The Freedom Factory

HUD program turns out to benefit contractors and not the poor…go figure! China cranks up its printing presses-expect global inflation, Peter Schiff (“Dr. Doom”) discusses his book “Crash Proof”, Goldman Sachs plans to sell billions in stock to pay off government aid ASAP, gas prices up 5% in 3 weeks…inflation? Top U.S. general says we’ll be out of Iraq by 2011, and 75% of Americans want to lift Cuba embargo… Continue Reading

We are moving closer towards a political economy every day. Every dollar borrowed, taxed, printed, and spent by government really comes from the private sector.  Trillions of dollars of national resources are being allocated by politicians and bureaucrats towards things they claim will benefit our economy. Congress just passed a $3.6 trillion budget ($1.2 trillion in deficit), and combined the Federal Reserve and Treasury have dumped $13 trillion into the economy in the last 16 months. What we must all ask ourselves right now is whether or not we trust government with our money? Continue Reading

President Obama forces General Motors CEO to resign, tallying up the spending binge-Federal Reserve and Treasury dump $13 trillion into financial system over last 16 months, bureaucrats begin turf battle over $1 trillion carbon credit market, and Global Socialism is on the way with tripling of IMF budget… Continue Reading

The Fund lost 2.05% this week, closing out a terrible month with a total loss of 25% for August. Despite increased precautions in our risk management approach, we suffered severe losses driven by currency markets. Unprecedented appreciation in US dollar hit us hard on multiple euro bets, and also took a toll on our commodities positions. Overall, the Fund is down 4.59% since inception. Continue Reading

The Fund performed mainly flat this week, down 0.76%. We reallocated 85% of the portfolio over the course of the week, leaving 15% in cash to lower risk and add flexibility. Reallocation usually comes with a slight weekly loss due to illiquidity of assets, in which case they are immediately revalued from bid to ask after opening them. We temporarily lose the spread. All positions currently remain within acceptable risk parameters, with additional risk hedging applied to the most volatile assets. Continue Reading

The Fund had its two worst weeks since inception with the close of August contracts. We lost 12.87% last week, which followed a 11.44% loss the previous week. The good thing about trading one month duration contracts is that the pain is over. All bad assets have expired and are no longer on our books. VPAG is now fully invested in September contracts, with all positions well within acceptable risk parameters. Expect a slight dip this week followed by gains through expiration on 9/19. Continue Reading

The Fund lost ground this week, with a slight loss of 0.82%. This is attributed largely to reallocation of the bulk of our assets into new positions, along with renewed volatility in the financial and energy sectors. We currently hold roughly 25% of assets in cash, of which 10% is targeted for allocation this coming week. We are following an incremental reinvestment approach to offset wild asset price fluctuations over this last month. For the month of July, we are up 9.12%, and for the year we are up 23.72%.

Diversification is critical for long term portfolio health. We’ve all heard about the benefits of not “putting all your eggs in one basket,” but conventional wisdom needs to be updated every now and then. The modern investor has a wealth of new tools to achieve real diversification. Small retail investors are encouraged to spread their portfolios across a range of different types of stocks and bonds. Small caps, mid caps, large caps, value, growth, short and long-term Treasuries, and municipal bonds have been the staple of a diversified portfolio. Well, times have changed and so too should your notions of eggs and baskets. Continue Reading

The Fund’s position strengthened slightly over the course of the week, posting a 3.9% gain. Overall, the Fund is up 12.84% since inception. July options contracts expire this coming Friday, the 18th. We currently hold two positions that are in-the-money (ITM), with several others whose prices are relatively close to short strikes. This coming week should contain a high level of volatility as contracts approach expiration, but the Fund is positioned reasonbly well to capitalize on favorable to neutral price movements. Continue Reading

The Fund lost 4.39% this week amidst a global stock market meltdown.  The good news is that our risk management techniques are paying off, with our losses falling well below that of the rest of the stock market. The Fund remains more diversified than ever, with only 20% of positions continuing to remain outside our desired risk parameters. This week’s conditions were similar to those experienced in our first week of trading, where we lost 23%, whereas now we were able to contain losses to just over 4%. Continue Reading