Blake Alewelt

Helping everyday heroes take control of their finances, grow wealth, and make confident real estate moves.

I'm your Money Copilot—guiding veterans, first responders, and hard workers on their journey to financial freedom.

10/31/2026

Day 170 of This Investing Challenge, And Today We Got WRECKED

The final trading day of October was brutal for tech stocks...
The S&P 500 fell about 1.8% today, while the Nasdaq dropped about 2.9% as investors reacted to disappointing earnings, rising AI spending, and concerns about whether Big Tech will actually earn enough on all of this massive investment.

October itself was especially rough for technology.

The Nasdaq finished the month down roughly 5%, marking its worst month since March 2025.

And some individual stocks got hit even harder...
📉 Alphabet suffered one of its worst drops in decades this week after investors reacted to heavy AI spending and negative free cash flow.

📉 Amazon was down more than 7% in premarket trading after reporting heavy cash burn and signaling even more capital spending ahead.

📉 Intel absolutely collapsed, falling about 29% in one day after its Q4 revenue forecast came in more than $1 billion below expectations and the company warned that cash flow would remain under pressure.

And this is exactly why, for this challenge, I like investing in broad index funds.

Instead of trying to guess which individual company will win…

Instead of watching one stock fall 20%, 25%, or even 30% in a single day…

We can spread our money across hundreds or thousands of companies.

That can dramatically reduce the impact of one company blowing up your entire portfolio.

If you want to see some of the Fidelity index funds and ETFs I’m personally investing in and researching, check out the next video.

Follow our road to $30,000, and I’ll see you Monday for Day 171!

Blake Alewelt
Shieldline Financial and Bravo Ridge Group at eXp Realty
[email protected]
https://www.shieldlinefinancial.com/
West Des Moines, IA
Licensed to Sell Real Estate in Iowa

10/30/2026

Day 169 of This Investing Challenge, And We’re Closing In on $27,000!

In this investing challenge, we’re using a strategy called Averaging Down, which is a variation of dollar-cost averaging.

The idea is simple:
1. Invest a base amount every trading day
2. If the fund drops during the day, invest again

Today, we doubled down on VTI right before the closing bell because it was trading in the red. Since it dropped even more in after-hours trading, that could give us another opportunity to buy more shares at a lower price tomorrow.

Here’s something important that showed up in the market today:
A lot of investors are becoming more concerned about how much influence the biggest companies have on the stock market.

That’s why SPY, which tracks the S&P 500 by market capitalization, was pulled lower by large companies like Alphabet, Caterpillar, and Microsoft.

But other versions of the S&P 500 actually held up much better:
- RSP = an equal-weight S&P 500 ETF, where every company gets the same weight
- SPYV = a value-focused S&P 500 ETF, which leans more on company fundamentals like earnings, dividends, revenue, and book value instead of just size
And both of those funds were actually up today.

That’s a great reminder that not all S&P 500 funds behave the same way, even when they sound similar.

If you want to learn more about the difference between market-cap weighted, value-weighted, and equal-weight S&P 500 funds, check out the next video.

Make sure to follow to see how this investing challenge continues to grow.

I’ll see you back here tomorrow for Day 170!

Blake Alewelt
Shieldline Financial and Bravo Ridge Group at eXp Realty
[email protected]
https://www.shieldlinefinancial.com/
West Des Moines, IA
Licensed to Sell Real Estate in Iowa

10/28/2026

Day 167 of This Investing Challenge, And We Just Broke $26,000!

For this challenge, we’re using the Averaging Down Strategy, which is a variation of dollar-cost averaging.

The idea is simple:
1. Invest a base amount every trading day
2. If VTI drops during the day, invest again

We’re investing in VTI, Vanguard’s Total Stock Market Index Fund, which gives us exposure to thousands of U.S. companies in one fund.

And here’s what makes this week interesting:
Over the last week, VTI is basically flat, down around 0.03%.

But because we’ve been consistently investing through the dip, many of our recent purchases are already sitting in the green.

That’s the biggest reason I like this strategy. We’re not trying to perfectly predict the bottom. We’re simply taking advantage of lower prices when they show up.

- Market dips? We buy more.
- Market rebounds? Those cheaper shares get a chance to work for us.

If you’ve been wanting to start investing, Fidelity has several index funds and ETFs worth researching.

👉 I made another video breaking down some of the funds I personally like and invest in, so check that out next.

Follow the road to $30,000, and I’ll see you tomorrow for Day 168!

Blake Alewelt
Shieldline Financial and Bravo Ridge Group at eXp Realty
[email protected]
https://www.shieldlinefinancial.com/
West Des Moines, IA
Licensed to Sell Real Estate in Iowa

10/24/2026

Day 165 of This Investing Challenge, And Today We Bought the Dip!!
Today was exactly the kind of day our Averaging Down Strategy is designed for.

We’re using a variation of dollar-cost averaging where we:
1. Invest a base amount every trading day
2. Invest again when VTI drops

And today gave us another opportunity to do exactly that.

Over the last couple of days, the stock market has pulled back noticeably, with VTI falling again today as investors reacted to several major risks.

The biggest one... Oil.

Brent crude surged to $117 per barrel, its highest closing price since late April.

That move came as tensions in the Middle East escalated again, including more attacks around Saudi Arabia and concerns about shipping and energy supply disruptions near the Strait of Hormuz.

At the same time, Ukraine has continued targeting Russian energy infrastructure, adding even more pressure to global oil supply expectations.

And higher oil prices matter because they can:
1. Push inflation higher
2. Keep interest rates elevated
3. Pressure stock valuations
4. Keep borrowing costs high

The 10-year Treasury yield also moved back toward 5% today.
Earlier this month, the 10-year Treasury yield was at 5.36%.

Since then, it has come down by roughly 0.38 percentage points, so even though yields moved higher today, the broader trend is still better than where we were a few weeks ago.

And if all of this market volatility has you uncomfortable putting every dollar into stocks, there are still lower-risk places where your cash can earn something.

I made another video comparing options like:
1. High-Yield Savings Accounts
2. Money Market Funds
3. SGOV and other short-term Treasury ETFs

👉 Watch that video next, follow our road to $30,000, and I’ll see you Monday for Day 166!

Blake Alewelt
Shieldline Financial and Bravo Ridge Group at eXp Realty
[email protected]
https://www.shieldlinefinancial.com/
West Des Moines, IA
Licensed to Sell Real Estate in Iowa

10/23/2026

Hey there! In order to live to see tomorrow's sunrise, we are celebrating my wife's and my anniversary this evening. Which means there won't be a video today, BUT that doesn't mean we didn't invest and buy the dip today!

Day 164 Investing Challenge Update:
Another day in the investing challenge, and today was a great reminder of why we’re investing for the long term instead of reacting to every headline.

The stock market struggled today, especially technology stocks.
Nasdaq: -2.6%
S&P 500: -1.2%
Dow: Basically flat
Semiconductor stocks: -6.7%

One of the biggest concerns right now is the amount of money companies are spending on Artificial Intelligence.

Meta fell around 7% after investors reacted to its massive AI spending, and chip companies like AMD, Intel, and Marvell were hit even harder.

Then we had another problem...

Brent crude jumped to more than $113 per barrel, its highest level since May, after new attacks in Saudi Arabia increased concerns about oil supplies from the Middle East.

Higher oil prices can mean more inflation... More inflation can mean higher interest rates for longer... And higher rates can put even more pressure on stocks, especially expensive technology companies.

But this is exactly why our investing strategy doesn’t depend on predicting what happens tomorrow.

Days like today aren’t necessarily something I’m afraid of.
They’re part of the experiment.

Hit the follow button, and we’ll see what happens tomorrow on Day 165!

10/22/2026

Day 163 of this investing challenge, and we just hit a new high!!!
Our investing challenge is now worth: $25,818.59

That brings us another step closer to our next major goal of $30,000.
For this challenge, we’re using the Averaging Down Strategy, which is a variation of dollar-cost averaging.

The idea is simple:
1. Invest consistently
2. If VTI drops during the day, invest again

We’re investing in VTI, Vanguard’s Total Stock Market ETF, which gives us exposure to thousands of U.S. companies in one fund.

And today was a strong day for the market.

The broader market responded well:
📈 Nasdaq: about +1.05%
📈 S&P 500: about +0.58%
📈 Dow: about +0.69%

SpaceX jumped about 7.8% after reporting strong quarterly results and its first quarterly profit since becoming a public company. That helped lift sentiment across technology and AI-related stocks.

And after the market closed, Meta reported Q3 revenue, beating expectations, while raising its capital spending outlook as it continues investing heavily in artificial intelligence. Meta shares also moved higher after hours.

That’s one of the reasons I like using broad-market index funds.

Instead of having to guess which individual company will be the winner, funds like VTI let us participate in the growth of thousands of companies across the U.S. market.

Some days SpaceX leads. Other days Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, or another company does.
The index fund lets us own a piece of all of it.

If you’ve been wanting to start investing and want some ideas on index funds and ETFs available through Fidelity, check out the video linked in the comments below.

Watch that next, follow our road to $30,000, and I’ll see you tomorrow for Day 164!

Blake Alewelt
Shieldline Financial and Bravo Ridge Group at eXp Realty
[email protected]
https://www.shieldlinefinancial.com/
West Des Moines, IA
Licensed to Sell Real Estate in Iowa

10/21/2026

Day 162 of This Investing Challenge!
No video today. I decided to spend tonight taking care of the wife and kids, but the challenge is still moving forward.

We invested like normal, and our portfolio is now worth $25,578.76.
That puts us at 85.3% of the way to our next goal of $30,000.

Today was also a pretty interesting day in the market:
- The Dow gained about 1%
- The S&P 500 finished slightly higher
- The Nasdaq was basically flat
- Treasury yields eased
- Oil pulled back below its earlier highs

Strong corporate earnings helped offset some of the lingering concerns around AI spending and debt, while lower oil prices and Treasury yields gave investors a little relief.

Even when the family needs me, the strategy keeps running.

FOLLOW along to see if we can hit $30,000 before the end of the year.

10/20/2026

Day 161 of this investing challenge, and we just hit a new record of $25,374.11
We’re continuing to use our Averaging Down Strategy, which is basically a variation of dollar-cost averaging.

The rules are simple:
1. Invest consistently
2. If the index fund drops during the day, invest again

For this challenge, we’re investing in VTI, Vanguard’s Total Stock Market ETF, which gives us exposure to thousands of U.S. companies in one fund.

And lately, VTI has been doing something interesting: It has basically been moving sideways.

VTI first moved into the mid-$370s back in early August, and more than two months later we’re still trading around that same general range.

That can feel frustrating when you’re investing every single day… but sideways markets are completely normal.

Zoom out to the last year, and VTI is still up strongly overall, even after multiple pullbacks, rallies, and stretches where the market barely moved.

And there’s another interesting historical trend coming up: Midterm Elections!
Historically, the 12 months following U.S. midterm elections have been among the strongest periods for the stock market.

Fidelity found that since 1938, the S&P 500 has posted gains in the year after midterms about 95% of the time, with average returns around 14%.

That does NOT mean stocks are guaranteed to rally next year.
Past performance never guarantees future results.

But it’s another reminder that periods of uncertainty and sideways movement don’t necessarily mean long-term growth is over.

If you’ve been wanting to start investing, I made a step-by-step tutorial showing how to open a Fidelity brokerage account and get everything set up.

Watch that video next, follow our journey toward $30,000, and I’ll see you tomorrow for Day 162!

Blake Alewelt
Shieldline Financial and Bravo Ridge Group at eXp Realty
[email protected]
https://www.shieldlinefinancial.com/
West Des Moines, IA
Licensed to Sell Real Estate in Iowa

10/17/2026

Day 160 of this Investing Challenge And Today We Bought the Dip!

Today was exactly the kind of day our Averaging Down Strategy is designed for.
- We invest a base amount every trading day.
- And if VTI drops, we invest again to lower our cost basis.

This morning, our first purchase came in around $378.20 per share.
Later in the day, VTI fell even further, so we invested again around $373.74 per share.
That helped lower our average purchase price for the day to about $375.97.

And there were plenty of reasons for the market weakness today.
1. Brent crude jumped to nearly $110 per barrel, its highest level since May, as tensions escalated around the Strait of Hormuz and Ukraine resumed attacks on Russian oil infrastructure.

Higher oil prices can keep inflation elevated, which creates even more uncertainty around interest rates and economic growth.

2. At the same time, Technology and AI stocks had another rough session.
One of the biggest examples is CoreWeave.
Its stock is down roughly 25% this week as investors grow more concerned about how much debt is being used to finance the massive buildout of AI data centers and infrastructure.

That doesn’t mean the long-term AI story is dead.
But it does show the risk of owning individual companies that can fall 20%, 25%, or more in a matter of days.

That’s one of the reasons I like broad-market index funds.
Instead of betting everything on one AI company, one chipmaker, or one trend, index funds can spread your investment across hundreds or even thousands of companies.

You still get exposure to long-term growth…but with much more diversification.

If you’ve been wanting to start investing and want some ideas on index funds and ETFs I’m personally investing in and researching, check out the video linked below.

👉 Watch that next, follow our road to $30,000, and I’ll see you Monday for Day 161!

Blake Alewelt
Shieldline Financial and Bravo Ridge Group at eXp Realty
[email protected]
https://www.shieldlinefinancial.com/
West Des Moines, IA
Licensed to Sell Real Estate in Iowa

10/16/2026

Day 159 of this Investing Challenge, And Inflation Just Came in HOT!
These last few days have been rough for us investors, but stocks managed to recover toward the end of today’s session after two major inflation reports gave markets a lot to digest.

First came the Consumer Price Index (CPI data).
September CPI showed inflation running at 3.7% year over year, still well above the Federal Reserve’s 2% inflation goal.

That’s important because some of this inflation pressure is tied to the disruption we’ve seen in global energy markets.

But energy isn’t the whole story. Core inflation, which removes food and energy, was still running around 2.6%, so the Federal Reserve can’t simply ignore the rest of the inflation data.

Then today we got the Producer Price Index (PPI data).
And this one came in VERY hot.

Producer prices increased 1.3% in September, the largest monthly jump in about 4½ years.
Again, energy was one of the biggest drivers:
1. Gasoline prices: +20.3%
2. Diesel fuel: +21%
Overall, producer prices are now up 6.3% compared with a year ago.

Why does PPI matter?
Because it measures what businesses are paying for goods and services before many of those costs reach consumers.

If companies are paying significantly more for fuel, transportation, materials, and other inputs, some of those higher costs can eventually show up in the prices we pay at the store.

But inflation has definitely put the Federal Reserve back in focus.
Markets are now assigning a greater chance that we could see another rate hike before the end of the year.

And if all of this market volatility has you nervous about investing every dollar, your cash doesn’t necessarily have to sit around earning nothing.

Watch that video next, follow our road to $30,000, and I’ll see you tomorrow for Day 160!

Blake Alewelt
Shieldline Financial and Bravo Ridge Group at eXp Realty
[email protected]
https://www.shieldlinefinancial.com/
West Des Moines, IA
Licensed to Sell Real Estate in Iowa

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http://www.shieldlinefinancial.com/

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