RJ Hamster
The Deep Woods: Answer This Revealing Dinner Party Question
Forecasts & StrategiesBullseye Stock TraderTNT TraderAbout Jim
In This Issue:
- Answer This Revealing Dinner Party Question
- ETF Talk: VXUS — Variety is the Spice of Life
- Love, Poverty, War, Gratitude
- San Francisco and Human Nature
Answer This Revealing Dinner Party Question
by Jim Woods
Editor, Forecasts & Strategies, Bullseye Stock Trader, Tactical Trader, Five Star Trader, and TNT Trader
02/11/2026
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Disclosures:This is a paid advertisement for Med-X’s Regulation A+ Offering. Please read the offering circular at invest.medx-rx.com“Life is… (fill in the blank).”
This was a most interesting and quite revealing question posed to participants of a dinner party I once attended.
The question was asked by an extremely learned and wise man who my readers likely know; however, I will refrain from mentioning any names other than my own in this story in order to, as they say, “protect the innocent.”
I love this question, because it goes to the essence of how one feels about his/her place in the universe. And, based on one’s answer, you can tell a lot about that person.
For example, one guest responded to the question “Life is…” with a reference to the classic film, “Forrest Gump.” That response was… “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you are going to get.”
By this answer, I could tell the person was heavily influenced by pop culture. More importantly, I could tell they viewed life as a series of events that happen to them in which they are forced to react. And while it is true that events beyond our control happen to everyone every day, the essence of life is not, in my view, a series of events that we are forced to react to.
In my view, man is a being of self-made soul, and we can choose to react to events and make the world our own — if we have the mettle to do so.
This attitude was reflected in my own response to the probing “Life is…” query, which I will reveal right now: “Life is a dragon we can tame.”
Admittedly, this response came to me via a flash of self-plagiarism, as it bears a close resemblance to a lyric in a song that I wrote titled, “Un-Rearranged,” that says, “The world’s a dragon we can tame.”
But what does this actually mean, and what does it reveal about me?
It means the recognition that life is by nature a struggle and that existence is not a spectator sport. In order to survive, and especially to prevail, one must recognize first that life requires purposeful action directed via the only tool of survival man is equipped with, and that is his reason.
You see, it is only through reason that we can know what the world is made of, how it works, why things happen, how we can affect things and how we can, if you will, tame the dragon.
The dragon is, I think, an apt metaphor for life. Think about what a dragon represents. It represents all of mankind’s most primal fears wrapped up in one mythical creature. A giant serpent that flies, and that also breathes deadly fire!
Indeed, humans have long been inculcated with fear of the serpent, and it’s no surprise that one makes such a dastardly appearance as the deceptive trickster who promotes what God has forbidden in the Book of Genesis.
Then there’s the fire factor, of which humans are deathly afraid, and whose destructive powers must at all times be guarded against. Then, there is the flight element, a factor that humans have long marveled at, but that until very recently in our history could neither comprehend nor harness.
So, life is indeed a dragon — but it’s one we can tame, and we can tame it because we have a tool, i.e., our rational faculty, that allows us to study our primal fears, unpack the reality of those fears, figure out solutions to the problems creating those fears — and then to take the kind of human action needed to conquer those fears.
I think what this says about me is that I am a man directed by rational action, and one who sees the world as a place where the achievement of values is possible despite the struggle.
Or, stated more poetically, I’m a man who knows that life is a dragon we can tame.
Ok, now it’s time for you to weigh in. So, please send me an email with your answer to the question: “Life is…”
I am very eager to discover what you have to say to this probing question, and you can bet that I will be presenting my favorite answers in a future issue of The Deep Woods, so make your response count!
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I will be delivering two talks, and I will also be a participating on a panel titled, “The Debasement Trade: How to Hedge (and Profit) in FX, Metals and More.” I’ll also be hanging out at the Eagle Financial Publications booth, so if you will be in Las Vegas, come introduce yourself, shake my hand and let’s connect. This event is also free, and all you have to do to attend is register here.
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ETF Talk: VXUS — Variety is the Spice of Life
“Diversification is protection against ignorance.”
— Warren Buffet
If you have ever considered dipping your toes into international waters and reaping the rewards of the international stock market, consider a cheap, broad international fund to diversify your portfolio.
Although U.S. stocks are more familiar to the American investor, international stocks can offer higher dividends, broadened opportunities and access to growth and valuation.
The Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund ETF (VXUS) is a cost-effective, diversified fund that offers a broad range of exposure to international stocks and equity. VXUS is designed to spread investments across a variety of currencies, markets and sectors.
The top 10 holdings make up just under 11% of the portfolio’s total assets. That means that every holding is only a small portion of the portfolio. This is good news for those seeking diverse access to international stocks: you can truly dip your toe into this market without putting all your eggs, or both feet, in one basket, so to speak.
The fund has net assets of $606.21 billion and a yield of 3.01%. It has an expense ratio of just 0.05%. VXUS saw some excellent returns this year, up 5.74% over the last month, 8.86% over the past three months and 5.74% year to date.
The top 10 holdings account for 10.50% of the portfolio’s total assets and consist of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (2330.TW), 3%; Tencent Holdings Limited (0700.HK), 1.20%; ASML Holding NV (ASML.AS ), 1.07%; Samsung Electronics Co. LTD (005930.KS), 0.99%; Alibaba Group Holding Limited (9988.HK), 0.83%; Roche Holdings LLC (ROG.SW), 0.73%; AstraZeneca (AZN.L), 0.70%; HSBC Holdings plc (HSBA.L), 0.68%; Novartis AG (NOVN.SW), 0.66% and Nestle S.A. (NESN.SW), 0.63%.
Chart courtesy of StockCharts.com.
For those who are concerned about the impact of geopolitical events on investing, VXUS is an ideal ETF because it offers exposure to a wide range of international sectors and assets. It is an important addition to any portfolio because its diverse range of holdings can protect investors from localized economic downturns.
However, don’t just take my word for it. Investors should always do their due diligence before adding any stock, fund or ETF to their respective portfolios.
As always, I am happy to answer any of your questions about ETFs, so do not hesitate to send me an email. You just may see your question answered in a future ETF Talk.
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In case you missed it…
Love, Poverty, War, Gratitude
This week’s issue of The Deep Woods is special to me. The reason why is that this is the first issue where I get to introduce myself directly to Mark Skousen’s Investor CAFÉ readers. If you’ve come to me through the Investor CAFÉ, I am both humbled and honored for your readership. In fact, my gratitude level is such that I feel impelled to share a little bit more about me; my background, my philosophic perspective and what I’m all about. So, today, let me touch on the essentials, and I will do so through the devices of love, poverty and war.
Now, you may have heard the old adage born of the literary world that says a man’s life is incomplete until he has tasted love, poverty and war.
Beginning with the latter, my closest brush came in January 1991. I was just graduating from the U.S. Army Airborne School at Ft. Benning, Georgia, as the bombs began raining down on Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. As it turned out, that conflict was so short-lived that I missed out on the war leg of the complete life.
As for poverty, well, although I come from a modest middle-class American family, I would hardly say that qualifies as poverty by global standards. And aside from some lean, post-college days working at the financial newspaper Investor’s Business Daily, I would also have to say that poverty has eluded me.
When it comes to love, however, this is where I’ve more than made up for any deficit in the other two complete life components. Love of family, friends, career, music, literature, philosophy, nature, fitness, sport and perhaps most of all, love of learning and educating, are the animating forces at the core of my being.
That love runs particularly deep when talking about the love I have for helping investors better understand — and better profit from — the financial markets. In fact, you might say that this love is a form of war on poverty itself… the poverty of knowledge that keeps investors paralyzed into subpar performance.
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That’s where A.I. becomes your unfair advantage.
Register for the Free A.I. Stocks & Options MasterclassIronically, my love for this pursuit also encompasses my own desire to be a complete man, engaging in a war to help others overcome their own conception of poverty. Now, as part of my work, I often integrate the knowledge I’ve gained through my various passions in life. One such passion is horsemanship.
Here, I take pride in learning about myself from one of the best teachers on earth — the horse. You see, the horse is a herd animal, and one that has evolved over millions of years to thrive in its group social structure. The horse also is an animal that requires leadership, as the highest-ranking mares of the herd are leaders, directing the movement of the group to different grazing areas or water sources.
In “natural horsemanship” of the kind I practice, the horseman is tasked with taking the “lead mare” role. In doing so, the horseman must provide the leadership to his beloved animals that they require to survive and flourish.
This method works well, provided the horseman has the requisite confidence in his knowledge and skills, and provided he has accepted the responsibility of assuming the lead mare role.
Confidence here is perhaps the most important ingredient, but confidence only comes after you’ve done the hard work to acquire the knowledge and skill necessary to assume that confident lead-mare swagger.
Have you ever noticed that truly confident people walk with their heads up?
Think about that for a moment. Have you ever known a confident person that’s always looking down? The answer is almost certainly no, and the reason why is because confident people don’t look down. They look up, and they take on life with the responsibility of a lead mare.
That lead mare role is one that I assume not only with my horses, but also with my approach to investing, and when it comes to my mission of helping subscribers to my multiple newsletter advisory services achieve market-beating returns.
And after nearly three decades in this industry, I have built up the requisite knowledge and skill needed to be the lead mare when it comes to helping investors grow and protect their money. Of course, the best part here is I’m always learning, because knowledge, and money, never sleep.
One thing you’ll always get from me is that aforementioned sense of confidence gained via knowledge and experience. Whether it’s through my writing, my speaking events or a face-to-face meeting, one thing you’ll quickly notice is that I’m the type of lead mare that never looks down.
So, if you want to run alongside me with the confidence of a lead mare, then I invite you to read The Deep Woods each Wednesday. I also invite you to check out all of my newsletter advisory services. And the best part is that you can do so right here, right now, by checking out the links below:
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San Francisco and Human Nature
Down in Hayes Valley, there’s a lot of good restaurants
Deep in the Tenderloin you can have anything you want
Over in the Mission it’s always a sunny day
It’s a real good baseball town but my team is across the bay
–Brett Dennen, “San Francisco”
Singer/songwriter Brett Dennen’s melodically moving “San Francisco” paints a lyrical picture of one of my very favorite cities in the world. Sadly, “The City” isn’t what it was when I used to spend summers there in the late-1980s, and that has a lot to do with some really bad politics. But politics aside, the song lyrics I sampled here for this week’s quote teach us something very interesting about human nature. You see, we always tend to want what we don’t have, even if what we have is superabundance.
Referring to San Francisco’s various neighborhoods, Dennen notes that Hayes Valley and the Tenderloin is where the great food can be found. The Mission district is always bright and bouncy, and the San Francisco Giants are a great and storied franchise. Yet, despite all that, Dennen’s team is the one across the bay in Oakland. Yes, we tend to want what we can’t have. But if you want true happiness in life, it’s also wise to recognize what you do have, and want that — even if your team is across the bay and headed to Las Vegas.
Wisdom about money, investing and life can be found anywhere. If you have a good quote that you’d like me to share with your fellow readers, send it to me, along with any comments, questions and suggestions you have about my newsletters, seminars or anything else. Click here to ask Jim.In the name of the best within us,
Jim Woods
Editor, Investing Edge, Bullseye Stock Trader, and Crypto & Commodities Trader
About Jim Woods:
Jim Woods has more than 25 years experience in the markets, as a stock broker, hedge fund money manager, author, speaker and independent analyst. Today Jim serves as editor and investment director of the long-running newsletters Forecasts & Strategies, Bullseye Stock Trader, TNT Trader, Five Star Trader, and Tactical Trader, and a Live Coaching service offered exclusively to his readers.
His articles have appeared on many leading financial websites, including StockInvestor.com, InvestorPlace.com, Main Street Investor, MarketWatch, Street Authority, and many others.
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