We survived!
September is over! It’s now October and we move into the earnings season. While this chart is for one particular stock, it actually represents my portfolio for this last month. I call it Downward Facing Dog. Yes, a Yoga term, but you have to admit….
It really does kind of look like someone taking that position in your local yoga class, doesn’t it?
Yesterday on the last day of September, my portfolio was almost funny. Every tech stock I have went up. Some by quite a bit, but every other stock went down. It was nuts. Tech was the only one that went up. I verified this with a look at the State Street Sector ETFs and every ETF lost ground except the Tech Sector ETF.
And there I was this past year trying to reduce my exposure in the Tech world. Silly me! I kept the ones that I really liked, and got rid of a few because they were just driving me nuts with their ups and downs. I guess I made a little mistake with Micron and selling it, oh and Meta too. I knew Meta would come back, but I only had a 1/3 part of a stock, and the price, even at the low end was a bit much for me. I know, I’m a scaredy cat. Now, both of those stocks have rallied and I’m left behind. Oh well…
I am fighting the FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) syndrome. I have let go of Micron who I was actually proud to have bought when they were much lower than when I sold. It’s OK. I will survive.
But now it’s October!
I have great hopes for this month. I want to reclaim some of the big positions that I had. I am still going to try to avoid the Tech Sector. It’s just so crazy out there.
Midterms are coming
Ok, just another month and we’ll see what happens with the Midterms. I have to admit; there are some scary things happening there. All the ads have gone to Vote for Me because I will do this and this to Don’t Vote for Him (or Her) because they want Data Centers! Data Centers is the new dirty word. Yet the president is pushing AI and more Data Centers. You can’t tell who Democrat or Republican is just because of the way they want Data Centers. Both parties are saying that they are awful things that we need to avoid. So, who is right?
What about the FED?
It almost looks to me like there will be another interest hike this month. I suspect that will be required to lower the inflation rate which it seems to be the focus of the current FED committee. I tend to agree that it is the key, but then I’m retired and I can use all the interest rate that I can get. That’s me personally. What it will do to my stock portfolio is anybody’s guess. Some say it will slow the drive in AI and drive the Tech Stocks into the ground. The big companies have been borrowing money for their rapid expansion, and if interest rates go up, they may slow their borrowing and thus sloe the advances of AI.
But I expect a rate hike before the Midterms and I know that will make the president upset. I just hope it doesn’t turn into a riot. I think I’m going to look a lot harder into the consumer staples sector, because food is going to be the problem going forward. I’m also laying in some supplies at home like Campbell’s Soup and other foods that won’t go bad over time. Who knows what is going to happen.
I’m not all gloom and doom
I think October is going to be a great month for me. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because I seem to have gotten through the worst of this cold I have. Or maybe it’s just my usual personality. I don’t know. If nothing else, I am having a good time.
