I wake up every morning looking for opportunities to make money in the stock market.
I go to sleep every night thinking about opportunities I might have missed.
That’s what I do. That’s what I’ve always done. And that’s not changing anytime soon.
But while we’re trying to find the next big trade, there’s something else we should be doing.
We should be getting better at finding those trades in the first place.
I’m a much better investor today than I was 20 years ago.
I’m better informed, more prepared, and have more tools at my disposal than I did 15 years ago, 10 years ago, five years ago, even earlier this year.
Does that mean I’ve figured it all out? Of course not. Not even close.
If anything, the more I learn, the more I realize how much I still don’t know.
But I can tell you one thing with absolute certainty: I’ve never been more excited about the tools available to us than I am right now.
And the reason is pretty simple.
I’m playing with the toys.
A few weeks ago, I wrote about how important it is to play with the toys.
Whether it was Bitcoin in the early days, the internet before everyone had a website, or artificial intelligence today, I’ve always believed there’s a tremendous advantage in actually using new technology instead of just reading about it.
I have plenty of friends who are successful technology entrepreneurs and venture capitalists.
One thing I’ve learned from being around these people is that you don’t really understand what a new technology can do until you start messing around with it yourself.
You can read about swimming all day long. Eventually, you’ve got to jump in the pool.
And, right now, there’s a pretty incredible pool sitting right in front of us.
I Have No Idea What I’m Doing
Apparently, only about 2% of American households are paying for AI.
Two percent!
Now, I don’t know what the other 98% of you are doing, but I have some questions.
What are you waiting for?
I’m not asking that to be a jerk. I’m asking because I genuinely don’t understand.
There aren’t enough hours in the day for me to build all the things I want to build, and I keep meeting people who tell me they can’t think of a single thing they’d want to make.
Really? Nothing?
Here’s what makes this whole thing so ridiculous. I don’t know anything about software development.
I never learned to code. I don’t know how to build a website from scratch.
Until recently, if you asked me to create a computer program, I wouldn’t even know where to start.
I’m Cuban. I grew up in Miami playing baseball. I know a lot about pitching. I know a thing or two about wine. I’m a certified sommelier, and I own a winery in Napa Valley.
After that, I got nothing. Software development? Forget about it.
About 15 years ago, I remember telling people I was thinking about going to school to learn how to code.
They all told me the same thing. “JC, why would you waste your time learning that? Just hire developers to build whatever you want.”
And that’s exactly what I did.
For years, I’ve had teams of software developers building things for me. I tell them what I want, they build it, we make changes, and, eventually, we get something that works.
But there’s always been one problem.
They’re not me.
No matter how well I explain what I’m imagining, there’s something that gets lost between the idea in my head and the finished product.
Now, for the first time in my life, I can just build it myself.
The kids call it “vibe coding.”
Instead of learning a computer language, I explain what I want to an AI assistant in plain English.
It writes the code, tests things, helps fix mistakes, and we keep working on it together.
It’s not magic. Things break. I make mistakes.
Sometimes we spend hours fixing something that was working perfectly fine before I touched it.
But I’m building software!
Me!
And not just little toys, either. I’m building real tools that help me organize information, study markets, and find opportunities.
Things I never would have dreamed of building myself just a year ago.
I still have developers, of course. They’re doing plenty of work.
But now, late at night, when nobody’s looking, with a glass of wine and a little Barry White playing in the background, it’s just me and the code.
What a time to be alive.
This Isn’t About Tomorrow
Someone recently asked me whether AI has me looking at more stock charts than I used to.
The funny thing is, the answer is “yes.” But not for the reason you’d think.
It’s not because AI is suddenly feeding me thousands of brilliant stock ideas.
I’m still doing what I’ve always done. I’m going through charts, studying trends, and looking for places where I think we can make money.
The difference is that I’m spending more time in front of my screens.
While the AI is writing software, testing things, or having conversations with other AI systems, I’m looking at charts.
Instead of taking my laptop to the couch and putting on a podcast, I’m sitting at my desk waiting for my little computer friends to finish their homework.
So I end up looking at more charts. How ridiculous is that?
I know what some of you are thinking. “JC, I’m too old for this stuff.”
Or, “I’m too busy.”
Or, my personal favorite, “I don’t have anything I need to build.”
I have a friend who’s building software to help manage his fantasy basketball team.
I don’t play fantasy sports. I play a real game all day, every day, and that’s enough stress for me.
The last thing I need is to lose sleep because some guy didn’t get enough rebounds on a Tuesday night.
But I love that he’s building it.
That’s the whole point.
It doesn’t have to be a business. It doesn’t have to make you money. It doesn’t even have to be particularly useful to anyone else.
Make something that makes your life easier, helps with a hobby, or solves a problem that’s been annoying you for years.
Just play with the toys.
I realize there’s a funny thing that happens with new technology.
The people who start using it early can’t understand why everybody else is taking so long.
They start acting like anybody who hasn’t figured it out yet is an idiot.
I’m trying very hard not to be that guy.
Because I know how it sounds when I ask what the other 98% of Americans are doing.
I don’t mean it as an insult. I’m genuinely fascinated by how different people’s experiences can be.
When I talk to my technology friends, everybody’s vibe coding. They look at me like I’m telling them I just discovered electricity.
Then I talk to my friends from high school or college, and almost nobody is doing it.
It’s like we’re living on two different planets.
I’ve been writing about markets and sharing my thoughts for a long time. Part of the reason I do it is that I find it therapeutic.
It helps me organize what’s going on in my head. If something I’m learning can help somebody else along the way, even better.
That’s what I’m doing here.
I want to show you more of what I’m building. Some of it is already helping me every day.
But there’s a difference between building tools for myself and making them available to everyone.
Market data comes with licensing agreements, and there are rules about what I can share.
So it’s taking a little longer than I’d like. But we’ll get there.
In the meantime, I want to make something clear.
I’m not suggesting you stop looking for opportunities today because some amazing technology might change the world tomorrow.
I’m looking for trades right now. I’m putting money to work right now. And I’m going to keep doing that.
But while we’re doing all of that, why wouldn’t we also try to get better?
I didn’t understand what was possible with these tools until I started using them.
And I’m pretty sure I still don’t understand most of it.
But I’ve gotten a glimpse of what’s on the other side.
And I’m telling you, as your friend, it’s worth taking a look.
So I’ll say it again: Play with the toys.