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The final gate in our method is Manage: what happens after a trigger works. We trim into strength, raise stops behind each new floor, and let the structure of the trend — not our feelings — say when it's over.

Theme finds the tide and Fuel proves the engine — but neither tells you when to act. The third gate in our method is Trigger: waiting for volatility to contract into a coil, defining the pivot, and setting the stop before entry.

A theme tells us where the money is flowing. Fuel tells us which names can keep it flowing. The second gate in our method demands accelerating earnings and sales — and rules out story stocks entirely.

Most investors start with a stock. We start with the tide. The first gate in our method is Theme: finding where institutional money is actually flowing before we look at a single ticker.

Walk into any brokerage office today, and you'll hear the same tired advice echoed from cubicle to cubicle: "Buy more when the stock goes down—you're getting it at a discount!" This conventional wisdom of "averaging down" has become so entrenched in investment culture that questioning it feels almost heretical.

Series I savings bonds can be held up to 30 years. They also don't cause a taxable event until you sell them. Let's see how they can fit into our retirement plans.