Once again I’ve been horribly late in updating the speculative alternatives portfolio.  Two positions have changed since I posted about it last:

• Nov. 26: Exit the J&J position & associated hedge
• Dec 3: Buy NWN and enter associated hedge

The resulting portfolio is:

• Short 18% BMS
• Long 12.2% SPY as beta hedge for BMS
• Long 18% NWN
• Short 4.7% SPY as beta hedge for NWN
• Long 18% SPY as trend follow
• Long 15% GLD as trend follow

The SPY positions sum – total is 25.5%.

Here are all the transactions to date: Transactions 2012-12-11

Current value of the portfolio as of today is about $32,020 – a 6.6% gain from portfolio inception.

I want to discuss a little how the portfolio has been doing.  We’ve gone 6 months now and held 13 stock positions (two still open) and changed the direction of our gold position twice. Continue reading →