Stock Portfolio Update May 2019

A new month just started! Perfect time for my Stock Portfolio update for May 2019.

If you are a new reader, be aware that my stock portfolio is just one of my 5 basket total portfolio. While I have a decent exposure to the Stock Market, I also have other investments.

For me personally, I consider reviewing my portfolio a good exercise and part of a learning process. It forces me to look to each position and see the impact of it on my portfolio.

Since I am adding funds to this account every week or so and, therefore, adding to existing positions or opening new positions, it makes sense I review it at least once a month.

My long term focus is a mixed bag of ETFs, dividend-paying stocks, blue-chip stocks, and a few growth stocks to hopefully beat the market in the long run.

Current Stats

Number of Stocks Holdings: 23
Number of ETFs Holdings: 3
Number of Dividend Stocks: 18
Cash Position: 21.43%

Top 3 Holdings:

1. Telefonica Brasil SA (8.46%)
2. AbbVie Inc (8.28%)
3. Enbridge Inc (6.53%)

Closed Positions

First, let’s see what I have sold during May:

• Disney (DIS)
• Sotherly Hotels (SOHO)
• Beyond Meat (BYND)

I have sold my position in Disney because it surged and I decided to lock 17% in profits. I do think about Disney for the long term. As of the price, the price is coming down and I will keep an eye for a cheap entry point. The global stock market is pulling back so I guess it will help me.

I have also exited my position in Sotherly Hotels mainly I wanted to reallocate money to good buying opportunities. I was mainly on it for the dividend. Closed the position on an 11% profit plus some dividends as well.

Beyond Meat was a recent IPO and it was mainly a speculative play. The stock has been very volatile. I have discussed my profitable trade here:

New/Added Positions

So here is the list:

• Vanguard S&P500 UCITS ETF (VUSA)
• iShares MSCI Brazil UCITS ETF (IBZL)
• Uber Technologies Inc (UBER)

Not much activity here. This month I have mainly added to my existing position on VUSA. This a Vanguard ETF that tracks the S&P500 index.

I have also started a small position on IBZL. This one is an ETF that tracks an index composed by the largest Brazilian companies. I do already have some exposure to Brazilian stocks on my portfolio, mainly through ITUB and PAGS but I want a bit more exposure without having to do much stock picking.

Other than that I’ve also added a small position in UBER, mainly hoping for a speculative gain.

Portfolio Performance

My current indicators:

• Portfolio Forward Dividend Yield = 4.92%
• Portfolio Theoretical YTD Return = +7.86% (includes new positions; excludes dividends, ETFs and sold positions)
• SPY ETF YTD Return = +11.65%

The performance mentioned above is just a theoretical YTD return on my current portfolio which does not reflect at all my real YTD returns since purchase. However, it helps me to blindly compare what would be my portfolio performance against the S&P 500 index ETF performance since the beginning of the year.

As mentioned last month, I will start tracking my portfolio growth month-over-month so I can see both top-ups and dividends reflected on a nice graph. I am planning to do that in the next update.

Plan for June

As predicted in my last review, the market is pulling back and it represents a good buying opportunity in my opinion especially if the whole trade war situation keeps escalating. I have increased my cash position during May waiting for a good entry point in quality stocks and it looks it was a good approach.

As a way to de-risk my portfolio, I will keep adding more money to the index ETF and perhaps include some bonds. Let’s see how much will the market go down. I will also be compiling the data for the first 6 months of capital growth on my portfolio.

For some people managing a portfolio is simply too much work and many times not worth it if we compare with the simple ETF approach. However, I find it extremely useful as a personal development tool and it will hopefully add value to my retail investing career.