July 2024 Report

Why you really can’t hold a stock forever. A clear example is Intel, which was a dominant player in the late 90s and has now come crashing down. Although Apple continues to be my top holding, I am mindful that technology can change rapidly, and Apple may one day follow the way of Intel. Right now, I continue to be bullish on Apple and have no intention of reducing my holding. In July, Apple generated a gain of ~5.4%, which helped push my portfolio into positive territory. I continue to build cash (~10% position) from the income generated from selling options.

I got a bit more aggressive selling options to generate income, which is a warning sign. When I get complacent and start going big with selling options, you can bet that the market is going to go down big. Fortunately, I was unscathed by the recent volatility, but need to be more cautious and put on hedges with the option plays. One wrong move when selling naked options and it could be over.

I am on the recession camp and the signs are popping up everywhere. The big question is how severe the downturn will be. There are some great companies with big stock declines, but now is not the time to bottom fish. I would rather wait for an uptrend to get started before getting into the stock.

Stay safe out there…

 
2024 Performance = + 8.80% with the running monthly returns as follows:

January + 0.02%
February +0.99%
March – 0.33%
April - 3.07%
May + 5.16%
June + 3.52%
July + 2.42%