I don't typically do monthly net worth updates, but this month is slightly different so I figure I might as well make an entry about it.
Back when Trump kidnapped Maduro, the president of Venezuela, I thought this might cause a shockwave of economic blowbacks that would result in drops in the stock market, and therefore, my portfolio value. Fortunately for us all, this magically did not come to pass. However, I would not have known that at the time, and among other reasons (such as a potential AI bubble, to Trump going after Jerome Powell, and my own declining risk appetite, etc.), I decided to rebalance my portfolio to be 100% defensive. Well, it's about as defensive as I can make it without actually shorting the stock market, or getting out of it altogether.
What I could not have possibly predicted is that Trump would then go and kill the Ayatollah of Iran, and ignite this "very complete" and "totally not-a-war" war with Iran that, surprise surprise, DID cause some blowback. So, I guess my decision to rebalance defensively still lucked out somehow. (You see, as I type at this very point, I don't know exactly how my portfolio has fared, so we are all about to find out, including myself haha.)
So here's something fun. In commeration of the former AG, Ms. Pam "Dow is $50,000!" Bondi, I'm going to use the Dow Jones as the baseline. The DJIA drop for the month of March is -5.38%.
Contrast that with my portfolio drop for the same month, which is... -3.6%. Yes, I definitely still took a loss-- I think it's hard not to for anyone this month-- but at the same time, it still beat the market by say 1.7%, which is not too shabby.
Sadly, that percentage loss still translates to literal tens of thousands of dollars, but at least it's just a paper loss right now. Trying to look at it on the bright side, none of it has negatively impacted my daily life, well, except I am paying more at the gas pump, but that's not a surprise either. March wasn't a pretty month, but life goes on....
April 6th, 2026 at 11:23 pm 1775517839
The thing is, though, that I don't think bonds are completely negatively correlated with stocks anymore. In the last few market corrections, even portfolios heavily weighted toward fixed income instruments lost a bunch. I don't know if that's what you consider a defensive position.
I agree there could be an AI bubble.
April 7th, 2026 at 06:17 am 1775542631
Turns out Netanyahu of Israel and Jared Kushner were close bedfellows. Like, literally, Netanyahu has actually stayed and slept in Jared Kushner’s house and bedroom before. After the first Trump admin, Jared set up a company called Affinity Partners, to invest Israeli and perhaps Saudi money to the tune of billions. Netanyahu, in return, really pressed on the idea that the only obstacle in the way of them all getting filthy rich is Iran.
Ironically enough, Iran’s theocratic regime was already crumbling with their corrupt and horrible mismanagement of their own water supply for example, to the point where people were literally protesting in the streets for lack of drinking water. We’re talking something crazy like 95% of all drinkable water in Iran was gone. Give a few more years, there was a good chance that the Iranian theocracy might have fallen apart on its own, giving the Iranian people a chance at perhaps a better life with a better government. Instead, Trump went on a bombing run with Israel, and now the Ayatollah has turned into a martyr.
Oh, and while everyone is laser-focused on Iran, Israel has decided to take this opportunity to illegally invade and occupy parts of Lebanon. Look, I’m not typically anti-Israel or anything, nor do I typically like to take sides, but it’s crazy out there and many in charge have decided to make bad guy choices.
So here we are. Knee deep in conflict, led by our orangey FIFA Peace Prize winner and his Kushner family getting richer with some war-profiteering and stock manipulations I’m sure, all the while providing more distraction from Epstein files where no justice against any perpetrators has been served yet. Cost of living, including healthcare, remains as sky high as ever (even my own insurance company is “pausing” trying to decide if they can get away from covering me this year or not), and after all this, a quarter of all Americans still somehow support this president. The sheer insanity of it all. I really, really do not understand this at all.