Go For Broke

  Friday, October 29, 2021 -- $97,175.90 (+$1,293.99, +1.35%) The portfolio recovered a little more today.  Following Monday we had two days sharply down and two days sharply up.  The portfolio fell, from Monday's close, about 6.16% in just two days!  Then, in the past two days, it rose 5.95%, to recover to just 0.59% off of Monday's price. It is worth noting the difference between 5.95% and 6.16% appears to be just about 0.21% but the portfolio is down 0.59%, much more than 0.21%.  When a stock or portfolio goes down, the percentage change is measured against the original (higher) value.  When it goes up, it is measured against the original (now lower) value.  Because of this, a 50% increase and a 50% decline, sequentially, will not bring you even, but will leave you in a loss position--down 25%.  It does not matter whether the loss happens first or the gain happens first.  Consider a $100 investment.  If it goes up 50%, then down 50%, ...

  Thursday, October 28, 2021 -- $95,881.91 (+$4,162.13, +4.54%) Fortunately my positions made a nice recovery today.  Crypto did well and CCL finally halted, at least for a day, its downward spiral.  I feel like to should be more active in this portfolio as I have done nothing for a couple of days now.

Wednesday, October 27, 2021 -- $91,719.78 (-$3,030.02, -3.19%) In a continuation from yesterday, all of my positions went down, magnified by being on margin.  And this was on a day when the broad market was mixed to very slightly down. Unless you have a natural inclination towards gambling and seeing large chunks of your portfolio eviscerated in short periods of time, you should stay away from investing "on margin."

Tuesday, October 26, 2021 -- $94,749.80 (-$2,995.82, -3.06%) This is the first example of how margin can hurt!  I got crushed today because Bitcoin and CCL went down and the added leverage that buying on margin provides made what should have been a down-less-than-2% day into a down-more-than-3% day.

  Monday, October 25, 2021 -- $97,745.62 (+$729.94, +0.75%) This weekend I signed up for Robinhood Gold.  This is a $5/month option that allows me to use margin (essentially borrow money to invest).  This is a particularly risky strategy because if the market t urns against you and you have invested on margin, losses can add up really quickly.  Se below for more detail on this. This weekend I picked up 0.90 Bitcoin at an average price of $61,237.48.  This was helpful to offset my CCL position which is continuing to crash--this time spurred on by a downgrade from   Citi analyst James Ainley who lowered his price target for CCL from $34.00 to $24.50. Just imagine you had a $10,000 portfolio and all of it was invested in Snapchat (SNAP).  If SNAP were to go down 25%, like it did on Friday, your portfolio would be worth about $7,500.  If SNAP were to go down 50%, your portfolio would be worth about $5,000.  Now, imagine if you had purchased an ad...

Friday, October 22, 2021 -- $97,015.68 (+$91.31, +0.09%) This was a do-nothing (on my part) day.  Earlier in the day the portfolio was down about $1,500 but managed to make a comeback by the end of the day.  CCL closed at $22.29, so the CCL $22.50 put options that I sold expired "in the money" by $0.021 and I was forced to purchase 4,000 CCL at a price of $22.50.  This purchase happens automatically when an option expires in-the-money without my having to do anything. Please note that I grab these portfolio screenshots at semi random times in the afternoon and sometimes prices of certain securities can be stale after the typical market close time of 4:00pm Eastern time, or after the postmarket closing time of 8:00pm Eastern time.  Because crypto trades 24 hours a day, those prices should always be somewhat accurate. It is important to note that crypto on RobinHood appears to trade at much different prices than it shows.  For example, right now it shows Bitcoin a...

  Thursday, October 21, 2021 -- $96,924.37 (+$91.72, +0.09%) I purchased almost 144 Ethereum Classic (ETC).  The CCL options are expiring tomorrow.  Right now they are "in the money", meaning they will be exercised if CCL stays at its current price of $22.33 because I have agreed to purchase CCL for $22.50 and will be forced to do so unless CCL closes above $22.50 tomorrow.

Wednesday, October 20, 2021 -- $96,832.65 (+$2,875.36, +3.06%) I sold my entire Bitcoin position and sold 40 CCL put options expiring on Friday for $0.31/share.  Bitcoin has received a nice bump this week from the Bitcoin futures ETF, BITO, that just launched this week.

  Tuesday, October 19, 2021 -- $93,957.29 (+$0.00, +0.00%) And so we begin with a $93,957.29 portfolio consisting of 1 share of HL ($5.62/share) which was a "gift" from Robinhood when I opened by account, and 1.44072221 Bitcoin ($64,367.73/BTC) and $1,204.52 cash.

Welcome to the Go For Broke! blog where you will have a bird's eye view of the potential mutilation, destruction, decimation, and obliteration of a nearly $100,000 ($93,957.29 to be exact)  Robinhood portfolio as I chase above-market returns.  Risky, speculative, and impatient are reasonable descriptors of my investing style.  The purpose of this blog is for you to be able to vicariously experience a dangerous environment filled with great joy and great sorrow without actually getting hurt yourself.  I am hoping this does not end up becoming the “Go Broke” blog, but, given the style in which this portfolio will be managed, that would not be an unlikely outcome. WARNING: DO NOT TRY THESE INVESTING TECHNIQUES AT HOME, UNLESS YOU ARE PREPARED AND WILLING TO LOSE EVERYTHING!  THIS IS NOT INVESTMENT ADVICE!