My Dad celebrated his birthday this weekend. We socially distanced for a bit in their back yard. I also worked like a dog on our home remodel this weekend and haven't done my normal amount of "work" looking into the upcoming week.
Markets sold off late in the week as covid cases spiked higher across the country. Actually, to new daily highs. Wave 1 continues (it never ended).
U.S. Indices
Dow -3.3% to 25,016. S&P 500 -2.9% to 3,009. Nasdaq -1.9% to 9,757. Russell 2000 -2.4% to 1,385. CBOE Volatility Index -1.1% to 34.73.
S&P 500 Sectors
Consumer Staples -1.3%. Utilities -1.9%. Financials -1.%. Telecom -0.8%. Healthcare -1.6%. Industrials -2.3%. Information Technology +1.6%. Materials -1.1%. Energy -3.%. Consumer Discretionary +0.4%.
World Indices
London -2.1% to 6,164. France -1.4% to 4,910. Germany -2.% to 12,089. Japan +0.2% to 22,512. China +0.4% to 2,980. Hong Kong -0.4% to 24,550. India +1.3% to 35,171.
Commodities and Bonds
Crude Oil WTI -3.8% to $38.19/bbl. Gold +1.8% to $1,783.8/oz. Natural Gas -7.3% to 1.548. Ten-Year Treasury Yield +0.% to 139.18.
Forex and Cryptos
EUR/USD +0.38%. USD/JPY +0.29%. GBP/USD -0.19%. Bitcoin -1.3%. Litecoin +0.9%. Ethereum +0.6%. Ripple -2.%.
Being slightly net short worked well this week and I'll continue to stay slightly short for the time being.
I consolidated some of my smaller 1% utility positions into Sempra - and now have 3 utility positions of 3-4%. I'm looking to continue to consolidate the long portion of the portfolio into fewer, larger positions - but tend to scatter my long bets much more than most people. I'm much more comfortable shorting in larger positions than being long in larger positions. It's backwards, I'm aware.
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I continue to love my Lenovo Chromebook Duet. It's a wonderful device considering it was only $249 with free shipping from Wal-Mart. It's snappy and fun to use. No issues and nothing but good things to say about it so far.
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Also, on a personal note, I'm becoming re-obsessed with moving to Florida. We took a 6-month RV trip in 2017-2018 that changed us to the core. We realized that we can live without our friends and family every day AND that weather is a choice. We visited 22 states and came to the conclusion that the west coast of Florida is just about perfect to us.
We spent all of June 2019 shopping for houses from Tampa to Naples. And again over the holidays this last year. We can't find the right community for the price. And the list price you see on a website is about 20-40% lower than the price of a finished home. We have a wonderful house in Northern Illinois and don't want to move "down" too much in size or relative quality. Cheaper communities everywhere have boxy, boring homes that don't age well. The next step up has nicer homes that age better and attract owners that take pride in their property.
Anyhow, the quarantine has once again showed me that where you live is paramount. I want endless sunshine and pool days, and only Florida offers that in the continental US. So I'm back to obsessing about a move and working hard to finish up our remodel here to make all it work as smoothly as possible.
Speaking of our remodel, I took down an old, rotten door that had a left-hand swing and replaced it with a right hand swing new door. The old door also had no window - and the room has no windows - so getting some natural light in there was top of the list. The new door has a frosted glass panel that will allow natural light while maintaining privacy. It's a bedroom after all!
Markets sold off late in the week as covid cases spiked higher across the country. Actually, to new daily highs. Wave 1 continues (it never ended).
U.S. Indices
Dow -3.3% to 25,016. S&P 500 -2.9% to 3,009. Nasdaq -1.9% to 9,757. Russell 2000 -2.4% to 1,385. CBOE Volatility Index -1.1% to 34.73.
S&P 500 Sectors
Consumer Staples -1.3%. Utilities -1.9%. Financials -1.%. Telecom -0.8%. Healthcare -1.6%. Industrials -2.3%. Information Technology +1.6%. Materials -1.1%. Energy -3.%. Consumer Discretionary +0.4%.
World Indices
London -2.1% to 6,164. France -1.4% to 4,910. Germany -2.% to 12,089. Japan +0.2% to 22,512. China +0.4% to 2,980. Hong Kong -0.4% to 24,550. India +1.3% to 35,171.
Commodities and Bonds
Crude Oil WTI -3.8% to $38.19/bbl. Gold +1.8% to $1,783.8/oz. Natural Gas -7.3% to 1.548. Ten-Year Treasury Yield +0.% to 139.18.
Forex and Cryptos
EUR/USD +0.38%. USD/JPY +0.29%. GBP/USD -0.19%. Bitcoin -1.3%. Litecoin +0.9%. Ethereum +0.6%. Ripple -2.%.
Being slightly net short worked well this week and I'll continue to stay slightly short for the time being.
I consolidated some of my smaller 1% utility positions into Sempra - and now have 3 utility positions of 3-4%. I'm looking to continue to consolidate the long portion of the portfolio into fewer, larger positions - but tend to scatter my long bets much more than most people. I'm much more comfortable shorting in larger positions than being long in larger positions. It's backwards, I'm aware.
______________________________________________________________
I continue to love my Lenovo Chromebook Duet. It's a wonderful device considering it was only $249 with free shipping from Wal-Mart. It's snappy and fun to use. No issues and nothing but good things to say about it so far.
______________________________________________________________
Also, on a personal note, I'm becoming re-obsessed with moving to Florida. We took a 6-month RV trip in 2017-2018 that changed us to the core. We realized that we can live without our friends and family every day AND that weather is a choice. We visited 22 states and came to the conclusion that the west coast of Florida is just about perfect to us.
We spent all of June 2019 shopping for houses from Tampa to Naples. And again over the holidays this last year. We can't find the right community for the price. And the list price you see on a website is about 20-40% lower than the price of a finished home. We have a wonderful house in Northern Illinois and don't want to move "down" too much in size or relative quality. Cheaper communities everywhere have boxy, boring homes that don't age well. The next step up has nicer homes that age better and attract owners that take pride in their property.
Anyhow, the quarantine has once again showed me that where you live is paramount. I want endless sunshine and pool days, and only Florida offers that in the continental US. So I'm back to obsessing about a move and working hard to finish up our remodel here to make all it work as smoothly as possible.
Speaking of our remodel, I took down an old, rotten door that had a left-hand swing and replaced it with a right hand swing new door. The old door also had no window - and the room has no windows - so getting some natural light in there was top of the list. The new door has a frosted glass panel that will allow natural light while maintaining privacy. It's a bedroom after all!
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