Sunday, July 05, 2020

June 2020 Performance

I guess as the number of Covid-19 cases go up, the market follows in lock step. Seriously, the Fed pumped so much liquidity in the market. You simply cannot fight the Fed in this environment. I still continue my cautious stance with a ~ 15% cash position. It’s starting to be challenging to stay in cash when it’s earning you nothing. I’ll remain disciplined and will wait for better opportunities to show up.


I’ve been experimenting with selling way out of the money weekly puts to try to generate some income. It is a somewhat risky strategy as a black swan event on one of these positions can literally blow you up. I’m just playing it small and just trying to get a feel with this strategy.


Not much on the merger arb space. It is interesting that a top shareholder is questioning the rationale of Qiagen’s takeover by Thermo Fisher at the price of 39 Euros. I also share the same view and will not tender my Qiagen shares for 39 Euros. I believe Qiagen is better offer as an independent company in this environment. I’m sure other shareholders have a similar view. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out. 

 

I’m starting to do some work on some going private China plays such as 58.com. I’m only focusing on the ones that have definitive agreements in place. It’s not something I’ll go big in, but they generally offer a very attractive annualized returns.


That’s it for the June. Amazing that we’re already mid-way through the year.

 

2020 YTD Performance = +7.2% with the running monthly returns as follows:

January +2.7%
February -6.8%
March -9.9%

April +12.3%

May +6.6%

June +3.8%


6 Comments:

At July 07, 2020, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi MT,
Are you selling OTM puts in big tech or the stocks you own? I have been selling some in software and have been lucky, since they are performing very nicely lately.
Thanks

 
At July 09, 2020, Blogger Money Turtle said...

I've been mainly selling OTM puts on big tech companies.

 
At July 17, 2020, Anonymous Anonymous said...

MT,

One must realize that Ca$h is an asset. Even though you may earn little to nothing in interest, when caSh is deloyed at the right strategic time, the potential yield will make up for the past idle time. Ca$h is a very confident asset class to hold.

Considering there is Operation Warp Speed by Us Govt. in play, are you intrigued by any vaccine makers and their potential solutions whether it be old school or new school (mrna) process that you have your eye on or are wiling to take a small flyer on?



Thanks

 
At July 17, 2020, Blogger Money Turtle said...

I have a small position in Sanofi, which is collaborating with GlaxoSmithKline on the Covid-19 vaccine. It will be companies like Sanofi and Glaxo that can produce high volume vaccine. They are already two of the largest flu vaccine manufacturers in the world.

Moderna is interesting, but it looks like their vaccine will require a second booster. That will be a problem. People will want a one and done vaccine.

 
At July 17, 2020, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Mt,

Good to know who your vaccine ponies are. Why did you over look the Astrazenenca (AZN) and Oxford University platform? Results of the study will be published on Monday and will include results from the vaccine trial that generates both antibodies and killer T-cells, as a double defense. We have also read that AZN may have used a variant from its MERS solution. AZN has also lined up mass production capabilities once it earns the green light.
We must admit the US Govt. Operation Warp Speed has certainly stimulated competition among all of the players, big and small and dangled big monetary incentives. Its funny what a little clean money will do.


Thanks.

 
At July 18, 2020, Anonymous Anonymous said...

MT,

Astrazeneca Oxford University vaccine platform background.


U.S. Seals Deal with AstraZeneca for 300 Million Doses of Potential Coronavirus Vaccine
By pledging up to $1.2 billion in assistance, the Department of Health and Human Services has ensured its access to a large supply of the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine -- assuming it works.

https://www.fool.com/investing/2020/05/21/us-seals-deal-with-astrazeneca-for-300-million-dos.aspx


Thanks

 

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