Great Ones, 

I don’t hate the rain and sunny weather. And I … don’t hate the beach or mountains too.

Is that … Ugly Kid Joe?

Why yes it is. I’m glad you’re still with me after a four-year hiatus. I had some things to work out, some experience to gain. In the meantime, I kinda left the OG Great Ones in the lurch. 

For real. Four years, man! Where have you been? 

It wasn’t easy. Let me tell you, four years at an options trading desk will give you such a crick in the neck!

Thanks, Genie.

But I’ve come out stronger and better prepared to deal with this … market? Can you even call it a market anymore? 

Anywho, we’ll answer more questions in just a minute. 

If you’re familiar with Great Stuff, you’re probably an OG Great One and already know how this goes. 

For all the newcomers, Friday Feedback is all about you. You email me questions ([email protected]), and I answer them to the best of my ability. 

I can’t guarantee I’ll answer every question. I’m still a bare-bones operation here, and there’s only so much space on the page. But I will do my best to get to as many as I can.

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Since Greater Stuff officially launched yesterday, the ol’ inbox is pretty barren. You can fix that by emailing me with your questions here: Email Me!

Instead, I’m going to answer 10 questions about who I am, my experience, and some of my goals so y’all have a better idea of who and what we are here at Greater Stuff. 

Here we go:

Since then, I have provided commentary for InvestorPlace, Forbes, Cabot Wealth Network, The Wall Street Journal, U.S. News & World Reports, and Banyan Hill, to name a few.

I created the original Great Stuff while at Banyan Hill, and, more recently, I hosted Schaeffer’s Monday Morning Playbook – a live pre-market podcast focused on preparing options traders for the week ahead, while providing actionable, and profitable, short-term options trades.

That’s more than two decades of stock market, trading, and investing knowledge – how is that not Greater Stuff?

You can, if you like. Honestly, I didn’t pick that name. The OG Great Ones did. I just ran with it. 

Maybe “Mr. Greater Stuff” or “Mister GS” this time? Is it time for a change? I’ll let y’all decide. 

Yes. Yes, I am. I was born and raised here. My home town had only three paved streets, the rest were gravel. I grew up between two Kentucky towns that both claim Nick, Rosemary, and George Clooney. 

Ha, no. Back in the day, I didn’t even know this was something people did. My first job was pulling plants for a tobacco setter on my uncle’s farm. I’ve worked nearly every stage of the tobacco harvesting process. I’ve baled hay … shudder, never again.

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But I digress…

I’ve even worked on a couple machine shop floors, but clearly, those jobs just weren’t for me. My lower back still complains about it to this day. 

But it did give me an appreciation for hard work and an understanding of the real-world economy and finances – which, surprisingly, far too many financial analysts and commentators fail to take into account. 

Need is the mother of invention, as they say. I needed a writing job, and at that time a wonderful writer named Jocelynn Drake at Schaeffer’s Investment Research recommended me for a position. She’s a good friend and I owe her so much. She now writes gripping and seductive dark fantasy novels. You should check them out, click here!

Anyway, I have always been fascinated with why things work … why things are the way they are … the patterns that create and influence future events. The stock market is full of those patterns, and they have real-life implications. I was hooked at once, and never looked back.

But only if you have a finance degree to understand what in the world they’re talking about. And that’s if you can stay awake while reading it. 

There was a time in the stock market and investing world where this worked. The super-educated and wealthy were the only ones actively investing and trading, and companies like waspy ol’ Smith Barney with their “We make money the old fashioned way. We earn it!” slogan ruled the day. 

The advent of commission-free, real-time, digital trading at places like Robinhood, the arrival of meme stocks, the cryptocurrency explosion … all of this changed the stock market forever. Now, everyday schmucks like you and I are trading, and not all of us have the time, knowledge, or money to figure out what all those “velvet rope” financial publications are talking about.

That’s where Greater Stuff comes in with its music lyrics, random memes, movie quotes, pop culture references. I figured my brain is already full of this stuff, so why not use it to create a more open, friendlier, and more entertaining … if not more readable … place for the rest of us to figure out the market, and suck the marrow out of these manipulative institutions.

Unfortunately, yes. Until Greater Stuff gets fully on its feet, I will be using AI for major Greater Stuff images. The logos, the banners, the backgrounds, main images could all be AI generated for now. 

Once we hit critical mass, however, I will be paying real artists to remake and redesign the Greater Stuff look.

I prefer people over AI, personally, and the more you like, share, comment and talk about Greater Stuff in the real and digital world, the closer I get to ditching AI completely.

My Promise to You: Greater Stuff articles will always be written by a real person. All Greater Stuff memes will be created by a real person. As long as I’m in control, there will be no AI writing or analysis. There will be no AI trading algorithms. AI will not make stock or options picks here. 

At Greater Stuff, we live and die by the creativity of individuals, not machines. 

Well, at least until we can hire a graphic artist or two…

Things come and go, Great Ones. I’ve since moved on to scotch. Specifically, Lagavulin 16-year. It’s oh, so good to sit out back in the fall in the evening with a firepit and a glass of this nectar. Also, the Kentucky bourbon industry is why the state is so far behind on medical cannabis. I have trouble supporting an industry that actively lobbies against the medical needs of veterans, pain management or mental health patients. My two cents, for what it’s worth.

I remember quite a few stock trades in the past for Great Stuff Picks that hit 200% or better. In fact, I believe the Great Stuff Picks portfolio beat the S&P 500 Index (SPX) in 2021 – OG Great Ones, if you have supporting info or info to the contrary, I’d love to know how it went for y’all: Let me know!

As for options trades, I’m pretty sure a few OG Great Ones might remember the free 200%’er I recommended on Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) back in the day. More recently, I helped subscribers to Schaeffer’s Monday Morning Playbook routinely hit 100% gains on options trades, with even a few 500%’ers sprinkled in there. 

But, I think the biggest trade I ever hit was a near 800% gain on an Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) put option in early April 2025. I had seen the stock’s recent weakness, watched it test former support/resistance at $225 and pulled the trigger amid an overly optimistic investor sentiment backdrop. The trade was helped along by a broad-market selloff, which added significantly to the trade’s return. But that’s how the market is. All you can do is hope you’re positioned correctly for the move.

Great Ones, I know you want all the juicy details and answers about how everything went down four years ago. 

But I’m not Timex Social Club. I don’t deal in rumors. 

The answer is pretty simple: business. All businesses, Banyan Hill and Schaeffer’s alike, have to do what they believe is best for their success. Sometimes those decisions are hard, and great things get left on the cutting room floor in the name of returning capital to investors or shoring up the bottom line for hard market periods. 

I know this isn’t the “tell all” you were hoping for, and many of you are likely disappointed that I’m not still raging over it. 

I’ve chosen to let bygones be bygones. And as long as I’m left alone to build Greater Stuff on my own, I’m content to let those sleeping dogs lie.

Still have questions? 

Drop me a line and let me know!

Remember, Greater Stuff doesn’t exist without your help and support!

Like, share, and comment! Help me reach all the OG Great Ones and build this community once again! 

And if you have a stock or investing idea you’d like to see Great Stuff cover, let us know at: [email protected]. 

Looking for more? Check out the Greater Stuff deets here:

Until next time, stay Great!​

​Joseph Hargett

Editor, Greater Stuff

Founder, Greater Stuff Publishing LLC

All content published by Greater Stuff Publishing LLC is for informational and educational purposes only and constitutes impersonal financial commentary. It does not constitute personalized financial, investment, legal, or tax advice. Investing in securities and options trading involves significant risk, including the potential loss of your invested capital. Greater Stuff Publishing LLC is not a registered financial advisor or broker-dealer. All trading and investment decisions are your sole responsibility based on your personal financial situation and risk tolerance. Past performance is not indicative of future results.