Portfolio Returns for Feb 2024

I felt it would be good to track the returns on a regular basis since the returns will fluctuate from time to time depending on the stock market.

Here are the movements for this month:

The USA fund is the best performer, one head above the rest. The SPY fund is also on an upward trend, indicating a strong US market.

Cryptocurrency fund is also moving up...hopefully, it will be positive eventually 😓

All other funds unfortunately had little movement. These are mainly in the boring Singapore market. 

I also started tracking my robo-advisor portfolios. As of now Syfe and Stashaway have the highest time-weighted returns. 

The Syfe reit portfolio is unfortunately still negative but with interest rates coming down, I hope it will recover by this year!

Key events in the last 30 days:

• Economic data: US wholesale prices increased more than anticipated, gaining 0.3 percent in January on higher service costs.

https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/capital-markets-currencies/us-stocks-down-inflation-data-dims-hope-early-rate-cut

"While Oxford Economics expects that the wholesale inflation data is unlikely to change the Fed’s planned path for rate cuts this year, it added in a separate report that those calling for a quick drop in rates will probably be disappointed."

• Federal Reserve: The Fed maintained its hawkish stance on interest rates, and a cut in interest rates in Mar is not expected. This caused the market to drop, though for only 1 day. 

• Earnings season: Strong earnings reports from major companies like Apple and Alphabet boosted investor confidence.

• Geopolitical concerns: The ongoing war in Ukraine and tensions with China remained, but did not cause major market disruptions.

• Recessions: UK and Japan entered recessions (but the Japan stock market is at an all-time high!)

• Layoffs: Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft, Salesforce, Snap, Zoom, Cisco all announced job cuts

There should be a correction in the US market soon, which is to be expected after such a strong rise. And after the correction, rise again!

I thought I would also put it in clarity here some well-understood principles:

When interest rates go down:

• USD will fall (ie. it takes less SGD to buy USD)
• Stocks will rise (because make more sense to deploy your money into stocks for better returns instead of bank deposits)
• Bond prices will rise (hence bond yields will fall)
• Reits will rise (due to less borrowing costs)
• Returns from money market funds will fall (returns from MMF are dependent on interest rates)

What this means for me: money from my MMF has to be re-deployed soonest.