The FED and the US government were successful in rigging the market. NASDAQ and S&P500 were creeping up and closed at all-time high OR near an all-time high. The US market performance diverged when it's compared to Asia and Europe major index. My portfolio was paying the cost of protection through the use of inverse ETF. On hindsight, I should just let the portfolio ride the volatility as the cost of hedging was not worth it. It's going to cost the portfolio much lesser if I just trimmed companies I had less confidence during a volatile time and continued to stick with the higher-quality companies. I was fortunate that I decided to liquidate FIRST REIT in June after sponsor's action that made me questioned their integrity.
Analyzing my own portfolio, dividend stocks seemed to be out of favor and was outperformed by growth stocks. This could be due to the market was discounting the dividend cut for the next 6-12 months....