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What a bloodbath June was. From May 30th to June 30th, the Dow Jones Index tanked 9.3%, ending at the lows of the month of 11,350. We haven’t seen levels this low since August 2006. The S&P 500 fell 8%, and the NASDAQ fell 6.8%. 

When the market tanks this bad, it’s really hard to stay afloat. Your goal is to outperform the markets. And if you’re better than most - your goal is absolute zero (to not lose money). Don’t beat yourself up - absolute zero is VERY VERY hard. Hedge fund managers usually have a policy of absolute zero, and most hedge funds end up like yesterday’s corn on the cob - down the toilet. 

So overall, my portfolio consisting of cash, two stocks, one index ETF, and two mutual funds ended up down 8.5% for the month of June. Essentially - in line with the broader market. I’m not particularly thrilled - but the only way to really gauge your investment ability is by looking long-term. In fact - because you’re so confident of your choices, now is a good time to buy more instead of considering selling at a loss.

• We’re on a regular automatic investing plan with Fairholme Funds (FAIRX), so it gives us an easy ability to take advantage of depressed prices. The fund is down 8% overall since purchasing. Fairholme is non-diversified with a US focus.
• Our T. Rowe Price Africa/Middle East Fund took a turn for the worse, down less than 1% overall. This is the first time we’ve entered the red with TRAMX, but the discontinuity to the US markets make this my strongest pick.
• Hewlett Packard is getting beat like Sisco at a Garth Brooks concert - down 15% since purchased. We had a blog posting about this - which basically says “why oh why would you buy ANYTHING near its 52 week high?” I deserve a 15% loss. Nonetheless - within time I’ll be buying up plenty of HP to offset my embarrassing mistake.
• Brasil Telecom is down 8%. The stock rose to a 10% gain and then I stepped out for lunch. One reuben sandwich later - Brazil’s inflation goes to hell in a handbasket. No worries however - just yesterday I received a tender offer for my ADR shares, so we’re looking at making a handsome profit. I’ll give more details later.
• The new addition to the portfolio is SPY, the S&P 500 ETF SPDR. Flat performance.
• Overall portfolio is down 5.82%. Stick with long-term investing, don’t time the market, and don’t do something ridiculous like selling - and you’re all set.

Separately, a declining home price and car price (yes even your luxury car) has brought my asset value down 1.3%. Liabilities were flat. Overall, my net worth has fallen over 9%. I contemplated throwing myself over the Brooklyn Bridge, but then I remembered - long-term is the way to look at things.

Besides - the East River is disgusting.