Ciao,
here we are with the April 2024 portfolio review. The first negative month of the year, breaking a long streak of monthly wins. I decided to change a bit how I present the portfolio performance to make it more transparent and easy to benchmark. I will add the S&P500 return to see if I can beat it or not, also I will report a YTD (year-to-date) value.
📊 Performance:
Total (from 2020): +78.2%
April 2024: -7.9%
April 2024 S&P500: -4.1%
YTD: +15.1%
YTD S&P500: 5.6%
💼 Portfolio overview:
💰 Sells: nothing
💸 Buys: nothing
🎙 Comments:
This month I was closely monitoring Tesla which was spiraling down and coming towards an interesting entry price, but at the end I did not pull the trigger. On April 22nd Tesla share price went down to $140 (1st of Jan price was $248) and its P/E was ~36x (1st of Jan P/E was ~80x). In general, I have a list of stocks that I like but I consider too expensive and I am just waiting for them to drop to trigger a buy order, if this is interesting for you, I might share that list in a future newsletter issue.
🌍 News you should not miss
Tech growth giants now pay dividends
What happened: in the last ~60 days, Alphabet (Google), and Meta (facebook) declared their first-ever divided in their history. And the market really liked it. Salesforce also declared their first-ever dividend but the news was overshadowed by weak revenues.
Why it’s important: this marks a new phase for tech companies, balancing growth with shareholder returns. In a way they are telling the market “we cannot invest your money in new ideas to grow efficiently, instead we’ll give it back to you”. My view is that both Alphabet and Meta reached this maturity phase a few years ago but refused to accept it and poured money into questionable ideas like metaverse for Meta or robotics/ autonomous driving for Alphabet. Of course, the dividend is small compared to their total net profit and the companies will still invest in growth (rightfully so).
🧙♂️ A quote from a great investor
The quote: "The intelligent investor is a realist who sells to optimists and buys from pessimists." - Benjamin Graham
What can you learn from it?: a lot to unpack here as the quote teaches a few key investing principles:
Realism: Invest based on objective data rather than market mood.
Market Sentiment: Leverage others' emotional biases—buy when others are fearful and sell when they are greedy.
Patience and Discipline: Wait for the right moment to act, wait until other investors behave irrationally, maintain discipline against market pressures.
😬 Meme time
And that's it! Please let me know if you liked it, what I can improve, and if you think this newsletter could help a friend, please send it to them!
Federico
Please remember that everything written in this newsletter/website is for educational purposes only and should not be interpreted as financial, legal, or tax advice. The opinions, analyses, information, or recommendations expressed here are solely my own. Remember that financial decisions involve risks and should be made based on your own personal circumstances and after consulting a qualified professional.