Last week, we were looking forward to some OTC trading. However, it was a busy week with non-office stuff, and very little research was done. This week is going to be much of the same. So with that in mind, let’s just keep it light, keep it safe, and keep it risk-managed.

Oh, and Fidelity also trades OTC without commission. Woot!

1. SWISF - $0.07/share, OTCQX (There’s OTCQX, OTCQB, and Pink Sheets. QX is the top tier, representing the least risk.)
   This is Sekur’s ticker symbol, the Swiss VPN, which is…based in Canada? Interesting. This would be sketchy business, except for the fact that it’s a VPN. For those that don’t know about VPNs, just watch any YouTube video that can’t get sponsored by woke companies. You’re bound to hear about SurfShark, Nord, or Sekur.
   
   The price is starting to move upward, so it’s time to buy more shares. We bought in originally at $0.30, for context.
   

2. RIOT - $5.31/share, options trade weekly. BitCoin, and in turn RIOT, only stand to gain from Binance once again being involved in monkey business that cost many investors their entire savings. People actually believed that the Chinese-owned, US-based Binance was somehow different from the Chinese-owned, China-based Binance.
   
   It’s hardly a surprise, many people are convinced that the Chinese-owned, US-based TikTok is somehow different from the Chinese-owned, China-based TikTok. (Actually, it is. In China, they don’t allow twerking videos and woke nonsense.)
   
   Ethereum we’re also shying away from. Proof-of-work is what gives cryptocurrency its actual value. Proof-of-stake just produces coins that are pegged to BTC and/or the USD. Ethereum is a bit of a different beast than other Alt Coins, but human nature is unchanging. We suspect that Vitalik has chosen the path of greed.
   
   As far as ETH goes, we’re not going to liquidate our holdings any time soon, but we’ll be sticking strictly to BTC for new acquisitions. And DOGE, obviously. (We were hoarding DOGE before Elon Musk knew that cryptocurrency existed).
   

3. ET - $12.22, weekly options, dividends yielding ~8% annually paid quarterly. Our quiet prayers for a drawdown to $10.50-$11 is almost definitely not happening at this point. Time to just accept that $12 is the new bottom.
   

4. ECTM - $2.55 , OTC Pink Sheet energy trust paying quarterly dividends estimated at 25% annually, ex-div 11/18. We got the bulk of our shares at a massive, massive, discount, and will be very close to ROI this quarter.
   
   Our good fortune notwithstanding (about time the wind blew in our favor), this is still a solid purchase. Since these are just units of a Trust, the actual risk of pink sheet shares is very well mitigated. The TLDR here is that they don’t do anything themselves, they just invest in oil and natural gas.
   

   Last we checked, Big Oil still ruled the world. Even if/when we see a massive proliferation of nuclear energy, petroleum and LNG are going to remain a staple product worldwide.
   

5. TEI - $4.84, ex-div 11/16. Annualized 13.94% return. This Templeton Fund covers Emerging Markets. While we don’t have any particularly sound reason for being bullish on emerging markets at the moment, we’re generally bullish on Templeton Funds.
   
   They’re probably just as evil as Black Rock and Vanguard, and might even be a subsidiary thereof. We don’t know, we don’t care. What we do know is that we can rely on a steady income with virtually no risk to our initial investment. (Plus, since “Black Rock” isn’t mentioned in the company profile, we can keep telling ourselves that we’re investing in non-evil global corporations).