April 2017 Performance

April was almost a replay of March in which many of the holdings contributed to the positive performance of +4.34%. I will start off with the negatives, which can be summed up with my position in Time Inc (Ticker: TIME). I took a ~5% loss on the position (~6% holding), which in hindsight was the correct move. Last week Time Inc. decided not to sell itself resulting in a ~17% decline. It’s never easy to take a loss, but it’s just part of this game…

Now onto the positives… Many of my large long positions: Apple (Ticker: AAPL), VISA (Ticker: V) and Constellation Brands (Ticker: STZ) performed well. Constellation Brands reported good numbers and an boosted its dividend payout resulting in a nice pop in the stock. Apple and VISA headed to new highs with the market. The position that had the most impact was Syngenta (Ticker: SYT) (~26% position), which finally received the required regulatory approvals and is moving towards a May close.

After Syngenta closes, I won’t have any merger arb / special situation plays, which would be odd! I am doing some work on some merger arb / special situation plays and hoping to initiate some position(s) soon…

In summary, I’m pleased with my year to date performance considering how January turned out. I’ll continue to play it relatively conservative for the remainder of the year. Last year, my performance suffered in the second half of the year as I entered into a couple of large positions that blew up so I’ve learned my lesson.

2017 Performance Year to Date = +15.39% with the running monthly returns as follows:

January -4.50%
February +10.18%
March +5.1%

April +4.34%