A little while back my US portfolio got whacked – it was judgment day.
But while the volatility of the US stock market took its toll, the positions I held are now coming through, and the portfolio is essentially back to where it was a few weeks ago. That’s when the Citibank short position and Apple long positions both went against me. Badly.
Recently Apple has climbed back up, and thus my portfolio has as well. Overall it’s up 29% YTD versus the minus 12.4% for the S&P 500 benchmark. It’s also up 56% from it’s nadir 9 days ago.
I’m not that keen on this volatility, but that’s what happens when you play with options. I also suffered from an unbalaced portfolio. I have been pretty consistent with balancing long and short positions, as well as making plays within industries rather than across industries. For example I’ve been long Apple, short Microsoft, long Toyota, Short Ford. Recently I’ve been long Apple (technology) and short Citibank (Financials) and so the industry movements, which are not so corralated have created a whole lot more volatility.
It’s not rebalanced yet, but I have sold down chunk of the Apple options to reduce the magnitude if that spike turns around.
Lance Wiggs 