2024 July ($37,700)

I deposit $1000/mo into a Fidelity investment account, $31,000 total since 2022. I try to pick stocks to hold until retirement.

Fund 1-month 3-month YTD 1-year
My Fund 0.7% 7.7% 11.4% 13.2%
S&P 500 1.2% 10.1% 16.7% 22.1%
Dow Jones 1.8% 10.0% 15.7% 21.1%

Looks like I’ve been getting wrecked by the market over the last year, at least thanks to Nvidia (+135%).

Reading

July Books

I’m writing a book! It’s my favorite thing to talk about, so questions are welcome.

I’ve been reading a lot. This month I finished:

I go through these books with a highlighter and pen, to build up my sources.

Top 30

Let’s take a walk through my Top 30 positions, as of July 4th 🎆🇺🇸🦅 . These stocks are 62% of my total portfolio, out of 242 total stocks.

(WOW, a lot has happened since then, the least of which is Nvidia falling out of my top 30, but I’m sticking to the July 4th snapshot. I’m still recovering from the 13th to be honest, totally bonkers.)

1. AAPL $2,880 (7.5%), 2. MSFT $2,860 (7.5%), 3. META $2,550 (6.7%), 4. GOOG $ 2,340 (6.1%), 5. AMZN $1,860 (4.8%).

Apple (I’m +29%), Microsoft (+23%), Meta (+219%), Google (+54%), and Amazon (+20%).

My top 5, Big Tech. Together, they’re about 25% of the S&P 500. I think some investors pick just one or two, but underweight the whole sector. I did at first, when I bought just META in 2022. I want them all, they’ll all play a role in the future.

6. BRK.B $970 (2.5%), 7. OXY $970 (2.5%), 13. CVX $480 (1.2%)

I like Berkshire (+4%). Buffett says in his 2023 letter (letters that inspired this blog) “Berkshire is built to last.” Apple is 40% of Berkshire’s publicly traded companies, noice.

I also own Berkshire’s fifth and sixth-largest holdings, Chevron (+5%) and Occidental Petroleum (+4%). Energy companies will be crucial to our future. My OXY ($55bil market cap) is heavily weighed at 21x it’s S&P500 weight. (My CVX has a 2x weight.)

8. TSM $790 (2%), 17. MU $410 (1.1%), 22. INTC $340 (0.9%), 25. QCOM $306 (0.8%), 29. NVDA $280 (0.7%)

Taiwan Semiconductor (+84%). An independent semiconductor foundry, with customers like AMD and Apple and Nvidia. They’re a critical part of a critical industry. We hope for a stable Taiwan.

I bought Micron Technology (+147%) in 2022, they make computer memory. I probably heard about it on Reddit. It has more than doubled, not sure why.

I also bought Intel (-6%) in 2022, they apparently make semiconductors. My Intel stake doubled for a moment in 2023, but is now down. (Down 25% on August 2nd! At least I didn’t put $700k into it yesterday.)

Qualcomm (+81%), another semiconductor company. I’m hoping semiconductor demand overflows from Nvidia.

I missed Nvidia (+90%) back in 2022 AND 2023. That stings. I started to buy in January, and continue to (cautiously) buy. It only has a 0.1x weight in my account :(

9. BAC $740 (1.9%), 10. ALLY $570 (1.5%), 11. C $520 (1.3%), 14. JPM $420 (1.1%), 15. COF $420 (1.1%), 19. WFC $360 (0.9%), 24. TFC $310 (0.8%)

Bank of America (+41%). Ally Financial (+46%). Citigroup (+39%). JP Morgan Chase (+76%). Capitol One (+45%). Wells Fargo (+54%). Truist Financial (+14%).

These seven banks form a wall of finance that my other stocks have to climb to be at the top. I bought a lot of these in the 2022 dip, when banks looked undervalued. Two of these are owned by Munger and four by Buffett.

My ALLY ($12bil market cap) is at a x55 weight (of what it would be if it was in the S&P 500 but it’s not). Back in 2022 I wasn’t thinking about sizing my holding relative to company size. I think a high weight like this just makes the position more volatile.

12. TCEHY $490 (1.3%), 18. BABA $380 (1%), 28. LNVGY $280 (0.7%)

Tencent (+34%). Alibaba (-9%). Lenovo (+99%). Three Chinese tech companies.

As a Riot employee, I was impressed by and scared of TCEHY. I like that BABA supposedly has a lot of cash. LNVGY is small (26x weight) but has done well.

I’m a skeptical of these, but I like to own some non-US stocks if I can.

16. VZ $410 (1.1%), 30. HPQ $280 (0.7%)

Verizon (+11%). HP INC (+28%). Bought in 2022 thinking they seemed stable. I don’t know much about them.

20. PFE $360 (0.9%), 27. MRNA $290 (0.6%).

Pfizer (-17%) and Moderna (-8%), two pharmaceutical biotech companies. I believe in the future of healthcare, but it’s a tough industry to pick and time, so I’m just trying to be early. (August 2nd: My Moderna is -33%.)

21. NFLX $355 (%0.9)

Netflix (+199%). I bought half of a share for $119, in my first month of investing. I intended to buy more, but the price went up and I got scared.

23. MA $310 (0.8%), 26. V $300 (0.8%)

Mastercard (-1%). Visa (-1%), a credit duopoly that’s popular with superinvestors.

I’ve been steadily building them up and will continue to do so (they’re big companies).

Sold

No exits this month, but I plan to exit a lot of these over the next two months. I’ve been looking forward to this “big crunch” of consolidation. About 17 of these companies are small (<$10bil market cap) and I prefer larger companies.

%pos> thismo shrs cost value $gain %gain tkr div description acct% cat area type
-41% -$93 3 $ 34 $ 134 $ 105 30% GM 1.6% GENERAL MTRS 0.4% cars USA  
-51% -$98 1 $ 98 $ 94 $ (4) -2% DIS 0.3% DISNEY WALT 0.2% media USA  
-41% -$53 4 $ (0) $ 76 $ 76 40% NCLH 0.0% NORWEGIAN CR 0.2% travel USA cruise
-42% -$50 8 $ 163 $ 69 $ (94) -37% WBD 0.0% WARNER BROS 0.2% media USA  
-44% -$53 4 $ (30) $ 67 $ 97 68% CCL 0.0% CARNIVAL COR 0.2% travel USA cruise
-44% -$49 4 $ (21) $ 62 $ 82 61% CUK 0.0% CARNIVAL ADR 0.2% travel USA cruise
-48% -$57 1 $ 76 $ 61 $ (4) -2% TSN 4.1% TYSON FOODS 0.2% food USA meat
-27% -$23 1 $ 75 $ 61 $ (12) -12% CVS 1.6% CVS HEALTH C 0.2% retail USA health
-8% -$5 1 $ 76 $ 56 $ (18) -23% ALGT 1.9% ALLEGIANT TR 0.1% travel USA air
-42% -$39 7 $ 167 $ 54 $ (94) -46% WB 8.9% WEIBO ADR RE 0.1% tech China sw
-48% -$48 1 $ 28 $ 53 $ 39 51% OMF 18.4% ONEMAIN HLDG 0.1% finance USA insure
-48% -$42 4 $ 149 $ 46 $ (96) -44% PARA 3.4% PARAMOUNT GL 0.1% media USA  
-50% -$45 2 $ 156 $ 45 $ (110) -50% LSXMA 0.0% LIBERTY MEDI 0.1% media USA liberty
-47% -$37 2 $ 19 $ 41 $ 23 41% NOV 1.9% NOV INC COM 0.1% industry USA oil
-51% -$33 3 $ 49 $ 32 $ (17) -21% AAL 0.0% AMERICAN AIR 0.1% travel USA air
-50% -$31 1 $ (14) $ 31 $ 67 54% BMWYY 17.5% BAYERISCHE M 0.1% cars Europe  
-59% -$35 2 $ 14 $ 24 $ 16 16% JBSAY 6.0% JBS SA SPON 0.1% food America meat
-58% -$29 2 $ 1 $ 21 $ 20 28% LILA 0.0% LIBERTY LATI 0.1% media America liberty
-47% -$18 1 $ 142 $ 20 $ (121) -68% SATS 0.0% DISH NETWORK 0.1% media USA  
-67% -$40 1 $ 61 $ 20 $ (41) -35% VSAT 0.0% VIASAT INC 0.1% coms USA  
-33% -$8 1 $ 17 $ 17 $ 0 0% HE 0.0% HAWAIIAN ELE 0.0% energy USA util
-67% -$28 1 $ 17 $ 14 $ (2) -5% HPK 0.9% HIGHPEAK ENE 0.0% energy USA oil
-49% -$12 1 $ 91 $ 12 $ (69) -58% WBA 8.6% WALGREENS BO 0.0% retail USA health
-54% -$13 1 $ 7 $ 11 $ 8 15% F 7.7% FORD MTR CO 0.0% cars USA  
-83% -$14 1 $ 30 $ 3 $ (26) -59% SAVE 2.2% SPIRIT AIRLI 0.0% travel USA air
-79% -$9 1 $ 29 $ 2 $ (26) -69% PLUG 0.0% PLUG POWER I 0.0% energy USA H

Bought

Most of my chips are still going to Big Tech, and the credit card companies, with a spread of semiconductors and cloud and health and energy.

%pos> thismo shrs cost value $gain %gain tkr div description acct% cat area type
8% $219 13 $ 2,235 $ 2,903 $ 674 30% AAPL 0.3% APPLE INC 7.6% multi USA tech
20% $433 6.2 $ 2,329 $ 2,607 $ 285 12% MSFT 0.3% MICROSOFT CO 6.8% multi USA tech
8% $166 12.5 $ 1,522 $ 2,150 $ 630 41% GOOG 0.2% ALPHABET INC 5.6% multi USA tech
22% $341 10 $ 1,673 $ 1,880 $ 207 12% AMZN 0.0% AMAZON.COM I 4.9% multi USA tech
6% $61 2.4 $ 938 $ 1,055 $ 117 12% BRK.B 0.0% BERKSHIRE HA 2.8% multi USA  
1% $12 15.6 $ 951 $ 948 $ 12 1% OXY 1.7% OCCIDENTAL P 2.5% energy USA oil
3% $17 4.3 $ 428 $ 706 $ 285 67% TSM 1.4% TAIWAN SEMIC 1.8% tech Asia sc’s
25% $66 0.7 $ 317 $ 326 $ 10 3% MA 0.1% MASTERCARD I 0.9% finance USA credit
22% $53 1.1 $ 299 $ 293 $ (5) -2% V 0.1% VISA INC 0.8% finance USA credit
5% $12 0.7 $ 241 $ 267 $ 27 11% CHTR 0.0% CHARTER COMM 0.7% coms USA  
5% $12 2.2 $ 148 $ 261 $ 113 76% NVDA 0.0% NVIDIA CORPO 0.7% tech USA sc’s
6% $14 5 $ 245 $ 243 $ 1 0% CSCO 0.9% CISCO SYSTEM 0.6% coms USA  
5% $11 1.9 $ 211 $ 226 $ 22 10% XOM 3.2% EXXON MOBIL 0.6% energy USA oil
5% $10 0.38 $ 194 $ 221 $ 28 15% UNH 0.6% UNITEDHEALTH 0.6% health USA insure
7% $13 0.4 $ 155 $ 183 $ 29 19% MCO 0.3% MOODYS CORP 0.5% finance USA rating
7% $12 0.7 $ 138 $ 178 $ 41 29% AXP 0.4% AMERICAN EXP 0.5% finance USA credit
6% $9 0.35 $ 150 $ 171 $ 22 14% SPGI 0.3% S&P GLOBAL I 0.4% finance USA rating
5% $7 1 $ 158 $ 159 $ 3 2% JNJ 1.2% JOHNSON &JOH 0.4% health USA retail
9% $11 0.9 $ 139 $ 145 $ 7 5% PG 0.8% PROCTER AND 0.4% retail USA health
8% $10 3 $ 160 $ 143 $ (14) -8% BMY 2.0% BRISTOL-MYER 0.4% health USA pharm
13% $16 0.9 $ 121 $ 142 $ 22 18% AVGO 0.4% BROADCOM INC 0.4% tech USA sc’s
7% $9 2.1 $ 129 $ 140 $ 14 10% KO 2.0% COCA-COLA CO 0.4% food USA cola
7% $9 0.16 $ 118 $ 132 $ 13 11% COST 0.1% COSTCO WHOLE 0.3% retail USA value
15% $14 0.8 $ 96 $ 111 $ 15 16% ORCL 0.1% ORACLE CORP 0.3% tech USA cloud
12% $11 0.63 $ 106 $ 109 $ 4 4% PEP 1.1% PEPSICO INC 0.3% food USA cola
7% $7 1.4 $ 102 $ 106 $ 7 7% NEE 2.0% NEXTERA ENER 0.3% energy USA util
15% $13 0.15 $ 95 $ 97 $ 3 3% INTU 0.1% INTUIT INC 0.3% finance USA tech
8% $7 1.3 $ 83 $ 97 $ 17 20% SHEL 3.3% SHELL PLC SP 0.3% energy Europe oil
16% $13 0.35 $ 93 $ 91 $ (2) -2% CRM 0.0% SALESFORCE I 0.2% tech USA cloud
10% $8 0.6 $ 98 $ 88 $ (10) -10% AMD 0.0% ADVANCED MIC 0.2% tech USA sc’s
13% $10 0.3 $ 74 $ 84 $ 10 13% DHR 0.1% DANAHER CORP 0.2% industry USA health
14% $10 0.3 $ 83 $ 80 $ (2) -2% MCD 0.7% MCDONALD S C 0.2% food USA retail
11% $8 1 $ 86 $ 77 $ (9) -10% SBUX 0.7% STARBUCKS CO 0.2% food USA retail
12% $8 0.9 $ 73 $ 75 $ 2 3% CP 0.1% CANADIAN PAC 0.2% industry America rail
21% $11 0.5 $ 65 $ 66 $ 2 2% NVO 0.3% NOVO NORDISK 0.2% health Europe pharm
19% $10 0.07 $ 66 $ 64 $ (1) -2% ASML 0.1% ASML HOLDING 0.2% tech Europe sc’s
28% $14 0.5 $ 81 $ 64 $ (16) -20% SNOW 0.0% SNOWFLAKE IN 0.2% tech USA cloud
13% $7 1.8 $ 65 $ 64 $ (0) 0% BP 1.6% BP PLC SPONS 0.2% energy Europe oil
16% $8 0.07 $ 50 $ 58 $ 8 15% NOW 0.0% SERVICENOW I 0.2% tech USA cloud
21% $10 1.75 $ 73 $ 57 $ (16) -22% STM 0.2% STMICROELECT 0.1% tech Europe sc’s
24% $11 0.09 $ 50 $ 56 $ 6 12% TMO 0.1% THERMO FISHE 0.1% health USA tech
48% $18 0.3 $ 51 $ 55 $ 4 7% TMUS 0.2% T-MOBILE US 0.1% coms USA  
21% $9 0.16 $ 46 $ 54 $ 8 17% AMGN 0.5% AMGEN INC 0.1% health USA pharm
35% $14 0.1 $ 44 $ 54 $ 10 23% LMT 0.9% LOCKHEED MAR 0.1% industry USA aero
13% $6 0.8 $ 53 $ 54 $ 2 4% GIS 1.9% GENERAL MILL 0.1% food USA grocery
48% $16 0.3 $ 45 $ 49 $ 4 8% VLO 0.4% VALERO ENERG 0.1% energy USA oil
22% $9 0.25 $ 42 $ 48 $ 7 16% IBM 0.4% INTERNATION 0.1% tech USA cloud
39% $13 0.25 $ 41 $ 47 $ 7 16% ABBV 0.0% ABBVIE INC 0.1% health USA pharm
34% $11 0.08 $ 42 $ 43 $ 1 2% ELV 0.3% ELEVANCE HEA 0.1% health USA insure
32% $10 0.4 $ 37 $ 40 $ 3 8% CL 0.1% COLGATE-PALM 0.1% retail USA goods
36% $10 0.11 $ 37 $ 37 $ (0) -1% CI 0.4% THE CIGNA GR 0.1% health USA insure
35% $9 0.4 $ 36 $ 35 $ (1) -2% MCHP 0.2% MICROCHIP T 0.1% tech USA sc’s
53% $12 0.4 $ 31 $ 34 $ 3 10% SO 0.4% SOUTHERN CO 0.1% energy USA util
51% $11 0.3 $ 35 $ 34 $ (1) -4% COP 0.2% CONOCOPHILL 0.1% energy USA oil
37% $9 0.04 $ 33 $ 33 $ 0 1% LLY 0.1% ELI LILLY &C 0.1% health USA pharm
43% $10 0.3 $ 30 $ 33 $ 3 9% DUK 0.3% DUKE ENERGY 0.1% energy Europe util
31% $8 0.4 $ 32 $ 32 $ 1 2% MDT 0.7% MEDTRONIC PL 0.1% health Europe devices
47% $10 0.3 $ 31 $ 32 $ 1 3% ABT 0.0% ABBOTT LABO 0.1% health USA tech
86% $13 0.1 $ 26 $ 28 $ 2 6% CB 0.2% CHUBB LIMIT 0.1% finance USA insure
115% $15 0.05 $ 24 $ 27 $ 3 12% MSCI 0.0% MSCI INC 0.1% finance USA indices
129% $13 0.2 $ 26 $ 23 $ (3) -11% MRK 0.3% MERCK &CO. 0.1% health America pharm
103% $10 1 $ 22 $ 21 $ (1) -5% CPNG 0.0% COUPANG INC 0.1% tech Asia retail
51% $7 0.3 $ 21 $ 20 $ (1) -4% TTE 0.8% TOTAL ENERG 0.1% energy Europe oil
99% $10 0.06 $ 20 $ 20 $ (0) -1% SYK 0.0% STRYKER COR 0.1% health USA tech
118% $10 0.1 $ 21 $ 19 $ (2) -8% CEG 0.0% CONSTELLATI 0.0% energy USA nuclear
127% $10 0.4 $ 21 $ 18 $ (3) -15% CCJ 0.0% CAMECO CORP 0.0% energy USA nuclear
89% $8 0.1 $ 16 $ 17 $ 1 7% GE 0.0% GE AEROSPAC 0.0% industry America aero
117% $9 0.2 $ 18 $ 16 $ (2) -10% VST 0.1% VISTRA CORP 0.0% energy USA nuclear
85% $7 0.2 $ 15 $ 16 $ 1 8% PEG 0.4% PUBLIC SVC 0.0% energy USA nuclear
new $12 0.003 $ 12 $ 11 $ (1) -11% BKNG 0.0% BOOKING HOL 0.0% travel USA sw

All Stocks

See the attached PDF of my holdings. It’s colorful.

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