The North 40, Grade B+

This trading month, impeachment news sent the market lower for a few days. The market came back on strong earnings. Some bad news from Boeing and Johnson and Johnson made for a muddy closing Friday.

For this option cycle, I was up about 2.8%. Up about 40% for calendar 2019. Yippee! Best year in recent memory for me.

As readers know this is not a small play money account where 100% monthly returns, or 80% drawdowns occur. Especially the last few months, I have moved more money into cash reserves (BSV Vanguard Short Term Bond).

Here are a few ETFs that I track, year to date, dividends not included:

QQQ +24.3% Nasdaq 100 US tech focused
SPY +19.2% S&P 500 US large cap

GLD +15.9% gold
TLT +14.9% US 20 year treasuries
IWM +14.0% Russell 2000 US small cap

SLV +13.0% silver
EEM +7.5% Emerging markets equities

US stocks leading an up year for all the ETFs. This is a marked change from 2018, when money market funds were the best performing asset class. Bonds gave back a little this month, as tech stocks rebounded in a big way. Again, my account up 40% for 2019, so I am having a banner year.

Going forward, I don’t have any great insights. I will keep doing what I am doing, it is working. I am selling way out of the money options, with a slight bullish tilt. As adjustments need to be made, I add layers, sometimes roll up, roll down, sometimes on gaps buy calls or puts. If strike prices are crossed, I tend to close or roll.

The year is not over yet. However, way too many public and private pundits are playing it cautious so a replay of 2018’s late year tumble seems unlikely. What might frustrate the most market participants is a decent rally into new highs. As always predictions