March 2023 Portfolio Update
Topics: Quote, Portfolio Update & Discussion, Comments From Me, Tax Season, Going Over more VC Investments, From Candles to WEB, Books & a bit more for paid subscribers...
Quote for this month:
“People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it.” - Simon Sinek
Portfolio Update*
*I am NOT a financial advisor, I’m sharing my investing journey. Do your own research.*
Portfolio (Basic):
To get access to detailed (full) portfolio breakdown (which will be at the end) consider becoming a paid subscriber:
Portfolio Discussion
I have sold out of CVS 0.00%↑ and OZKAP 0.00%↑ , I have also sold some VMD 0.00%↑ in $9 range (if you are paid subscriber I let you know all this details via chat on the same day)
CVS - I sold out because I did not feel like (given the current valuations and debt levels) CVS’s acquisition of Oak Street Health was the right move. I’m generally not fan of their move in primary care (yet I’m been told its good for them) so I decided to sell out and put the funds through my other undervalued holdings.
OZKAP - I sold it couple of days ago given the whole SIVB 0.00%↑ fiasco, I was using OZKAP as cash parking so currently will be using cash as the cushion in case we go much lower next week or so because of all the uncertainty it seems like OZK 0.00%↑ may be on the menu for me to buy more or OPBK 0.00%↑ if it goes below $8 ish.
VMD - I sold some because it was in 8-12 range which I mentioned in my write up/deep dive that is what I believe the fair value is and given no new update on VA I will be selling out to about half and probably give the rest to keep trading. All profits are long term and if Mr Market stays irrational with the banks maybe will find better IRR.
Dividends for February:
Started position in Nintendo and aggressively added to TCS 0.00%↑ (maybe a bit too aggressively) and more to IAC 0.00%↑ + a bit to others.
Comments From Me
February was short and yet busy month for me on personal level.
We have moved (well mostly my wife if we are being honest here) kids from smaller room (which was their room) to bigger room (which was our room) so my two little girls got bigger/better room and we got smaller one (I’m not complaining), with that I now have my own official little corner for investing. I still need to make it feel more like investing-y corner but that’s my type of excitement in life.
I have also started going to the gym twice a week which is cutting a bit into my personal time (which I don’t have much) but I’m working on figuring out how to make it all happen, since although I don’t like going to gym I know its important for health and longevity.
Tax Season
Tis the tax season (almost…kind of) I got my 2022 Tax Doc from Webull and figured I would continue the (new?) tradition to compare my Webull results on yearly basis based on tax docs. Started it last year with this post.
This is just for fun
If you don’t have access or just want results, here they are:
2019
Short-term Profit - around $170
2020
Short-term Profit - around $3,000
Long-term Profit - around $400
Qualified Dividend - around $400
2021
ST Profit - around $12,000
LT Profit - around $8,000
QD - around $5,000
2022
ST Profit (Loss) - around (-$8,000)
LT Profit - around $6,000
QD - around $2,000
“ST Profit” was actually supposed to be positive around $4,000 or $5,000 but I took a chance and sold my PayPal for a loss (to cancel out profit and as you know I bought it back so saved myself on some taxes that way). I still have to pay taxes but at least not as much
Going Over My Current VC Investments 2/2
More on companies that I have invested in:
RAD AI is the world’s first AI marketing platform built to understand emotion. RAD AI gives enterprise companies the opportunity to engage diverse and global audiences with authenticity at scale, revolutionizing the $120B marketing technology industry. Click here to learn more.
Why I Invested: If done properly and with a lot of data RAD AI can automatize and expend on digital marketing. Big potentials if RAD AI can actually do what they are promising they can.
Maybe is modern financial planning & wealth management platform accessible to all. Click here to learn more.
Why I Invested: Millennials, Gen-Z, and future generations can benefit from one stop shop for all financial needs. Has appealing design.
Automatic is a one-stop-shop platform for used auto financing & back-end products. Click here to learn more.
Why I Invested: A lot of car dealers are still living in the old age/economy. Platform that can help them shift to new world and “tech” can be really beneficial and lucrative.
Stock Card is platform provides individual investors with the tools they need to make smarter, more informed decisions, including expert analysis, real-time market insights, and personalized recommendations, stock tracking and risk analysis. Click here to learn more. If you do decide to sign up use my Promo Code which is from100kto1m, and it gives you a 10% discount and share it with others to help me out :)
Why I Invested: Stock Card has been one of the only few investments where you can actually invest into “stock related stuff” (apart from Wefunder if you can count it). Stock Card’s revenue model is simple, scalable, and user friendly.
Attn: Grace is sells DTC women's incontinence products, likes of Pads, Liners, Creams, Wipes, Deodorant, etc. For all ages. Products are “green”, comfortable (100% plant-based, made from soft, woven sugar cane fibers that wick away moisture without causing irritation.), and skin friendly. Click here to learn more.
Why I Invested: I’m a sucker for a good underdog story and I’ll be cheering for Attn: Grace. Too often big brands are trying to max out profits rather then try to provide (in this case mostly women) the best safest/comfortable products. Large TAM.
Datagran call themselves, The "Zapier.com" for Machine Learning (ML) Automation. Zapier enabled developers to easily send data from one app to another. We do the same, but with the ML layer on top. Click here to learn more.
Why I Invested: Datagran got me curious on what they do (still don’t fully understand) yet they have 3000+ clients with brands like Dominos, GoDaddy, and Starbucks with easily scalable (up or down) revenue model.
Wefunder is basically Kickstarter but for investors. They call themselves “Robinhood for pre-IPO startups.” Recently expended into Europe, lots of potential there. Click here to learn more.
Why I Invested: Wefunder has recently expended into Europe and I think over the long term will be either bought out or could potentially go public like Robinhood did when market was hot.
Asaak is Credit-led digital bank for Africa. Click here to learn more.
Why I Invested: Africa as a whole is still a mess (when you compare to the other part of the world). Each country has there own “set ups” and banking is not up to standards of first world. Although I think Asaask’s probability of success is low, I believe it’s worth a shot and so I invested.
Upshift is somewhere between Citibikes and Turo. You pay membership fee to get access to rent out EV cars. No hassle, no headache, Upshift takes care of everything. Click here to learn more.
Why I Invested: I think Upshift is great for states like CA or NY with potential to expend into Europe into small(ish) countries that are EV friendly. + Newer generations are more EV friendly and are not big on being owners of things.
Contrary Research did Deep Dive on Zocdoc if anyone is interested to read about it click here.
From Candles to WEB
Surprisingly (or maybe not so) this tweet did not get much love, yet I feel like the two things that I did (change color and change from candlestick) could potentially provide big relief to the long term investor when she/he does not let emotions take control of you in the wrong time (maybe like this past week or next week)
Some may recall that before “investing in businesses” I was on wall st trading via candlestick patterns on the trading floor, so whenever I look at the chart I still see many patterns that trading (on twitter or youtube or Tik-Tok) are swearing by to work and to be able to make money with (spoiler alert most/all do not). But even taking money a side, the amount of mental power colors and patterns eat up on the daily basis can be enormous and with really no point/result.
So that is by I did the changes to keep myself more into “investor mode” and try to detach myself from my past “trader mode”.
There are a lot more successful long term investors then there of successful traders.
There are many other little things that I have implemented to “hack” my investing so that I do not do anything “stupid” with my money.
Books
I realized that my descriptions of the books that I read may not always give them full credit as when I read these books and when I write about them, I only share one or two things that really stand out to me. So I have decided to also include a quick short description from goodreads (no affiliations) so that way you get my thoughts but also more generic description to get a better feel for the books and in so hopefully adding them to your “to-read-list”.
This time around I finished one books and two audiobook:
The Intelligent Quality Investor: How To Invest In The World’s Best Companies by Long Equity
YZ: In my honest opinion the book was ok (not even okay). The whole book can be read in an hour (or less) which author did say, but it did not really provide me with anything new or really useful (per se). Author speaks mostly about “Great Companies with Great FCF and Pricing Power” but all mostly in general terms which makes this book just too generic and basic for my taste.
If there is something useful I got out it was a list of companies to put on my watchlist, but even that could of been down (for free) via Long Equity’s tweet:
Goodreads:
The Intelligent Quality Investor by Long Equity will equip you with all the mental models you need for assessing whether a company is investable.
This succinct and to the point book condenses and distills the key lessons every investor needs to know from the world of corporate finance, financial markets, business and economics.
I give it 2.5 out of 5 stars.
The Little Book of Behavioral Investing: How not to be your own worst enemy by James Montier
YZ: The little book of Behavioral Investing, really reminded me of Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman but much easier to digest/understand version. It was a nice refresher on some investing biases, but nothing new for me personally. I still enjoyed it though.
If you are new to Behavioral fiance/investing, I would recommend first reading this book and then go for Thinking Fast and Slow.
Goodreads:
A detailed guide to overcoming the most frequently encountered psychological pitfalls of investing Bias, emotion, and overconfidence are just three of the many behavioral traits that can lead investors to lose money or achieve lower returns. Behavioral finance, which recognizes that there is a psychological element to all investor decision-making, can help you overcome this obstacle. In The Little Book of Behavioral Investing , expert James Montier takes you through some of the most important behavioral challenges faced by investors. Montier reveals the most common psychological barriers, clearly showing how emotion, overconfidence, and a multitude of other behavioral traits, can affect investment decision-making. Written in a straightforward and accessible style, The Little Book of Behavioral Investing will enable you to identify and eliminate behavioral traits that can hinder your investment endeavors and show you how to go about achieving superior returns in the process. Praise for The Little Book Of Behavioral Investing " The Little Book of Behavioral Investing is an important book for anyone who is interested in understanding the ways that human nature and financial markets interact."
I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.
Better, Simpler Strategy: A Value-Based Guide to Exceptional Performance by Felix Oberholzer-Gee
YZ: I must confess, I don’t remember any strategies that were discussed in this book. I was on the hunt for a new company to research (spoiler all that were discussed did not interest me enough to write down while I was listening to the book). As for I will probably stay away from books that too much academia and not enough actual real world.
Author and the book is really big on Willingless to Pay (WTP) and Willingless to Sell (WTS) that is like all you hear when you listen to the book “this companies WTP and this companies WTS etc etc etc”.
Read this https://youexec.com/book-summaries/better-simpler-strategy and you could probably skip on buying the book…
Goodreads:
Named one of the best strategy books of 2021 by strategy+business Get to better, more effective strategy. In nearly every business segment and corner of the world economy, the most successful companies dramatically outperform their rivals. What is their secret? In Better, Simpler Strategy , Harvard Business School professor Felix Oberholzer-Gee shows how these companies achieve more by doing less. At a time when rapid technological change and global competition conspire to upend traditional ways of doing business, these companies pursue radically simplified strategies. At a time when many managers struggle not to drown in vast seas of projects and initiatives, these businesses follow simple rules that help them select the few ideas that truly make a difference. Better, Simpler Strategy provides readers with a simple tool, the value stick, which every organization can use to make its strategy more effective and easier to execute. Based on proven financial mechanics, the value stick helps executives decide where to focus their attention and how to deepen the competitive advantage of their business. How does the value stick work? It provides a way of measuring the two fundamental forces that lead to value creation and increased financial success—the customer's willingness-to-pay and the employee's willingness-to-sell their services to the business. Companies that win, Oberholzer-Gee shows, create value for customers by raising their willingness-to-pay, and they provide value for talent by lowering their willingness-to-sell. The approach, proven in practice, is entirely data driven and uniquely suited to be cascaded throughout the organization. With many useful visuals and examples across industries and geographies, Better, Simpler Strategy explains how these two key measures enable firms to gauge and improve their strategies and operations. Based on the author's sought-after strategy course, this book is your must-have guide for making better strategic decisions.
I give it 2.5 out of 5 stars.
Don’t forget to ❤️ this post
SPOT 0.00%↑ VMD 0.00%↑ LKQ 0.00%↑ IAC 0.00%↑ FM 0.00%↑ GOOG 0.00%↑ GOOGL 0.00%↑ WBD 0.00%↑ OZK 0.00%↑ PYPL 0.00%↑ TCS 0.00%↑ MITK 0.00%↑ OMAB 0.00%↑ EVO 0.00%↑ OPFI 0.00%↑ VEA 0.00%↑ VTI 0.00%↑ VIG 0.00%↑ URI 0.00%↑ C 0.00%↑ OPBK 0.00%↑ MKL 0.00%↑ DJCO 0.00%↑ RICK 0.00%↑ BAM 0.00%↑ ONFO 0.00%↑ OXY 0.00%↑
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