I have returned from a fantastic 10-trip with family and friends in the Galapagos Islands. It was truly incredible. Interacting with completely fearless animals in their natural habitat on daily hikes and snorkel trips. I asked our guide aboard Quasar Expeditions why these animals seemed to have no issues with humans getting so close. He told me that the Galapagos islands are virtually perfect habitats with an abundance of food and an appropriate balance of predatory competition. These factors have created a genetic disposition to not feeling scarcity and, as a result, more secure with humans. If only the financial markets would behave the same.

Upon returning, I noticed that the financial news cycles weighed heavily on fed policy, national debt, and inflation. There have been strong pullbacks followed by small rebounds as more institutions rotate out of high-growth technology stocks and into more value plays, such as the financial and energy sectors.

The early-stage private markets seem more of the same. Crazy valuation expectations and a complete unawareness of how the macro markets are working.

I decided yesterday to sell some of my more hyper-growth names in my ROTH accounts, such as $HUBS, $NVDA, $PALO, and $PAYC. I have held these names for over 2+ years and have had 2-4x returns, and I feel that it would be nice to have some dry powder to pick up some other technology names that might be exciting buys in my suspected upcoming volatility. In addition, I still own some big technology names that I feel are priced more realistically, such as $CRM, $AMZN, and $AAPL.