Stocks – Putting it on the Line

It’s Cold Outside

A fellow I’ve shot with posted a picture of his practice on Facebook. He’s got a nice indoor range at his home. I was envious. My range is outside and it is cold.

My old range for indoor distances began in a shed where I stood next to a heater. It was cold but not in the wind and it was warmer than outside standing in the shed. My new range at my home in Georgia is entirely outside.

It is a nice range. I can practice out to 90 meters and have a 3D range with 18 animals on it. I’ve also put an outdoor propane heater on the target range. I stand next to it when I shoot. It isn’t all that bad. It isn’t as nice as this friend’s indoor range.

He’s an elite archer and built his house to accommodate a range in the basement. That is pretty awesome. He doesn’t shoot 3D so he doesn’t need a large area for foam animals. He does have a nice outdoor 70-meter range.

The temperature here when I practiced today was 37°F. The average for this day is 60°F. I know this cold won’t last and the mild winters we have here will return. Even so, I got out and shot.

I’d put up new targets so I had to shot them

Yesterday, there was a misty light rain and it wasn’t much warmer. I ended up with 180 arrows shot before I was frozen. I didn’t try to ignite the propane heater in the rain.

Despite the cold and damp weather going outside to practice archery beats staying indoors.

Fairweather Tab Has Arrived

It was a day to calibrate my sight. My initial string was unraveling and my new 60X string was on the bow. The yardages were a bit off. Nothing to do other than recalibrate the sight.

Sighting is dull work. I do have flags at 5-yard increments that were placed using a tape measure. That does save time. The distances are from 20 yards to 75 yards. When I want to shoot at 70 meters there is a tree than exactly marks the spot.

During the morning I worked out to 40 yards. In the afternoon I stopped at 55 yards. At this point I’d shot 120 arrows. My inexpensive Avalon Classic was about worn through and I could no longer feel in my fingertips of my drawing hand. I seemed better to finish tomorrow.

While I was shooting the mail arrived. In it was my Fairweather Tab. Obviously, I was going to shoot more arrows.

The pressure on fingertips is minimized using this Fairweather Tab. The bow string slides away smoothly. The ring verse an elastic pull to tighten the tab is consistent and doesn’t pinch.

And the new tab is wonderful. The only minor issue is that the Kangaroo leather is still a little stiff and was pinching my nocks. Another 60 arrows at 18 meters and the Roo was loosening up.

After 120 arrows and switching to the Fairweather the difference is like night and day compared to the Avalon Classic. Those last 60 arrows were painless.

The Avalon Classic is a fair starter tab. If you shoot a lot you will be upgrading

The Avalon Classic got me started shooting an Olympic recurve. It wasn’t a bad tab for a beginner. The Fairweather tab is a significant upgrade.

But, I suppose in a few days of breaking in this tab I’ll need to start over on the sight calibration.

I Wanted to Go Shopping

My scores in archery have too often reflected the fluctuations in the stock market. President Trump can stop blaming Obama and aim his Tweets at me.

I had a brief spike and my practice was excellent. The stock market spiked the same day. My wife pointed out that it was just a “dead cat bouncing.”

A few days later I am about to buy a pile of cruise line stocks. Seriously, I was thinking bargain prices. Sure, a lot of folks remain investing their money into toilet paper. I was also wanted to take a swipe at Proctor and Gamble. You bet their stock is up. Cruise lines on the other hand are a deal.

The gamble is that the travel company has enough reserve to float this temporary sinking of prices. I was on a web page looking at financial reports and had picked a prize. Then, I got vetoed.

‘No, we need to save our money,” was the order. I pleaded, “In six months our investment could nearly double.”

There have been times when Brenda, my wife, wanted to pour more money into stocks and I held. Today, she held the purchases. Life is a balance. My prior veto worked out well.

What is happening at the moment, investors reeling in good buys, may be another dead cat bounce. I suspect I’ll wish we taken this bounce for a ride. In know because my archery practice was good today.

Range Time

In any sport training needs variety to keep the athlete fresh. Archery is probably the least exciting when it comes to practice of any sport I’ve done. Football was always exciting. Practice typically meant some form of hitting. Same with karate. Cycling, running and swimming can become routine. There are plenty of new trails and roads to keep cycling and running fresh, as does changing intensity and training solo or with a group. Swimming can be mind numbing especially when your goal is some long swim, only.

But, archery is in a class of its own. Archers frequently practice alone often in their backyards. Shoot over 100 arrows a day for years at 20 yards and you’ll understand routine. You’ll also be really good at 20 yards.

Fortunately, I’ve had and still have a range. In fact, I have two, one for 3D and one for dots. Everyday I practice on those ranges. To mix it up I lay out specific practice goals. Believe me that helps.

Archers that live in cities and rely on indoor ranges, public outdoor ranges at parks, and backyard ranges have grit. They have discipline and often a little extra cash for range fees. For those archers that live in the country and have enough property to create our own ranges count your lucky stars.

It Started Off Great

It started off great; it didn’t last.

That felt even better. (Note that is a backstop in place)

Once again, hoping for a personal best, judging from the first 6 arrows, things – like accuracy – began to diminish.

To be fair, the wind, which at the onset of practice had been non-existent, picked up. It picked up enough to blow my back stop over. I finished the practice 13 points below my personal best.

Wind is no friend to archers or cyclists. You can see the back stop is on the ground.

The Stock Market and Archery Scores

Lately, my scores have taken a serious nosedive. Nothing that has caused me excessive worry. It is understandable that my scores, which had been steadily climbing over the past couple of years, would suffer during a prolonged migration home to Georgia with its accompanying lack of practice. Sure, the scores suffered but there is no need to panic.

Lately, my investments have matched my archery scores. A couple of nose-dives but nothing that has caused me excessive worry.

At the moment, the market has a slight dump up, so do my scores. So, from here on I’ll use my archery scores as an indicator of the market and invest accordingly. Seems as good as anything else.