Portfolio Update August, 2019

As of August 2019, our combined portfolios are back to where they were in August of last year. This is mostly in line with VTI (Vanguard US market ETF) which was up about 3% and VEU (non US market ETF which was up about 1%).

Below are stocks to consider selling prior to the new purchases:

Portfolio One:

• Nnvidia (NVDA) – the once high flying chipmaker stock is hit with slowing growth
• Equinor (EQNR) – former Statoil is a Norwegian oil company hit by falling price of their currency and anti-oil sentiment in their own country

Portfolio Three:

• Baidu (BIDU) – Chinese search engine less relevant in mobile era and new investments not yet paying off
• Nnvidia (NVDA) – the once high flying chipmaker stock is hit with slowing growth
• ConocoPhillips (COP) – US oil company hit by lower energy prices and relatively smaller footprint

Portfolio Four:

• Equinor (EQNR) – former Statoil is a Norwegian oil company hit by falling price of their currency and anti-oil sentiment in their own country
• Nnvidia (NVDA) – the once high flying chipmaker stock is hit with slowing growth
• Box (BOX) – US SAAS provider not yet acquired by larger company and hit by recent earnings miss
• Oracle (ORCL) – very well run and doing huge stock by back but trends running against this on premise software stock
• Westpac (WBK) – Australian bank hit with tough regulatory, business, and real estate impacts

Portfolio Five:

• Baidu (BIDU) – Chinese search engine less relevant in mobile era and new investments not yet paying off
• Juniper (JNPR) – US networking company not yet taken over.  Reasonably well run with dividend but in a difficult space
• ConocoPhillips (COP) – US oil company hit by lower energy prices and relatively smaller footprint
• Westpac (WBK) – Australian bank hit with tough regulatory, business, and real estate impacts

Portfolio Six:

• Baidu (BIDU) – Chinese search engine less relevant in mobile era and new investments not yet paying off
• Nnvidia (NVDA) – the once high flying chipmaker stock is hit with slowing growth
• ConocoPhillips (COP) – US oil company hit by lower energy prices and relatively smaller footprint

Portfolio Eight:

• Nnvidia (NVDA) – the once high flying chipmaker stock is hit with slowing growth

Portfolio Five Updated May 2019

Portfolio Five is almost 10 years old.  The beneficiary contributed $5000 and the trustee $10,000 for a total of $15,000.  The current value is $18,510 for a gain of $3,510 or 23% which is 23.8% adjusted for the timing of cash flows.  You can see details here or on the link on the right.

Prior to making purchases in the summer of 2019 we will look at selling Baozun (BZUN), General Motors (GM), Gilead Sciences (GILD), Juniper Networks (JNPR), and Baidu (BIDU).

Portfolio Three Updated May 2019

Portfolio Three is almost 12 years old.  The beneficiary contributed $6000 and the trusted $12,000 for a total of $18,000.  The current value is $22,338 for a gain of $4,338 or 24%, which is 3.3% / year when adjusted for the timing of cash flows.  See the details here or go to the links on the left.

We will look at selling Smart Global Holdings (SGH), Nvidia (NVDA) and Baidu (BIDU) prior to making our summer 2019 purchases.

Stocks on Watch, Summer 2019

As part of our investing round for the summer of 2019, we are looking at stocks to consider selling. The following stocks are on that list:

• Baidu (BIDU) – they recently had their first loss and are way down
• Baozun (BZUN) – stock performance far down, likely impacted by China / US trade disputes
• Electronic Arts (EA) – far down with recent low performing franchise entries and hit by rise of Fortnite and mobile gaming
• Gilead (GILD) – has not moved in years
• General Motors (GM) – at risk with China / US trade disputes, automotive is a cyclical industry
• Juniper (JNPR) – just kind of there, not growing, haven’t been taken over yet
• Nvidia (NVDA) – went from huge growth to little / no growth
• Smart Global Holdings (SGH) – missed earnings and hit hard
• Equinor (EQNR) – formerly Statoil. Not moving much in years

In general will look to consolidate down the total # of stocks in the portfolio and will want to re-buy from the 2019 purchase list (to come) which will also include some stocks already in the one of the 8 existing portfolios.

Portfolio Five Updated December 2018

Portfolio Five is 9 years old.  The beneficiary contributed $5000 and the trustee $10,000 for a total of $15,000.  The current value is $17,439 for a gain of $2,439 or 16% which is 2.7% adjusted for the timing of cash flows.  You can see details here or on the link on the right.

With the recent market performance we have several stocks on watch:

• Alibaba (BABA) – at about 70% of its 52 week peak, has been hit by slow down in China and also a possible previous over-valuation in software stocks
• Baozun (BZUN) – a Chinese e-commerce enablement fun has gone down recently tied to a slow down in growth for China overall.   On watch
• Baidu (BIDU) – another Chinese internet company down about 30% off its peak.  Will watch like Alibaba, above
• General Motors (GM) – has fallen about 20% recently and taken hard steps including layoffs to get ahead of slowing car demand

Portfolio Three Updated December 2018

Portfolio Three is 11 years old.  The beneficiary contributed $6000 and the trusted $12,000 for a total of $18,000.  The current value is $21,710 for a gain of $3,710 or 21%, which is 2.9% / year when adjusted for the timing of cash flows.  See the details here or go to the links on the left.

There are a few stocks we are looking at in the current market environment:

• Nvidia (NVDA) – another former high flyer, this chip maker was buoyed by crypto mining and is down about 50% off its 52 week high, although it still has strong cash flow.  Will watch, may sell
• Alibaba (BABA) – at about 70% of its 52 week peak, has been hit by slow down in China and also a possible previous over-valuation in software stocks
• Facebook (FB) – it has been a bad year for Facebook and the stock is down about 30% off its highs.  Still strong financial performance, will watch
• Baidu (BIDU) – another Chinese internet company down about 30% off its peak.  Will watch like Alibaba, above
• ABB (ABB) – European industrial conglomerate which has fallen about 20% since we’ve bought it

Portfolio Six Updated August 2018

Portfolio 6 is six years old.  The beneficiary contributed $3000 and the trustee $6000 for a total of $9000.  The current value is $11,172 for a gain of $2,172 or a gain of 24%, which is 6.2% / year over the life of the account.  To see details go here or to the link on the right.

There are a few stocks on watch right now:

• Baozun (BZUN)- the Chinese ecommerce company is down with the overall Chinese market, about 20% off its high.  Has still done well this year overall
• Elbit Systems (ESLT) – the Israeli defense contractor that recently bought the maker of Uzi is down about 20% recently as well.
• Baidu (BIDU) – the Chinese internet company is also down about 20% with the Chinese market recently