Portfolio Updates

Portfolio Update August 2022 – The Bear Is Back!

Calvin Lo

Fed chair Jerome Powell’s speech at Jackson Hole on 26 Aug brought the market back down to earth. It wasn’t all him though. The stock market had already peaked on 16 Aug and was already on the decline. Powell just helped to cement the downtrend. S&P 500 peaked at ~4,300 around mid Aug but ended the month just below 4,000. We got our answer that the rally since July was indeed a sucker’s rally.

Not that there weren’t signs of cracks even during the rally. Many market commentators on radio and social media were warning that this was probably a bear market rally. Hedgies were also cutting, most notably Michael Burry who sold off almost all his stocks except for a little known company (at least to me) called Geo Group.

The situation in China doesn’t look rosy either. Many have turned bearish on China. Ray Dalio, another notable investor and a China bull, sold many of his Chinese stocks including Alibaba. Similarly, SoftBank also sold off their Alibaba stake but it might be due to cash-raising rather than company fundamentals.

With the rally fizzling out and turning back to bearish, I’ll continue to hold onto most of my cash pile while waiting for prices to go lower. Monthly DCA will continue but other than that I probably won’t be making any big moves.

On Singapore Savings Bond (SSB), I’ve finally fully deployed our $40K over 3 months since July. The breakdown is $18K July issue, $9K August issue, and $13K September issue.

See my previous posts on SSB:

Here’s a snapshot of our SSB holdings and expected interest we will earn for the duration of the bond (10 years) from MAS SSB portal, link here.

MAS SSB portal

See my portfolio value, holdings, and strategy on my Portfolio page.

Family Portfolio

  • Value as at end August: S$157K
  • August performance: +2.1% vs SPX -4.2% vs NDX -5.2%
  • YTD performance: -17.9% vs SPX -17.6% vs NDX -25.6%
  • All-time performance (since Aug 2016): -5.2% (-3.1% including dividends)
  • August dividends: S$46 (-43% yoy)
  • Bought: VT, QQQ, ARKK, HST, SE
  • Sold: None
Family Portfolio as at 5th Sep 2022

I added a bit to my existing position in Sea Ltd (SE) after they reported disappointing earnings. Sea is trying hard to reduce expenses and focus on profitability. Risk has definitely increased with revenue growth slowing and profits declining for the gaming arm Garena, and that’s reflected in part in the lower valuation. See my full thoughts on Sea’s earnings here.

Automated purchases of around S$2K through FSMOne will continue into 4 ETFs – VT, QQQ, ARKK and HST. Scheduled transfers for Syfe Equity100 and REIT+ portfolios at $200/month each will also continue.

See my previous posts on FSMOne: Automating Your Investments With FSMOne and FSMOne RSP Update.

See my reviews of Syfe REIT+ and Syfe Core Equity100.

Personal Portfolio

  • Value as at end August: S$35.4K
  • August performance: -8.0%
  • YTD performance: -19.6%
  • All-time performance (since July 2020): +15.2%
  • Bought: SQQQ, TSLA
  • Sold: TSLA
Personal Portfolio as at 5th Sep 2022

I sold some Tesla (TSLA) in the run up to its 3-for-1 stock split on 25 Aug, in anticipation of profit-taking post-split. Indeed TSLA started on its current downtrend around 10 days before the split took effect. I bought some back recently, and I’ll be looking to backfill the TSLA shares I sold in the coming weeks on any price weakness.

See my investment thesis on TSLA here.

I also added to my existing position in SQQQ to hedge the risk of the rally fizzling out. SQQQ and SARK have helped to dampen the declines and will continue to do so if the market slides further.

Did you make any moves in August?

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Disclaimer: This is not financial advice. I am not professional financial advisor nor do I work in the finance industry. Anything I write here is purely my personal opinion. Please do your own research and due diligence before investing into anything. All investments come with associated risks. Best to consult a financial advisor if you’re still unsure.

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