Avantor is a supplier of chemicals and testing products to laboratories, hospitals, healthcare researchers in the U.S. and globally. The company lost more than 50%5 of its value in the last year alone. However, they are improving and there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel, so I started building a position, buying shares and also selling calls $12 and $13 strikes. Today they announced appointment of a new CEO, and apparently market does not like their choice: the stock is down more than 6%. I plan to hold over the ER that is next week and will be held by the outcoming CEO. I'll make my decision to stay in or get out after the ER.

Although, I'm not conversant in trading futures, I imagine this developing story will ultimately impact the value of Bitcoin. SEC Approves Nasdaq Bitcoin Index Options, Expanding Derivatives

This week, earnings reports from multiple software stocks (including SaaS companies) showed that many companies exceeded revenue expectations, while GAAP EPS displayed a mixed/divergent trend. On November 3, $Palantir (PLTR.US)$ reported earnings that beat market expectations, but the stock still fell notably in after-hours trading due to its elevated valuation. $Hims & Hers Health (HIMS.US)$ exceeded revenue expectations, but its gross margin was below both the prior quarter and the year-ago period. Shifts in the weight-loss drug market landscape led the company to lower prices for generics. In reports released on November 4, $Spotify Technology (SPOT.US)$ significantly beat expectations. Monthly active users (MAU) rose to 713 million, topping the 711 million consensus. By contrast, $Shopify (SHOP.US)$ and $Tempus AI (TEM.US)$ showed profitability pressures. Although Shopify’s AI-driven store traffic has increased sevenfold since the start of the year and GMV rose significantly, gross margin declined. Free trial promotions in subscriptions and a change in the reporting scope for the PayPal-related business helped revenue but weighed on gross margin, leading to continued year-over-year contraction in gross margins for both subscription and merchant solutions this quarter. In addition, total expenses grew about 25.5% year over year this quarter, roughly in line with last quarter’s pace and remaining elevated. Because expense growth outpaced growth in gross profit dollars, this had a dilutive effect on margins.

Most of us accept "hard" as the price of doing something important. Greg McKeown author of Effortless disagrees. And after applying his question to my own investing, so do I. The question: "What would this look like if it were easy?" Here's what happens when I actually run it: ❌ Hard version: Research 20 stocks, monitor daily, react to every earnings call, try to time every entry. ✅ Easy version: Own 6–8 blue chip positions, add monthly, let compounding do the heavy lifting. ❌ Hard version: Agonize over covered call timing using 12 different indicators. ✅ Easy version: Follow @Eric Seto RSI framework. Wait for the signal. Execute. Repeat. ❌ Hard version: Predict macro events before they happen. ✅ Easy version: Own quality. Stay invested. Rebalance once a year. McKeown's core insight: our instinct for the easier path isn't laziness, it's design. The real question is whether your system is simple enough to follow consistently, because a sophisticated strategy you abandon beats nothing. A simple strategy you execute every month builds wealth. Which version are you running... the hard one or the easy one?