Q1 2026 Report

So here we go, another year. Instead of providing monthly updates, I’ll just update quarterly for now as things are a bit busy these days. For Q1, my portfolio generated a loss of -5.6%, which is not bad considering the market volatility. My core position remains the same with positions in Apple, Mastercard, Constellation Brands, Visa and Qiagen. Cash remains at ~ 10%.

I’m still aggressively selling puts and / or calls to generate income. I’ve changed my focus from individual tech stocks to a broader index. I’ve been mainly selling the ETF options: QQQ and SPY that expire daily. I really like the daily option expiration as I don’t need to worry about overnight risk. I just found out that trading index options (i.e. SPX, SPXW) have a nice tax advantage as they are closed out as 60% long term and 40% short term capital gains. This preferential tax treatment for the index options means more money in your pocket. I’ll mainly be trading these index options.

On to IPOs… I was quite surprised to see Space X is planning to go public this year. I have a tiny position purchased via a SPV at a $120 billion valuation so this will be a nice payout if they hit the $1.75 trillion valuation that is being talked about. I have no intention of selling any shares and plan to build up the position after the IPO. The things that this company can accomplish will be amazing.

2025 Year End Performance

As I reflect on 2025, it was one of the more difficult years as the averages literally ran circles around me. My portfolio generated a return of + 5.04%, which I am grateful for as the first half of the year was very challenging with negative returns. The position that really dragged down the portfolio was Constellation Brands, which generated a whopping negative return of - 37.57%. It didn’t help that my other positions just generated mediocre returns (Apple = +8.56%, Visa = +10.97%, Mastercard = +8.41% and Qiagen = -1.82%). This is what happens when you run a concentrated portfolio.

Looking into 2026, I am looking to diversity my portfolio with more of an income generating bent. Some of the newer ETF’s such as QQQI and SPYI are interesting. The problem right now is that everyone raves about them, and I just wonder what can go wrong. In the meantime, I’ll still be active with selling puts to generate some income.

This may finally be the year with some quality private companies coming to market. Some big ones coming to mind are SpaceX are Databricks, which are both generating strong cash flow. I can see both as core positions at some point.

So, looking at the past 14 years, I was able to generate a CAGR of 23.30%, which ticked down slightly from the previous year. I continue to try to target at least a 10% annual return going forward.

That is all I have, Have a healthy and prosperous New Year!

 
2025 Performance = +5.04% 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%
September +1.50%
October +2.84%
November +1.19%
December +0.44%
 
Annual performance for the past 14 years is as follows:

CAGR from 2012 to 2025 = 23.30%

 
2012 +61%
2013 +44.61%
2014 +29.47%
2015 +33.48%
2016 +14.61%
2017 +42.12%
2018 -4.11%
2019 +40.17%
2020 +32.81%
2021 +13.58%
2022 -14.14%
2023 +29.76%
2024 +20.74%
2025 +5.04%

Metsera CVR Play

I picked up some Metsera yesterday at an average price of $70.18. This company was a target of a bidding war between Pfizer and Novo Nordisk. Pfizer prevailed with an offer of $65.60 in cash plus a CVR worth up to $20.65 per share. The first milestone CVR payout is $4.60 for the initiation of a phase 3 trial of MET-097i plus MET-233i by the end of 2027, which is pretty much a given. The next CVR milestones payouts (totaling $16.05) are based on two separate FDA approvals, which is questionable. The way I look at this, I’m essentially getting a free play on the potential FDA approval payout. I like these kind of special situation plays.

October 2025 Report

This year has been one of my most challenging years as the market is running circles around me. I have been able to make some progress in the last three months with the portfolio up ~ 3.35% for the year. Not great as it is underperforming the S&P 500, but it is trending in a positive direction. Apple, Mastercard and Visa have come back to life whereas Constellation Brands is left for dead. Cash position remains a healthy ~ 10.5% as I continue to look for opportunities.

One thing that I reflect on is that as one gets older, your risk tolerance naturally becomes lower. It comes from experiences from my earlier days in which I almost blew up my account several times. Now, I cannot afford to take this kind of risk and start over.

 

I am looking to gradually reduce some of my concentrated positions and reallocate into a market index such as the S&P 500 and / or Nasdaq 100.

 

 

2025 Performance = +3.35% 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%
September +1.50%

October +2.84%

September 2025 Report

I’m finally back in the green with a whopping +0.50% gain for the year. It’s a hard game when you see the S&P 500 up ~ 18% and just running circles around you. I’m trying to be disciplined and not chase things at these levels. I’m still raising cash and just want to see how things evolve. I’m still holding tight on my core positions (Apple, Visa, Mastercard and Constellation Brands). Constellation Brands is a tough one to hold with what’s going on, but I just see this as a temporary blip.
 
At this point in my life, I’m just looking at the preservation of capital and not looking for any crazy outsized returns like my earlier days. Once you get to a certain point, you just want to start to derisk and not let a black swan event take you down.
 
 
2025 Performance = +0.50% 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%
September +1.50%

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%