Portfolio update - 2022 August 7

My top (>2%) positions in no particular order: BRKB, GOOG, META, PSHZF, AAPL
In:
Out:

Fixed income: 2%
Cash: 8%

Sectors (kinda): Insurance (BRK): 13%, Malone/media: 0%, Banks/financials: 7%, Stock funds: 9%, Industrial: 0%, Consumer: 1%, Medical/pharma: 2%, Tech: 38%, Various owner-operators (not included in other categories): 3%

New positions: DDOG, OPRX, DOCS, PANW, THQQF, SNOW, APO, COUP, ATVI,
Positions increased: NOW, THRY, XP, YELP, RBLX, MELI, CNNE, U, XBI, TTD, CPNG, MTCH, PX, PSHZF, ABNB, SHOP, GOOGL, INTU, DOCU, PUBM, AMZN, ETHE, JTKWY, RILY, KNBE, IWF, KARO
Positions reduced: VMW, ZEN
Positions eliminated: ADCOF, COST, PSTH
Flip-flop: ETSY, COIN, IAC, TWTR, ALGN, META, PINS, STNE

With large price swings, I bought and sold a lot. Not always in the best way. No significant changes in top positions.

Practically no action in the fixed income category. 

Sold PSTH without waiting for SPARs.

Lots of M&A activity. Sold most of positions in VMW and ZEN. Some flip flop with TWTR, mostly not profitable yet. Bought a position in ATVI. ATVI results are not good, so the stock may drop a lot if MSFT acquisition is not approved.

Sold ADCOF on bad results. Sold tiny position in COST.

Flip-flops were mostly in selling direction. Apart from META, I have way smaller positions in ETSY, COIN, IAC, PINS, STNE now. Selling in bear market is likely a mistake though. For example, COIN has now ran up way higher than where I sold it. I bought and then sold ALGN after they reported results.

Practically all purchases were based on attractive prices or adding on price drops. June reports from these companies have been mixed. Some are more attractive now, some are less, some have not reported yet.

THRY seems to be executing well. YELP too. MELI continues high growth. I liked ABNB report. KARO is growing well.

MTCH has some issues with Tinder business unit. I'm not particularly excited about new MTCH CEO, but planning to hold for now. I think they can do well.

Portfolio update - 2022 May 1

My top (>2%) positions in no particular order: BRKB, FB, GOOG, PSHZF, AAPL,
In:
Out:

Fixed income: 6%
Cash: 4%

Sectors (kinda): Insurance (BRK): 15%, Malone/media: 0%, Banks/financials: 7%, Stock funds: 12%, Industrial: 0%, Consumer: 1%, Medical/pharma: 2%, Tech: 38%, Various owner-operators (not included in other categories): 3%

New positions: FNKO, ASML, PX, LRCX
Positions increased: STNE, PINS, VEEV, MELI, COIN, CPNG, FB, DOCU, XBI, AMZN, RBLX, EXPI, GOOGL, RILY, ZM, TER, MRNA, SHOP, PAGS, TDOC, PUBM, CRM, BMBL, PSHZF, HLFFF, OTCM, FVRR, MGNI, THRY, ZIP, CURN, ETSY, MTCH, JTKWY,
Positions reduced: TTWO, MCO, TRRSF, COST, YELP, EXPE, TWTR
Positions eliminated: EAGRF, KD, NWINF, ZNGA, IBM, FICO, PLTK, BABA, BIOX, TCEHY, RDBBY, REGN, CRCT, FFXDF
Flip-flop:

Out of all the stocks growth or "value" (I don't hold many value stocks), the only three stocks that held up so far are BRKB, VRTX and V. Also PSTH, but that's pretty much cash equivalent. Crypto did not do well. Good funds did not do well. Most holding companies apart from BRKB did not do well.

Sold stocks due to lack of growth (RDBBY, CRCT, KD, IBM), not strong conviction (FFXDF, REGN), high valuations (MCO, TRRSF, COST), cleaning up portfolio (EAGRF), and political reasons (BABA, TCEHY). BIOX sold after merger announcement. TWTR sold after buyout announcement.

Out of the buys, GOOGL is probably the highest conviction buy at this time.

STNE needs to climb out of the hole it dug last year.

FB needs to split into two companies... or barring that to refocus on the growth of the non-meta businesses. 

ASML, LRCX, PX are currently small/tracking positions.

Some growth stocks listed as purchases are still expensive and I added mostly small adds at possibly not great prices.  

 

Portfolio update - 2022 January 3

My top (>2%) positions in no particular order: BRKB, FB, GOOG, PSHZF, AAPL,
In:
Out:

Fixed income: 6%
Cash: 6%

Sectors (kinda): Insurance (BRK): 12%, Malone/media: 0%, Banks/financials: 6%, Stock funds: 11%, Industrial: 0%, Consumer: 1%, Medical/pharma: 1%, Tech: 39%, Various owner-operators (not included in other categories): 4%

New positions: ZEN, TER, ATY, ACHR, BMBL, ZIP, KD, IBM, DOCU
Positions increased: FB, KARO, GOOG, STNE, PINS, PLTK, V, IAC, POSH, PAGS, ZM, FICO, VMW, TWTR, CPNG, XBI, AMZN, VEEV, COIN
Positions reduced: ETSY, RDBBY, CURN, JPM, EXPE
Positions eliminated: ANGI, HMLPRA, MNTV, DIS, MGI, DISCK, VIAC, BKNG, NTES, EXXRF, KKR, WLDBF, LBRDA, EEFT, NTDOY, CBOE, FSPHX, IWO, MITK, IDXX, PWFL, ROP, SABR, QLYS, PETQ, BOX
Flip-flop: ATUS (sold), NWINF (kept), PSFE (sold), ANCTF (sold)

2021 IRR ~15.76%. The "growth" account that smashed 2020 had 2021 IRR of ~1.2%

Lessons from 2021:
- Buying/hodling growth at any price does not work (that's the account with 1.2% return in 2021 )
- Holding cash/cash equivalent SPACs in bull market does not work ( -3% in the account that held mostly SPACs/PSTH + some other stuff )
- AAPL/BRK/GOOGL/FB still worked, so KISS would have worked ( 28% return in account that had majority of money in these companies ).

Somewhat unexpected returns: subpar AMZN, ADSK, LBRDA (sold), MA, V.

BRK beat the index (for a change).

Other positive contributions: BAM, CNSWF, COST (large runup, tiny position), DFS (sold), DPZ (large runup, tiny position, sold), INTU, JPM (sold), MCO, NVDA, OTCM (large runup), TOITF, TRRSF.

International indexes still underperformed hugely - is this the longest international underperformance ever? Similar to value-vs-growth underperformance.

PSHZF midteens performance - somewhat expected - still hodling.

Too many stocks -50% (that's minus 50%) to mention.

My 401(k) which is 40% US indexes, 40% international, 20% bonds returned 16%. So pretty much the same as my active portfolio, but way worse than SP500 since international and bonds/cash underperformed hugely.

Did a large portfolio cleanup at year-end/new-year. Still work in progress. There will be a lot more changes.

Buys: almost everything is a value/valuation add. There's one company that's a tracking position. Can anyone spot it?

Sells: a mix of valuation, low conviction, and too-much-effort-to-keep-track sales. Almost all stocks sold might do well. Might be interesting to track their performance and compare to index or to my remaining portfolio.

Portfolio Update - 2021 September 21

My top (>2%) positions in no particular order: BRKB, FB, GOOG, PSHZF, AAPL,
In:
Out:
 
Fixed income: 7%
Cash: 2%

Sectors (kinda): Insurance (BRK): 11%, Malone/media: 2%, Banks/financials: 5%, Stock funds: 11%, Industrial: 0%, Customer: 2%, Medical/pharma: 2%, Tech: 40%, Various owner-operators (not included in other categories): 4%

Impact investing: 23%

New positions: VIAC, KARO, REGN, ADCOF, LEMLF, MGI, NTDOY, PLTK, MNTV, QDEL
Positions increased: AMD, GOOG, ANCUF, FB, RILY, PINS, ANGI, TTWO, RDBBY, DISCK, PSTH, CNNE, ZNGA, YELP, COIN, QLYS, ABNB, RBLX, BABA, PROSY, EXPE, STNE, VRTX 
Positions reduced: NTES, SABR, TCEHY,
Positions eliminated: HTZZ, MG, DFS, MSPAF,
Flip-flop: HMLPPRA, LEAT

With HMLP facing contract lawsuit and refinancing problems, HMLPPRA dropped and then bounced back. I bought more on drop and then sold on bounce.

Bought a bit more PSTH before the announcement that the SPAC deal plans are essentially dead.

Mostly reduced positions in Chinese companies (NTES, TCEHY). Partially replaced them by buying some PROSY and BABA.

Sold low conviction and not very attractive expected return positions in HTZZ, MG, DFS, MSPAF.

Sold some SABR and replaced with a bit of EXPE.

Bought small tracking positions in KARO, ADCOF, LEMLF, MNTV, QDEL.

Bought NTDOY, PLTK and added to ZNGA, TTWO in gaming area.

Bought VIAC and added to DISCK in media area.

Bought REGN and added to VRTX in pharma/biotech area.

Added to AMD, GOOG, ANCUF, FB, RILY, PINS, ANGI, RDBBY, CNNE, YELP, COIN, QLYS, ABNB, RBLX, STNE. Bought initial position in MGI.

I am planning to increase the percentage of my portfolio that corresponds to "impact" investing, i.e. investing in the companies that I believe contribute to the progress and improvement of our civilization. This is completely subjective evaluation. The change may be slow. I will be looking for the attractive returns even when buying "impact" companies.

Portfolio Update - 2021 July 24

My top (>2%) positions in no particular order: BRKB, FB, GOOG, PSHZF, AAPL,
In:
Out:
 
Fixed income: 7%
Cash: 6%

Sectors (kinda): Insurance (BRK): 11%, Malone/media: 2%, Banks/financials: 5%, Stock funds: 10%, Industrial: 0%, Customer: 1%, Medical/pharma: 1%, Tech: 39%, Various owner-operators (not included in other categories): 4%

New positions: MITK, ETHE, KKR, GRUB, EEFT, BOX, CNNE, NWINF, ANCUF, BIOX
Positions increased: AMZN, THRY, TOITF, BACPRL, PSTH, ZNGA, ETSY, RILY, PROSY, SABR, TTWO, ANGI, DISCK, 
Positions reduced: EXPE, MG, DFS, MCO, OTCM
Positions eliminated: GNLPRA/GNLPRB, INNPRE, ICE, SPCX
Flip-flop: TRTNPRC/TRTNPRD

In fixed income area, I sold a lot of preferred's ( GNLPRA/GNLPRB, INNPRE ) and added a bit of BACPRL. The prices have gone up mostly and yields are not very attractive.

I sold/reduced EXPE, DFS, MCO, OTCM, ICE. These are good to great companies that possibly should be kept in the portfolio, but I thought that the projected return was not very attractive.

I sold tracking position in SPCX and reduced MG position.

I bought small positions in MITK, ETHE, KKR, GRUB, EEFT, BOX, BIOX.

I bought medium positions in CNNE, NWINF and ANCUF. All three companies are trading at pretty attractive valuations and may offer reasonable forward return.

Bought PSTH on UMG deal announcement. Will keep it now at close to the trust value.

Added to AMZN. Added to THRY, TOITF, ZNGA, ETSY, RILY, PROSY, SABR, TTWO, ANGI, DISCK at pretty attractive valuations.

 

 

Portfolio Update - 2021 May 31

My top (>2%) positions in no particular order: BRKB, FB, GOOG, PSHZF, AAPL,
In:
Out:
 
Fixed income: 7%
Cash: 7%

Sectors (kinda): Insurance (BRK): 12%, Malone/media: 2%, Banks/financials: 5%, Stock funds: 10%, Industrial: 1%, Customer: 1%, Medical/pharma: 1%, Tech: 36%, Various owner-operators (not included in other categories): 3%

New positions: IIVI, PAGS, PETQ, PINS, IDXX, QLYS, ETSY, JAMFX, RBLX, ABNB, NOW, POSH, DISCK, LEAT, PUBM, HLFFF
Positions increased: SABR, GOOG, TOITF, WMICX, CPNG, MELI, AMD, VEEV,
Positions reduced: BRKB, MCO, MORN, V, BKNG, EXPE, DFS, OSSIF, RMD, AYRWF, MG, BABA, VMEO
Positions eliminated: NICE, FISV, PMD
Flip-flop: ANGI, EXPI

Sold NICE, FISV and PMD due to reduced return expectations. Sold some BKNG, EXPE, DFS, RMD, AYRWF, MG due to reduced return expectations.

Sold some ANGI as it ran up and then bought back as it dropped.

Sold some BRKB, MCO, MORN, V due to taxable portfolio management reasons. 

Sold some BABA due to increased risks and likely lower growth.

Sold most VMEO after spin off from IAC.

Bought initial EXPI position, but then sized down.

Added SABR on valuation. Added to GOOG, TOITF, CPNG, MELI, AMD, VEEV at OKish valuations.

Bought initial positions in IIVI, PAGS, PETQ, QLYS, POSH, LEAT, HLFFF at somewhat attractive valuations. Bought positions in ETSY, NOW and PUBM. Bought a medium size position in PINS on a drop.

Bought initial position in DISCK to follow through the merger with Time Warner assets.

Bought tracking positions in IDXX, RBLX and ABNB.

 

Portfolio update - April 11, 2021

My top (>2%) positions in no particular order: BRKB, FB, PSHZF, AAPL, GOOG,
In:
Out:
 
Fixed income: 8%
Cash: 8%

Sectors (kinda): Insurance (BRK): 13%, Malone/media: 1%, Banks/financials: 7%, Stock funds: 9%, Industrial: 1%, Medical/pharma: 2%, Tech: 32%, Various owner-operators (not included in other categories): 3%

New positions:  RDBBY, ZNGA, DPZ, WLDBF, COST, FISV, SABR, PWFL, XBI, CPNG, CRCT
Positions increased: GOOGL, SHOP, VRTX, PSHZF, MELI, BABA, TTWO, MLSPF, V, ETSY
Positions reduced: MG, CHEK, PMD, DFS
Positions eliminated: MACE
Flip-flop: BIOX

I sold and reduced MG, CHEK, PMD, DFS, MACE mostly based on valuation considerations.

Added to GOOGL, VRTX, PSHZF, MELI, BABA, TTWO, MLSPF, V, ETSY at attractive valuations and to SHOP at unattractive valuation.

Bought positions in RDBBY, ZNGA, DPZ, WLDBF, COST, FISV, SABR, PWFL, CPNG, CRCT at so so valuations. Bought a position in XBI to track biotechs into which I don't have expertise to invest directly.

The above writeup misses a lot of SPACs and SPAC warrants which I decided not to discuss. SPACs are mostly held as cash equivalents (but not included in cash percentage above). SPAC warrants are held as long term options that may or might not have much value. In toto recently SPACs and warrants dropped from purchase prices and below $10 tentative cash value.