Since I last wrote in March when it was nearing a 10% correction, the stock market today is clearly in a correction. By some measures, it has been a bear market (with NASDAQ down more than 20% in early April, for instance). So what would an investor do today? As in previous … [Read more...] about Dry powder investing helps me stay productive
MyPortfolio
My portfolio performance 2024
Yes, it is that time of the year when I compare my portfolio’s performance with the market indexes. For reference, see 2023’s results here. Usually, I start with my portfolio’s one-year relative performance. But then I also follow it with my oft-repeated refrain that … [Read more...] about My portfolio performance 2024
Should investors prefer dividend paying companies over others?
In a word, no. Why do I say that? In this post, I will share my thoughts on dividends payers. Across the universe of all publicly traded companies, I group them into three distinct buckets: (1) Companies that pay generous dividend today (>4%). Though they tend to have … [Read more...] about Should investors prefer dividend paying companies over others?
My magnificent six stocks
I just finished reading Semper Augustus’ 2023 shareholder letter. Chris Bloomstran, its well-known CIO, writes detailed annual letters. They are full of well-researched data and, while long, always make interesting read. This year’s letter was no different. About a half of it … [Read more...] about My magnificent six stocks
Amazon is now a 50-bagger for me
“Here’s how much you would have made in Amazon if you had invested $1000 ten years ago.” We often see such cheesy headlines in the financial press. So indulge me when I say this: It took 24 years for my first Amazon share purchase to become 50x its original cost. Unlike … [Read more...] about Amazon is now a 50-bagger for me
Year-end 2023 portfolio performance
What a difference a year makes! When I did my portfolio review for 2022, I was down by about a third in just one year, 12% worse performance than the S&P 500 index. Back then, I wrote that I lean toward an improving stock market in the following 12- to 24- months. Here we are … [Read more...] about Year-end 2023 portfolio performance
How can it be a bull market?
As I work on putting together my portfolio’s end-of-year performance review, I thought I’d drop a brief note on the state of the markets today. As of January 24th, the stock market has fully recovered from its 2022-23 drawdown (if we go by the S&P 500 price index). … [Read more...] about How can it be a bull market?
Not much going on
There is not much to do in investing these days. In fact, this whole year, I didn’t have many investing transactions. It has been that kind of year for me. One major reason why I didn’t have many stock buys this year is because I buy when the market is going down, not when it … [Read more...] about Not much going on
On my portfolio concentration
The S&P 500 is a popular index among US investors who prefer hands-off dollar cost averaging way to invest in stocks. It is a market cap weighted index which is perhaps the most suitable form of an index for passive investing. Why? Because it does not require any rebalancing … [Read more...] about On my portfolio concentration
Where is the market headed next?
The S&P 500 index reached its peak in January 2022 and then proceeded to fall through most of the remaining year. By June 2022, it had dropped 20% below its peak and thus officially entered a bear market. From there it went on to further decline, eventually reaching a bottom … [Read more...] about Where is the market headed next?