March turned out be a brutal month for growth stocks, consequently my portfolio suffered a large drawdown.
At the end of Feb, my YTD return was 16.94% and those gains...
4) ...disappeared in March and I ended the month +1.13%YTD.
At the beginning of the month, we saw a sharp decline in growth stocks which culminated in a selling climax on 5 March. That was followed by a snapback rally and then another grinding re-test of the lows earlier...
5)...in the week.
It is notable that although $ARKK and $IWO tested their early March low, $NDX stayed well above that level and $DIA and $SPX stayed either at or near their ATHs!
This price action suggests that we have simply experienced a brutal *rotation* within an...
6)...ongoing bull-market (and not the start of a long lasting bear in the broad stock market).
You will recall that after the early March plunge, I increased my leverage to 150% and although was stopped out of my position mid-month, am now leveraged again and suspect...
7)...there is a good chance we've seen the lows of this brutal rotation. To be clear, this is just my considered opinion but I could be very wrong so nobody should rely on this view.
Turning to my portfolio, March was a very busy month for me as I sold most of my starter...
8) positions which were speculative in nature and used the weakness to my advantage and bought more shares of my highest conviction names.
During the month, I increased my positions in $PLTR, $SKLZ $SNOW and initiated new positions in $CPNG $RBLX $UPST
Finally, due to very...
9)...high valuations, I also sold my shares of $AFTPY and $SHOP
In terms of risk management, I put on two hedging trades - the first one was profitable and the second one turned out to be a whipsaw and handed me a 2% loss.
Right now, my gross exposure is ~150% and...
10)...I have no hedges in place.
Although anything can happen, am of the view that at the very least we are likely to see a multi-week rebound in the growth stocks but if things head south again, my hedges will kick in and my GTC sell stop on my #NQ_F will cut my leverage...
11) Turning to my portfolio composition, over the past few weeks, many of you have asked me why I'm not selling my stocks and buying the cyclicals/value plays?
The reason is two-fold -
(i) Safety - My companies are fundamentally sound, they carry very little debt, are growing..
12)..rapidly, have large growth runways and are being run by very able management teams. So, the volatility notwithstanding, I know that my capital is in 'good hands'.
(ii) Given the large growth runways of my companies and the effects of compounding, I know that time will...
13)...bail me out and once these companies have grown into their valuations, their market caps (stocks) will start expanding again.
Unfortunately, the cyclicals/value names aren't long-term compounders and once the upward re-rating is complete and the fiscal high wears off...
14) ...there will be a rush for the exits and I'm not smart enough to figure out when that'll happen.
This is why I'm staying invested in my long-term compounders.
There can be no doubt that March has been brutal for growth investors but I can assure you this won't be...
15)...the last nasty pullback.
After all, growth stocks had tripled/quadrupled/quintupled in a year so a big sell-off was always on the cards. In any event, growth stocks are very volatile beasts and they do undergo vicious corrections every year or two.
Short-term...
16)..gyrations notwithstanding, I am almost certain that the major secular trends (ecommerce, software, EVs, streaming, online gaming, sports betting, payments/fintech etc) won't be derailed by changes in interest rates, so we are swimming with the tide.
Hope this is helpful.
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During fast-paced volatile markets when stocks rally 200-300% in a few months only to crash 50-60% over the following weeks, selling into euphoria makes total sense.
I sold $FUBO $PLTR $SNOW and $U after their crazy run up and now, all these stocks...
...are ~50% below their all-time highs!
Stocks don't usually double or triple within weeks, so when Mr. Market gives you a gift, no harm in taking it.
Objective of this game isn't to marry stocks, goal is to maximise portfolio CAGR.
What is better?
Selling after insane run up and buying back shares after big p/b or remaining invested only to watch all gains disappear?
Finally, what is better?
Reducing drawdowns via hedging OR going down 40-50% and hoping for a reversal?
Big pullback after *monster* parabolic rally last year.
Early March decline found support at 40-wk EMA + fib support. That is first level of support and if it gives way, then 50% retracement level might come into play.
$ARKK has bounced off $110 area twice today (40-wk EMA) --> higher than early March correction low of $106
So far so good, interesting to see if it can now stay above this critical level.
$ARKK - Third test of the $110 level today; held so far.
During this sell-off in growth stocks, I've received many comments about how unsafe and dangerous my companies are and how I should perhaps invest in some 'value' names to capture the rotation and reduce risk.
What is 'safe' is of course...
...a personal decision but any business which is swimming in debt, past its prime, struggling to grow and dependent on an over-indebted government's helicopter money is *NOT* safe IMHO.
Yes, such a 'value' play may do well temporarily on the back of the fiscal jab but the...
...sugar high will wear off with time.
The sharp selloff notwithstanding, I prefer to own the high growth, secular compounders which are growing at an unreal pace and are led by visionary founders/CEOs.
These companies allow me to sleep well at night because I know their...