Cara Portfolio Assessment Report: Number 4
Portfolio Focus: Aerospace & Defense Sector (Portfolio #4)
Executive Summary
This week’s report compares actual performance across the Cara R-88 suite of five portfolios, revealing a critical insight: three legacy teaching portfolios are underperforming, while two newer conviction portfolios are generating substantially stronger returns. Portfolio #4 (Aerospace & Defense) is one of the two top performers.
The five-portfolio suite is designed to demonstrate that fact-based, data-driven portfolio construction—informed by INSTAT across 30+ global markets—produces results that conventional benchmarks struggle to achieve. These are not model portfolios or “set and forget” allocations; they are the product of intensive bottom-up research, daily monitoring of Ziggma scores, and disciplined rebalancing based on actual market behaviour rather than macro narratives.
Portfolio #4 (Aerospace & Defense) Overview:
Total Value: $107,407 (11 holdings + cash)
Gain/Loss: 7.41% gain
Cash Position: $23,737 (22.1%)
Equity Value: $83,671 (77.9%)
Average Ziggma Score: 64.4
Recent Rebalancing: January 23 (HWM trim, SARO add, TXT add)
Performance Driver: Government spending sentiment and geopolitical positioning, not market momentum alone
The Defense portfolio’s structure reflects a different decision-making framework than Portfolios 1–3. Rather than following conventional sector weighting or index composition, this portfolio is built around specific fiscal and geopolitical realities: the “might is right” philosophy now dominating government budgets globally. That conviction, backed by INSTAT data showing sustained strength in defense supply-chain fundamentals, has delivered measurably better returns than generic equity baselines.
Processing Note: The winter storm piled up a record 18.2 inches at the nearby Toronto International Airport. For about six hours today, my internet bandwidth was limited to enabling only email. Consequently this report is abbreviated and late, and the INSTAT report that had been planned was not done.
FULL REPORT: Available at CaraPortfolio.Substack.com