October 2015 Performance

When I calculated my return for October, I thought I made a calculation error. Everything kind of clicked… The growth stocks and merger arb plays performed well. I’ll take it...

In terms of the growth stock portion of my portfolio, Constellation Brands (Ticker: STZ) once again delivered solid earnings and is trading near its highs. This is also my largest holding making up ~ 26% of my portfolio. Other companies such as Visa (Ticker: V) and MasterCard (Ticker: MA) have also performed well and are also at new highs. And don’t forget about the biotechs such as Vertex Pharmaceuticals (Ticker: VRTX) and Regeneron (Ticker: REGN), which made a nice little bounce from the recent biotech sell off.

The merger arb plays are holding steady gains. The only position that closed in October was Dealertrack. I was fortunate enough to get in the day before the regulators approved the deal. That was just plain luck! I also traded aggressively around some of the pre-merger plays such as Molson Coors (Ticker: TAP), SanDisk (Ticker: SNDK) and Maxim Integrated Products (Ticker: MXIM). My current merger arb portfolio is made up of the following: Altera (Ticker: ALTR), AirMedia (Ticker: AMCN), BioMed Realty Trust (Ticker: BMR), Integrated Silicon Solution (Ticker: ISSI), WuXi Pharmatech (Ticker: WX) and Rite Aid Pharmacy (Ticker: RAD).

I’ll be keeping a close eye on Integrated Silicon Solution next week (CFIUS decision due by November 2^nd) and looking forward to the closing of WuXi Pharmatech sometime in December.

2015 Performance Year to Date = +29.68% with the running monthly returns as follows:

January +3.4%
February +7.03%
March -0.33%
April +0.39%
May +5.59%
June -1.2%
July +5.48%
August -0.89%
September -4.89%

October +12.90%