Within a vacation on a beautiful isle, we also have “Relax Days”. What is a relax day ? A relax day is actually a day of relaxation and each person in the family doing his own thing such as reading a book, watching Youtube videos or learning something new (that’s me!).
A relax day comes after an intensive activity day. Yesterday the family did for the first time canyoning.
Starting from the iconic Eiffel Bridge, the Verghellu Canyon is one of the most playful descents in Corsica. This canyon is open to children from age 10 and up. The Verghellu is one of the most complete and enjoyable canyons that Corsica has to offer. We did jumps from 10 meter high in the water and we glided several meters down on the rocks. The family did have a great enjoyable unforgettable experience !
Check out the website : By Canyon Corse
In the meantime stock markets keep on rolling on into all time highs ignoring all the current problems such as the trade war with China, the growing tensions with Iran and the new possible tensions between UK and Europe due to the Brexit speech of new PM Boris Johnson.
On the website Marketwatch, we read that the Americans keep on spending money. The numbers: The Federal Reserve is worried about the economy, but American consumers aren’t. They’re very confident, in fact.
The consumer confidence index jumped to 135.7 in July from a revised 124.3 in June, the Conference Board said last Tuesday.
Confidence took a dive in June after trade talks with China hit an impasse and President Trump threatened to apply tariffs to all Mexican exports in a dispute over security at the Southern border. The White House has since backed off threats of additional tariffs to ease the angst of businesses and consumers.
Yet the Federal Reserve is quite worried about the damage caused by the trade disputes, especially to the global economy. The central bank is prepared to cut interest rates on Wednesday the 31st of July to help support the U.S. economy and to nudge the low rate of inflation a bit higher. In a strong economy the Fed should be raising interest rates but I guess they are afraid to cool down the economic growth too soon.
Market Sentiment and Sector Watch
The market sentiment as you can see in below graph is all time highs. What is THE BIG picture: Even while the Fed frets about the durability of the U.S. economy, Americans are going on with their lives without too much worry. Spending is up, unemployment is low, incomes are rising and savings are near a three-year high.
While the rate of inflation is seen as too low by the Fed, it’s giving households a boost. Lower oil prices have reduced their fuel bills and their inflation-adjusted take-home pay is higher.
In short, consumers aren’t the problem. So long as employers refrain from slashing jobs due to worries about slower domestic sales or the world economy, a U.S. expansion now in its 11th year should continue for the foreseeable future. That’s a big if, though.
What they are saying? “Consumers are once again optimistic about current and prospective business and labor market conditions,” said Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators at this board. “These high levels of confidence should continue to support robust spending in the near-term despite slower growth in GDP.”
Passive Income Update
During the month of June and July 2019, we received 20,78$ dividend in June and 74,54$ in July. A great addition to our kids cash position. No options premium.
So in total year-to-date, we have 1282$ passive income generated from the portfolio. That is 128%.
Options Trade review
If you follow this blog, you know that we own now 80 shares of JNUG after getting assigned on our puts. After the reverse split, our 400 shares got split by a factor 5. This didn’t impact the valuation of the ETF.
Take a look at the chart of JNUG. What will happen in case of a recession ? Gold will rise and gold miners will benefit. In the first place the big gold companies who are part of the ETF NUGT and in second place the junior gold miners who are part of the ETF JNUG. We have now a “virtual” profit of 1,8K but this is a long term portfolio. I do not want to sell this position until we reach…let’s say 500$ price target. Is it possible ? Am I dreaming ? Charts always repeat themselves, a great trader told me once. I am a long term investor in this portfolio while also growing the cash position.
Going forward
So we still have more than 2K cash in this portfolio. Let’s look for an ETF with a price tag that we can sell puts on and we don’t mind owning in the future. Of course the premium must be worth it as well. If you as a reader have any suggestions, let me know in the comments box. Let’s continue to enjoy our relax day in our vacation location.
This is the end of our blogpost. Did you realize more than 1000$ for your kids in 7 months ? No ? Then you should start investing in your own knowledge. Putting your money on a savings account is not a strategy to grow your kids money.
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