Portfolio Updates

Portfolio Update May 2022 – Back To Square One

Calvin Lo

Markets continued to slide in the first half of May, but staged a rebound in the latter half. By the end of the month, we were right where we started (referring to S&P 500; Nasdaq was down for the month). As I write this, the first US trading day of June doesn’t seem promising.

Source: Google

Inflation doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon. Fed chair Jerome Powell has conceded that and even Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen admitted she underestimated inflationary forces.

As I mentioned in my previous updates, I’m not invested into inflation hedges yet. My current strategy is to continue to hold ~20-25% cash and deploy slowly should the market continue to trend downwards.

Indeed if inflation remains stubborn and the Fed stays on their path of aggressive tightening, the risk of the US economy falling into recession increases. If so, the stock market should continue to fall. In this scenario (which is most likely in my mind), my growth-oriented portfolio will continue to bleed but at least I will have cash to deploy on the way down.

I’m not averse to inflation hedges and I’m seriously considering adding some in anticipation of sustained inflation and higher interest rate environment. At the moment, I’m favouring commodity-related stocks, defensive plays like consumer staples or healthcare stocks.

Banks and REITs might also hold up relatively well, but I’m already pretty comfortable with my exposure to these sectors through DBS bank, FLCT and Ascott REIT. I’ve also recently started funding a Syfe REIT+ portfolio, as part of my automation drive.

See my review of Syfe REIT+ here.

On a lighter note, last month we took another short trip to Penang. We stayed at Golden Sands Resort run by Shangri-la, which was much cheaper than staycation in Singapore. Flights were also pretty affordable. Also helps that Malaysian Ringgit has weakened quite a bit. Weather was brutally hot though.

See my portfolio holdings and strategy on my Portfolio page. I’ve included portfolio holdings and P&L charts that update in real-time.

Family Portfolio

  • May performance: -3.4% vs SPX -0.5% vs NDX -2.7%
  • YTD performance: -23.0% vs SPX -13.8% vs NDX -22.9%
  • All-time performance (since Aug 2016): -7.4% (-5.3% including dividends)
  • May dividends: S$21 (-84% yoy)
  • Bought: VT, QQQ, ARKK, HST
  • Sold: None

Automated purchases through FSMOne RSP into VT, ARKK and HST are fully set up. The only other purchase was QQQ, which I’ve not found an automated solution for (FSMOne doesn’t offer RSP for QQQ).

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

I’m still mulling a position Vanguard Value Index Fund (VTV) as a long term core holding, but have yet to pull the trigger. Guess I’m not fully convinced yet that it would add value to our portfolio.

Personal Portfolio

  • May performance: -11.3%
  • YTD performance: -22.8%
  • All-time performance (since July 2020): +6.1%
  • Bought: TSLA, PLTR
  • Sold: PLTR (put option assigned)

Tesla (TSLA) continued its declines, impacted by uncertainty over Elon Musk’s Twitter (TWTR) bid, Shanghai Gigafactory shutdown, and other FUD.

TSLA was down 14% for the month, so I continued to average down. TSLA didn’t quite reach my target buy range of $550-$600 where I’d consider buying more.

See my previous post on Tesla: Why I’m Loading Up On Tesla Stock

See my investment thesis on TSLA here.

Sold my first covered call this month on PLTR, which was doing fine until the day of expiry when PLTR surged past strike price. So, 100 shares of PLTR got called away. Not a big deal though, I might’ve just sold anyway since I think hyper-growth stocks will reverse again to the downside.

Not sure if I’ll go into options wheel strategy or just buy back my called shares and sell another covered call. My issue with options is the fees which are charged per contract with no cap (on Tiger brokers at least), so there’s no advantage in trading more contracts.

Social Portfolio

  • May performance: -0.25%
  • Last 30D realised P/L($): -$4.65 (-0.12%)
  • Check out my eToro account for trade activity: https://etoro.tw/3rLL9tX

Tried to make some short-term momentum trades on the Nasdaq 100 with mixed results. Not much luck trying to time the market here.

Might be looking at short-term plays along inflation theme in June as inflation really starts to stick. Let’s see.

How did your portfolio perform in May?

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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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2 thoughts on “Portfolio Update May 2022 – Back To Square One”

  1. My gut feel is that inflation in US is peaking these few months. Other parts of the world may take longer for inflation to peak.

    For a more stable & measured option, you can look into the Pacer Cash Cow 100 etf to complement your growth oriented portfolio. This etf focuses on FCF yield and balance sheet strength i.e. profitability & quality.

    1. Hopefully inflation has peaked. And thanks for the ETF suggestion I’ll take a look.

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