The Monthly Mo

I lost my Oura Ring in the ocean.

And honestly, it has made my life so much better.

We are living in a time where we are micro-optimizing every single part of our lives.

Trying to sleep better. Eat better. Look better. Be better. Say the right thing at the right time. Have the perfect routine. Track the perfect workout. Hit the perfect recovery score.

But at some point, I have to ask: are we people, or are we robots waiting for an app to tell us how we are supposed to feel?

“Oh no, I had two glasses of wine last night. My sleep score is terrible. My readiness is cooked. My day is over.”

And honestly, if your entire day is ruined because you had a couple glasses of wine, you’re kind of a pussy.

But that is where I fear we are headed.

We are relying on apps to tell us how we feel instead of actually feeling things ourselves.

We are not living in the moment anymore. We are not present. We are constantly checking, tracking, measuring, comparing, and optimizing.

And the more we try to measure everything, the less we actually experience anything.

The ring was supposed to help me understand my body.

But losing it helped me remember how to listen to it.

There has been a lot of talk recently about how the stock market is criminally overvalued, and that a major correction is imminent. I get the argument. I do not completely agree with it.

The S&P 500 is at an all-time high, but just looking at the number by itself is a little misleading. The dollar has lost a lot of value over the past six years. Everything is more expensive now. Food, homes, labor, businesses, and assets are all priced higher. So it makes sense that the stock market would be priced higher too.

That does not mean the market is cheap. I just do not think you can compare today’s S&P 500 to where it was years ago without accounting for how much the value of the dollar has changed.

The other reason I think the market is valued so high is because earnings are actually growing. A lot of these tech companies are printing money, margins are improving, and investors are willing to pay more for companies they believe will keep growing over the next decade.

There is also still a lot of trust in the United States economy. People can complain about America all they want, but money still flows here. Investors still trust U.S. companies, U.S. markets, and the long-term strength of the American economy more than most other places in the world.

Investments -

Portfolio up 7.31% this month.

I was not too active in trading this month. I do not feel too comfortable buying aggressively when the market is at all-time highs. It feels like a lot of good news is already priced in, including the market expecting the Iran war to cool down.

If the war continues or gets worse, I would not be surprised to see the market dip. For now, I am staying invested, but I am being patient.

May reminded me how much good can happen when you are actually present for your own life.

A new baby in the family. Good memories with good people. Business moving forward. And somewhere in the ocean, an Oura Ring that probably thinks I am dead.

Life is better when you stop checking the score every five minutes.

See you next month. Love you all. :)

Until next time,

Mohammad Kevin El-Ajouz