My 2025 strategy so far: concentration > diversification ina high volatility market: PLTR, COST, MSOS

Longs: PLTR, COST, MSOS

(I wrote this up as a response to questions I have gotten both personally and online in the past couple of months.

Cheers! Thanks for clicking, and good luck trading!)

Here is what I have been doing in my ROTH since ~ Jan ‘25 (my ROTH accounts for 50% of my overall retirement funds mostly thanks to how good of a year PLTR has had so far):

- PLTR: well positioned to benefit from global politics and the current administration despite economic volatility. Will still be affected by macroeconomics but should be less-so than the market as a whole due to its government contracts, unique approach to implementation of AI as SAAS vs straight software, and solid management in both private and public sectors of its business. Lots of potential for good premiums if you’re a theta trader due to volume derived from its ties to the current administration and the hype around AI. Also very risky due to being a popular stock. Ethics aside, PLTR is uniquely positioned for solid growth from multiple angles, and that’s why I believe it will have more resistance to volatility than the market as a whole.
Currently holding 1200 shares.

- COST: showed they are well positioned to benefit from the middle-class (and up) trying to save money and their supply chain is solid - saw this during 2020 covid downtrend. Will be affected by macroeconomics but is better positioned than their sector competitors.
Currently holding 27 shares.

- MSOS: is still near rock-bottom. Good time to accumulate. Bull thesis: federal legalization creates a gold-rush environment. Bear-thesis: the Fed leaves it as a states-rights issue and the sector languishes for the next 10+ years. Either way, MSOS is an excellent buy under 3 if you want to partake in the sector.
Currently holding 2000 shares.

I am maintaining 20% cash at the moment to take advantage of economic downturns based on macroeconomic environments offered by the current administration. I usually hover closer to 5%. I’m not overly excited about this move as I watch the USD weaken, but given the current admin’s penchant for creating volatility I feel that it is the lesser of two evils, and it puts me in a batter position to take advantage of said volatility when the opportunity arises. I have been using this capital mostly to short SPY via puts on two occasions now, mostly based on resistances and sentiment. It has worked so far, but I am mindful of the statement “it works until it doesn’t” (and “time in the market is better than timing the market”. Which, tbf, this move boils down to trying to time the market, which I am largely against, however, given volatility, it gives me piece of mind to have a larger cash position and it’s something I can afford to do, thankfully. My other investment accounts remain 100% vested.)

> Addendum: so if this is what I’m long, what did I sell? MSFT, GOOG, MGK, CURLF, TLRY. I’ve held them unflinchingly for years now, but I sold to rotate more funds into both COST and PLTR for the foreseeable future as my positions in MSFT, GOOG and MGK weren’t big enough to matter much in the long run so I’d rather focus on a more concentrated portfolio. As they say, “diversification protects wealth, concentration is what builds wealth”. As for CURLF and TLRY, I don’t believe TLRY is run well post-APHA merger, and CURLF isn’t performing well enough in key legal states to justify holding it vs an ETF approach provided by MSOS, so I sold my positions in those and rolled them into MSOS under the same thesis as stated above with my tech stocks.