Stock Portfolio Changes

Over the last couple of weeks, we have sold a couple of positions in the Natural Selection stock portfolio. Gildan Activewear (GIL) was sold for a profit, while Royal Bank (RY) was sold for a small loss. The stock portfolio has been updated as of August 23rd and has returned 20% annually since inception. Recent performance has been bolstered by continued strength in the tech sector, our utility positions, and a strong core of gold mining companies. The portfolio currently holds 64% stocks and 36% cash. I will be looking to add a couple more positions in the coming weeks. Here are the charts for the two sold positions.

GIL was sold on August 13th for a ~10% gain. This chart actually wasn't that bad but given the general market volatility I decided to lock in profits when it crossed the 10 week moving average (WMA) and made a lower low.

RY was the weaker of the two stocks and had broken across the flattening 50 WMA, which makes it a sell according to our natural selection methodology. We are starting to see a fair bit of weakness in the general markets that has me watching things closely (see TSX index below).

The index recently failed to make a new high and looks like it wants to test the 50 WMA, so we will watch to see how things play out. A break below the 50 WMA would have us move into full defensive mode as per our risk management strategy.

Weakness in the broad index is highlighted by bank stocks (above), which are typically market leaders. XFN has already crossed below the 50 WMA, which is now sloping downwards.

Energy has been getting hammered relentlessly for months and continues to make new lows. Commodities in general have been following a similar trajectory, which indicates that the global economy is slowing.

The current global market weakness illustrates some of the challenges with buy and hold methodologies that are discussed in detail here on the free portion of the website. Natural Selection self-investing strategies have continued to perform well in the face of recent market volatility and offer an effective methodology for managing risk, avoiding bear markets and profiting during times of economic uncertainty. Access to our real-time stock and ETF portfolios is available for less than a dollar day, and includes our Quick Trade set-ups for active traders.