#80 - These Dips Happen

Keep Calm & Keep Stacking

You might have noticed the market has been sort of suspect the last few weeks and I just wanted to drop in and send everyone a note about what is going on and why you need to think long term. Here is a list of texts I have received in the last couple of weeks:

• “Is the AI bubble popping?”

• “Dang dude some of your positions are down 20% this month.”

• “Why is the CEO selling all his stock?” (This one always makes me laugh)

• “Do you think this is the bottom or should I wait to buy?”

The panic over the last couple of weeks has been primarily driven by a large wave of sell off within the AI and big tech sector. The S&P 500 is down almost 3% the past month. Bitcoin has dropped over 23%. And many of the hot big tech names that have had amazing growth and earnings as of late have sold off in the 10-20% range.

If you can’t handle the heat… get out of the kitchen. If you can’t stomach the 10-20% dips in the market then maybe investing in stocks isn’t for you. Building a portfolio is a long term game. And as long as the U.S. has the dominant global reserve currency and the strongest military any of these dips are welcomed by me. Use these opportunities to buy more of the companies that you have long term conviction in.

In the month of October & November I made the following transactions in the Freedom Fund:

• Sold out all my positions in my $APLE ( ▲ 3.71% ), $O ( ▲ 0.66% ), and $WELL ( ▲ 1.19% ) REIT positions. And bought $IYRI ( ▲ 1.33% ) an ETF that invests in REITs and boosts its monthly payouts by selling call options on those holdings. The trade-off is higher income now but reduced long-term upside, since the options strategy can cap growth.

• Sold out of my short term position in $CHWY ( ▲ 0.48% ). I thought this short term swing had a 20-30% upside before the end of the year but as the market dynamics changed that thesis is gone.

• Sold a few shares of $PLTR ( ▼ 0.58% ).

• Added to my positions in $SCHB ( ▲ 1.12% ), $SOFI ( ▲ 1.12% ), $WM ( ▼ 0.08% ), $TSLA ( ▼ 1.05% ), and $OUST ( ▲ 1.07% ).

• Started new positions in $GRAB ( ▼ 1.61% ), $OPEN ( ▲ 9.58% ), $MGEE ( ▲ 1.75% ), $RKLB ( ▲ 2.08% ), and started a position in the ETF $MLPX ( ▲ 0.12% ) which is a global energy infrastructure index.

After reaching an all time high of $42,586 back in the end of October the fund has declined about 10% in 3 weeks. Obviously, this sell off is highly due to my concentration in tech stocks that gave the portfolio solid growth in 2024/2025.

Some reasoning for my new positions I added to the account:

Future Focused Positions - 3-5 Year Holds

Grab Holdings - $GRAB ( ▼ 1.61% ) 

• I have zero international exposure in my portfolio. Grab is a dominant “super-app” platform in Southeast Asia combining mobility, food/grocery delivery, and fintech services enabling strong user growth. Think of Uber, DoorDash, etc all in one. Uber Technologies Inc. did invest in Grab Holdings Inc.. As part of its exit from Southeast Asia in March 2018, Uber sold its regional operations to Grab and in exchange received a 27.5% stake in Grab.

• The company has a clear transition towards profitability and free cash flow with improving margins, cost discipline, and a growing path to financial services in the near term. And they have over $7 billion in cash ready to use at their disposal for acquisitions and expansion.

• Massive under-penetrated market with strong growth potential. Large population, rising digital adoption in SEA, and opportunity to monetize via ads, fintech, and new services beyond ride & delivery.

Opendoor Technologies - $OPEN ( ▲ 9.58% ) 

• Has built a strong tech and data driven platform allowing sellers to receive near-instant cash offers for homes, reducing friction in residential real-estate transactions and capturing convenience-premium fees.

• Opendoor’s new CEO, Kaz Nejatian, helped scale Shopify as its COO and head of product. His deep experience in building platforms, driving adoption, and executing fast is exactly what Opendoor needs as it shifts from a capital-heavy iBuyer model to a more tech-driven marketplace.

• Investing in $OPEN ( ▲ 9.58% ) for me is increasingly a bet on Nejatian himself. He has tenured product vision, an operator mindset, and has a huge opportunity to turn Opendoor into a scalable, software-enabled real-estate platform.

Rocket Lab - $RKLB ( ▲ 2.08% ) 

• Rocket Lab is transitioning from a small-satellite launch provider to a vertically integrated space infrastructure company.

• The company is leveraging national security and recurring defense contracts, such as the U.S. Space Force’s NSSL program. This will allow them to move from one-off launch revenue toward more stable predictable cash flows from government business.

• Every night when I take my dog out I look up at the sky and noticeably see more satellites in the sky than I did 10-20 years ago. I think Rocket Lab will be a pioneer for the future of our space infrastructure. As long as SpaceX stays private this public company is the next best bet in my opinion.

Portfolio Anchor Positions - Income and Stability

Global X MLP & Energy Infrastructure ETF - $MLPX ( ▲ 0.12% ) 

• $MLPX ( ▲ 0.12% ) offers a broad exposure to mid-stream energy infrastructure companies (pipelines, storage, etc.) via a tax-efficient C-corp structure rather than direct MLP ownership to avoid K-1’s.

• I’m using $MLPX ( ▲ 0.12% ) as an income component in my portfolio by gaining access to a broad range of energy infrastructure companies that are less sensitive to commodity price swings, anchoring my growth-focused holdings.

MGE Energy, Inc. - $MGEE ( ▲ 1.75% ) 

• Our favorite Wisconsin utility (electric + natural gas) company with a 50-year track record of dividend increases and steady, predictable cash flow. $MGEE ( ▲ 1.75% ) is a dividend king and should continue to benefit from the expanded growth of southern Wisconsin.

• I toured a few MG&E plants in the past year and spoke with multiple plant managers about the ever so growing power demands that they predict will require additional turnover of turbines, service expansion, and continued increases in the cost of energy for the grid. Between $MLPX ( ▲ 0.12% ) and $MGEE ( ▲ 1.75% ) I plan to have ~ 4-5% of the portfolio allocated to these energy/utility dividend payers.

Neos Real Estate High Income ETF - $IYRI ( ▲ 1.33% ) 

• $IYRI ( ▲ 1.33% ) is a real estate income ETF which invests in U.S. REITs and uses a call-option overlay to generate elevated monthly income. Currently it offers a distribution rate ~11 % yield and pays a monthly dividend while still gaining exposure to real estate equities.

• I plan to make this position be ~5% of my portfolio at all times going forward as long as the dividend yield holds up. NAV erosion is a concern for $IYRI ( ▲ 1.33% ) due to its structure, but so far it hasn’t materially occurred in its short track record.

I know it’s been a minute since the last Gazette. I’m not sure I’ll keep the weekly cadence, but I’ll still drop updates whenever I feel like sharing. It’s easy to get swept into the day-to-day chaos of headlines and market swings, but zoom out for a second and you’ll see how far you’ve come.

Your portfolio, your skills, your discipline they’re all compounding. Don’t let the world’s panic pull you off your plan. Stay steady. Stay focused. Focus on the facts and your habits. The long game always wins.

Freedom Fund Background: I launched the Freedom Fund in October 2022 as a public brokerage account to show that anyone—with just a bank account and Social Security number—can start investing, even with a couple hundred dollars a week. I started from $0 to make the journey real and relatable. Each week, I share transparent updates on purchases, sales, dividends, and growth on X (@GrahamSchroeder) so you can follow along in real time. The hardest part of investing is getting started—so I did, publicly, to help others do the same.