Stock & ETF Portfolio Updates: Seasonal Buying Underway By: Christopher Mistal | October 28, 2021 | Email | Print

 

In accordance with our Seasonal MACD Buy Signal Alert sent after the market closed on October 8, SPDR DJIA (DIA), SPDR S&P 500 (SPY), Invesco QQQ (QQQ), and iShares Russell 2000 (IWM) have been added to the Tactical Seasonal Switching Strategy ETF portfolio using their respective average prices on October 11. iShares Core US Aggregate Bond (AGG) and Vanguard Total Bond Market (BND) were also closed out of the portfolio on that day. Excluding dividends and trading costs, AGG and BND were closed out for a modest loss of less than 1%. On the bright side, the average gain of QQQ, IWM, DIA and SPY is 3% as of yesterday’s close.

 

Buy limits for QQQ, IWM, DIA and SPY appear in the following table and were calculated using their closing prices from October 8, plus 1% for now. We will evaluate these during the next update. As a reminder, we generally do not suggest a stop loss for these positions as the strategy has us holding until the next Seasonal MACD Sell Signal – the earliest it can trigger is the first trading day of April 2022.

 

 

 

Also in accordance with our Seasonal MACD Buy Signal Alert sent after the market closed on October 8, XLP, XLV, XBI, IYW, IYT, XLY, XLF, XLI, XLB, XLK and VNQ have been added to the Sector Rotation ETF portfolio using their respective average prices on October 11. In the case of existing positions in XLP, XLV, XBI and IYW their respective “Presented Prices” have been adjusted for the additional buying.

 

Buy limits, stop losses and auto-sell prices have been adjusted for all positions except GLD, IYZ and SOXX. IYZ and SOXX were added to the portfolio during normal trading on October 8. Every position except GLD can still be considered on dips.

 

“Worst Months” trades in XLU and short IYT and XLI were closed out of the portfolio using their average daily prices on October 8 as detailed in the previous days email Alert. 

 

 

 

Since the last portfolio update through yesterday’s close, S&P 500 climbed 0.8% higher while Russell 2000 advanced 0.1%. During the same time period the entire portfolio was off 0.8%, excluding dividends and any fees. Mid- and Large-cap positions were weakest down 2.7% and 2.4% respectively. Small caps fared best climbing 0.7% higher. Weakness in the period was primarily due to declines by defensive positions, most notably many of the utility sector positions held throughout the portfolio.

 

Algonquin Power (AQN) was stopped out on October 8 when it closed below its stop loss. Stephan Co (SCL) and South State Corp (SSB) were also stopped out. Broad weakness and previously mentioned utility weakness contributed to the declines.

 

New stock positions presented in our October Small and Mid-Cap Stock Basket appear in the portfolio below. Five of the eight new trades have been added to the portfolio as they traded below their respective buy limits. Encore Wire Corp (WIRE) appears to have run away but remains as an open trade idea as it appears susceptible to a pause and possibly a pullback.

 

With the exception of the eight newest ideas, all other positions in the portfolio are on Hold. Please see table below for specific stop losses and current advice for each position.