November 2024 was definitely a month for the books. With the US election being the biggest event of the year, there was sure to be fireworks for everyone and it did not disappoint. Trump won the election (much to my dismay) and the bull market went into overdrive.
Markets instantly went into a frenzy predicting that Trump’s policies will be market friendly like his first term almost a decade ago. There was not a seller in sight as everything rallied from stocks to crypto.
If you haven’t already read my posts before, I achieved Financial independence back in late 2020 early 2021 with a portfolio of roughly $1.3m invested in mainly ETFs. This ballooned to $1.7m during the peak of the markets in early 2022 before coming back down to Earth later in 2022. The portfolio has since regained new all time highs as markets rally beyond the previous highs.
This post will be part of a monthly series of portfolio updates that summarizes how my portfolio performed, what trades I executed, what my monthly expenses were, and my general outlook on the economy/markets. This is by no means financial advice so do not look look at me for sage advice. I make stupid trades and make even worse losses quite frequently.
This is simply the performance of my portfolio and how it has performed on a month to month basis.
Monthly Highlights – November 2024
- Net worth is near $2.1m as of November 2024 Month end
- +$150k for the month
- Traveling all through November in Australia.
Market Moves
| 11/30/2024 | 10/31/2024 | % Change | |
| Dow Jones | 44,782 | 41,763 | 6.74% |
| S&P 500 | 6,047 | 5,705 | 5.65% |
| Nasdaq | 19,404 | 18,095 | 6.75% |
What is in my portfolio?
My portfolio is quite simple and straight forward. I have my holdings primarily spread out between a few ETFs, fixed income, and various single name stocks.
ETFs
Again, my primary holdings are in a few ETFs. My primary holdings are in VTI, VGT, and VCR. I’ve always been a big proponent of big tech and have been heavily invested in the Nasdaq for over a decade. This has paid off very well for me given the massive bull market of the 2010s and is essentially what allowed me to FIRE so quickly.
I used to hold more dividend generating stocks as I was really into this type of investing at a period of time. I currently do not have many dividend specific ETFs as I prefer growth more than income. This kind of goes against the ethos of financial independence but I have enough money coming in from other sources that I don’t need to focus so much on consistent income from my investments.
I added to my ETF positions in November 2024 as the market rallied to all time highs in the Dow and S&P.
Single name stocks
Some of the single name stocks I own are the following
- RDDT
- BRK.B
- NFLX
- RITM
- ASML
- ARES
These single name stocks make up less than 10% of my total portfolio. I tend to not buy much single name stocks anymore as there’s no point to take on unnecessary risks when I’m already so diversified with my ETFs.
Real Estate
I currently own no real estate. I used to own property in the US but have sold it in 2022 before rates started rising. I am not a big fan of real estate. While it definitely can be a good investment, I don’t think it beats investing in the markets. In addition, real estate is highly illiquid with high transaction costs that few people consider.
Finally, as someone that travels around the world and does not like to be tied down to one location, real estate doesn’t make sense as managing it from afar creates a bunch of headaches. I much prefer to have my money liquid and in the stock market.
Fixed Income
I also purchased I-Bonds in 2022 at the height of inflation peak when I-Bonds were paying 9.5%. The rates have come down significantly since then as inflation itself has come down and I no longer bother with I-Bonds.
In the recent high interest rate environment, I had allocated a small portion of my portfolio to fixed income products, specifically purchasing treasury bills with 3-6 month expiry. These were paying out 5.5% which was a great guaranteed income generator. In recent months on the back of anticipated FED rate cuts, this rate was always going to come down which meant stocks should increase.
Well the FED cut rates for the first time since COVID in Sep 2024 which means treasury bill returns will be decreasing for the foreseeable future. My last treasury bill expired in July 2024 and that cash was used to buy the market. I suspect I will not buy any fixed income products for the foreseeable future.
Market Commentary – November 2024
November 2024 was one for the books. Trump won the election and the markets were getting ready to go on steroids. As someone who loves travel, inclusivity, diversity, and acceptance of each other, I think Trump is probably the worst thing that could happen to society in my opinion but I fully suspect he will continue to juice markets as much as possible.
However, I kind of had a feeling that he would win as I think the general ethos and trajectory of the USA (and the world as a whole) was moving in this direction. It still baffles my mind that someone that has been convicted of crimes, openly spews hate and divisiveness, and years to be a dictator gets elected a second time. Nevertheless, that is just how the world we live in now. I suspect Trump will pass enough laws in the next 4 years to ensure his people never lose an election again.
As an American citizen, I’ve not lived in the US for a long time now and have no plans to return. At this point, his policies will likely juice the markets and put income inequality into overdrive which was always the plan. Let’s see what the future brings.
Markets went to all time highs on multiple occasions and shows no signs of cooling. Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P were up more than 5% month to month which is insane. Bitcoin hit all time highs just below $100k before pulling back. I suspect BTC to go well above $100k in the next year or two as his pro crypto policies take control.
Market Value of Portfolio
Here is a history of my portfolio value. As you can see, it’s moved in line with the markets as should be the case since most of my holdings are in ETFs that track the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq.
| Ticker | Quantity | Market Value |
| VGT | 1450 | $911,137 |
| VTI | 2080 | $624,894 |
| VCR | 400 | $151,864 |
| VDC | 300 | $67,026 |
| TSLA | 100 | $35,709 |
| TQQQ | 1000 | $82,480 |
| FBGRX | 400 | $90,464 |
| VHT | 250 | $67,913 |
| ARES | 100 | $17,395 |
| RITM | 2500 | $28,000 |
| ANET | 35 | $14,354 |
| ASML | 50 | $35,574 |
| Total Stocks | $2,126,808 |
In total, my portfolio is sitting somewhere around $1.95m which also includes cash and fixed income positions.
Trades executed for the month of November 2024
November 2024 was an active trading month for me. I bought stocks and crypto on multiple days as the markets just showed no signs of abating.
I ended up selling Tesla as Elon Musk was the clear winner in the trump victory and Tesla stock shot up to the moon. I had a covered call on my position and the stock blew past the strike price forcing me to sell at $280 a share. I didn’t bother rolling the contract and am happy selling it where it is.
I also purchased 1 BTC during the election which I’ve let ride. It’s already up about 30% given Bitcoin’s monstrous rally.
Summary of stock and ETF purchases
| Ticker | Transaction | Quantity |
| VGT | Buy | 10 |
| IGM | Sell Dec 20 $98 Put | 10 |
| BTC | Buy 1 BTC @ $70k | 1 |
Portfolio withdrawals and expenses
Withdrawals from my portfolio is an important part of the financial independence ethos. The 4% withdrawal rate rule is one of the main concepts of the FIRE movement which I try to adhere to. Generally, I prefer to sell from my portfolio when markets are near or at all time highs to capture, and only when I actually need the cash.
For the month of November 2024, I traveled through Australia for the first time. Somehow, I’ve gone this long traveling to almost 100 countries without visiting Australia. I spent a few weeks relaxing in Bondi Beach and will continue on to see more of Australia before moving to New Zealand.
I made no withdrawals from the portfolio as I had enough cash coming in from my blog as well as leftover cash from other sources. My blog generates money every month to the tune of $6-8k and I cover exactly how I earn money from blogging in other posts.
My November 2024 Blog Earnings
I always give a run down on my monthly blogging income on these monthly portfolio reports because this is about my blog after all. My blog generates quite a lot of money from many years of hard work that it is a huge supplement to my FIRE portfolio.
In May, I switched over to Mediavine from Ezoic for my ad monetization. Mediavine has literally been a revelation for my blogging experience and it’s a complete game changer. My earnings have gone up almost 50% as soon as switching to Ezoic which has really turbocharged my blog earnings.
In addition to Mediavine advertisements, I also earn money from Affiliate programs, sponsorships, and travel planning. More details on these things in my how to make money blogging posts. Here is a breakdown of my monthly earnings.
| Category | Amount Earned ($) |
|---|---|
| Mediavine Ads | $2,300 |
| Sponsorships | $2,200 |
| Affiliate Programs | $560 |
| Travel Planning | $600 |
| Grand Total | $5,760 |
Compared to the previous month where I made almost $9,000 in blogging profits, October was the beginning of a precipitous decline in blogging and November continued the trend. Google has laid down the hammer for bloggers and while I’ve been able to dodge most of their algorithm changes over the past year, the one in October really destroyed my traffic. November continued that trend as my traffic numbers stayed depressed due to algorithm updates.
Google has moved on to a more pay to play model where it favors big time websites like Forbes, Reddit, Travelocity, etc. which pay big money to advertise on Google. Google has also been actively upping their AI game. This means when you search for questions, Google will generally already have an answer listed out for you. In the past, you would have clicked into someone’s website but now, there isn’t much incentive.
I suspect the era of small time blogging like myself is over. Google will double down on their AI dreams and favoritism for big websites like Reddit which they have partnerships with. Sad times, but that is the inevitable path of capitalism! Thankfully, I purchased Reddit stock which has done exceptionally well.
