• Just changing the subject from the markets for a session.
• Someone asked me what my day was like.
• I’m going to write it down for you.

Good morning from my toasty living room in cold Asti!

A few weeks ago, I asked good friend and Rude reader, Beau Jon, if he’d take a few minutes out of his day for a Zoom call.

Beau Jon is the first ever Rude subscriber who wrote to the mailbag way back in May 2021. So, I figured he knew this newsletter - or at least my version of it - better than anyone else.

We talked for about 45 minutes. It was a joy for me to get to know Beau Jon. And it was kind of him to give me some welcome constructive feedback.

He also asked me for a favor, which I’ve neglected to carry out until now. And that favor was, “Can you tell me how you run your day?”

Instead of doing a “look over my shoulder” video, I’ll describe how I do things every day.

None of this will blow you away. In fact, you can add a few chores for me, I’m sure.

But it’s still useful to see how someone runs their show. Even if you pick up one useful thing, it’s worth five minutes of your time.

Here we go.

The Morning Ritual and Constitutional

At about 0730 every day I wake up, take a shower, and get ready to take Micah to school.

It’s my job to walk him the whole two hundred meters. It’s Pam’s job to pick him up.

Once I drop him off at school, I’ll keep walking for a bit.

When it’s warm, I may take a lap around town.

But now that it’s cold, I usually duck into my favorite caffe on our main street.

There, I’ll eat a focaccia with ham and cheese with my cappuccino.

I’ll use the respite to thumb through WSJ.com, Twitter, and LinkedIn for any news.

Then, I’ll head back home.

Market Update

Once I’ve got an idea in my head, I’ll stand at my desk and go to stockcharts.com.

You see many of Stock Charts’ charts throughout the Rude, especially on market-heavy reads and the monthly asset class report.

As a macro guy, I want to get the trends correct rather than the day-to-day market movements.

So, I need my big screen to stretch out the charts.

I also read The Daily Shot, The Chart Report, and Charlie Bilello’s newsletter.

I like to use charts, pictures, and tables to help me draw out the story.

Writing the Rude

The actual writing of the Rude is from 10am to 12pm.

The reason the writing doesn’t take all that long is because of all the thinking I do before I start to write.

And that includes outlining.

Every subhead you see in this article was written either before or after the introduction.

The outline gives me a road map I won’t stray from, unless I realize a section is superfluous.

Some articles are easy to write because of my experience (banking, trading, macro, technical analysis) and some are more difficult (crypto, single stocks, legal and regulatory) because of my lack of real-world experience.

You can’t be experienced in everything, after all.

I need to account for the gaps in my knowledge and make sure I’ve got things right.

Once the Rude is written and I’ve edited it, I message my friend Oscar. I must do this by noon. It’s Oscar’s job to compile the Rude into email and web forms.

Then Oscar sets the email to send at 1 pm my time (7 am your time).

Lunch

I feel relieved that another edition is out the door and sit down with Pam for lunch.

She likes to cook a hot meal for lunch, so that’s usually my big meal for the day.

Dinner is much lighter, thanks to the feast I get around 1 pm every day.

Writing Any More Articles/Courses/Slide Packs

In the afternoon, I turn my attention to anything else I need to write.

Sometimes that’s articles for other newsletters, though most of the time I just edit those.

Sometimes I need to prep for a course I’m teaching.

Sometimes I need to teach in the afternoon and evening.

Just this past Tuesday I taught business writing twice in one day for a 1.5-hour session each.

One group was in London, and one was in New York.

Teaching on Zoom is fantastic if you don’t want to travel. And right now, I don’t.

Micah Comes Home

Pam picks up Micah at 4pm and I have to be Dad again for a bit.

We play and watch TV and I unwind.

However, sometimes that’s short lived.

Wednesday’s Editorial Call and Other Conference Calls

I try never to miss Paradigm’s Wednesday Editorial call.

It’s at 5 pm my time, so my respite is short-lived.

But getting to share time and ideas with Dan Amoss, Byron King, and Matt Insley, among others, is worth it. They’re great company.

These calls refresh, reinvigorate, and rejuvenate a lonely writer. I get many ideas from all my colleagues and it’s one of the high points of the week.

Dinner

Pam makes us a light dinner - and Micah a heavy dinner. We’ll either sit at the kitchen table or the living room table.

Again, I get to decompress a bit.

This is from about 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm.

Tying Up Loose Ends

Then it’s time for Micah’s shower before putting him down to bed.

After 8 pm, I now reclaim some time research some stocks or the markets, have late conference calls, or just relax with Pam.

On Friday nights, this time usually comes with a large bottle of Barbera, Barbaresco, or Barolo.

Wrap Up

There’s no commute and I get to see my family all the time.

It’s a blessing and I’m grateful for it.

But I planned it out for years, to be honest.

And I chased my old publisher, Chris Carroll, until he gave me the job.

Thank heavens he did!

But there’s nothing I’ve done that you can’t do. And if you’re already running your own show at home, I hope I’ve given you something to help you out today.

Have a wonderful day ahead!