August 2025 Report

August was a strong month with Apple rallying ~ 11% after the tariff resolution. This had a positive impact with my portfolio, but I’m still negative ~ 1% for the year. With Apple, you just have to hold on for the ride. The stickiness of the Apple ecosystem is really unbelievable. I really don’t know what will take for me to leave the Apple ecosystem. It’s almost like a utility company in which everyone just simply needs it.

I’m still messing with naked short options but getting more cautious as we head into the seasonally volatile period. The dangers of naked shorts can be seen in Apple’s recent rally, which caught many people off guard. I was considering initiating short calls on Apple right before the rally, which would have generated some hefty losses. I’ll continue to play this game but will size my positions much smaller. I’ll reduce the use of margin buying power from ~ 80% to ??? (it’ll definitely be smaller).

Let’s see if I can end the year in the green…

 
2025 Performance = - 0.99% with the running monthly returns as follows:
 
January - 2.61%
February + 2.79%
March – 4.16%
April - 1.67%
May + 0.07%
June - 0.96%
July + 0.31%
August +5.57%

July 2025 Report

The market remains challenging unless you are invested in the mega cap tech companies. I managed to squeeze out a small gain for July, but I am still down for the year. I’m still maintaining a cash position of 11% and plan to continue to increase it overtime. At this stage of my life, preservation of capital and income generation has become a top priority.

As I review my stagnant portfolio, I like to focus of the Yield on Cost (YOC). This really shows the power of dividend compounding overtime. I’ve been plowing all of the dividends back into stock repurchase. At some point, I’ll stop reinvesting the dividends and just live off of it.

Here’s a current view of my portfolio’s Yield on Cost:
 

Company	Yield on Cost
Apple	4.86%
Visa	7.39%
Constellation Brands	6.06%
Mastercard	5.94%
Qiagen	5.05%

 
 
2025 Performance = - 6.21% with the running monthly returns as follows:
 
January - 2.61%
February + 2.79%
March – 4.16%
April - 1.67%
May + 0.07%
June - 0.96%
July + 0.31%

June 2025 Report

I totally forgot about posting my dreadful June performance as I was away on vacation. June generated a decline of -0.96%, which was attributed to a decline in Visa, Mastercard and Constellation Brands. Apple did appreciate by ~ 2%, but it was not enough to carry the portfolio into the positive territory. I continue to build the cash position (now ~ 11%) by aggressively selling options. In my younger years, I used to say to myself that cash was trash and was often maxed out on margin. Now I value how cash can bring stability to a portfolio, especially with cash yielding ~ 4%.

Nice to see that Blueprint Medicines closed according to plan. I didn't go big, just a relatively small position to get back into the M&A game. I used to be very aggressive with M&A plays until there was a fundamental change in FTC leadership. Now with the new administration, it looks like regulatory risk is diminished and back to normal. 

Earnings season is around the corner and looking forward to see how the market reacts…
 

2025 Performance = - 6.5% with the running monthly returns as follows:
 
January - 2.61%
February + 2.79%
March – 4.16%
April -1.67%
May +0.07%
June -0.96%

Sarepta Therapeutics - Just Wow

This Sarepta news is simply mind blowing. Just when you thought it was all clear with a “black box” warning for its gene therapy product Elevidys and a massive restructuring, everything hits the fan. A third patient death was just revealed, and now the FDA is instructing the company to halt shipment of Elividys and they are refusing the order. I do not see how the company gets out of this one.

I have been tempted many times to dabble into an option position in Sarepta with its high premiums, but news like this will simply destroy you if you are on the wrong side. It seems like black swan events are an everyday day occurence with this company.

Blueprint Medicines Merger Arb

Back in the merger arb game by picking up some Blueprint Medicines (~ 7% position), which is being acquired by Sanofi for $129 in cash plus a cvr of up to $6.00. The stock is currently trading at ~ $127.79, which gives you an annualized returnn of 5 – 6%. Not great in terms of annualized return, but I am playing this for the free cvr. I’m modeling this deal to close at the end of July. I don’t see any regulatory issues.

Regulatory / Closing Timeline (updated based on the tender offer filing):

1) US - HSR filed on 6/9, waiting period expires on 7/9

2) Australian Federal Cartel Act filed on 6/10, waiting period expires by 7/8

3) Germany Federal Cartel Office filed on 6/10, clearance by 7/10.

4) Italy filed for foreign notification on 6/9 with an anticipated review within 45 days.

5) Tender Offer expires on 7/16.

May 2025 Report

It’s still really hard to have the conviction to initiate long term positions in this market with the tariff overhang. I’m just maintaining my current cash position at ~ 10% and just waiting for opportunities to present itself. Visa and Mastercard are both doing well in this environment, which makes sense as they are relatively immune to inflation. If stuff cost more, they simply will get a bigger cut of the transaction. Early in the crypto days, there were talk that blockchain was going to displace credit card transactions, which has not happened. I have considered trimming Visa and Mastercard as everyone is targeting their “anticompetitive” pricing, but I’ll probably hang on to a full position based on a bank friendly administration. These days, policy decisions can change very quickly so need to consider all of the risks.
 
 
2025 Performance = - 5.59% with the running monthly returns as follows:

January - 2.61%
February + 2.79%
March – 4.16%
April -1.67%
May +0.07%

IRA Mistake

I can’t believe I overlooked the strategy of selling covered calls in an IRA account. All these years I’ve been selling options in my non-retirement account. I did not even pop into my mind until I stumbled onto a YouTuber, who was doing it. One of my larger holdings in my retirement account is Apple so I should be able to generate a few dollars and probably just reinvest those into Apple. I really don’t care if it’s called away since there are no tax consequences, and I’ll just buy it back. You always learn something new in this game…

April 2025 Report

To say the least, it’s been a challenging year. April was one of the less volatile months with a loss of only 1.67%. I’m still sitting on ~ 10% cash and waiting for good values to develop. I see a retest of the recent lows and that may be a good time to nibble a bit. It’s hard to see this market making any new highs anytime soon with these rates and elevated inflation. 

I focus primarily on dividend paying stocks these days as this is how you really generate positive long-term returns. You have to reinvest the dividends and allow it time to compound. Over the long term, ~40% of the gain is generated from the dividends. The large pharma sector looks very appealing with the high dividend yields. Of course, you have a bit of unknowns with potential tariffs and a less than market friendly FDA head. Pfizer looks interesting with a 7.7% dividend yield, but the stock price is back to the 1997 level. Just have to wonder how safe the dividend is even though the company has committed to maintaining it.

Started selling naked short puts again after a brief break. As witnessed from the recent downturn, an increase in implied volatility can work for and against your options positions. Fortunately, I had low options exposure during the market downturn. I would have been cooked if I had full sized positions. In any case, I still enjoy picking up pennies in front of the steam roller.
 

2025 Performance = - 5.66% with the running monthly returns as follows:

January - 2.61%
February + 2.79%
March – 4.16%
April -1.67%