Sorry to interrupt your weekend, but I wanted to get this alert to you…
Yesterday on Wall Street was ugly. The S&P lost more than 2.25%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, shed more than 1,000 points at one stage before slightly rebounding to close down 905 points, a loss of more than 2.5% on the day.
I know days like this are unnerving.
But here’s the good news: The Global Intelligence Portfolio held up pretty well. We will come back to that in a moment.
First, Friday’s fall…
Blame COVID, again.
I’m sure you saw the news that emerged from southern Africa—a new variant (Omicron) has bunches of quickly moving mutations that might make it more contagious. The U.S. and some European countries responded by closing all air traffic from southern Africa.
At the same time, you have the background fodder of European countries such as Germany, Austria, Ireland, and the Czech Republic, where I live, locking life down again in various ways.
That’s disconcerting to markets that envision a summer 2020 moment, when life and business was at a standstill.
Clearly, I am not a virologist so my commentary here is pointless, but I will simply add that some of reports I’ve been reading in Europe indicate that the large number of mutations with Omicron might mean it’s much more unstable, which could mean Omicron dies out on its own. Who knows? I just pass that along as a small, potential bright spot.
As for the Global Intelligence Portfolio…
Our defensive plays in currency, gold, and oil all rose on the day.
The rest of our stocks fell, but they either fell in line with the broader market or they fell less dramatically.
That says when viewed holistically, our portfolio held up better than Wall Street as a whole…which is really all we can ask for in the financial markets.
It also means that for Global Intelligence subscribers, there are at least three really strong buys right now. I will update you on those on Monday.
As for the crypto elements of our portfolio…
Bitcoin is flat to up, and every other crypto we own is…UP on the day!
They all struggled a bit early on, but they quickly found their sea legs and spent the rest of Friday and into Saturday morning (well, morning here in Prague) rising into the green. One is up more than 26% this morning!
I mean, you can’t really ask for a better outcome than that after a really crummy day on Wall Street. Some of our stocks matched the market. Some did better. Some actually rose. And then our crypto simply brushed it all off and continued marching to the beat of its own digital drummer.
Frankly, I am quite pleased with our portfolio’s performance.
Ultimately, I come back to this truism: This too shall pass.
Not trying to be flippant there. Just stating the truth as I’ve lived it on Wall Street since the mid-’80s. What’s unsettling today is just elevator music tomorrow.
So, let’s be patient. Let’s not rush for the exits. All is OK at the moment.
The portfolio is fine, and we’re looking up, particularly in crypto. And, we have some opportunities now to snap up a few really strong companies (some with big, big dividend yields) at cheaper prices.
And with that, I will let you get back to your weekend. Have a great Saturday.
