May 14, 2025
Model Portfolio and Watchlist Update
Ryunsu Sung
President Trump and China agreed to temporarily suspend mutual tariffs for 90 days, sending the market sharply higher. The rally continued as the April U.S. consumer price index came in below expectations. As a result, the share prices of every holding in the model portfolio have risen.
From the last update (April 22):
Since then, Trump’s constant, all‑out picking of fights and the flip‑flopping stance on tariff negotiations have done little to help the market recover, and have even undermined confidence in the U.S. to the point that U.S. Treasuries, considered the safest assets, have been affected. Just yesterday, he even pressured Fed Chair Jerome Powell, telling him "You need to cut rates right now", effectively trying to shift the blame for economic uncertainty caused by his own missteps.
Even so, we have to stay the course. The goal of the model portfolio is to invest long term in promising companies with economic moats and generate returns that outperform the U.S. indices.
The current return of the model portfolio is 81.1%, a sharp increase from 40.9% at the time of the last update. However, Trump’s threats continue, and the tariff suspension is explicitly temporary, so it would be premature to say that trade policy risk has been fully removed.
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