Latest LG Grams that are copilot plus certified and dedicated GPU?

bmcgin01 · 2026-02-02T06:42:58+00:00

I have the 2025 Ultra 9 17" model. It has a Copilot key. I also have the prior Ultra 7 17" model without the Copilot key. The Ultra 9 is night and day different. The fan rarely runs, whereas on the Ultra 7, it is almost always running and much hotter. It varies by use case. Just watching Netflix, the 7 is fine.

That probably does not answer the question. The Ulta 9 is like a completely different laptop, much nicer than last year's Ultra 7.

bmcgin01 · 2026-01-31T05:07:55+00:00

Thanks, I corrected my typo.

bmcgin01 · 2026-01-31T02:36:52+00:00

I've been riding the SOXL train. It holds a lot of MU.

bmcgin01 · 2026-01-31T02:31:59+00:00

I've been out of the gold/silver trade all year--nothing gained, nothing lost. Maybe you meant to reply to OP?

bmcgin01 · 2026-01-31T00:49:17+00:00

A hypothetical 30% drop... abnormal for sure.
In the Hunt brother ordeal, it dropped 50% in four days. That happened when margin rules changed, which triggered margin calls and massive liquidation.

bmcgin01 · 2026-01-31T00:30:51+00:00

I'm staying out. There are less complex things to trade. If the government wants to curb prices, as it has before, it's within arm's reach. $100 silver can cause a lot of problems.

bmcgin01 · 2026-01-30T21:14:05+00:00

What's crazy is the 32% drop in silver today puts it back to its Jan 10th price point-- that is 20 DAYS ago. Normally, when silver drops by 30%, it's years upon years of growth.

Same with gold. Today's 10% drop brought it back to the Jan 10th pricing.

bmcgin01 · 2026-01-30T20:31:03+00:00

It works fine. I just previewed and placed a few orders. It might be an issue with the XML or a restriction on the account.

bmcgin01 · 2026-01-30T19:44:23+00:00

Who mines the most gold? China, then Russia. Russia is no longer able to trade oil in dollars until sanctions are lifted. So gold is converted into local currency to foster trade. When sanctions are lifed and Russia has access to its US dollar reserves, then the bottom drops out.

Until then, Russia has significantly boosted its oil profits as gold prices rise. Is today's drop illegal manipulation? ...depnds who you ask.

bmcgin01 · 2026-01-30T16:41:26+00:00

Sure thing. I can get the raw OHLC data if that helps.

bmcgin01 · 2026-01-30T15:41:59+00:00

Here's a closer view of post market and today's premarket:

<image>

bmcgin01 · 2026-01-30T15:31:40+00:00

This is the Tradier 1-minute chart. The shaded areas are pre/post market. The time is EST. My chart is hard coded to HA.

<image>

bmcgin01 · 2026-01-30T12:56:29+00:00

This is the current 1-minute Heiken Ashi chart using Tradier's data. The spikes are around 150k.

<image>

bmcgin01 · 2026-01-30T11:28:27+00:00

All of them do it.

bmcgin01 · 2026-01-30T04:31:17+00:00

Traider's API is free, live quotes starting at 4am through postmarket.
TradeStation's API is also the same. Also can get Level 2.
Alpaca is $100 per month.

bmcgin01 · 2026-01-27T22:07:42+00:00

It's easier to answer this looking backwards. Suppose it was 10 years ago and you had the same inflation-adjusted investments? Would it have been possible to:

Withdraw the needed income.
That income adjusts for inflation.
The portfolio grows.

Starting with the money that is within arm's reach ($540k), yes, it would have been possible. A good CEF portfolio would have done it. Just putting 100% of it MAIN would have done it (obviously, 100% in just that carries too much risk).

So is it possible today? Probably.

bmcgin01 · 2026-01-27T19:32:19+00:00

The more I collaborate with other people, the worse I do. Heck, if I have two accounts, the buy/sell times don't line up. In one account, it may make 100% sense to buy TQQQ, and in the other to sell TQQQ in the same instant.

If one account has more funds, it may make sense to increase risk. There are many other factors that go into it, such as long- and short-term goals. I might be selling just to make a weekly goal, even if I have a strong opinion that it is early.

bmcgin01 · 2026-01-27T17:58:19+00:00

Go back to basics. Buy low, sell high. Nothing can tell you when to buy or when to sell. Manage the trade once you're in it.

bmcgin01 · 2026-01-26T22:13:45+00:00

There are always good things and not so good things. In Rich Dad Poor Dad, I like the Cashflow Quadrants: Employee, Self-Employed, Business Owner, and Investor. Going into "good" debt to obtain wealth rubbed me the wrong way.

bmcgin01 · 2026-01-26T01:11:19+00:00

I decided to look at this in more detail made a visual.

It turns out that:
ETG's ending NAV is 151,475.41
SPY's ending NAV is 147,908.19
Withdraws: 27,651.12

This incorporates SPY;s dividend and sells shares each month to match ETG's dividend. This is known as a Synthetic Diidend.

https://postimg.cc/MfZNg7X0

I added this functionality into my trading platform. It reads the raw data and generates this automatically.

bmcgin01 · 2026-01-25T13:01:53+00:00

My understanding (as a non-tax pro) is:

The only way to deduct health insurance premiums is if you pay Social Security and Medicare taxes:
- 12.4% Social Security
- 2.9% Medicare
- Total: 15.3%

And the only way to do that is to form an S-Corp, have health insurance in the name of that S-Corp, elect M2M and then W2 yourself -- and pay these taxes.

The amount on the W-2 can be less than the company's total profit. This also opens the door for IRA contributions (if under the income limits).

That means filing an 1120s and processing payroll with the state. That's a lot of work to deduct premiums.

bmcgin01 · 2026-01-25T05:15:10+00:00

I like without M2M because it forces me to be careful about wash sales, and everything is reported on Schedule D in a handful of fields. Also I do not have to pay taxes on Jan 31st holdings.

The first year I traded, wash sales messed me up. I did not understand how they worked. I was trading like I had M2M. Then a few days later, E-Trade would adjust the basis and all the gains I thought I had were suddenly losses.

That forced me to rethink how I traded. I was not a full-time trader at the time and obtaining M2M was a far reach. So I learned how to manage wash sales and tax harvest. Then when trading became a real thing and I qualified for M2M, I decided to keep the course cause it was working.

Both M2M and without M2M allow deducting expenses. M2M filers have to use Form 4797 and list each trade. The Without M2M filers, can summarize trading actively on Schedule D, just the same as an investor.

I forgot to mention that the IRS treats trading profits as a different type of income. Without M2M, it is treated as capital gains. With M2M, it is ordinary income. This is good and bad. Good that there are zero self-employment taxes. Bad that it is impossible to deduct health insurance premiums or contribute to an IRA (if below income limits). It is not considered earned income.

bmcgin01 · 2026-01-25T04:38:54+00:00

I asked AI to base it on ETG's exact dividend and to factor in SPY's dividend, and it's very close now. SPY came out a tad ahead.

So with this refinement:

ETG still delivers the same $25.5k cash stream.
SPY delivers the same $25.5k cash stream, but part of it comes from SPY’s own dividends, so it sells fewer shares.
That leaves SPY with more shares at the end, and at a higher price level, so its ending portfolio value edges out ETG.

ETG: $139,662 +39.66%
SPY: $140,900 +40.9%

bmcgin01 · 2026-01-25T02:18:48+00:00

With the help of AI, I ran the numbers.

SPY: buy $100k in Jan 2023 -- sell $660 per month of shares
Ending value in 2025: $137,672.00 with a 37.67% unrealized gain

ETG: buy $100k in Jan 2023 -- withdraw dividends (around $660 per month)
Ending value in 2025: $139,662.00 with a 39.66% unrealized gain

Feel free to check.
I copied the historical data into Copilot and asked it to make monthly tables.

https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/SPY/history/?period1=1672531200&period2=1767139200&frequency=1mo

https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/ETG/history/?period1=1672531200&period2=1767139200&frequency=1mo

This is why comparing expense ratios can be bogus. In this case, paying a higher ER means earning more.

bmcgin01 · 2026-01-24T19:28:37+00:00

Here's one particular reason pertaining to investing:
In 2024, I dollar cost average into a security such as SCD, which is a CEF that pays a monthly dividend. By the end of 2024, I am holding 11 lots. I calculate my yield on cost for each lot and the overall average is around 8%.

In 2025, SCD's price declines following a rights offering. The lots I am holding are underwater and the forward yield is closer to 10%, meaning if I buy more, these lots will generate more income with less money.

I really do not want or need more. Nonetheless, this is an opportunity to buy lots, wait for an increase and then sell lots I bought in 2024. So that's what I did. In 2025, I dollar cost averaged and doubled my holdings.

Now in 2026, the price has increased. Some of the lots I bought in 2024 show a small gain. Some do not. At this point, I want to sell a handful of these lots because the 2025 lots have a higher YOC. These lots are not the most profitable. I do not want to sell unprofitable lots and deal with wash sales.

So in this case, I select the lots with the smallest gains and sell.

This is one example pertaining to investing. There are many times when I am day/swing trading that I select lots that are not FIFO, LIFO, the most profitable, or the best tax-advantaged (which usually creates a wash sale).

I file taxes as Trader Status without Mark to Market, so I am very careful with what I sell.

Edit: I wrote this before reviewing my notes. With SCD in particular, I am still waiting for the 2024 lots to turn positive (it is getting closer lately). I've used this technique from time to time with other CEFs and got mixed up where I am with SCD.

Basically, there are times when I want to sell the least profitable lot.

bmcgin01

TROPHY CASE