QTR 1, 2014

I finished 2013 strong and continued that trend,.  It is earning season again so I thought I would focus on my own. +13.61 YTD % 

My quarter return rode a strong February and performed well during March.  April added 2.97 to start Q2.

The broader markets faltered during this period, especially the nasdaq that peaked in Feb and has sold off since.

Biggest winners YTD:

GDXJ

GTAT

(APRIL  MTD)

YOD short position

Biggest losers YTD:

NOK

(on a MTD)

BAC 

YNDX

Concluding thoughts

The losers were not surprising as BAC and NOK were my biggest winners last year.  NOK has given back some profits and I've reduced my position size somewhat. I want to see what it is capable post-handset division. I am hopeful that it will recapture its momentum that was probably stalled in part because the closing took slightly longer than expected. NOK has already reinstated its dividend, announced a share buy back.   

BAC had started the year rallying up to 18, however, it gave most of the move back. I was in under 12 and was stopped out  at 15.72 (its now at 14.80) , so no complaints. 

My biggest winners were somewhat surprising as I didn't expect much from either position and took relatively small size in the positions. GDXJ got a 20% move at the beginning of the year which I caught and sold off into (this move ultimately failed).  GTAT was an earnings play, that I jumped after seeing that RBCN did well the day before and jumped 10%.  12.44 to as high as 16.97. Momentum is great when it goes in your favor. 

The biggest factor in the Q1 results that I avoided larger loss. I had relatively few losses that exceeded 1R and only 1 that slightly exceeded 2R--YOD.  YOD was an interesting story claiming to be the a Netflix of China.  Despite my doubts I accepted the premise and after a 33% move in my favor on the long side, I bent some rules and only sold off a portion and failed to move the stop up to avoid letting a winner turn to a loser and held on a 2.1R loss.  I subsequently, learned that the story will not come to fruition and Shorted YOD. My gains on the short side have more than compensated for my initial loss but I don't want get in the habit of bending the rules.

I also anticipated the broader market selloff and reduced position size and took a couple short term short positions when the market bounced.  These actions mitigated against the broader market declines in March.

2nd quarter is already off to a fantastic start.  As my short in GNRC (which I had a small loss at end of Q1) missed revenue targets and has fallen 10%.