I’m Up 12.3% Yearly While NFLX Investors Are Down 8% — Here’s Why

If you’ve traded long enough, you eventually realize something uncomfortable: most people are playing the wrong game.

They obsess over whether a stock goes up or down tomorrow. They debate price targets. They argue about technical levels. They panic on red days and get euphoric on green ones.

Meanwhile, the professionals are playing a different game entirely.

They’re not trying to be right about direction. They’re trying to get paid for time.

That difference matters more than any indicator.

On January 2, 2026, I invested $50,000 into a structured note tied to Netflix. At the time, NFLX was trading at $91.46.

The structure was simple and boring in the best possible way: I collect interest as long as Netflix doesn’t fall more than 40 percent from its starting price for coupon payments, and my principal is protected down to a 50 percent barrier.

No hero trade. No prediction. No excitement. Just math.

Since then, Netflix has drifted lower.

Anyone who bought the stock outright is down about 8 percent. They’re staring at red numbers. They’re wondering if they should cut it, hold it, average down, or wait for earnings.

I’m not. I’m up 12.3% on a yearly basis.

Not because I’m smarter. Not because I predicted anything. But because I structured the trade to win in a world where stocks don’t have to cooperate.

That’s the High Yield Blueprint.

Most people think investing means picking the right stock. That’s amateur thinking.

Real investing is about structuring outcomes.

If you buy stock, you need everything to go right.

That’s a lot of things to bet on at once.

With the note I bought on Netflix, I only needed one thing to be true: the stock doesn’t collapse.

Not rally. Not outperform. Not beat earnings. Just don’t implode.

As long as Netflix stays above roughly $55, I collect interest. As long as it stays above roughly $45 at maturity, my principal is protected.

That’s a massive difference from buying the stock at $91 and hoping.

This is where most retail investors get trapped.

But upside is unreliable. Income is controllable.

When I put that $50,000 into the note, I wasn’t trying to be clever. I was trying to be paid.

I didn’t care if Netflix went to $120. I didn’t care if it went sideways. I didn’t even care if it dipped a bit.

I cared that the structure paid me to wait. That’s how professionals think.

Not “will this go up tomorrow?”
But “how do I get paid while I’m waiting?”

Right now, that difference is visible on paper.
Stock investors are down. I’m up.

Same underlying company. Same market. Same macro environment. Different result.

Because I’m not playing the same game.

Let’s talk about what actually happened.

Netflix trades lower. Not dramatically. Nothing dramatic. Just normal market noise. Rotations. Macro pressure. Rates. Politics. Headlines.

The usual.

Stock investors feel it immediately. Their P&L turns red. They feel stupid. They start questioning the decision. I don’t.

That psychological difference alone is worth everything.

When you structure income, you stop reacting emotionally to every tick. You stop checking charts every hour. You stop letting the market control your mood.

You become the casino. That’s the entire philosophy behind High Yield Blueprint.

You’re not trying to win a lottery ticket. You’re trying to run a business. And businesses care about cash flow.

I’ve seen this movie too many times.

People brag about buying the dip. They post screenshots. They argue online. Then the stock drifts lower for six months.

They don’t post those screenshots. They just hold. And wait. And hope.

Hope is not a strategy. Structure is.

The note I bought gives me a 40 percent cushion before my interest is even threatened and a 50 percent barrier before my principal is at risk.

That means Netflix can drop from $91 to the mid-$50s and I’m still getting paid.

Let that sink in. The stock investor is underwater after an 8 percent drop. I’m still collecting income.

That’s not magic. That’s design.

This is what Wall Street has always done quietly while retail argues about charts.

Retail buys direction. Direction is fragile. Probability compounds.

I didn’t invent this.

Banks have used these structures forever.
They just never marketed them to individuals because they made too much money keeping them in-house.

Now that access exists, most people still ignore it because it’s not exciting. It doesn’t produce viral screenshots. It produces something better.

Consistency.

I’ll take boring money over exciting losses every time. Especially in markets like this.

We’re living in a world where one headline moves futures three percent.

That’s not an environment to be a hero. It’s an environment to be paid.

When I look at my Netflix position, I don’t see red.

I see:

That’s the difference between trading and building income.

Most people are wired to chase. I’m wired to structure.

Only if it collapses do I have a problem.

And if Netflix collapses 50 percent, the stock investor is devastated anyway.

At least I got paid along the way. That asymmetry is the entire point.

This is why I built the High Yield Blueprint in the first place.

Not to impress anyone. Not to predict markets. But to remove the need to be right.

I don’t want to guess where markets go next month. I want to get paid regardless. There’s freedom in that.

And once you experience it, it’s hard to go back to buying stock and hoping.

When people ask me how I sleep during market volatility, this is the answer.

I don’t need perfect conditions.

That’s it.

Netflix could report earnings tomorrow and miss. The stock could drop another 10 percent. The headlines would be dramatic. Twitter would panic.

My position would still be working.

That’s the game.

Not prediction. Positioning.
Not excitement. Income.
Not ego. Probability.

That’s what the High Yield Blueprint is about.

And that’s why, while stock investors stare at losses, I’m quietly stacking interest.

Same stock — Different outcome. Different mindset. Different game.