Portfolio Updates

Portfolio Update February 2023 – Portfolio Green Despite Market Red

Calvin Lo

So pleased that both stock portfolios were in the green last month, especially considering that market indices were in the red for the month. As far as I recall, having both portfolios in different colours than the market is pretty rare for me.

The market was pretty flat for the first half of Feb after a strong start to the year, and started to fall in the latter half of Feb after inflation readings from the US and other major economies were mostly higher than expected. High inflation seems to be stickier than expected, thus reinforcing the Fed’s stance on keeping interest rates higher for longer.

Personally, I don’t think the Fed will reaccelerate rate hikes just yet, but they will likely not take their foot off the gas just yet until inflation shows sustained decrease heading towards their 2% target (US CPI was 6.4% in Jan 2023).

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

In terms of cash management, I didn’t subscribe to last month’s SSB since the average 10Y yield was below 3%. However, SGS bond yields have been rising and the latest SSB for subscription this month yields a higher 10Y average of 3.15%. Since this is higher than 2 of my previous tranches of SSB, I might try to roll those over to this higher yielding one. I’d have to look again whether FD rates increase in tandem to decide whether to deploy additional cash there.

See also my SSB tracker for more info on SSBs.

Source: MAS

Family Portfolio

  • Value as at end February: S$172K
  • February performance: +2.3% vs SPX -4.1% vs NDX -3.4%
  • YTD performance: +13.4% vs SPX +2.9% vs NDX +9.1%
  • All-time performance (since Aug 2016): -4.2% (-2.0% including dividends)
  • January dividends: S$136 (+276% yoy)
  • Bought: VT, QQQ, ARKK, SGX:HST
  • Sold: NVDA
Family Portfolio as at 3rd Mar 2023

Besides the RSP into the 4 ETFs through FSMOne, the only other trade last month was to trim my position in Nvidia (NVDA).

Read my previous post on FSMOne: Automating Your Investments With FSMOne

NVDA stock has been surging so far this year, up ~63% YTD. Nvidia has benefitted from the increased focus on AI sparked by ChatGPT. Nvidia also seems to be the frontrunner in the Semiconductor space, possibly even ahead of AMD but definitely miles ahead of Intel.

However, the recent rally has pushed NVDA stock’s valuation sky-high again. NVDA is currently trading ~133x PE TTM and ~21x PS TTM. That’s pretty insane valuations in the current environment of rising interest rates and potential recession looming. So, I’ve trimmed from ~5% to 2.8% to manage risk of a large correction in NVDA stock price.

Source: Google

Syfe managed portfolios is currently valued at $5.3k, with regular monthly contributions of $200 into each of the Core Equity100 and REIT+ portfolios. Core Equity100 is still up slightly, but REIT+ is down quite a bit after the recent slide in REITs.

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

Source: Syfe app

Personal Portfolio

  • Value as at end February: S$35.3K
  • February performance: +13.0%
  • All-time performance (since July 2020): -6.1%
  • Bought: PLTR, SQQQ
  • Sold: TSLA, PLTR
Personal Portfolio as at 3rd Mar 2023

Tesla (TSLA) stock continued to rise last month, up +12%, but has fallen a bit after Tesla Investor Day which was held on 1st March. Declines in Palantir (PLTR) stock of around -6% for the month was offset by the rise in SQQQ of around +9%.

I’ve been selling TSLA stock on the way up, since I think the stock is overbought. With weak macro, I’m pretty confident TSLA will eventually pull back, which would give me an opportunity to average in to lower my cost basis (~USD 241).

Read my investment thesis on TSLA here.

I traded around PLTR and added to my position in SQQQ. I trimmed some PLTR ahead of earnings, but bought back after earnings impressed (despite the surge in stock price). The excitement was short-lived though, and PLTR has fallen back down. As for SQQQ, I’m averaging down my cost basis since VIX is still below 20 so I expect volatility to rear its ugly head again eventually.

How did your portfolio perform in February?

Follow me on Facebook, Telegram, Twitter and Youtube.

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.

Download my FREE Ebook: How to Start Investing in Stocks for Beginners

For more investing tips, visit my Guide page.

For more investing resources, see my Referrals page.

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links and I may get a commission when you click on the links or open an account through the links, at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products or services that I have personally tried and have found useful.