TGIT: Luckbox Readers Reveal Election Outcome! 

Trump trades, Harris trades, survey results, swag winners, crypto cash, Coldplay, Cherry Picks, backtesting, best Octoberfest beers and more. First time reading? Join other risk-takers, entrepreneurs, traders, investors, data geeks and alpha types. Sign up for free here.

TGI Thursday! (10/10) As details of casualties and damage from Hurricane Milton come in, our hearts go out to all the families affected and our thanks go out to first responders, disaster relief organizations and private citizen volunteers. We trust our politicians can put Americans before politics and prioritize aid to the people of Florida. 

But this issue of Luckbox is indeed political as we look to the upcoming election and its economic implications. We also share the results of our recent reader survey and reveal your forecast for the outcome of the election—along with how you weigh in on the issues. Spoiler Alert: It is the economy (and you’re not stupid)! 

Also, congratulations to the winners of our survey T-shirt giveaway: P. Steffens (Las Vegas), S. Dao (Atlanta), W. Clemon (Charter Oak, Louisiana), A. Marinas (Houston) and J. Sanchez (Chicago). And thanks to all of you for your comments and suggestions. 

Speaking of which, R. Emrick of Ocala, Florida, asked how he could provide us with occasional comments and criticism on specific stories. That’s what the Editorial Director link that follows is for. We are always interested in what's on your mind! 

Editorial Director

Move over Big Tech, Big Pharma and the military-industrial complex. Cryptocurrency companies now dominate corporate campaign contributions. Crypto cash is flowing freely to both parties, highlighting its immense influence. Meanwhile, high-profile individual donors and corporations, like Netflix, navigate the potential backlash from political sponsorship. Discover how financial power-players seek to influence the upcoming election. Read Full Story

$1 billion—Harris campaign coffers after her three months of fundraising.
$853 million—Trump campaign cash raised in the last nine months.

— The New York Times

Our look back at the Biden and Trump economies compares GDP and the unemployment rate—with a few other metrics factored into the mix. Which presidential term treated American wallets more kindly? Check out our economic scorecard to see what we discovered. Read Full Story

Vice President Harris and former President Trump sound diametrically opposed when they outline their plans for the economy. But what would their respective policy proposals mean for the markets and which sectors would benefit most? We parse the verbiage to analyze the Trump Trade and the Harris Trade.

If you’re an active options trader, you’ll want the Cherry Picks newsletter to land in your inbox every Tuesday. It's our sibling publication, and it's always brimming with actionable insight. This week's issue is devoted to bitcoin, equity index volatility, and Tesla's (TSLA) and Nvidia's (NVDA) skew. When authors Nick Battista and Mike "Dr. Data" Rechenthin are in a generous mood, they toss in a couple of trade ideas. This week, you're in luck!

Lately, Cherry Picks' Nick Battista has been teaching trade school on YouTube. His new series, LifeCycle of a Trade, takes options trades beyond the classroom and brings them into the real world of trading. In this latest segment, he shows how to manage winning trades by walking you through three options positions—a short put spread, an iron condor and a call diagonal spread. Battista breaks down the entry criteria and then demonstrates the live trade management process throughout the duration of the trade. 

Backtesting is essential for traders who want to refine their strategies and understand market dynamics, particularly in specific VIX ranges. And it’s just gotten easier because tastytraders now have access to a new backtesting research tool. It draws upon more than 10 years of price history to show how a specific strategy has performed under differing market conditions. You know what they say about those people who do not learn history. Read Full Story

Luckbox readers are self-directed traders, active investors, risk-takers, side hustlers and entrepreneurs. But, are you good election forecasters? We reveal your prediction for the presidential election and detail where you stand on the candidates and issues. Read Full Story

We Tried 5 Top-Rated Oktoberfest Beers (So You Wouldn't Have To) 🍺

While Oktoberfestbier is brewed exclusively by six Munich breweries—Paulaner, Augustiner, Hofbräu, Löwenbräu, Hacker-Pschorr and Spaten—the festbier style has evolved to include amber Märzens, the traditional Oktoberfest lager brewed in March and stored for the celebration.

A Märzen amber beer is hearty, malty, slightly sweet and moderately strong. In the U.S., an estimated 5,300+ brewers have produced Märzens. Hundreds of publications offer their top takes on the best Octoberfest beers, so we curated a shortlist of the five most frequently mentioned: Ayinger Oktoberfest, Paulaner Brauerei Oktoberfest Bier, Samuel Adams Octoberfest, Schell’s Oktoberfest and Sierra Nevada's Oktoberfest. 

We compared the five in a best-of-the-best taste test and chose the winner: Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. Oktoberfest (6% ABV).

This festbier, an annual collaboration with Bavaria’s Brauerei Gutmann, has a bit of wheat for a creamy mouthfeel and biscuity flavor. Less bitter than its peers, it won us over with pine, citrus, black pepper notes and its taste of toasted caramel and sweet brulee. Prost!

Two New Drops:
One's Hot 🔥 One's Not 🥶

Tucker Zimmerman has remained a bit obscure throughout his 60+ year career despite borrowing from song stylists like Nick Cave, Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits. Or maybe they borrowed from him. Anyway, Zimmerman’s 11th studio album, Dance of Love, comes out Friday. Indie rockers Big Thief serve as his backing band—engaging generations of musicians. But how is the work of an unsung singer-songwriter supposed to stack up against Moon Music, the 10th studio album from meta pop-rockers Coldplay? The Rockhound's two reviews may surprise you.

Fun fact: Moon Music contains 381 "La's.” The folks at Album of the Year counted.

More Cowbell

Hotter-than-expected inflation and jobless claims.

Public perception of Harris and Trump economic policies. 

What Gen Z really thinks about the election. 

JJ Kinahan on the current “rally that nobody loves.”

The most common pickleball injuries and how to avoid them. 

Bookmark this page for daily market news and insights. 

This website takes you to a deep, dark place. 

Live updates on the aftermath of Hurricane Milton. 

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