Theodore Hicks II, CFP, CKA, CMT

@ErinforNC Very thankful for the research from the @JohnLockeNC pointing out how egregious the tax increases have been for at least 9 of the 10 most populated counties. And grateful that #ncleg is trying to reign in the problem.

Time for the state to step-in and bring control to out-of-control property tax increases. Seniors are getting pushed out of their homes. The American Dream has become unattainable for first-time homebuyers. Renters are feeling the pain of rising rents. Small businesses are struggling to stay open due to unpredictable and unaffordable property tax hikes. It’s time for reform. Levy limits that incorporate inflation and population growth place needed guardrails on property tax growth, and are a necessary first step to bring relief, predictability and accountability to property taxes. #ncpol

@MarkCavaliero @eurofounder Plus free security from the USofA.

@eurofounder Hope he enjoys that diversity he values so much because he’ll soon find out diversity doesn’t value him.

My cousin Dietrich is one of the best paid engineers in Germany He makes €41,000 a year before tax Last week he got an offer from a big tech company in the US that would net him $350,000 "Are you going to take it?" I asked him "It's a good offer, but I would actually earn less than now" He is right. In Europe, he makes €41,000 and gets: - Free healthcare - Strong privacy protections - Diversity - Pension benefits If you count this in, it's much more than $350,000 European salaries are the highest in the world if you adjust for quality of life

How much is too much? An analysis of property tax revenue growth in the North Carolina's most populous counties johnlocke.org/how-much-is-to… via @JohnLockeNC #ncpol #NCGA

Affordability, eh? That’s really simple. The Federal Government spends 24% of GDP. State and Local Governments spend 20% of GDP. Regulations cost us 7% of GDP to comply with. Add it all up and that’s 51% of GDP 51% OF EVERYTHING WE PRODUCE is taken from of us by government taxation, borrowing or regulation. NO WONDER THINGS AREN’T AFFORDABLE. When we take home less than half of what we make, no wonder things are not affordable. What we can’t afford is government. Please government stay away…you are the problem…you have no solutions. The only solution that will work is for you to spend and regulate less.

@PeterLBrandt There is nothing new under the sun.

The person who bought Silver at 100 believing it will go to 200 is now saying they will double up at 55 but they will puke out of everything at 60 Mark my words It happens every time The psychology of trading never changes

This is incredibly embarrassing. "This is not where I thought we'd get stuck."

@AlexTGOAT @the_chart_life @HadleyHeath LOL. I do a lot of the dishes as it is. Joking aside, I do try to help out a lot.

@t2hicks @the_chart_life @HadleyHeath Would you really trade every other week for dishes that need washing every day?

There is no secret to marriage equality. But in my experience, one of the secrets to marriage happiness is to stop worrying so much about marriage equality.

@the_chart_life @HadleyHeath Come on man ... I was really hoping my better three-quarters was gonna finally start pitching in and cut the grass for me every other week. 🤣

I don’t think there is a single thing my wife and I actually split 50/50. There are duties that we each complete every day (school drop off, making breakfast/dinner, baths, etc) 100% on our own. And at no point does either of us claim that one did “more than the other” that day. You just…do it. Why is it so weird that men mow the lawn and women clean the dishes? These are gender-specific activities passed down for millennia. Not everything has to be a shared duty for life/marriage/parenting to be “equal”.

Average stock in the S&P 500 is 14% off its respective 52-week high. The Top 10 stocks in the S&P 500 are off their respective 52-week high by 12.7%. And yet the S&P 500 index itself sits less than 1.50% below it's 52-week high. Truly a mathematical masterpiece. Bravo.

@the_chart_life Especially when the kid has the iPad's volume on high and you can't even hear your wife's conversation. Good grief.

I am a “kids are kids, parent how you must” guy. But. BUT! There is one non-starter for me on the topic for which you should absolutely be ridiculed. And that is: Allowing your kid to have an iPad at a restaurant. You lazy, smooth-brained POS. Take the freakin’ screen away.

Surviving the short term is how you earn the right to win long term. Ted Hicks @t2hicks author of Evidence-Based Investing joins me on the podcast to unpack process, discipline, and why diversification can fail when you need it most. youtube.com/watch?v=7n626U…

@RoyCooperNC If you cared about local businesses, you wouldn't have kept them locked down for far longer than they should have. Your actions were those of a tyrant, and our state suffered because of it.

@atsohom @AAIISentiment Thank you sir. Glad you found value in the talk.

@t2hicks @AAIISentiment congrats man. loved how you spoke at the aai sentiment chapter.

This past Saturday, I had the opportunity to speak at the local @AAIISentiment RTP chapter. I talked about my book Evidence-Based Investing and why one of our key convictions is the sub-title of the book: To Invest Well Over a Long-Term, Sometimes You Have to First Survive the Short-Term. Great group. Very smart crowd. Since they asked me to return next year, I reckon that means they liked my presentation.

@MarkCavaliero @ForwardCarolina @Franklin_Graham Could we apply Matthew 11:12 here as well?

Proverbs 6:16-19: "There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers." Zechariah 8:17: "Do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath, for all these things I hate, declares the Lord." Exodus 15:3: "The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is his name." Isaiah 42:13: "The Lord goes out like a mighty man, like a man of war he stirs up his fury; he cries out, he shouts aloud, he shows himself mighty against his foes."

This is a disgusting betrayal of everything your father stood for, @Franklin_Graham. For shame.

@donaldbryson Well said.

I keep seeing the term “Heritage American,” and I find it deeply odd. My family history in America runs long: an ancestor granted land in Virginia by the King of England for service in the English Civil War; another held as a POW in Andersonville; several who served in World War II. Those stories matter—but they are their accomplishments, not mine. John Adams said we are “a nation of laws, not of men.” That was not a throwaway line. America rejected bloodline, tribe, and inherited status as the basis of belonging. What binds us is allegiance to principles: the rule of law, equal justice, constitutional limits, and self-government. If I do not seek to conserve the ideals that made America, then my ancestry gives me no claim at all. And if someone newly arrived embraces those ideals while I abandon them, they are more American than I am. Americanism is not something you inherit. It is something you uphold—daily, deliberately, and at cost.

I nearly missed my flight this morning after the TSA made me wait 15 minutes for a pat-down because I’m pregnant and didn’t feel like getting radiation exposure from their body scanner. The agents were passive-aggressive, rude, and tried to pressure me and another pregnant woman into just walking through the scanner because it’s “safe.” After finally getting the absurdly invasive pat-down, I barely made my flight. All this for an unconstitutional agency that isn’t even good at its job. Perhaps things would have gone more smoothly if I’d handed over my biometric data to a random private company (CLEAR). Then I could enjoy the special privilege of waiting in a shorter line to be treated like a terrorist in my own country. Is this freedom? Travel, brought to you by George Orwell—and the privilege of convenience based solely on your willingness to surrender biometric data and submit to radiation exposure? The “golden age of transportation” cannot begin until the TSA is gone.

I live in Cary ... but completely agree with you @ErinforNC As an aside, if you're familiar with Brian Lewis' @NewFrameInc "Do Politics Better" podcast, he & Skye always ask their "magic wand" question. My answer might be "Every law at every level would have an automatic sunset provision. If you can't justify it ~10 or 15 years in the future, it should be automatically repealed."

In addition, Cary receives 5% of the total occupancy tax collected in Wake County every single year, due to a 30 year old agreement with the county that shouldn’t exist anymore. That’s millions of dollars in a direct payment from the county every year to just Cary with zero reporting requirements or accountability metrics required of them. Meanwhile the other 10 towns in Wake have to apply to receive even a small grant from this same hospitality tax pot which comes with slew of rules and requirements that can make it hard for a Town to qualify. But Cary? No, they just get millions in direct payments, no questions asked. Time for accountability in Cary, and for the County to bring fairness to how the hospitality tax is handled in Wake. #ncpol

Amen @PeterLBrandt ... this is literally page 3 from my book, Evidence-Based Investing [As an aside, if you've ever heard someone use the term "Evidence-Based Investing" there's a STRONG chase they won't like my book. I had the title for my book in mind LONG before I realized there was a whole sub-culture in the industry that uses the term to preach just about exactly the opposite of what I'm preaching.]

Few traders have the deep understanding of trading as primarily a math problem dealing with long-term outcomes covering many trading events. Yumi is one of the few that "gets it" If I were to only follow a few traders on X, Yumi would be on the list

The @CMTAssociation must be desperate ... 🤣 Joking aside, I'm honored. Recently, I was asked to be a presenter. I've attended the CMT Winter Retreat for years. So, I was planning on going anyway. And since it was just in the TEENS in NC, Traveling to Florida in January is very welcome. If you are in the industry, especially on the technical analysis side ... Take a look at the list of speakers. That's one heckuva line-up. Not sure I belong in such an esteemed group. Humbled by the invitation. Thanks Tyler Wood, CMT. I hope to see you in Tampa in January. cmtassociation.org/event/midwinte…