Boomers Investing Portfolios - Track Record
(updated in last week of each calendar month)
Boomer's Revenge Expiration Month Results
| Month | Change in SPY |
% Change in Portfolio |
Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| April-09 | +7.5% | +15.5% | First month results usually are 3% lower due to the bid-asked-spread-penalty of a new portfolio. |
| May-09 | +1.9% | -7.6% | Excessive volatility, first a drop and then a 12% gain caused both upside and downside adjustments. |
| June-09 | +3.8% | +9.0% | Volatility fell nicely (VIX under 30 for first time in 9 months). |
| July-09 | +6.3% | -3.8% | Mid-month volatility, first down and then up hurt performance. |
| August-09 | +5.4% | +16.0% | Mid-month volatility finally slowed down, VIX down to 25. |
| Sept-09 | +3.6% | +8.4% | Mid-month adjustments capped gain. |
| Oct-09 | +2.0% | +4.4% | Once again, mid-month adjustments reduced gains. |
| Nov-09 | +0.6% | +6.1% | Excellent results this month. |
| Dec-09 | +0.7% | +9.3% | Extraordinary gains this month. |
| Jan-10 | +3.1% | +0.0% | Falling VIX hurt results. |
| Feb-10 | -2.6% | -6.0% | Falling VIX and volatility hurt results. |
| Cumulative Results |
+32.2% | +46.8% | Annualized gain since inception = 56% |
Note: Cumulative and annualized results are actually higher than indicated above because cash is withdrawn from the portfolio in 3% increments to keep the portfolio value near $10,000. In 9 months, $5400 has been withdrawn that could have been re-invested to boost the monthly and cumulative gains. (We suspect that most investors would be happy with a 54% cash return for an entire year).
Looking Ahead -- Risk Profile Graph for March Expiration Month:
Amount required to mirror the Boomer's Revenge portfolio: $9,700
SPY was trading at $111.14 at the beginning of the February expiration month.
A fair amount of the portfolio value has been set aside in cash to make an adjustment in case it becomes necessary if the stock should move more than moderately in either direction. The present positions do not provide as much downside protection as we would generally prefer, but we have the ability to roll down some higher-strike short calls to lower strikes at a credit, so there is downside protection that the graph does not readily demonstrate.
Marco Polo Expiration Month Results
(Our more aggressive portfolio, Marco Polo (the intelligent adventurer), uses an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) made up of 84 large companies in the financial services industry (XLF). This ETF is quite volatile.)
| Month | Change in XLF |
% Change in Portfolio |
Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| March -09 | +0.7% | -5.6% | First month results usually are 3% lower due to the bid-asked-spread-penalty of a new portfolio. Mid-month volatility also hurt. XLF fell nearly 9% on the first day causing downside adjustments, and then rallied back. |
| April-09 | +36.5% | +20.8% | Surge in stock required upside adjustments. Portfolio gain would have been similar if XLF had remained flat. |
| May-09 | +3.8% | -10.9% | Excessive volatility, first a drop and then a 39% gain caused both upside and downside adjustments. |
| June-09 | +4.4% | +10.8% | Volatility fell back to “normal” levels. |
| July-09 | +3.1% | +0.8% | Mid-month volatility and subsequent adjustments negatively impacted results for the month. |
| August-09 | +19.9% | +21.3% | A remarkable month by any standards. |
| Sept-09 | +4.1% | +10.0% | Another great month. |
| Oct-09 | +0.5% | +3.3% | Lots of mid-month volatility and adjustments this month. |
| Nov-09 | -4.1% | +2.2% | Extreme volatility hurt us this month. |
| Dec-09 | -2.6% | -12.3% | Option premiums crashed along with the stock. |
| Jan-10 | +5.1% | -11.9% | Falling option values hurt once again. |
| Feb-10 | -3.2% | -20.7% | Stock fell below $14.50 and option prices plummeted. |
| Cumulative Results |
+77.4% | -1.2% | Annualized gain since inception = 1% |
Note: A reminder – our strategy does best when the market does not move much. We dislike big moves to the upside as much as big moves to the downside. Since its inception, this portfolio has endured high volatility.
Looking Ahead -- Risk Profile Graph for March Expiration Month:
Amount required to mirror the Marco Polo portfolio: $3,300
XLF was trading at $14.46 at the beginning of the February expiration month.
Please check back on this Track Record page frequently.It will be updated on the last week of each calendar month.