James Chen
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Articles by James Chen
Put Calendar: What It Is, How It Works, Example
A put calendar is an options strategy selling a near-term put and buying a second put with a longer-dated expiration but the same strike price. A put calendar is best used when the short-term outlook is neutral or bullish, but the longer term outlook is bearish for the underlying asset. The strategy benefits from time decay and increased implied volatility, aiming for profit if these factors align.
Lame Duck: What It Means and How It Works
Key Takeaways “Lame duck” was a term for London Stock Exchange members who couldn’t meet claims on settlement day. A lame duck’s financial failures barred them from future trading until debts were settled. The term evolved to describe underfinanced schemes or ineffective politicians in the U.S. What Is a Lame Duck? Lame duck is an out-of-use historical British term from the London Stock Exchange.
The Sierra Lake That Isn’t on Any Map
Below the snow-cross on the shoulder of Mount Tallac lies a lake that never appeared on a California map. People who knew of it called it Lost Lake, and the trout living there put up a harder fight than any fish I had hooked before.
Beating Bugs and Bucks in the Early Southern Season
Early-season deer hunting in the South means fighting two battles at once: staying still enough to kill a mature buck, and keeping the mosquitoes off you while you do it. The heat and humidity alone make sitting a treestand a chore, and mosquitoes stay prevalent throughout much of the South well past the archery opener. Get the bug management wrong and you will swat, fidget, and blow your cover before a deer ever steps out.
Universe of Securities: What it Means, How it Works
Key Takeaways A universe of securities is a set of securities sharing common features, used by investors to filter investment options. It can be broad or narrow, tailored to investor goals, such as including only equities or fixed income securities. Investors may segment a security universe by asset class, market cap, geography, or sector for portfolio diversification. Security universes guide investment strategies for individuals and institutional fund managers.
Structured Repackaged Asset-Backed Trust Security (STRATS)
Key Takeaways A structured repackages asset-backed trust security (STRATS) is a derivative that pays income based on asset-backed securities and a related derivative product. STRATS originated from Wachovia Bank in 2005 and involve purchasing shares of a trust with interests in capital security and a derivative. STRATS continue to pay income to holders so long as the underlying asset-backed securities remain stable.
Unconstrained Investing Explained: Strategies and Fundamentals
By James Chen Updated October 15, 2026 Reviewed by Michael J Boyle Fact checked by Michael Logan Sean Anthony Eddy / Getty Images Key Takeaways Unconstrained investing allows managers to operate without specific benchmark ties, fostering flexibility and broad asset selection. This investment style gained traction post-2007-2008 Financial Crisis due to investor mistrust in traditional benchmarks.
Kentucky Couple’s 164-Inch Velvet Buck Sparks a Standoff
Logan and Kaylin Beach of Bowling Green, Kentucky, set up on the same ridge in separate trees only 16 yards apart on September 6, the second day of the state’s archery season. Kaylin was carrying a recurve, Logan a Prime Divide 31 compound. A nomadic buck neither of them was hunting stepped through at nine yards between their stands, and that’s when the couple realized they’d never worked out who would take the shot. A Buck That Kept Moving Logan already knew the deer.
North Dakota Hunter Drops 394-Inch Badlands Bull on State Land
Austin Streifel opened North Dakota’s 2026 elk season with a Badlands bull that reportedly green grossed just under 400 inches. The 27-year-old took the giant on state land, hunting alongside his wife and a close friend, he told Field & Stream. A Tag 15 Years in the Making Streifel had been applying for a North Dakota elk tag since he was 12. His odds of drawing this one came in at less than 1 percent, and the state doesn’t award preference points to longtime applicants the way other states do.
The Wildest Waterfowl Bands Hunters Have Ever Recovered
A metal leg band carries an eight- or nine-digit sequence that records the bird’s age, sex, and where it was banded. Report one, and you receive a certificate telling you when and where the bird was banded. Since the U.S. government’s program began in 1920, the federal effort has tagged more than 23 million birds, and hunters and others turn in roughly 85,000 recoveries each year. Most are routine. A few are not.
The 20 Best Squirrel Guns for the Treetops
Squirrel hunting rewards the hunter who matches the firearm to the terrain. Shots usually come at close to moderate range, commonly inside 100 yards, in wooded cover where small, fast targets dart from limb to limb. That pushes the choice toward three categories: rifles for precise head shots, shotguns for close brushy work, and handguns for the hunter who wants a real challenge.
Benjamin Graham’s Value Investing Method: Overview & Example
Key Takeaways The Benjamin Method focuses on long-term investment via fundamental analysis of financial ratios. Warren Buffett credits the Benjamin Method for his investment success and philosophy. The intrinsic value formula was updated in 1974 to include risk-free rates and bond yields. Value investors prioritize long-term profitability over short-term market opinions. What Is Benjamin Graham’s Investment Method?
How a Homebound Buck Betrayed a 287-Pound South Carolina Giant
The lesson in this story concerns deer behavior, and it is one you can put to work on your own ground. Archibald Rutledge held that an old buck keeps a home range he loves, and that even after being run out, shot at, or wounded, he returns to that home within a week or ten days. He also believed that an unwounded buck run out again will often retrace the very path he ran the first time.
Wild Game Blanket Dumplings: The No-Fold Gyoza Hack
If you love dumplings but hate the folding, blanket dumplings solve the problem. A blanket dumpling is a ball of ground meat loosely covered with a store-bought wonton skin, fried crisp on the bottom and steamed soft on top. There is no pleating, no sealing, and no tedious assembly line. You roll a seasoned ball of ground meat, lay a wrapper over it, cook it in one pan, and eat. Inspired by Japanese gyoza, this method gives you the same savory, crispy-bottomed payoff with a fraction of the work.
Tax Arbitrage Explained: Strategies and Implications
Key Takeaways Tax arbitrage capitalizes on differences in tax systems or rates. Businesses can reallocate revenue and expenses across regions to minimize taxes. Investors exploit price changes around ex-dividend dates for tax benefits. Tax arbitrage involves legal and potentially illegal strategies, requiring expert consultation. What Is Tax Arbitrage?
Bear Spray Buying Guide: 4 Top Picks Compared
When a bear closes the distance, the specifications on the label matter less than three things working together: enough volume to keep spraying, enough range to deploy before the animal reaches you, and a delivery system you can operate under stress. In the assessment of Meg Carney, a spray considered best should throw at least 30 feet, create a hanging cloud rather than a thin stream, and hold at least 7.9 ounces.
18 Veteran Tricks for Fooling Big Bucks in October
October is the hinge of the whitetail season. It connects the steady, early-season patterns with the chaos of the rut, which means the bucks you want are neither fully nocturnal nor fully reckless. Mature deer in this window are summer-fat, heavy-coated, and reluctant to move in daylight, and hunting pressure only makes them skittish. The tactics below come from hunters who have killed big deer in exactly this period.
Tenants by Entirety: Protecting Property for Married Couples
Key Takeaways Tenants by entirety requires mutual consent from married couples for property modifications. This ownership method gives the surviving spouse full property ownership upon the other’s death. TBE protects property from creditors pursuing debts of one spouse, except for federal tax liens. It can be dissolved by divorce or mutual agreement to change ownership. What Is Tenants by Entirety (TBE)?
The Five Factors That Set a Collectible Gun’s Value
Condition, rarity, make and model, history, and art — those are the five factors that determine what a collectible firearm is worth, according to Jim Supica, Director of the NRA Firearms Museum and the author of a three-part series on gun collecting. Understand how each one works, and you can look at an old gun on a table at a show or in an auction catalog and make a reasoned judgment about what it should bring — and whether the asking price is fair.
Field-Tested Deer Hunting Wisdom from the MeatEater Crew
The best deer hunting advice tends to be specific, hard-won, and born of time in the woods rather than a product catalog. What follows pulls together practical tips gathered from experienced hunters, organized around the decisions you actually make in the field: when to go, where to set up, how to read sign, and what to carry. Use them as a menu, not a formula. The right pick depends on your ground, your time, and your goals. 1.
The Perfect Deer Bow: A 473-Grain Setup That Works
Closing the distance on a whitetail buck, hunt after hunt, demands strong skills in scouting, reading terrain, understanding deer behavior, and picking ambush locations. The bow itself is the easy part. You do not need the newest flagship or a shelf full of accessories to kill deer at the ranges that matter. What you need is a setup that puts accurate, consistent arrows on target at 40 yards and under, and almost any modern compound can do that once it is tuned to you.
Lead-Free Deer Hunting? The Nosler E-Tip Delivers
If your hunting grounds require nonlead ammunition, the Nosler E-Tip solves the problem without asking you to give up penetration or retained energy. In some areas of the United States, including California, hunters may not use bullets containing lead, and the E-Tip is a lead-free bullet built to deliver the same terminal performance you’d expect from a premium lead-core projectile while staying legal where lead is banned.
Best Headlamps for Night Fishing: 6 Field-Tested Picks
Night fishing rewards patience, and it punishes fumbling in the dark. When brown trout and striped bass are most active at dusk and dawn, and steelhead anglers routinely make pre-dawn treks to reach the first-light bite, a good headlamp earns its place in the tackle bag fast. The reason is simple: a headlamp frees up both hands for tasks like changing lures and putting on fresh bait, so you are working the water instead of pinning a flashlight under your chin.
Ten Hunting Books Worth Keeping on Your Shelf
A good hunting book does more than fill the hours before a season opens. The best titles sharpen how you think about the pursuit, the ethics behind it, and the country you cross to find game. The list below spans more than a century of writing, from the work of a future president to modern voices who have shaped how hunters talk about fair chase and wild meat. All of these titles are available in print, and eBook editions exist for many of them as well.
How Fast Can a Bear Run? Top Speeds by Species
If you carry the notion that a bear is a lumbering, slow-footed animal you could jog away from, correct it now. A grizzly at full sprint covers about 20 yards per second, and it is highly unlikely that a human could outrun a bear encountered in the wild. The fastest recorded human speed belongs to an elite sprinter at roughly 27.8 miles per hour — barely faster than a black bear’s top speed and still slower than a charging grizzly.
Best 6.5 Creedmoor Suppressors: A Buyer’s Guide
Suppressing a 6.5 Creedmoor comes down to a choice most shooters do not think through before they buy. Historically, 6.5 Creedmoor shooters have reached for a .30 caliber silencer, and most still do, because a .30-caliber can also cover the .308 and other larger-bore rifles in the safe. But a dedicated 6.5mm suppressor runs a narrower bore than those bigger .308 cans, which, as Chase S explains, wrings the best suppression and performance out of the caliber itself.
Buck 110 & 112 Crossbar Elite: MagnaCut Meets a Crossbar Lock
Few folders are as instantly identifiable as the Buck 110 Folding Hunter, a design that has shaped what generations of buyers expect a Buck folder to look and feel like. For 2026, Buck rebuilt it and its slightly smaller sibling, the 112 Ranger, into the Crossbar Elite series, keeping the silhouette while swapping out the mechanism and materials that have defined the platform for generations.
The Gila River Alternate: The CDT’s Most Popular Detour
The Continental Divide Trail runs 3,038.2 miles between the Mexican and Canadian borders, spanning five states, and it mostly traces the geographic Continental Divide. That is the official version. On the ground, almost every person who thru-hikes the trail walks a different path, stitching together side trails and alternate routes to make one continuous line across the United States. There is no single unbroken footpath from border to border, and there never really has been.
Where Big Bass Actually Go When Fall Arrives
The oldest advice in bass fishing tells you to run to the backs of creeks when the leaves turn. A tracking study from Texas Parks and Wildlife biologists dismantled that idea. They followed bass at Lake Fork and Toledo Bend Reservoir, and none of the tracked fish moved into the back of a creek once fall set in. The bass held a relatively small home range, staying not too far from where they had spent the summer. Rather than chasing bass into far-off pockets, you follow the food.
Why Everyone Wants Montana — And Why Montanans Are Fed Up
Ask a lifelong Montanan how they feel about the steady stream of newcomers, and you may get pointed to a sign hanging in a Bozeman bar. It reads that you should welcome yourself to Montana while remembering you are a refugee, not a missionary. The message is blunt, but it captures a tension that has been building for years. Montana has become a magnet for the outdoors-obsessed, and nowhere feels the pressure more than the state’s hunting and fishing hotspots.
Fishing the Bahamas: Six Keys to a Smart Crossing
Running the Gulf Stream to fish the Bahamas rewards planning far more than it rewards luck. The crossing itself throws steep seas and shifting current at you. On the far side, the fishing changes with tide, water clarity, and predators that can end a hot bite in minutes. Anglers who arrive prepared and stay willing to adapt put more fish in the box. The advice below draws on a three-night, four-day run from Jupiter, Florida to West End, Grand Bahama.
How Often Do Wolves Actually Attack People?
The odds of a wild, healthy wolf attacking you in North America are close to nothing. A widely cited 2002 study of wolf-human interactions covering Alaska and Canada, home to more than 60,000 wolves, turned up no records of people killed by wild wolves across the entire twentieth century. In that same hundred years, researchers confirmed just 16 instances of wild, healthy wolves biting people — none life-threatening.
Why the Right Spot Beats the Comfortable Tree
The trees that feel best to sit in are rarely the ones that put a mature buck in front of you. Hunters gravitate toward straight, comfortable, easy-to-reach trees with open sightlines because those spots feel safe and pleasant. Deer, and especially older bucks, do not live where you feel most at ease. They bed and travel in the thick, awkward cover that most hunters walk past.
The Dueling Roots of the Old West Gunfighter
The lone gunman squaring off in a dusty street, hand hovering over a low-slung holster, is one of the most durable images in American gear culture. Its origin lies not on the frontier but in the East, in a formal ritual imported from Europe and practiced for decades by prominent men in the young republic. Before there were gunfighters, there were duelists, and the code that governed how gentlemen settled their disputes with pistols shaped the fights that later played out across the West.
Minnesota Pheasant Index Jumps 20% Before Oct. 10 Opener
Pheasant hunters heading into the Minnesota pheasant opener this fall have reason for optimism. Released September 8 by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the state’s August roadside survey clocked the statewide pheasant index at 90 birds for every 100 miles surveyed, up from 75 in 2025 — a gain of nearly 20%. Where the birds are The gains weren’t spread evenly. The west central region posted the biggest jump, up 74%, while central rose 25% and south central climbed 17%.
Field-to-Table Squirrel: Recipes Worth the Effort
Squirrel meat lands somewhere between rabbit and chicken in both flavor and texture, and the flavor stays mild rather than gamey. That quality makes it one of the best game meats for winning over picky eaters: in soups, stews, and casseroles, it substitutes for chicken so cleanly that most people cannot tell they are eating squirrel at all. If you have a freezer bag of bushy tails and no plan for them, the recipes below cover the methods that consistently produce good results.
428-Inch Bull May Be Pennsylvania’s New Record Elk
Michael Skvarla of Port Matilda had planned a Maryland Sitka deer bowhunt for his 40th birthday. That changed when the Pennsylvania Game Commission notified him he’d drawn one of the state’s coveted elk bull tags. Just 15 were issued against 50,000 lottery applicants. “It was a once in a lifetime opportunity,” said Skvarla, a Penn State research professor. “I’ve been bowhunting deer for 20 years, but this was an elk – not a whitetail.
Accrued Market Discount: Definition, Calculation & Tax Impact
Key Takeaways Accrued market discount is the gain realized when a discount bond rises to its face value at maturity. Discount bonds increase in value from a purchase price below face value to face value at maturity. Zero-coupon bonds are always sold at a discount, offering significant accrued market discounts. Accrued market discount is considered taxable income at various levels. Investors can use ratable or constant yield methods for tax calculations on accrued market discounts.
Chasing Fall Giants: A Spin Angler’s Trout Playbook
Fall gives spin anglers a real edge on big trout, and the reason comes down to what the fish are eating. From late spring through the middle of September, wild trout across much of the country are locked onto aquatic insects, which makes a spinner or jerkbait nearly useless even when trout are rising all around you. In autumn, that bug-focused feeding fades and the so-called “meat season” extends, meaning trout turn their attention to baitfish and larger forage.
How Many Suppressors Can You Legally Own?
There is no federal cap on the number of suppressors you can own. Under the National Firearms Act, suppressors are regulated items, but nothing in the statute limits how many an individual may possess. You can buy and keep as many as you want, or as many as you can afford, as long as your state allows them and you are willing to file the paperwork each time. The limit, in practice, comes from the process rather than a quota.
Understanding Dim Sum Bonds and Their Comparison to Panda Bonds
What Is a Dim Sum Bond? “Dim sum bond” is a term for bonds denominated in Chinese renminbi and issued in Hong Kong. Dim sum bonds are attractive to foreign investors who desire exposure to renminbi-denominated assets, but are restricted by China’s capital controls from investing in domestic Chinese debt. The term comes from dim sum, a popular Hong Kong cuisine known for its variety of small dishes.
Why Many Hunters Skip Scoring Their Trophy Bucks
A hunter who kills the buck of a lifetime and then declines to run a tape over it is not being modest. For many serious hunters, refusing to have a trophy officially scored is a deliberate choice, rooted in everything from privacy to a belief that a number cheapens the whole point of the hunt. Every year hundreds and possibly thousands of eligible animals go unentered in the record books kept by Boone and Crockett, Pope and Young, the Longhunter Society, and other organizations.
Why Public Land Is Worth Fighting For
Public land is the reason you can grab a rifle, shotgun or bow and head into the woods without owning 500 acres or knowing someone who does. Across the country, national forests, Bureau of Land Management ground, state forests and wildlife management areas hold millions of acres open to hunters chasing whitetails, elk, ducks, squirrels and turkeys. For anyone who hunts, fishes or shoots, that access is the foundation everything else sits on.
Trump Orders Open Two Monuments to Hunting, Back Lead Ammo
President Trump signed a pair of Executive Orders on Thursday, September 17, that hand hunters new ground to chase game, protect their right to run traditional lead ammo and tackle, and take aim at the saltwater regulations anglers have long griped about.
Altitude Sickness: How to Prevent It and Treat It
Fitness will not save you from altitude sickness, and neither will drinking water. The single thing that causes acute mountain sickness is gaining altitude too fast without acclimatization, and the most reliable way to prevent it is to climb slowly enough that your body can adjust. This matters for any flatlander or coastal dweller heading into the mountains with an elk or sheep tag, because the mountains do not care how many miles you run or how clean your lungs are.
How to Hunt Fall Turkeys: Tactics, Calls, and Gear
Fall was the original turkey season. The bird lands on the Thanksgiving table, not the Easter one, yet a whole generation of hunters who came up during the wild turkey’s great comeback treats the sport as a spring-only pursuit. Many have never tried the autumn hunt at all, and dismiss it as boring because there is no gobbling, or wrong because it means shooting a hen. Both objections miss what the season offers. You already own the gear you need to hunt fall birds.
AllOutdoor Review: XS Sights R3D 2.0 Night Sights
For a carry pistol, sights earn their keep when the light drops. A good trigger and a reliable magazine matter, but when a target grows hard to see, how fast you find your front sight can decide the outcome. That is the reasoning behind tritium night sights, and it is the standard the XS Sights R3D 2.0 has to meet.
Ohio Farmer Arrows 231-Inch ‘Flyer’ Buck He Missed in 2024
David Hostetler doesn’t get many free evenings during the growing season. The Caledonia, Ohio, farmer prefers to hunt the rut, but crops and a nonstop workload mean he takes whatever chances the calendar gives him. On Sept. 12 — Ohio’s special early archery opener for Marion County — he got one, and it produced a nontypical whitetail that officially taped out at 231 4/8 inches.
Bowhunter Who Left Elk to Bear Found Not Guilty
A Wyoming jury has acquitted a Cody bowhunter of wasting a game animal after he abandoned an elk carcass that a bear had fed on. Ron Niziolek, 63, was found not guilty on Aug. 28 of two misdemeanor charges — wasting a game animal and possessing the parts of a wasted animal — after a two-day trial in Park County Circuit Court. Six jurors cleared him unanimously. The Kill and the Carcass Niziolek arrowed a bull elk just before dark on Sept.
Initial Margin Explained: Requirements, Examples & How It Works
Key Takeaways Initial margin is the required cash or collateral to purchase securities using a margin account, set by the Federal Reserve at a minimum of 50%. Brokerage firms can set initial margin requirements higher than the Federal Reserve’s minimum, potentially offering greater leverage but with increased risk. Initial margin differs from maintenance margin, which is the ongoing equity the account holder must retain to keep positions open.
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