I was born on 6 August 1956 in San Francisco, California to Janet and (the late) Richard Hovis.
I grew up in Santa Monica, California where I attended elementary, junior high school, and high school (graduating in 1974), in addition to involvement in sports and recreation (Little League +, the Boy’s Club ++). Further, it was in elementary school – St. Augustine’s By-the -Sea Parish School that I found, and made the choice to truly journey with God.
I attended Arizona State University from 1974 to 1977 – seeking to become an architect, however, I was not accepted, and, as such, I graduated with a Liberal Arts degree.
Upon graduation from Arizona State University, I attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and studied City and Regional Planning at the Master’s level. I successfully completed one (1) year in a two (2) year program – I did not complete the Master’s degree in City and Regional Planning – due to personal reasons.
I returned to Santa Monica where I started (October 1979) my career as graphic designer with Exxon Company, USA. I spent five years with Exxon Company, USA.
While working with Exxon Company, USA I was accepted into architectural school – Sci-Arc in Southern California, however, I did not attend preferring to stay with Exxon..
In 1982 I married Laura Flosi and in April 1983 we had our one and only child – Lauren Alain Hovis – a gift from God.
We moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 1984 from Los Angeles, where I went to work as a graphic designer with Kitchell CEM (from 1985 -1987).
From 1987 – 1995 I was an independent contractor, and a registered representative in mortgage finance, financial management, graphic design, and drafting.
Further, I attended the University of Phoenix and successfully obtained a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) in 1982.
I was also a member of the Scottsdale Jaycees, where I became very involved in community events and projects.
In 1994, I accepted a cartography position with the Defense Mapping Agency in Reston, Virginia. As such, I relocated from Phoenix to Reston.
In 1998, I was accepted and worked as a Visual Information Officer with the Central Intelligence Agency. In 2002, I worked as a Support Officer until my retirement (due to a need for shoulder surgery) in September 2018.
Away from my Federal Government service, I have been involved in various organizations and activities in Northern Virginia.
In November of 2011, I married Rebecca Ouellette in Santa Monica, California. I reside in San Tan Valley, AZ with my two hamster - Jess and Timothy, our fish, our lizard - RJ Lizard., and our cats - Pearl and Grey.
As to hobbies, I enjoy playing sports, attending sporting events, mentoring individuals from financial management to hamsters, building models, photography, travel, multimedia design, managing partner for RJ Hamster, and jazz – smooth jazz to a samba or a bossa nova.
Love and God Bless,
Peter – aka RJ Hamster Jo hi
Statins: New Guidelines Aim at Prevention but Create More Patients
by Sheramy Tsai BSN, RN
Good morning,
Imagine walking into your doctor’s office feeling completely fine and walking out with a prescription for a condition you may not face for another 30 years.
That’s the reality I kept coming back to while reporting this week’s story on the new 2026 cholesterol guidelines. People in their 30s and 40s are now being pulled into earlier cholesterol screenings, specialized tests like lipoprotein(a) or coronary calcium scans, and, in many cases, statin regimens designed to last a lifetime.
On paper, it’s smart prevention. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, and supporters argue that catching risk earlier and keeping LDL “lower for longer” could stop cardiac events before they happen.
But at what cost?
While statins are a cornerstone treatment for high cholesterol, they are not without trade-offs. Muscle pain, fatigue, and a small increase in diabetes risk have all been widely reported.
But there is also a quieter cost, the shift that happens when someone who feels healthy begins to see themselves as a patient. It is a subtle move from being well to being labeled “at risk.” As cardiologist Dr. Rita Redberg put it, “There is a measurable decrement to quality of life to taking a pill every day.”
And once the numbers improve with drugs, it can be easy to assume the deeper problem has been handled. Better food, more movement, solid sleep, less stress, all the things that matter most, can begin to fall by the wayside.
While the guidelines emphasize these lifestyle habits, the reality of the exam room is different. In a system defined by 15-minute visits, many primary care doctors do not have the time the guidelines require. There is rarely enough time to run the calculations, consider family history, review inflammation markers, and talk through the real trade-offs of starting a daily medication. In a rushed system, tests and pills are easier.
It’s important to know that a small drop in risk can matter a great deal across a population. But for one person, that same benefit may feel much less clear, especially when the payoff may never be felt directly.
That is where patients have to take some control: ask what the benefits of statins are for you, what are the trade-offs, and whether there is time to start with lifestyle changes before moving to a pill.
A risk score is not a command; it’s the start of a conversation.
Diet, exercise, targeted supplements, and nonstatin medications may help lower cholesterol, especially for people who cannot tolerate statins or want other options.
Thanks for reading. Stay tuned for our next edition coming your way next week.
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Nate Bear, Lead Technical Tactician, Monument Traders Alliance
For three years, farmers pulled back.
Input costs ran too high, and commodity prices ran too low. The big green tractors sat on dealer lots.
Deere felt it all — full-year net income dropped 29% in fiscal 2025 as the agricultural downcycle ground through its core business.
Then, in December, CEO John May made a call: 2026 is the bottom.
The Earnings Made It Real
Calling the bottom is one thing. Proving it is another.
In February, Deere reported Q1 2026 earnings. The street expected continued weakness.
What they got: EPS of $2.42 against a $2.02 estimate, a 20% beat. Revenue of $9.61 billion against $7.59 billion expected, a 26% beat. The Construction and Forestry order bank rose more than 50% in a single quarter. Large tractor orders extended into Q4.
The stock gapped up 12% on the print. One quarter like that does not happen by accident. The story had changed.
Yesterday, a Wall Street analyst upgraded DE and cited the same thesis — the agricultural cycle may be nearing its bottom.
DE closed up +5%. The market is repricing this stock because the fundamentals continue to support the thesis.
What the Chart Is Saying
SPONSORED
Trump’s Spending Bill Passed: Four “Golden Anomaly” Stocks Could Soar
Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” passed! That means the US is on track for $60 trillion in debt by 2035 – by the government’s own calculation. Gold is already up more than 60% since 2024. What do you think will happen as purchasing power continues to disappear?
When fundamentals turn before mainstream notices, the chart catches it first. DE’s chart has been telling this story for weeks.
The 8-day EMA sits at $580. The 20-day EMA sits at $579. The 200-day SMA sits at $509. Yesterday, the price was around $608.
EMAs, or exponential moving averages, track a stock’s average closing price over a set period and give more weight to recent prices. When shorter EMAs sit above longer ones and all of them sit below the price, the trend is intact across every timeframe that matters.
The weekly EMAs are stacked, too. This trend has been building for months.
The Squeeze
After the February earnings gap, DE spent weeks compressing. The 8-day EMA and 20-day EMA pinched tight around $579-$580.
Price coiled above them. Volume dried up.
That is the squeeze. When price compresses between tightening moving averages, energy builds until it releases. When a squeeze fires on a stock with stacked EMAs and a strong fundamental story, that is the combination my system is designed to find.
The RSI read 62.
RSI, or Relative Strength Index, measures momentum on a scale of 0 to 100. Readings above 70 signal overbought. At 62, DE has room to run.
My system is called TPS — Trend, Pattern, Squeeze. I work through each step in order, and I do not enter until all three are confirmed and the trigger fires.
The setup is there, but given yesterday’s huge market move, I want to see how things play out today before making a decision.
Your Action Plan
Earnings winners with stacked EMAs and a fundamental catalyst behind them are exactly what I built Profit Surge Trader to find.
If you want to trade alongside that process, that is what Profit Surge Trader is for.
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Today you can buy private shares for less than $5.00. This financing is open to every investor – without any restrictions. You don’t need to be an “accredited investor.”
The company plans to go public on the Nasdaq or NYSE by the end of 2026.
What will be the opening price?
My current estimates suggest the stock could begin trading around $20 / share.That would translate into roughly 370% upside from the current private price.
Tiny IPOs valued at less than $500 million have been some of the biggest winners.
Swarmer (NASDAQ: SWMR) jumped 520% in its first day of trading last week. And Virtuix (NASDAQ: VTIX) soared 350% in late January.
One of my recent Pre-IPO deals was Starfighters Space (NYSE: FJET). And that stock went from $3.59 to $31.50 after it started trading.
What will be the next big winner?
Personally, I’m betting on this little company that I call the Urban Gold Lab. It looks like an outstanding business with tremendous upside.
Spending on autism therapy services is dramatically outpacing overall Medicaid spending, prompting state and federal scrutiny. In this report we look at four states where autism spending has raised alarm bells.
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“Recommend virtue to your children, that alone—not wealth—can give happiness.”
— Ludwig van Beethoven
Ivan Pentchoukov National Editor
Good morning. What began as a hopeful day for peace in the Middle East on Wednesday transformed into confusion and uncertainty after Israel carried out a large-scale bombing campaign against Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah in Lebanon. The United States and Israel maintain that Lebanon was not part of the ceasefire deal with Iran. Tehran said it is again closing the Strait of Hormuz in response to the attacks on Lebanon.
Here are today’s top stories:
Vice President JD Vance will lead a U.S. delegation for talks with Iran in Pakistan’s Islamabad this weekend, the White House said.
Here are the details of the complex military operation to rescue a downed U.S. aviator who evaded capture in the Iranian mountains for almost two days.
A former architect, Rex Heuermann, pleaded guilty to the murders of seven women around Gilgo Beach, bringing to a close a decades-long string of unsolved killings.
In response to a question from The Epoch Times, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt clarified that President Donald Trump’s comment “Cuba is next” means the communist regime “is bound to fail.”
🍵 Video: Your phone is draining your brain, even when it’s off.
President Donald Trump was assured by the Pentagon and Central Intelligence Agency that the assembled array of special forces, precise intelligence, high-tech electronics, and battle-tested aircraft could extract a wounded U.S. airman being hunted deep inside Iran, but was cautioned that it would be risky and could go sideways in a hurry.
It was his trigger to pull, they said. His call.
“A risky decision,” Trump said. “We could have ended up with 100 dead, as opposed to one or two—a hard decision to make.”
But in the end, the choice was clear.
“In the United States military,” the president said, “we leave no American behind. We don’t do it.”
During an April 6 White House press conference, Trump recounted how “one of the largest, most complex, most harrowing combat searches … ever attempted” was orchestrated, serving as a narrator still buzzed by what he had watched unfold as it was happening early on April 5 in Iran.
“As commander in chief, I never forget the extraordinary risk taken by the warriors that we send into battle,” he said.
Less than 80 hours earlier, on April 3, an F-15E Strike Eagle had been damaged by ground fire over Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province and crashed more than 100 miles northeast in Isfahan Province, south of the city of Isfahan, where there was a large Iranian military presence.
One man was rescued. One man was missing.
There was now only one mission.
First Rescue
After more than 13,000-plus U.S. combat sorties over Iran since Feb. 28, a “Golden BB” shot fired by what analysts believe was a visually sighted, shoulder-fired surface-to-air missile found its mark.
The F-15, from the 494th Fighter Squadron of the 48th Fighter Wing—the Statue of Liberty Wing—based in RAF Lakenheath in England, was the first U.S. fixed-wing fighter to be knocked from the sky by enemy fire since an A-10 was shot down over Baghdad in April 2003.
Later that same day—on April 3, Good Friday, two days before Easter—an A-10 would be damaged by enemy fire and crash, with the pilot safely ejecting into Kuwait.
The F-15’s pilot and systems weapons officer both safely ejected but were dispersed, one waiting a few seconds after the other in parachuting to earth as trained to do. (More)
IRAN WAR
The U.S.-Iran ceasefire has gotten off to a shaky start, with U.S. officials acknowledging the truce is “fragile,” but that talks were progressing. Here are some key points so far:
Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said that a two-week ceasefire hinges on halting Israel’s attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon. Vance said the truce did not include Lebanon, adding that he thinks Iran’s position came from a “legitimate misunderstanding.”
Israel’s strikes on central Beirut on Wednesday killed 182 people, Lebanon’s health ministry said.
Iran’s parliamentary speaker accused the U.S. and Israel of violating three parts of the ceasefire framework. Vance dismissed the claims, saying that “ceasefires are always messy” and that there are still many points of agreement.
Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz in response to Israel’s attacks on Lebanon, Iranian state media reported. But White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt disputed the report, saying the United States has seen an uptick in traffic in the Strait.
Iran has signaled a willingness to hand over its enriched uranium, the White House said.
After meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte at the White House, Trump reiterated his dissatisfaction with the military alliance. “NATO wasn’t there when we needed them, and they won’t be there if we need them again,” Trump wrote in an all-caps social media post.
Following the ceasefire, House and Senate Democrats will move to force votes on war powers resolutions to block military action in Iran without congressional approval. Previous votes on similar measures have failed.
POLITICS
Pam Bondi will no longer appear for a deposition before a House panel probing Jeffrey Epstein, the DOJ said, citing that she is no longer the attorney general. In response, Democrats on the panel threatened to file contempt charges if Bondi doesn’t attend.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is starting a podcast, “The Secretary Kennedy Podcast,” aimed at exposing “lies that have made us spiritually, morally, and physically sick,” he announced.
Nonpartisan election forecaster Cook Political Report shifted five House racesin favor of Democrats this midterm, signaling a difficult environment for Republicans defending their narrow House majority.
LATEST NEWS
A federal appeals court temporarily allowed the Pentagon to designate Anthropic as a supply-chain risk after the AI company requested the court to block the move. The ruling appears to conflict with a California district court decision blocking the designation, meaning the Supreme Court may soon get involved in the dispute.
The California Supreme Court ordered Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco to halt his investigation into 2025 election fraud allegations so the judges can review the legal challenges that his probe faces.
A woman dubbed the “Ketamine Queen” was sentenced to 15 years behind bars for supplying the drugs that killed actor Matthew Perry.
Young people who identified as transgender suffered from worse mental health both before and after meeting with specialists, a new study found.
▶️ Video: Steve Bannon secured a Supreme Court win earlier this week. Here’s what it means.
Correction: In the April 6 edition of the newsletter, we misstated that the Artemis II astronauts would be the first to see the far side of the moon. The astronauts were the first to see parts of the far side. The Epoch Times regrets the error.Sponsored by NativePath
You may be eating foods experts say can drive inflammation and impact brain health. The good news: it’s not too late to adjust. Start cutting these foods and add smarter morning options. Quiz: #1 brain food? A: Peanut Butter B: Black Pepper C: Coconut D: Greek YogurtSee Answer ➜
OPINION
Who Controls the Kitchen Controls the Country—byMollie Engelhart (Read)
The Great Toilet Paper Shortage—by Jeffrey A. Tucker (Read)
The Life of Frédéric Bastiat—by Lawrence W. Reed (Read)
Audience members attend the Monte Carlo ATP Masters Series Tournament at the Monte-Carlo Country Club as a 79.9-metre Feadship superyacht ‘Faith’ owned by Canadian businessman Lawrence Stroll, majority shareholder of British luxury carmaker Aston Martin, is seen in the background, off the coast of Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, south-eastern on April 8, 2026. (Valery Hache/AFP via Getty Images)
📸 Day in Photos: Journalist Killed in Gaza, Election Campaign in Djibouti, Marco Rubio Meets Mark Rutte (Look)
🎙️ Podcast: Audits Spotlight Unusual Trends in Medicaid Spending for Autism Care—The Report (Listen)
🍿 Film Review: ‘The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist’ (Read)
MUSIC
A sketch of what Beethoven considered his most perfect work, his String Quartet No. 14.
After Ludwig van Beethoven died in 1827, a thorough autopsy confirmed what had long been apparent about his health. His auditory nerves were “shriveled and marrowless,” while the neighboring arteries were “dilated to more than a crow’s quill, and like cartilage.” By then, Beethoven’s hearing loss was unmistakable. He had been completely deaf for almost a decade, following a gradual decline that began as early as 1800.
Beethoven’s deafness remains one of the most compelling topics in music history, as he continued composing masterpieces despite his loss. The Imaginative Conservative website shares an unsent letter known as the Heiligenstadt Testament, where he revealed his inner turmoil. In the throes of despair, he wrote: “I would have ended my life—it was only my art that held me back. … It seemed to me impossible to leave the world until I had produced all that I felt was within me, as if my art had been entrusted to me by God.”
Beethoven went on to become one of history’s most influential composers. His late works, including the Ninth Symphony and the Missa Solemnis, have come to symbolize the resilience of the human spirit, touching audiences with their emotional depth and profound humanity.
Yet even among these achievements,one work stands out. According to biographer Edmund Morris, Beethoven thought of this piece as “his most perfect single work.”
In published essays, Schumann said it stood on “the extreme boundary upon which all that has hitherto been attained by human art.” Franz Schubert, hearing it for the first time on his deathbed, reportedly asked: “After this, what is there left for us to write?” (More)
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The man who invented one of the most popular buying and selling indicators on Wall Street says this stock could soon benefit from a big surge in Wall Street “smart money.”
It’s a system that shows you stock ratings of thousands of companies that trade on the U.S. market… built by a Wall Street legend who’s been profiled on CNBC for the accuracy of his predictions and recommendations.
The last time he used his system to issue a free recommendation, it went on to soar 100%.
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News for you, Peter
Today’s game
Trending now1. 
RJ Hamster 