Important context for my portfolio reviews: I run a concentrated portfolio and WARNING the swings can be huge. From the 2021 high to the 2022 low, my portfolio fell more than 60%. For every $100 I had at the top I had just $40 left! Staggering. So, before trying this style, even with a small portion of your total net worth, please understand the downside – it’s much steeper than if you own an index, or a bunch of megacaps. Also, don’t follow or copy me, Saul, or anyone. We may sell a position or buy a new one at any time, so it’s impossible to follow anyway. Also, to succeed with a concentrated portfolio, you must rely on your own decisions.
March was a good month, but a little more balanced and normal than February was. We didn’t see popular stocks up 50%+ and 60%+ this month as we did in February. Many were up 10-20% of course, and many were down 10-20%. A more typical month.
As I’ve said, I didn’t want cash to keep growing, but I still don’t see a lot of great opportunities right now. So I’ve been trying to figure out what to do about that. In March, I roughly halved my cash by making large adds to my index ETFs and also 3 of my stocks which were down this month, ELF, Zscaler, and Transmedics. With Samsara, I’ve still been trimming high and buying back lower. I did trim Monday quite a bit, though…mainly just to take some gains as it has almost doubled since October.
I also sold Google and Amazon (I already own them through the ETFs) and I also exited my last shares of Klayvio since (as I said last month) the quarter they reported was not what I was hoping for.
Of the 7 companies I still hold shares in, my opinions haven’t really changed from last month, so I’ll skip saying something separately about each. I’m happy with all of them, but I don’t think any are screaming buys at these prices, except possibly Transmedics, and I’ve already talked about how I want to keep that one pretty small-ish because I see it as extra-unpredictable.
Wrapping up:
There was a lot of consternation last month when I trimmed ELF to a sub-1% position. But this month I got a chance to add back to ELF at a lower price. I’ve been doing this kind of thing for years. Occasionally I trim too much and the stock runs up a lot and I miss out on some gains. I’m still doing pretty well overall (up 60%+ since Jan 2023).
I think the market is amazing and a lot of times gives us a chance to buy a company for less than they’re actually worth. When I see that chance, you can be sure I’ll act on it.
Happy April.
Bear
“Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it … he who doesn’t … pays it.” - Attributed to Albert Einstein
Previous Month Summaries
Dec 2016 (contains links to all 2016 monthly posts): Bear's Portfolio at the end of 2016 - Saul’s Investing Discussions - Motley Fool Community
Dec 2017 (contains links to all 2017 monthly posts): Bear's Portfolio through Dec 2017 - Saul’s Investing Discussions - Motley Fool Community
Dec 2018 (contains links to all 2018 monthly posts): Bear's Portfolio through Dec 2018 - Saul’s Investing Discussions - Motley Fool Community
Dec 2019 (contains links to all 2019 monthly posts): Bear's Portfolio through Dec 2019 - Saul’s Investing Discussions - Motley Fool Community
Dec 2020 (contains links to all 2020 monthly posts): Bear's Portfolio through Dec 2020 - Saul’s Investing Discussions - Motley Fool Community
Dec 2021 (contains links to all 2021 monthly posts): Bear's Portfolio through 12/2021 - Saul’s Investing Discussions - Motley Fool Community
Dec 2022 (contains links to all 2022 monthly posts): Bear's Portfolio through 12/2022
Dec 2023 (contains links to all 2023 monthly posts): Bear's Portfolio through 12/2023
Jan 2024: Bear's Portfolio through 01/2024
Feb 2024: Bear's Portfolio through 02/2024