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ALL BLOG CONTENT IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. ANY REFERENCE TO OR MENTION OF INDIVIDUAL STOCKS, INDEXES, OR OTHER SECURITIES ARE NOT RECOMMENDATIONS AND ARE SPECIFICALLY NOT REFERENCED AS PAST RECOMMENDATIONS OF PATTON WEALTH ADVISORS. ALL GRAPHS, CHARTS, AND TABLES ARE PROVIDED FOR ILLUSTRATION PURPOSES ONLY. EXPRESSIONS OF OPINION ARE ALSO NOT RECOMMENDATIONS AND ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE IN REACTION TO SHIFTING MARKET, ECONOMIC, OR POLITICAL CONDITIONS.  IT IS COMMON FOR US TO USE A FUND AS A PROXY FOR AN INDEX OR ASSET CLASS.  FOR MORE DETAILS SEE OUR FULL DISCLOSURE HERE.

The following is to provide some insight and perspective on the performance of the Audacity Strategy for March and more. For more information on the strategy, visit our website here.

The Audacity Strategy is most often recommended as only one component of a Super-Diversified Portfolio. Therefore the information in this blog only pertains to one component of a Super-Diversified portfolio. For more on Super-Diversification, visit our website here.

Performance Summary

Audacity Strategy performance

* Estimate based on Patton Funds calculations.

Note: the Year-to-Date return is back-tested through 3/31/2020

June’s Performance

The month of June started rough with Audacity down 6 consecutive days for a total loss of -17.7% while the S&P 500 was higher in 5 of those 6 days rising a cumulative +6.2%. As difficult as this is, it does clearly demonstrate the low correlation of Audacity to the S&P 500 as the performance behavior of the two are often very different from one another.

To better understand what drove the weak start to the month followed by a near full recovery, I have created the two following stock indexes:

  • HIGH Risk 50: the 50 worst performing stocks in the S&P 500 from the market high on February 19th to the market low on March 23rd. These are the stocks investors believed to be at greatest risk to COVID-19.
  • LOW Risk 50: the 50 best performing stocks in the S&P 500 from the market high on February 19th to the market low on March 23rd. These are the stocks investors believed to be a least risk of COVID-19 or may even benefit.

The stocks in these two indexes are much as you would expect with the High Risk 50 including airlines, cruise lines, and energy stocks while the Low Risk 50 include health care, food manufacturers, and technology stocks as examples (click here to see a full list of the stocks in both indexes). These two indexes help us see the amazing flip-flop in investor sentiment from one period to the next including during early June as compared to the remainder of the month.

COVID-19 High Risk vs Low Risk stocks performance May 31 - June 8, 2020

As the above graph shows, the High Risk 50 stocks surged +38.3% during the first week or so of June. Keep in mind these are the stocks that collapsed the worst during the market decline in February and March…airlines, cruise lines, and energy stocks as examples. Our Audacity Strategy was short 22 of these 50 stocks! meaning as they rose in price, we lost money. At the same time, the Low Risk 50 hardly moved. These were the stocks that held up the best during the market selloff but only gained a fraction while the S&P 500 gained +6.2%. Audacity was long 17 of these Low Risk 50 meaning that our long positions were doing little to offset the losses of our short positions at the start of the month.

As the month continued, the High Risk 50 fell an average of -22.1% while the Low Risk 50 continued to edge up fractionally gaining +0.2%. During this time of June 8th through the rest of the month the S&P 500 declined -4.1% but our Audacity recovered much of its early month losses.

Positioned for Safety

Our Audacity Strategy tilts to a long-bias during the months of November through May during which time we have more money invested in long positions than shorts and a rising market is therefore helpful. From June through October Audacity is roughly neutral meaning we have roughly similar amounts of money in long and short positions (when adjusting for volatility).

Neutrality June through October

Being that it is the month of June we are in this period of neutrality which means the direction of the market has nearly no direct impact on the performance of Audacity. This does NOT mean we cannot lose money, of course and as it did in June, but that a significant market decline would not have a direct impact. We saw this during June when Audacity posted gains during 7 of the 8 days when the S&P 500 was lower. Very few investments are positioned to deliver such performance.

New Long Position Example

Although Audacity has many long positions that tend to be among the more conservative stocks in today’s environment such as Procter & Gamble (PG), Netflix (NFLX), and Walmart (WMT), it added Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) during the month.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) year-to-date performance

Chipotle is an example of stock that was hit relatively hard during the selloff, down -50%, but has since fully recovered and hit new all-time highs. Hitting new all-time highs does make it distinctly different than the stocks in the High Risk 50, those hit the worst during the selloff, that remain down an average of -44.8 year-to-date while Chipotle is now higher by +25.7%.

Contact Mark A. Patton :

The information provided here is for general informational purposes only and should not be considered an individualized recommendation or personalized investment advice. Any specific securities or investment strategies mentioned here may not be suitable for everyone. Each investor needs to review an investment strategy for his or her own situation before making any investment decision including whether to retain an investment adviser.

All expressions of opinion are subject to change without notice in reaction to shifting market, economic or political conditions.  Data contained herein from third party providers is obtained from what are considered reliable sources. However, its accuracy, completeness or reliability cannot be guaranteed. This content was created as of the specific date indicated and reflects the author’s views as of that date. Supporting documentation for any claims or statistical information is available upon request.

Past performance is no guarantee of future results.  Any comments about the performance of securities, markets, or indexes and any opinions presented are not to be viewed as indicators of future performance.

Investing involves risk including loss of principal.

Indexes are unmanaged, do not incur management fees, costs and expenses, and cannot be invested in directly. For more information on specific indexes please see full disclosure here.

Any charts, tables, forecasts, etc. contained herein are for illustrative purposes only, may be based upon proprietary research, and are developed through analysis of historical public data.

All corporate names shown above are for illustrative purposes only and are NOT recommendations.

International investments involve additional risks, which include differences in financial accounting standards, currency fluctuations, geopolitical risk, foreign taxes and regulations, and the potential for illiquid markets. Investing in emerging markets may accentuate these risks.

Fixed income securities are subject to increased loss of principal during periods of rising interest rates. Fixed-income investments are subject to various other risks including changes in credit quality, market valuations, liquidity, prepayments, early redemption, corporate events, tax ramifications and other factors. Lower-rated securities are subject to greater credit risk, default risk, and liquidity risk.