Studies have shown the more you look at your portfolio the worse the results for the individual investor. That said, I’ve 5-7 books about the psychology of money so (hopefully) I avoid the pitfalls of cutting my flowers and watering my weeds. I believe it’s important for me to look at my portfolio every quarter to get an idea where my money is positioned.

Let’s get this out of the way. I am nowhere near where I think I should be knowledge wise. I’m still a complete noobie. (It goes without saying anything whatever I say/write is not financial advice…and if you buy something I bought, you deserve to lose your money.)

Even though only Gizmo and Nick H. will be the only ones who read this making my portfolio public because it provides accountability. All the analysis I provide is from the top of my head and should not be considered 100% accurate.

The table below is a breakdown of my portfolio on October 2 after the close.

I’ll break down my portfolio by category (below):

Notes

• Perhaps I should have combined Real Estate with Farmland, but the farmland investment is not an equity; its partial ownership of farmland.
• A year ago I never would’ve thought I would have 42 ETFs/companies in my portfolio. I always envisioned I would be more concentrated, but the more I’ve read the more hubris I lost about my ability to pick equities.
• On Friday I trimmed my Berkshire and used the money to add to my Exxon position. I like Berkshire a lot. In 2030 Berkshire will have outperformed during the 2020s. The only reason why I sold is Exxon’s price is too cheap to pass up and I didn’t want to pay capital gains taxes. I bought Exon in late January and never touched my position. Now that the price has almost gone back to where it fell in March I decided to add 50% to my position. Honestly, it made me sick to my stomach to add to the position. I know their balance sheet is fucked; that they are adding debt to pay the dividend. But they are the biggest American pure play on oil and they’re one of the most hated companies in America right now. If the global economy starts humming again Exxon will be a big benefactor.
• Gazprom trades at about 3-times normalized earnings. I know this company is primarily run for the benefit of the Russian government, but at the price it’s worth the risk.
• I should’ve bought more of CSV when it was trading at $14. I did a full write-up and I was ready to buy…and I did buy, but not enough. Where I messed up was, I thought the price would drop more. I think the stock is worth $28-30. I love their founder and CEO. Reading his letters are a real treat; you can tell he gives a shit about his company and his employees.
• I trimmed back my JPM allocation this quarter. After doing more digging their revenues seemed very “toppy” to me. They grew revenue by doing a lot of late cycle initiatives especially with consumer credit.
• I added to my MU position when the price got to about $45. They’re trading at normalized earnings of about 12-times. With AI becoming more dominant I think Micron has a really good chance of being one of the biggest growth companies in the 2020s.
• I like PG&E. With all the court crap figured out there are plenty of protections for investors. They’re trading at 13-times normalized earnings while many utilities are trading 20-plus times earnings.
• Schwab is big call option on rates. If rates ever go up this company will be worth so much more. I like the TD Ameritrade and USAA deals. I think the capital allocation is extremely good.  
• I bought more platinum. I evaluate all precious metals by dividing how many ounces of the metal it costs to buy the median priced home in America. Since precious metals don’t have cash flows, I believe looking at the buying power of a real asset provides the best indicator for evaluation. I only have data going back 60 years, but Platinum is the cheapest its ever been. I think a reasonable price for platinum is at least $1,600.
• I added to my gold position when the price got to about $1,900. In the last 68 years gold has been more expensive 9 more times so gold isn’t really that cheap. If a median house costs $310,000 then I think a reasonable price expectation for gold between $2,300-2,500. At $2,300 gold would be in the top five most expensive in my data set. Quick aside, it’s very possible the Fed has created another housing bubble.
• Most of my International allocation is via ETFs. I would prefer to have even more exposure. I am the most bullish on South Korea, Colombia, Russia, Poland and possibly small cap value UK (need to do more digging into the UK). South Korea is not allowing short selling for at least another six months so maybe that’s having a significant effect on their market? Either way, I am still bullish on Korea.
• I made a one percent bet on Bitcoin and I’m not touching it. I may add to it if the price drops below $6,000. I never look at the price and I don’t care. I’m doing the coffee can approach; if it goes to zero then so be it.
• New York is in the team photo as one of the hubs for the world. VNO is really cheap. The idea that all companies are going to stop working in offices is not going to happen. The best way to create team comradery and a corporate culture is with face-to-face contact. However, if New York elects a Democratic mayor in 2021, I’m out on VNO. Maybe it’s wrong to associate Democrats with being soft on crime, but with how DeBlasio, the west coast’s governors, Michigan’s governor that’s how I view today’s Democratic party.