up notebooks... in a box my wife has wanted to throw away for a decade. ͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­͏   ­ Forwarded this email? [Subscribe here]() for more You are a free subscriber to Postcards from the Florida Republic. To upgrade to paid and receive the daily Republic Risk Letter, [subscribe here](. --------------------------------------------------------------- [Postcards: Things I Think I Thought]( A quote anthology starts with the first page. So, it also helps that I kept copious notes on cocktail napkins and old beaten-up notebooks... in a box my wife has wanted to throw away for a decade. [Garrett {NAME}]( Apr 18   [READ IN APP](   Market Update: Yesterday, oil cratered to $82 per barrel, and our energy reading in the ETF (NRGU) we follow as a signal will either bounce off neutral RSI and MFI readings (to signal the selloff is over) or it’s on its way to oversold. Let’s be patient because ample opportunity is coming to scoop up energy names in the midstream and downstream in what might be the last selloff for the sector until after the summer. The 10-year bond continues to climb. We’re seeing weakness in the small-cap healthcare sector and broader weakness in the large-cap semiconductor field. I will note that energy stocks are finding support, and energy remains positive today. [Upgrade to paid]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Fellow Expat: On my mantle sits a handful of different quote books. They include A Mencken Chrestomathy, Hitch 22 (Christoper Hitchens), No Idea is Final, and The Wit and Wisdom of Mark Twain (I think you get canceled if you own the latter, right?). I felt the need to start my own. I have a few notebooks filled with handwritten scribbles from over the last twenty years that I’ve compiled but never published. So, let’s revisit the old and welcome the new. Welcome to the start of The Republic Anthology. On the Two-Party System - Choosing between the twin party clowns of American politics is like debating whether it's nobler to die by poison or by cracking your head open on a fainting couch. (2003) - Two parties, one system, no suitable choice… the illusion of Democracy. (2004) - America’s two-party system is a perfect machine for limiting thought, promoting distractions, and achieving fiscal ruin. (2008) - American politics goes like this: Republicans have no ideas. Democrats only bad ones. The former can’t articulate their stance on anything, while the latter proposes solutions so preposterous that they’d baffle Einstein. (2009) - Libertarians operate under a radical notion that they might know how to run their lives better than a state that can’t even organize a one-car parade. (2002) On Baseball - The sound of a home run and the crowd’s reaction is a perfect reminder that not all American life has caved to the mindless barking of vote panderers. (2016) - As the 2024 election circus erects its tent, baseball remains the one place where the score tells the truth. Each game offers a new chance for redemption. (2024) On The Zero Carbon Movement - Al Gore’s apocalyptic message turns every human innovation into Biblical sin, one constantly pressing civilization to sacrifice itself at his gilded alter. Funny how his own coffers swell while the oceans fail to do the same. (2015) - Eco-warriors crusade against plastic straws while sipping coffee from disposable cups and yapping on smartphones. “Here ye, here ye, every day is Judgment Day; the apocalypse is just a plastic straw away,” their thumbs dribble. What a wonderful ballet of selective outrage and fleeting self-awareness. (2019) - The environmental cult's self-loathing insists humans must devolve so snakes and weeds may prosper. They couldn’t hate their own species more. (2015) On the Federal Reserve - After 110 years, the Federal Reserve still drives the U.S. economy, guiding 350 million people with the confidence of Clark Griswald’s refusal to request directions to Wally World while the tires fall off the car. (2023) - At what point do our central bankers stop experimenting in financial alchemy and get to the economic stability part of their job description? (2022) - If these central bankers were architects in 2020 instead and messed up a building’s design as badly as they did inflation, they’d still be in prison. (2023) On Cigars and Reading - There may be no more soothing evening ritual than lighting a cigar and opening a dog-eared page of a classic book. It is a quiet rebellion against today’s media age—proof that your soul can remain your own amid rapturous societal narratives and cable’s preordained truths. (2024) - A fine cigar and a leather-bound book are not just simple pleasures but a worthy battery against the latest moral panic. (2007 - adaption of quote in an unpublished novel) On the National Debt - The runaway national debt is a roaring lion paraded daily across the Capitol, yet our political stoops prefer selling tickets to the circus than taming this beast. Congress’ economic prowess extends solely to making taxpayer money and purchasing power evaporate while arguing that we’re the problem. (2020) - Neither party can resist the allocation of more public debt. These leaders are little more than junkies crawling over broken glass toward a gutter’s dim light. Only there, the needle of borrowing shines brightly. (2005) On Politicians - The modern progressive now believes each citizen is likely an anarchist eager to blow up the plans for social engineering or, worse, will fail to vote correctly. (2024) - The greatest magic show in Washington is the vanishing taxpayer dollar. Here, a politician waves a hand, and money appears in his donor’s pocket. The ‘public good’ acts as the disappearing assistant. (2017). On Personal Sovereignty - True sovereignty lies in the mastery of health, stewardship of wealth, and custodianship of self. Everything else is merely a distraction forged by lawyers. (2014) - The sovereign man forever remains an island of sanity and self-reliance, surrounded by a tempest of absurdity and hysteria. (2020) On Political Experts - “His credentials shouted. His expertise whispered.” (2015 - cut from The Man with the Big Red Balloon.) - Degrees adorned his walls, yet his mental hallways had no rug. (2005 - First Draft, Borderline Behavior, still unpublished). On Dogs - Why my dog as President of the Florida Republic? Just because of her inability to speak. She can neither lie nor filibuster. Plus, she has no want for money. (2023) - A dog in charge (of America) might restore dignity to the White House. He can’t be bribed, only distracted by rabbits or a needed break to lick his own butt. (2020) - My dogs offer a loyalty rarely seen among the American political class, and their positions are as transparent as drool. (2021) Feel free to comment below… There are a few hundred more floating around. I’ll likely pull them out and build columns around them. Easier to do these days. Stay positive, Garrett {NAME} Secretary of Finance Disclaimer Nothing in this email should be considered personalized financial advice. While we may answer your general customer questions, we are not licensed under securities laws to guide your investment situation. Do not consider any communication between you and Florida Republic employees as financial advice. Under company rules, editors and writers cannot recommend their positions. The communication in this letter is for information and educational purposes unless otherwise strictly worded as a recommendation. Model portfolios are tracked to showcase a variety of academic, fundamental, and technical tools, and insight is provided to help readers gain knowledge and experience. Readers should not trade if they cannot handle a loss and should not trade more than they can afford to lose. There are large amounts of risk in the equity markets. 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