Rhystic Scrying Portfolio – 2020 Q2 Update

Summary

• My fourteenth quarterly update!
• Market analysis.
• Portfolio analysis.
• Transaction play-by-play.
• Currency exchange rates.
• State of the portfolio.
• Calculate the returns.
• Moderate loss!

Introduction

I have introduced the Rhystic Scrying Portfolio [RSP] here and have outlined its benchmark, the Rhystic Scrying Benchmark Index [RSBI] here. Now it’s time for my fourteenth quarterly update!

The wreckage continues.

The RSP has recovered from a staggering -26.57% YTD loss recorded in the Rhystic Scrying Portfolio 2020 Q1 Update, but is still deep underwater as of this writing. The RSP baseline stood at the end of 2020 with a cash value of $1,370,733.97. Now, six months later and the cash value is $1,222,401.08, which translates into a -13.29% YTD return (adjusted for cash inflows and outflows). The RSBI continued its blistering recovery to come within 9 basis points of a complete restatement of YTD losses, with (VTI) returning –3.53% and (VBMFX) returning +6.75% (all numbers YTD). Meanwhile, I’m still down almost $150,000 from last year…

Market Analysis

For 2020 Q2, all 11 of 11 sectors were up, most by double digits (all data from Yahoo! Finance):

	2020	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	YTD
Sector	Ticker	Return	Return	Return	Return	Return
Basic Materials	XLB	-26.23%	25.79%	0.00%	0.00%	-7.20%
Communications	IYZ	-16.08%	11.55%	0.00%	0.00%	-6.39%
Consumer Cyclical	XLY	-21.46%	30.51%	0.00%	0.00%	2.50%
Consumer Defensive	XLP	-13.06%	8.50%	0.00%	0.00%	-5.66%
Energy	XLE	-50.66%	31.97%	0.00%	0.00%	-34.88%
Financial Services	XLF	-31.84%	11.87%	0.00%	0.00%	-23.75%
Health Care	XLV	-12.66%	13.45%	0.00%	0.00%	-0.91%
Industrials	XLI	-27.08%	16.94%	0.00%	0.00%	-14.73%
Real Estate	XLRE	-19.31%	13.16%	0.00%	0.00%	-8.69%
Technology	XLK	-11.92%	30.36%	0.00%	0.00%	14.82%
Utilities	XLU	-13.52%	2.70%	0.00%	0.00%	-11.18%

Year to date, the energy and financial sectors were especially hard hit, losing more than a quarter of their values in 6 months. The technology, health care and consumer cyclical sectors were the ‘best’ performing, with gains/losses of +14.82%, +2.50% and -0.91%, respectively. The normal defensive sectors (consumer defensive and utilities) came in fourth and eighth place, with losses of -5.66% and -11.18%, respectively.

My 2018 Q2 bet, selling the large-cap (VTI) index and buying the small-cap value (VTWV) index, has turned into a rout as mega-cap growth has tromped on the RSP’s relative performance:

	2020	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	YTD
Style	Ticker	Return	Return	Return	Return	Return
US Large Cap	VV	-19.46%	21.27%	0.00%	0.00%	-2.33%
--US Large Growth	VUG	-13.77%	29.24%	0.00%	0.00%	11.45%
--US Large Value	VTV	-25.06%	12.69%	0.00%	0.00%	-15.54%
US Small Cap	VB	-30.02%	26.51%	0.00%	0.00%	-11.48%
--US Small Growth	VBK	-24.23%	32.89%	0.00%	0.00%	0.68%
--US Small Value	VBR	-34.92%	20.96%	0.00%	0.00%	-21.28%

So, the large continued to get larger, and the small got smaller. What kind of weird world are we living in?

Portfolio Analysis

Now, let’s get to the individual holdings in the RSP. Warning: it may get fugly. Return percentages are annualized internal rates of return (IRR).

Rhystic Scrying Portfolio		As Of: 06/30/2020
		Return	Return	Return
Investment Name	Ticker	($/€/£/¥)	($)	(%)
AGE High Income	FHAIX	$-699.79	-$699.79	-8.56%
Ultra	TWCUX	$16,580.83	$16,580.83	32.25%
Apple	AAPL	$7,274.00	$7,274.00	56.46%
Wirecard	WDI	€7,763.29	$6,957.56	60.71%
General Mills	GIS	$5,442.00	$5,442.00	37.54%
Deutsche Telekom	DTE	€1,940.00	$2,271.58	14.54%
Microchip Technology	MCHP	$2,242.70	$2,242.70	10.84%
SAP	SAP	€1,667.66	$1,964.45	10.06%
Intel	INTC	$704.00	$704.00	2.18%
Rockwell Automation	ROK	$680.35	$680.35	12.75%
Raytheon Technologies	RTX	$562.91	$562.91	85.99%
Carrier	CARR	$313.39	$313.39	633.08%
Otis	OTIS	$239.34	$239.34	201.03%
Global Clean Energy	ICLN	$164.89	$164.89	9.49%
Manhattan Scientifics	MHTX	$2.20	$2.20	22.27%
Wabtec	WAB	$-99.95	-$99.95	-45.14%
National Grid	NG	£1,229.40	-$263.26	-2.14%
Cisco	CSCO	$-593.99	-$593.99	-2.29%
Perspecta	PRSP	$-713.79	-$713.79	-22.25%
L Brands	LB	$-914.94	-$914.94	-29.50%
Takeda Pharmaceutical	4502	¥-1,882.06	-$1,519.46	-14.99%
Sirius XM	SIRI	$-1,629.42	-$1,629.42	-32.27%
Unilever	UNA	€-1,519.80	-$1,643.92	-11.28%
BHP	BHP	£-475.61	-$1,705.35	-21.47%
Tecnoglass	TGLS	$-1,719.19	-$1,719.19	-56.09%
United Technologies	UTX	$-2,309.04	-$2,309.04	-88.01%
Exelon	EXC	$-3,414.00	-$3,414.00	-34.38%
Heineken Holding	HEIO	€-3,396.18	-$3,801.96	-28.92%
Bank of America	BAC	$-4,444.00	-$4,444.00	-53.59%
Allianz Versicherung	ALV	€-4,079.73	-$4,534.16	-23.64%
Verizon	VZ	$-4,536.00	-$4,536.00	-16.05%
DXC Technology	DXC	$-5,415.54	-$5,415.54	-80.44%
Annaly Capital	NLY	$-5,494.14	-$5,494.14	-41.69%
Chevron	CVX	$-5,740.00	-$5,740.00	-42.55%
Total Oil	FP	€-6,068.79	-$6,782.23	-48.33%
HP	HPQ	$-10,100.16	-$10,100.16	-25.60%
General Electric	GE	$-10,627.96	-$10,627.96	-62.70%
Omega Health Investors	OHI	$-11,280.00	-$11,280.00	-47.15%
Micro Focus	MFGP	$-11,923.80	-$11,923.80	-85.09%
Hasbro	HAS	$-20,535.64	-$20,535.64	-45.72%
HP Enterprise	HPE	$-21,027.07	-$21,027.07	-61.34%
Russell 2000 Value	VTWV	$-27,670.09	-$27,670.09	-38.86%
Boeing	BA	$-28,081.00	-$28,081.00	-68.17%
Carnival Cruises	CCL	$-31,558.06	-$30,823.74	-79.16%
.Cash Flow	USD=X	$0.12	$0.12	0.01%
.Cash Flow	SPAXX	$7.33	$7.33	0.60%
.Euro Cash Flow	EUR=X	€0.00	$2,216.85	17.29%
.Yen Cash Flow	JPY=X	¥0.00	-$6.94	-8.15%
Total Portfolio Return:			$-182,426.03

Note that the RSP holds several of the same securities in separate accounts, so all stocks with the same ticker were combined into one holding for the purpose of this analysis.

Definitely better-looking than last quarter, but still lingering in the red.

2020 Q2 Transactions

Below is a transaction play-by-play of the quarter.

Buys

Transaction		Acct				Cash
Date	Ticker	Name	Quantity	Price	Fee	Flow
05/07/2020	HAS	FR	8	$68.1500	$0.00	$545.20
05/07/2020	VTWV	FR	19	$76.8400	$0.00	$1,459.96
05/07/2020	RTX	AB	43	$57.9600	$0.00	$2,492.28
05/20/2020	ICLN	AT	78	$11.6499	$0.00	$908.69
06/12/2020	RTX	AB	10	$64.1608	$0.00	$641.61
06/23/2020	WDI	SB	200	€17.3560	€22.47	€3,493.67
06/24/2020	HEIO	SB	100	€75.5000	€26.56	€7,576.56
Sub Total:				$18,546.03

Not too busy of a quarter, but certainly dramatic.

I attempted to pick up some cheap shares of existing holdings, although cash reserves are tight. As of this writing, most are profitable, with Wirecard being the glaring exception. I sold all of my holdings right before the crash and I thought I could jump back in on the cheap and ride it all of the way back up again. That was 3 days before the company announced on Friday that it was having trouble locating $2 billion deposited in a Phillipine bank; it would ask the bank about it on Monday… Lo and behold, the bank announced that Wirecard had never been a banking customer. With this harrowing news, the company slipped swiftly into insolvency. And a DAX 30 component folded like a house of cards. Criminals. And, as it turns out, Wirecard’s former Austrian COO, Jan Marsalek, is probably a Russian agent.

Buys To Close

None!

Sells

Transaction		Acct				Cash
Date	Ticker	Name	Quantity	Price	Fee	Flow
04/03/2020	OTIS	AB	-0.5	$43.2600	$0.00	$-21.63
04/23/2020	WDI	SB	-375	€134.5000	€24.05	€-50,413.45
Sub Total:				-$54,846.26

A forced sale of my OTIS fractional shares and a panicked sale of my Wirecard holdings due to extreme irregularities in its business practices.

Sells To Open

None!

Dividends in Spin-Off

None!

Dividends Reinvested

Transaction		Acct				Cash
Date	Ticker	Name	Quantity	Price	Fee	Flow
01/06/2020	HPQ	DR	3.634	$20.8310	$3.22	$78.92
01/06/2020	HPE	DR	3.029	$16.0970	$2.75	$51.51
01/06/2020	HPQ	DR	3.002	$20.8310	$3.18	$65.71
01/06/2020	HPE	DR	2.524	$16.0970	$2.29	$42.92
01/28/2020	GE	AT	1.175	$11.6145	$0.00	$13.65
02/03/2020	NLY	AB	59.179	$9.8534	$0.00	$583.11
03/16/2020	CCL	AB	29.177	$16.0897	$0.00	$469.45
Sub Total:				$1,305.27

I suffered a significant drop in income from last quarter as Carnival Corp. (CCL) suspended its dividend for the foreseeable future. $500 in quarterly income just vaporized.

Dividends in Cash

Transaction		Acct				Cash
Date	Ticker	Name	Quantity	Price	Fee	Flow
04/01/2020	FP	SB	-450	€0.6800	€85.68	€-220.32
04/01/2020	HPE	FR	-1778.756	$0.1200	$0.00	$-213.45
04/01/2020	HPQ	FR	-1823.753	$0.1762	$0.00	$-321.35
04/01/2020	HPQ	AB	-1000	$0.1762	$0.00	$-176.20
04/01/2020	HPE	AB	-1000	$0.1200	$0.00	$-120.00
04/14/2020	PRSP	DR	-17	$0.0600	$0.00	$-1.02
04/14/2020	DXC	FR	-200	$0.2100	$0.00	$-42.00
04/14/2020	DXC	DR	-28	$0.2100	$0.00	$-5.88
04/14/2020	PRSP	DR	-14	$0.0600	$0.00	$-0.84
04/14/2020	DXC	DR	-34	$0.2100	$0.00	$-7.14
04/15/2020	PRSP	FR	-200	$0.0600	$0.00	$-12.00
04/22/2020	CSCO	FR	-1000	$0.3600	$0.00	$-360.00
04/22/2020	CSCO	AB	-100	$0.3600	$0.00	$-36.00
04/27/2020	GE	FR	-1100	$0.0100	$0.00	$-11.00
04/30/2020	FHAIX	AT	-8769.26	$0.0087	$0.00	$-76.29
05/01/2020	VZ	AB	-300	$0.6150	$0.00	$-184.50
05/01/2020	GIS	FR	-600	$0.4900	$0.00	$-294.00
05/01/2020	VZ	FR	-600	$0.6150	$0.00	$-369.00
05/07/2020	HEIO	SB	-250	€1.0400	€39.00	€-221.00
05/11/2020	ALV	SB	-150	€9.6000	€379.80	€-1,060.20
05/14/2020	AAPL	AB	-100	$0.8200	$0.00	$-82.00
05/15/2020	HAS	AB	-200	$0.6800	$0.00	$-136.00
05/15/2020	HAS	FR	-592	$0.6800	$0.00	$-402.56
05/15/2020	OHI	AT	-1000	$0.6700	$0.00	$-670.00
05/22/2020	WAB	FR	-5	$0.1200	$0.00	$-0.60
05/26/2020	SAP	SB	-300	€1.5800	€125.02	€-348.98
05/29/2020	SIRI	AB	-1300	$0.0133	$0.00	$-17.29
05/29/2020	FHAIX	AT	-8769.26	$0.0064	$0.00	$-56.12
06/01/2020	INTC	AT	-400	$0.3300	$0.00	$-132.00
06/01/2020	INTC	FR	-700	$0.3300	$0.00	$-231.00
06/04/2020	MCHP	AB	-300	$0.3675	$0.00	$-110.25
06/04/2020	MCHP	AT	-135	$0.3675	$0.00	$-49.61
06/04/2020	UNA	SB	-500	€0.4104	€30.79	€-174.41
06/08/2020	MFGP	AB	-700	$0.0000	$14.00	$14.00
06/09/2020	MFGP	FR	-600	$0.0000	$12.00	$12.00
06/10/2020	OTIS	AB	-18	$0.2000	$0.00	$-3.60
06/10/2020	CVX	AT	-200	$1.2900	$0.00	$-258.00
06/10/2020	EXC	AB	-400	$0.3825	$0.00	$-153.00
06/10/2020	ROK	FR	-55	$1.0200	$0.00	$-56.10
06/18/2020	RTX	AB	-80	$0.4750	$0.00	$-38.00
06/19/2020	ICLN	AT	-378	$0.0527	$0.00	$-19.92
06/24/2020	DTE	SB	-2000	€0.6000	€0.00	€-1,200.00
06/25/2020	4502	SB	-495	¥0.9000	¥68.22	¥-377.28
06/26/2020	BAC	AT	-400	$0.1800	$0.00	$-72.00
06/30/2020	VTWV	AB	-500	$0.4033	$0.00	$-201.65
06/30/2020	VTWV	FR	-719	$0.4033	$0.00	$-289.97
Sub Total:				-$9,113.79

Wow. I am surprised by the incoming cash. Although I am gearing up to see a drop in income for 2020, this quarter managed to turn out all right. It is a -46% decrease from last year’s Q2 (when I received a record $17,007.60 in cash dividends), but it is a +7% increase from the cash dividends of $8,483.29 in 2018 Q2. It is normal to see a large increase in Q2 over Q1 (where I received $6,508.09 in cash dividends, a +40% increase) due to some European stocks delivering annual dividends in the month of May.

Capital Gains Reinvested

None.

Capital Gains in Cash

None.

Credits

Transaction		Acct				Cash
Date	Ticker	Name	Quantity	Price	Fee	Flow
04/15/2020	HEIO	SB	-250	€0.0000	€-61.88	€-61.88
04/15/2020	SAP	SB	-300	€0.0000	€-118.68	€-118.68
04/15/2020	4502	SB	-495	¥0.0000	¥-136.46	¥-136.46
04/15/2020	FP	SB	-450	€0.0000	€-348.30	€-348.30
04/15/2020	UNA	SB	-500	€0.0000	€-121.38	€-121.38
04/15/2020	WDI	SB	-190	€0.0000	€-10.01	€-10.01
04/15/2020	ALV	SB	-150	€0.0000	€-356.07	€-356.07
Sub Total:				-$1,232.92

These transactions, dated 04/15/2020, are IRS refunds received for withholding taxes paid on 2019 foreign dividends.

Debits

None.

Cash Deposits

None.

Cash Withdrawals

Transaction		Acct				Cash
Date	Ticker	Name	Quantity	Price	Fee	Flow
04/14/2020	USD=X	DR	-13.02	$1.0000	$0.00	$-13.02
04/14/2020	USD=X	DR	-1.86	$1.0000	$0.00	$-1.86
Sub Total:				-$14.88

Two small cash withdrawals of $1.86 and $13.02 due to my brokerage account’s inability to reinvest my PRSP and DXC dividends into additional fractional shares.

Interest

Transaction		Acct				Cash
Date	Ticker	Name	Quantity	Price	Fee	Flow
04/15/2020	USD=X	SB	0.01	$1.0000	$0.00	$0.01
04/30/2020	USD=X	AB	0.02	$1.0000	$0.00	$0.02
04/30/2020	SPAXX	FR	0.01	$1.0000	$0.00	$0.01
05/29/2020	SPAXX	FR	0.01	$1.0000	$0.00	$0.01
05/31/2020	USD=X	AB	0.01	$1.0000	$0.00	$0.01
06/30/2020	SPAXX	FR	0.01	$1.0000	$0.00	$0.01
Sub Total:				$0.07

One word: Pathetic.

Security Deposit

Transaction		Acct				Cash
Date	Ticker	Name	Quantity	Price	Fee	Flow
04/03/2020	OTIS	AB	18.5	$43.7500	$0.00	$809.38
04/03/2020	RTX	AB	37	$51.0000	$0.00	$1,887.00
04/03/2020	CARR	AB	37	$13.7500	$0.00	$508.75
Sub Total:				$3,205.13

I normally don’t list these transaction types, but in the name of transparency, I am describing the break-up of United Technologies (UTX) into 2 new companies, Otis Worldwide and Carrier Global (CARR), and a merging into Raytheon Technologies (RTX). There is a slight dollar discrepancy, because I am using the opening price method.

Security Withdrawal

Transaction		Acct				Cash
Date	Ticker	Name	Quantity	Price	Fee	Flow
04/03/2020	UTX	AB	-37	$86.6184	$0.00	$-3,204.88
Sub Total:				-$3,204.88

Currency Exchange Rates

Note that the individual transactions listed above are reported in the native currency, but the sub totals are reported in US dollars, each transaction converted at the currency exchange rate on the date of the transaction.

The portfolio values listed below are reported in the native currency, but the sub totals are reported in US dollars converted at the end of quarter currency exchange rates.

These rates are:

Currency	Ticker	Rate
American Dollar	USD=X	1.0000
European Euro	EURUSD=X	1.1247
British Pound	GBPUSD=X	1.2311
Japanese Yen (x100)	JPYUSD=X	0.9300

The dollar weakened against the pound and euro in the past quarter, giving the RSP a continuing tailwind for its European investments.

State of the Portfolio

The following table shows the RSP holdings in 5 different brokerage accounts as of 06/30/2020:

Rhystic Scrying Portfolio			As Of: 06/30/2020
Account AB			Market	Market
Investment Name	Ticker	Quantity	Price	Value
.Cash Flow	USD=X	251.62	$1.0000	$251.62
Annaly Capital	NLY	2904.469	$6.5600	$19,053.32
Apple	AAPL	100	$364.8000	$36,480.00
Boeing	BA	200	$183.3000	$36,660.00
Carnival Cruises	CCL	1183.085	$16.4200	$19,426.26
Carrier	CARR	37	$22.2200	$822.14
Cisco	CSCO	100	$46.6400	$4,664.00
Exelon	EXC	400	$36.2900	$14,516.00
Hasbro	HAS	200	$74.9500	$14,990.00
HP	HPQ	1000	$17.4300	$17,430.00
HP Enterprise	HPE	1000	$9.7300	$9,730.00
Manhattan Scientifics	MHTX	2000	$0.0116	$23.20
Micro Focus	MFGP	700	$5.4800	$3,836.00
Microchip Technology	MCHP	300	$105.3100	$31,593.00
Otis	OTIS	18	$56.8600	$1,023.48
Raytheon Technologies	RTX	90	$61.6200	$5,545.80
Russell 2000 Value	VTWV	500	$85.2500	$42,625.00
Sirius XM	SIRI	1300	$5.8700	$7,631.00
Tecnoglass	TGLS	626.46	$5.4500	$3,414.21
Verizon	VZ	300	$55.1300	$16,539.00
Sub Total:				$286,254.02
Account AT			Market	Market
Investment Name	Ticker	Quantity	Price	Value
.Cash Flow	USD=X	599.77	$1.0000	$599.77
AGE High Income	FHAIX	8769.26	$1.7400	$15,258.51
Bank of America	BAC	400	$23.7500	$9,500.00
Chevron	CVX	200	$89.2300	$17,846.00
General Electric	GE	1367.862	$6.8300	$9,342.50
Global Clean Energy	ICLN	378	$12.5200	$4,732.56
Intel	INTC	400	$59.8300	$23,932.00
L Brands	LB	321.032	$14.9700	$4,805.85
Microchip Technology	MCHP	135	$105.3100	$14,216.85
Omega Health Investors	OHI	1000	$29.7300	$29,730.00
Ultra	TWCUX	2139.462	$59.9100	$128,175.17
Sub Total:				$258,139.21
Account DR			Market	Market
Investment Name	Ticker	Quantity	Price	Value
DXC Technology 1	DXC	28	$16.5000	$462.00
DXC Technology 2	DXC	34	$16.5000	$561.00
HP 1	HPQ	378.925	$17.4300	$6,604.66
HP 2	HPQ	455.194	$17.4300	$7,934.03
HP Enterprise 1	HPE	363.186	$9.7300	$3,533.80
HP Enterprise 2	HPE	435.817	$9.7300	$4,240.50
Micro Focus 3	MFGP	91.556	$5.4800	$501.73
Perspecta 1	PRSP	14	$23.2300	$325.22
Perspecta 2	PRSP	17	$23.2300	$394.91
Sub Total:				$24,557.85
Account FR			Market	Market
Investment Name	Ticker	Quantity	Price	Value
.Cash Flow	SPAXX	1014.21	$1.0000	$1,014.21
Cisco	CSCO	1000	$46.6400	$46,640.00
DXC Technology	DXC	200	$16.5000	$3,300.00
General Electric	GE	1100	$6.8300	$7,513.00
General Mills	GIS	600	$61.6500	$36,990.00
Hasbro	HAS	600	$74.9500	$44,970.00
HP	HPQ	1823.753	$17.4300	$31,788.01
HP Enterprise	HPE	1778.756	$9.7300	$17,307.30
Intel	INTC	700	$59.8300	$41,881.00
Micro Focus	MFGP	600	$5.4800	$3,288.00
Perspecta	PRSP	200	$23.2300	$4,646.00
Rockwell Automation	ROK	55	$213.0000	$11,715.00
Russell 2000 Value	VTWV	719	$85.2500	$61,294.75
Verizon	VZ	600	$55.1300	$33,078.00
Wabtec	WAB	5	$57.5700	$287.85
Sub Total:				$345,713.12
Account SB			Market	Market
Investment Name	Ticker	Quantity	Price	Value
.Dollar Cash Flow	USD=X	0.01	$1.0000	$0.01
.Euro Cash Flow	EUR=X	52821.19	€1.0000	€52,821.19
.Pound Cash Flow	GBP=X	476.82	£1.0000	£476.82
.Yen Cash Flow	JPY=X	377.28	¥1.0000	¥377.28
Allianz Versicherung	ALV	150	€181.7600	€27,264.00
BHP	BHP	650	£16.5400	£10,751.00
Carnival Cruises	CCL	1000	£9.8580	£9,858.00
Deutsche Telekom	DTE	2000	€14.9400	€29,880.00
Heineken Holding	HEIO	350	€72.8500	€25,497.50
National Grid	NG	2000	£9.8920	£19,784.00
SAP	SAP	300	€124.3200	€37,296.00
Takeda Pharmaceutical	4502	495	¥38.4800	¥19,047.60
Total Oil	FP	450	€33.9750	€15,288.75
Unilever	UNA	500	€47.2500	€23,625.00
Wirecard	WDI	200	€5.7300	€1,146.00
Sub Total:				$307,736.88
Total Market Value:			$1,222,401.08

Calculate the returns

Per the composition of the Rhystic Scrying Benchmark Index [RSBI], the Vanguard Total Stock Market index (VTI) returned -3.53% in 2020 YTD:

Date	Price/Dividends
12/31/2019	$163.6200
03/26/2020	$0.6140
06/25/2020	$0.7000
06/30/2020	$156.5300
Return	-3.53%

The Vanguard Total Bond Market index (VBMFX) returned 6.75% in 2020 YTD:

Date	Price/Dividends
12/31/2019	$10.4500
03/26/2020	$0.0696
06/30/2020	$0.0668
06/30/2020	$11.6600
Return	6.75%

Per the allocation of the RSBI (60% VTI, 30% VBMFX, 10% USD=X), the combined RSBI return is -0.09%.

Since the Rhystic Scrying Portfolio is a controlled system*, only four numbers are needed to calculate the QTD (and YTD) returns:

Event	Value
Begin of Year	$1,370,733.97
Cash Inflow	$33,803.20
Cash Outflow	$29.76
End of 2020 Q2	$1,222,401.08
2020 YTD Return	-13.29%

And the return calculation is:

(EOY balance – cash inflow + cash outflow – BOY balance) / BOY balance.

*The security payouts (dividends, interest, option premiums, splits, etc.) are deposited into cash accounts that are also in the RSP; deposits and withdrawals from these cash accounts are specific transaction types (inflows and outflows) and are the only interfaces to the outside world.

Conclusion

So, it appears that I destroyed alpha in 2020, -$149,074.63 to be exact (-13.29% - -0.09%) * $1,370.733.97. Since I spend roughly 10 hours a week on this endeavor and there are 52 weeks in a year, this alpha works out to about -$573.36 an hour (-$149,074.63 / 260 hours). Now we’re finally in Tesla territory!

Disclosure: I am long all securities listed above and have a fondness for USD=X and EURUSD=X.

I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (even from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Published July 24^th, 2020.