Chicken Little Portfolio Performance January 2016

January 2016 monthly update for the Chicken Little Portfolio.

This month the sky did fall a little bit. Stocks around the world went down about 5%, which is a lot for a month. However, US stocks are still not far from the all time highs hit in May 2015.

In January 2016, the Chicken Little Portfolio gained 2.25%; the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 5.45%.

You can view the portfolio performance in real time by clicking here.

Chicken Little changed nothing substantial during the month of November. The portfolio remains heavily invested in US Treasuries, short precious metals, and fractionally short stocks.

Denial is the first stage of grief

The five stages of grief are denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.

If the bull market in US equities died in May of 2015, we are now in stage 1, denial.

15 Ways Chicken Little lost money in the Stock Market Decline

US Stocks have lost 10% in the last 3 weeks. As I have detailed in my monthly "Chicken Little" reports, I am modestly short stocks, which means that I make money when the stock market goes down.

So am I richer today than I was three weeks ago? No. In this article, I list 15 ways that I have lost because of the stock market decline.

The point is that almost everyone does better in a world with a rising stock market. We all have exposure to stocks even if we don't own any directly.

That means that owning a lot of stocks is a form of doubling-down, tripling-down, quadrupling-down on risky stocks. Most people would do much better if they had less exposure to stocks and other risky assets.

Stock Market pain

Deflationary Depression

In the movie Fletch, Chevy Chase comments that a death was very sudden. The doctor responds that the patient had been sick for years, and had been in intensive care for weeks before the death. Chevy responds with "When he actually died, that was extremely sudden." (Click for clip but be forewarned it has unpleasant moments.) 

US Stocks have lost about 8% in the last 8 trading days. This decline may seem sudden, but the sickness has been evident for a long time.

US Stocks may be catching up

Chicken Little's current advice as the sky may be falling

The Dow Jones Industrial Average has lost 8% in a little over a week. In this post I repeat my views and give some advice. The sky may be falling, and many people would do well to pay attention.

1. The government policies we are following are making us poorer. (Click for recent summary.)

2. When the stock market decline comes, it will be fast. (Click for video of me making this point a year ago.) 

3. The correct decision now for many people is to sell a small portion of their risky assets -- I can assure you that everyone will tell you not to sell. Just hold tight and ride it out is the conventional wisdom. (Click for my August 2015 post). 

4. I stand by my Dow 5000 prediction. (Click for original article.) (Click here for original Dow 5000 CNBC interview.)

Chicken Little Portfolio Performance December 2015

December 2015 monthly update for the Chicken Little Portfolio.

In December 2015, the Chicken Little Portfolio lost 0.23%. In December, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.60%.

You can view the portfolio performance in real time by clicking here.

Chicken Little changed nothing substantial during the month of November. The portfolio remains heavily invested in US Treasuries, short precious metals, and fractionally short global stocks.