Portfolio and Net Worth Update December 2017

The time has come for my monthly portfolio update. At the end of every month, I will update my portfolio and comment on any changes. I do that for accountability and also so you may glean some ideas on how I allocate my capital. You have the opportunity to learn from what I do well so you can do the same, as well as what I do poorly, so you will not have to repeat my mistakes.

Follow my real-time portfolio here. Below is a snapshot of my stocks and ETFs portfolio as of 12/31/17:

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Ticker	Price	Shares Held	Cost Basis	Total Invested	Market Value	G/L ($)	G/L (%)	Weight	Yield
Total	$54.98	16774.45065	$40.15	$673,516.11	$922,267.18	$248,751.06	36.93%	100.00%	2.03%
IJR	$76.81	1015	$69.24	$70,273.55	$77,962.15	$7,688.60	10.94%	8.45%	1.20%
BDX	$214.06	190.450729	$94.51	$18,000.00	$40,767.88	$22,767.88	126.49%	4.42%	1.40%
VWO	$45.91	733.32496	$39.39	$28,885.07	$33,666.95	$4,781.88	16.55%	3.65%	2.30%
AFL	$87.78	344.3204	$50.24	$17,300.00	$30,224.44	$12,924.44	74.71%	3.28%	2.05%
XOM	$83.64	325.074067	$76.91	$25,000.00	$27,189.19	$2,189.19	8.76%	2.95%	3.68%
AZO	$711.37	33	$674.61	$22,262.08	$23,475.21	$1,213.13	5.45%	2.55%	0.00%
EXC	$39.41	582.616	$29.86	$17,396.43	$22,960.90	$5,564.47	31.99%	2.49%	3.32%
WMT	$98.75	198	$66.65	$13,196.52	$19,552.50	$6,355.98	48.16%	2.12%	2.07%
NSC	$144.90	133.184	$75.83	$10,100.00	$19,298.36	$9,198.36	91.07%	2.09%	1.68%
EMR	$69.69	267.842513	$49.28	$13,200.00	$18,665.94	$5,465.94	41.41%	2.02%	2.78%
BRK.B	$198.22	92	$122.05	$11,228.54	$18,236.24	$7,007.70	62.41%	1.98%	0.00%
VFC	$74.00	227	$57.56	$13,066.38	$16,798.00	$3,731.62	28.56%	1.82%	2.49%
BMTC	$44.20	369.432408	$25.17	$9,300.00	$16,328.91	$7,028.91	75.58%	1.77%	1.99%
SPGI	$169.40	90.353397	$45.38	$4,100.00	$15,305.87	$11,205.87	273.31%	1.66%	0.97%
LMT	$321.05	44.233058	$96.91	$4,286.67	$14,201.02	$9,914.35	231.28%	1.54%	2.49%
NKE	$62.55	223	$51.28	$11,435.52	$13,948.65	$2,513.13	21.98%	1.51%	1.28%
UL	$55.34	229	$41.80	$9,572.56	$12,672.86	$3,100.30	32.39%	1.37%	2.82%
MSFT	$85.54	147	$40.12	$5,897.98	$12,574.38	$6,676.40	113.20%	1.36%	1.96%
GILD	$71.64	174	$75.87	$13,202.24	$12,465.36	-$736.88	-5.58%	1.35%	2.90%
MCD	$172.12	72	$104.07	$7,493.25	$12,392.64	$4,899.39	65.38%	1.34%	2.35%
AZN	$34.70	344	$22.13	$7,613.49	$11,936.80	$4,323.31	56.78%	1.29%	4.03%
DISCA	$22.38	529	$18.79	$9,941.49	$11,839.02	$1,897.53	19.09%	1.28%	0.00%
SON	$53.14	218.1955	$36.89	$8,050.00	$11,594.91	$3,544.91	44.04%	1.26%	2.94%
INTC	$46.16	245	$27.34	$6,698.92	$11,309.20	$4,610.28	68.82%	1.23%	2.36%
UHS	$113.35	95	$111.67	$10,608.60	$10,768.25	$159.65	1.50%	1.17%	0.35%
YORW	$33.90	314.329	$22.75	$7,150.00	$10,655.75	$3,505.75	49.03%	1.16%	1.97%
SRCL	$67.99	152	$73.78	$11,215.29	$10,334.48	-$880.81	-7.85%	1.12%	0.00%
ESLT	$133.29	70	$36.86	$2,580.05	$9,330.30	$6,750.25	261.63%	1.01%	1.32%
NVS	$83.96	106.444	$75.16	$8,000.00	$8,937.04	$937.04	11.71%	0.97%	3.24%
VMI	$165.85	53.415	$126.37	$6,750.00	$8,858.88	$2,108.88	31.24%	0.96%	0.90%
PEP	$119.92	73.012184	$79.91	$5,834.51	$8,755.62	$2,921.11	50.07%	0.95%	2.69%
NVO	$53.67	163	$38.92	$6,344.74	$8,748.21	$2,403.47	37.88%	0.95%	2.13%
GWW	$236.25	37	$169.75	$6,280.76	$8,741.25	$2,460.49	39.18%	0.95%	2.17%
KO	$45.88	176	$41.89	$7,372.00	$8,074.88	$702.88	9.53%	0.88%	3.23%
RL	$103.69	76	$90.84	$6,904.03	$7,880.44	$976.41	14.14%	0.85%	1.93%
PEG	$51.50	152.121	$29.25	$4,450.00	$7,834.23	$3,384.23	76.05%	0.85%	3.34%
BUD	$111.56	68	$108.73	$7,393.41	$7,586.08	$192.67	2.61%	0.82%	5.18%
ESRX	$74.64	97	$59.56	$5,777.57	$7,240.08	$1,462.51	25.31%	0.79%	0.00%
GIS	$59.29	121.518	$44.44	$5,400.00	$7,204.80	$1,804.80	33.42%	0.78%	3.31%
DIS	$107.51	67	$95.88	$6,423.84	$7,203.17	$779.33	12.13%	0.78%	1.56%
CVS	$72.50	98	$80.31	$7,870.81	$7,105.00	-$765.81	-9.73%	0.77%	2.76%
SNY	$43.00	163.426	$41.00	$6,700.00	$7,027.32	$327.32	4.89%	0.76%	0.00%
ATGE	$42.05	167	$22.09	$3,688.64	$7,022.35	$3,333.71	90.38%	0.76%	0.86%
GPS	$34.06	200	$20.99	$4,197.60	$6,812.00	$2,614.40	62.28%	0.74%	2.70%
FOSL	$7.77	846	$15.50	$13,110.10	$6,573.42	-$6,536.68	-49.86%	0.71%	0.00%
BEN	$43.33	150	$35.26	$5,289.56	$6,499.50	$1,209.94	22.87%	0.70%	2.12%
PG	$91.88	68.38	$61.42	$4,200.00	$6,282.75	$2,082.75	49.59%	0.68%	3.00%
VIG	$102.03	60	$59.80	$3,587.92	$6,121.80	$2,533.88	70.62%	0.66%	2.45%
SAN	$6.54	931	$6.74	$6,273.42	$6,088.74	-$184.68	-2.94%	0.66%	2.91%
CSX	$55.01	108	$21.04	$2,272.36	$5,941.08	$3,668.72	161.45%	0.64%	1.45%
SBRCY	$17.03	346	$6.18	$2,137.25	$5,892.38	$3,755.13	175.70%	0.64%	1.87%
CAH	$61.27	95	$61.52	$5,844.61	$5,820.65	-$23.96	-0.41%	0.63%	3.02%
VEA	$44.86	127.41382	$30.91	$3,938.54	$5,715.78	$1,777.24	45.12%	0.62%	0.00%
CTSH	$71.02	75	$53.00	$3,975.00	$5,326.50	$1,351.50	34.00%	0.58%	0.84%
AAN	$39.85	133	$22.62	$3,008.06	$5,300.05	$2,291.99	76.19%	0.57%	0.30%
AN	$51.33	101	$46.53	$4,700.00	$5,184.33	$484.33	10.30%	0.56%	0.00%
LUKOY	$57.65	89	$49.38	$4,395.19	$5,130.85	$735.66	16.74%	0.56%	5.98%
HSIC	$69.88	72	$73.05	$5,259.85	$5,031.36	-$228.49	-4.34%	0.55%	0.00%
FOX	$34.12	146	$25.60	$3,736.97	$4,981.52	$1,244.55	33.30%	0.54%	0.00%
HPQ	$21.01	220	$8.89	$1,956.29	$4,622.20	$2,665.91	136.27%	0.50%	2.65%
RBCAA	$38.02	118	$21.26	$2,508.83	$4,486.36	$1,977.53	78.82%	0.49%	2.31%
JNJ	$139.72	32	$61.42	$1,965.54	$4,471.04	$2,505.50	127.47%	0.48%	2.40%
DGS	$52.15	83.77	$44.07	$3,691.36	$4,368.61	$677.25	18.35%	0.47%	3.28%
K	$67.98	63.386	$51.17	$3,243.58	$4,308.98	$1,065.40	32.85%	0.47%	3.18%
PII	$123.99	34	$76.53	$2,602.00	$4,215.66	$1,613.66	62.02%	0.46%	1.87%
BVN	$14.08	282	$9.23	$2,601.60	$3,970.56	$1,368.96	52.62%	0.43%	0.62%
FISV	$131.13	30	$100.80	$3,024.00	$3,933.90	$909.90	30.09%	0.43%	0.00%
CHL	$50.54	77.42	$47.44	$3,672.95	$3,912.81	$239.86	6.53%	0.42%	3.63%
FNDE	$29.67	129.85	$24.59	$3,193.03	$3,852.65	$659.62	20.66%	0.42%	0.00%
BBBY	$21.99	169	$32.40	$5,476.34	$3,716.31	-$1,760.03	-32.14%	0.40%	2.73%
RHHBY	$31.58	112	$30.80	$3,449.74	$3,536.96	$87.22	2.53%	0.38%	3.25%
TIF	$103.95	33	$60.25	$1,988.40	$3,430.35	$1,441.95	72.52%	0.37%	1.92%
CVX	$125.19	27	$86.38	$2,332.19	$3,380.13	$1,047.94	44.93%	0.37%	3.45%
DE	$156.51	21	$74.65	$1,567.56	$3,286.71	$1,719.15	109.67%	0.36%	1.53%
SBS	$10.45	307	$4.92	$1,510.38	$3,208.15	$1,697.77	112.41%	0.35%	3.47%
HPE	$14.36	220	$9.77	$2,150.40	$3,159.20	$1,008.80	46.91%	0.34%	2.09%
CEO	$143.56	21.66	$144.63	$3,132.74	$3,109.51	-$23.23	-0.74%	0.34%	3.84%
PAYX	$68.08	41.571	$32.47	$1,350.00	$2,830.15	$1,480.15	109.64%	0.31%	2.94%
DHR	$92.82	29	$79.24	$2,298.10	$2,691.78	$393.68	17.13%	0.29%	0.60%
DLTR	$107.31	25	$76.92	$1,923.08	$2,682.75	$759.67	39.50%	0.29%	0.00%
IBM	$153.42	17	$133.64	$2,271.92	$2,608.14	$336.22	14.80%	0.28%	3.91%
WLK	$106.53	23	$44.00	$1,012.00	$2,450.19	$1,438.19	142.11%	0.27%	0.79%
WBA	$72.62	33	$36.78	$1,213.89	$2,396.46	$1,182.57	97.42%	0.26%	2.20%
LLY	$84.46	28	$35.93	$1,006.02	$2,364.88	$1,358.86	135.07%	0.26%	2.66%
TLK	$32.22	72	$16.17	$1,164.01	$2,319.84	$1,155.83	99.30%	0.25%	2.73%
PPL	$30.95	71.543	$23.43	$1,676.52	$2,214.26	$537.74	32.07%	0.24%	5.11%
OGS	$73.26	30.062	$33.26	$1,000.00	$2,202.34	$1,202.34	120.23%	0.24%	2.29%
ORLY	$240.54	9	$189.26	$1,703.36	$2,164.86	$461.50	27.09%	0.23%	0.00%
HCN	$63.77	33.085	$54.41	$1,800.00	$2,109.83	$309.83	17.21%	0.23%	5.46%
SAM	$191.10	11	$133.65	$1,470.10	$2,102.10	$632.00	42.99%	0.23%	0.00%
AYI	$176.00	11.92619	$167.70	$2,000.00	$2,099.01	$99.01	4.95%	0.23%	0.00%
TGT	$65.25	32	$59.00	$1,887.92	$2,088.00	$200.08	10.60%	0.23%	3.80%
DPS	$97.06	20.906945	$90.88	$1,900.00	$2,029.23	$129.23	6.80%	0.22%	2.39%
WFC	$60.67	32	$45.86	$1,467.50	$1,941.44	$473.94	32.30%	0.21%	2.57%
UNP	$134.10	14.354958	$111.46	$1,600.00	$1,925.00	$325.00	20.31%	0.21%	1.98%
OAOFY	$50.28	38	$28.59	$1,086.23	$1,910.64	$824.41	75.90%	0.21%	5.51%
CARO	$37.15	50	$8.91	$445.30	$1,857.50	$1,412.20	317.13%	0.20%	0.54%
BP	$42.03	44	$39.34	$1,731.17	$1,849.32	$118.15	6.82%	0.20%	5.71%
TESS	$20.15	88.983	$8.99	$800.00	$1,793.01	$993.01	124.13%	0.19%	3.97%
GGG	$45.22	39	$24.33	$949.00	$1,763.58	$814.58	85.84%	0.19%	1.17%
SGTZY	$4.71	371	$6.45	$2,392.73	$1,747.41	-$645.32	-26.97%	0.19%	2.12%
OMC	$72.83	23.945	$69.18	$1,656.62	$1,743.91	$87.29	5.27%	0.19%	3.30%
MPC	$65.98	26	$18.83	$489.68	$1,715.48	$1,225.80	250.33%	0.19%	2.42%
DXC	$94.90	18	$68.10	$1,225.77	$1,708.20	$482.43	39.36%	0.19%	0.76%
POT	$20.65	77	$23.11	$1,779.18	$1,590.05	-$189.13	-10.63%	0.17%	1.94%
AXP	$99.31	16	$59.77	$956.29	$1,588.96	$632.67	66.16%	0.17%	1.41%
TROW	$104.93	15	$67.00	$1,005.00	$1,573.95	$568.95	56.61%	0.17%	2.17%
KSS	$54.23	28	$43.64	$1,221.96	$1,518.44	$296.48	24.26%	0.16%	4.06%
BF.B	$68.67	22	$45.82	$1,008.04	$1,510.74	$502.70	49.87%	0.16%	1.15%
SJI	$31.23	48.3619	$23.78	$1,150.00	$1,510.34	$360.34	31.33%	0.16%	3.59%
RHI	$55.54	26	$36.06	$937.56	$1,444.04	$506.48	54.02%	0.16%	1.73%
STRA	$89.58	16	$48.00	$768.00	$1,433.28	$665.28	86.63%	0.16%	1.12%
CERN	$67.39	21	$47.80	$1,003.80	$1,415.19	$411.39	40.98%	0.15%	0.00%
NNN	$43.13	32.269	$43.39	$1,400.00	$1,391.76	-$8.24	-0.59%	0.15%	4.41%
CHKP	$103.62	13	$74.85	$973.05	$1,347.06	$374.01	38.44%	0.15%	0.00%
CICHY	$18.45	73	$13.64	$995.73	$1,346.85	$351.12	35.26%	0.15%	3.72%
VSS	$119.23	10	$87.82	$878.20	$1,192.30	$314.10	35.77%	0.13%	0.00%
MDLZ	$42.80	27	$17.63	$475.90	$1,155.60	$679.70	142.82%	0.13%	2.06%
GPC	$95.01	12	$80.00	$960.00	$1,140.12	$180.12	18.76%	0.12%	2.84%
HFC	$51.22	22	$23.50	$517.00	$1,126.84	$609.84	117.96%	0.12%	2.58%
MYTAY	$8.77	124	$13.18	$1,633.71	$1,087.48	-$546.23	-33.43%	0.12%	5.17%
HBI	$20.91	50	$20.50	$1,025.00	$1,045.50	$20.50	2.00%	0.11%	2.87%
SCL	$78.97	13	$38.46	$499.98	$1,026.61	$526.63	105.33%	0.11%	1.14%
TLSYY	$14.15	72	$14.78	$1,064.26	$1,018.80	-$45.46	-4.27%	0.11%	8.47%
AEO	$18.80	54	$11.93	$644.35	$1,015.20	$370.85	57.55%	0.11%	2.66%
CMP	$72.25	14	$69.00	$966.00	$1,011.50	$45.50	4.71%	0.11%	3.99%
MFGP	$33.59	30	$29.07	$872.05	$1,007.70	$135.65	15.56%	0.11%	0.00%
MRK	$56.27	17	$34.30	$583.18	$956.59	$373.41	64.03%	0.10%	3.41%
BIIB	$318.57	3	$221.90	$665.71	$955.71	$290.00	43.56%	0.10%	0.00%
BCMXY	$18.18	52	$16.07	$835.50	$945.36	$109.86	13.15%	0.10%	4.66%
AAPL	$169.23	5	$94.64	$473.20	$846.15	$372.95	78.81%	0.09%	1.49%
T	$38.88	21	$28.77	$604.24	$816.48	$212.24	35.13%	0.09%	5.14%
ARLP	$19.70	41	$26.68	$1,094.01	$807.70	-$286.31	-26.17%	0.09%	10.25%
PNW	$85.18	9.083887	$34.24	$311.00	$773.77	$462.77	148.80%	0.08%	3.26%
PB	$70.07	11	$45.43	$499.73	$770.77	$271.04	54.24%	0.08%	2.06%
RAVN	$34.35	22	$22.60	$497.20	$755.70	$258.50	51.99%	0.08%	1.51%
SB	$3.23	233	$7.99	$1,861.40	$752.59	-$1,108.81	-59.57%	0.08%	0.00%
TSCO	$74.75	10	$49.99	$499.90	$747.50	$247.60	49.53%	0.08%	1.44%
IDCBY	$16.11	45	$12.18	$548.10	$724.95	$176.85	32.27%	0.08%	0.00%
LB	$60.22	12	$42.00	$504.00	$722.64	$218.64	43.38%	0.08%	3.99%
ICE	$70.56	10	$16.67	$166.66	$705.60	$538.94	323.38%	0.08%	1.13%
EFSI	$32.00	22	$22.85	$502.70	$704.00	$201.30	40.04%	0.08%	2.75%
CLD	$4.45	158	$9.44	$1,492.23	$703.10	-$789.13	-52.88%	0.08%	0.00%
AMGN	$173.90	4	$141.00	$564.00	$695.60	$131.60	23.33%	0.08%	3.04%
WTR	$39.23	17.358166	$28.80	$500.00	$680.96	$180.96	36.19%	0.07%	2.09%
KHC	$77.76	8	$25.41	$203.28	$622.08	$418.80	206.02%	0.07%	3.22%
AAP	$99.69	6	$89.01	$534.06	$598.14	$64.08	12.00%	0.06%	0.24%
IMBBY	$42.67	14	$62.93	$880.98	$597.38	-$283.60	-32.19%	0.06%	5.02%
CCFN	$49.15	12	$39.50	$474.00	$589.80	$115.80	24.43%	0.06%	3.01%
HRL	$36.39	16	$31.00	$496.00	$582.24	$86.24	17.39%	0.06%	2.06%
EGOV	$16.60	35	$16.00	$560.00	$581.00	$21.00	3.75%	0.06%	1.93%
WSM	$51.70	11	$44.00	$484.00	$568.70	$84.70	17.50%	0.06%	3.02%
HSY	$113.51	5	$90.47	$452.35	$567.55	$115.20	25.47%	0.06%	2.31%
BACHY	$12.22	45	$11.00	$495.00	$549.90	$54.90	11.09%	0.06%	4.12%
TLKGY	$15.20	36	$19.78	$711.92	$547.20	-$164.72	-23.14%	0.06%	2.27%
RLI	$60.66	9	$57.00	$513.00	$545.94	$32.94	6.42%	0.06%	1.38%
TJX	$76.46	7	$69.00	$483.00	$535.22	$52.22	10.81%	0.06%	1.63%
BMS	$47.79	10.989	$45.50	$500.00	$525.16	$25.16	5.03%	0.06%	2.51%
FFIV	$131.22	4	$116.00	$464.00	$524.88	$60.88	13.12%	0.06%	0.00%
NTTYY	$47.24	11	$22.30	$245.34	$519.64	$274.30	111.80%	0.06%	2.54%
LANC	$129.21	4	$117.75	$471.00	$516.84	$45.84	9.73%	0.06%	1.86%
BCS	$10.90	46	$14.02	$644.92	$501.40	-$143.52	-22.25%	0.05%	1.40%
NWL	$30.90	16	$30.50	$488.00	$494.40	$6.40	1.31%	0.05%	2.98%
SHPG	$155.12	3	$147.00	$441.00	$465.36	$24.36	5.52%	0.05%	0.60%
MPLX	$35.47	13	$8.59	$111.66	$461.11	$349.45	312.96%	0.05%	6.63%
MRO	$16.93	27	$29.92	$807.79	$457.11	-$350.68	-43.41%	0.05%	1.18%
IEMG	$56.90	6.25	$49.67	$310.46	$355.63	$45.17	14.55%	0.04%	0.00%
TRGP	$48.42	7	$27.35	$191.42	$338.94	$147.52	77.07%	0.04%	7.52%
ESV	$5.91	52	$9.43	$490.42	$307.32	-$183.10	-37.34%	0.03%	0.68%
DYN	$11.85	24	$29.77	$714.50	$284.40	-$430.10	-60.20%	0.03%	0.00%
CPLP	$3.36	75	$8.53	$639.48	$252.00	-$387.48	-60.59%	0.03%	9.52%
HNNMY	$4.08	61	$6.53	$398.52	$248.88	-$149.64	-37.55%	0.03%	3.80%
LYG	$3.75	50	$3.24	$162.00	$187.50	$25.50	15.74%	0.02%	3.76%
GSH	$33.40	4.59	$20.75	$95.24	$153.31	$58.07	60.97%	0.02%	1.76%
VTI	$137.25	0.85171			$116.90	$116.90	#DIV/0!	0.01%	1.71%
MVC	$10.56	11	$8.84	$97.28	$116.16	$18.88	19.41%	0.01%	5.68%
TSCDY	$8.49	11	$14.33	$157.63	$93.39	-$64.24	-40.75%	0.01%	0.47%
AMC	$15.10	5	$18.00	$90.00	$75.50	-$14.50	-16.11%	0.01%	5.30%
PTR	$69.94	0.97	$99.24	$96.26	$67.84	-$28.42	-29.52%	0.01%	2.29%
OGZPY	$4.41	12.8977	$7.35	$94.76	$56.88	-$37.88	-39.98%	0.01%	4.71%
BIVV	$53.92	1	$37.77	$37.77	$53.92	$16.15	42.74%	0.01%	0.00%
BK	$53.86	1	$25.01	$25.01	$53.86	$28.85	115.35%	0.01%	1.78%
QCCO	$0.46	113	$3.63	$410.25	$51.98	-$358.27	-87.33%	0.01%	0.00%
LGCY	$1.61	28	$15.62	$437.22	$45.08	-$392.14	-89.69%	0.00%	0.00%
EVEP	$0.51	32	$21.84	$698.97	$16.32	-$682.65	-97.67%	0.00%	0.00%
WVVI	$8.33	1	$8.36	$8.36	$8.33	-$0.03	-0.36%	0.00%	0.00%
BPI	$8.30	1	$17.85	$17.85	$8.30	-$9.55	-53.50%	0.00%	0.00%
BKS	$6.70	1	$8.70	$8.70	$6.70	-$2.00	-22.99%	0.00%	8.96%
LQD	$121.56	0.04779			$5.81	$5.81	#DIV/0!	0.00%	3.36%
VGIT	$63.95	0.08107			$5.18	$5.18	#DIV/0!	0.00%	1.66%
TIP	$114.08	0.0364			$4.15	$4.15	#DIV/0!	0.00%	2.07%
ALN	$0.18	15	$2.11	$31.65	$2.70	-$28.95	-91.47%	0.00%	0.00%
SJNK	$27.56	0.09418			$2.60	$2.60	#DIV/0!	0.00%	0.00%
VNQ	$82.98	0.01607			$1.33	$1.33	#DIV/0!	0.00%	0.00%
VCSH	$79.30	0.00465			$0.37	$0.37	#DIV/0!	0.00%	2.24%
ZAHLY	$0.01	23	$6.64	$152.72	$0.23	-$152.49	-99.85%	0.00%	0.00%
FAZ	$11.69	-100	$34.42	-$3,441.54	-$1,169.00	$2,272.54	66.03%	-0.13%	0.00%
DPK	$12.32	-100	$16.15	-$1,614.79	-$1,232.00	$382.79	23.71%	-0.13%	0.00%
EDZ	$9.06	-400	$10.62	-$4,249.22	-$3,624.00	$625.22	14.71%	-0.39%	0.00%
SQQQ	$21.51	-300	$22.29	-$6,687.83	-$6,453.00	$234.83	3.51%	-0.70%	0.00%
TZA	$12.27	-550	$20.03	-$11,015.32	-$6,748.50	$4,266.82	38.74%	-0.73%	0.00%

My transactions in December are listed as follows:

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Stock	Action	Cost	Price per share	% of Portfolio	Current price	P/L (%)
HBI	New Buy	$1,025.00	$20.50	0.09%	$20.91	2.00%
EGOV	New Buy	$560.00	$16.00	0.05%	$16.60	3.75%
AFL	Add	$552.08	$86.75	0.05%	$87.78	1.18%
XOM	Add	$542.41	$83.06	0.05%	$83.64	0.70%
IJR	Add	$532.00	$76.00	0.05%	$76.81	1.07%
AYI	Add	$500.00	$178.28	0.04%	$176.00	-1.28%
CVS	Add	$490.00	$70.00	0.04%	$72.50	3.57%
NWL	New Buy	$488.00	$30.50	0.04%	$30.90	1.31%
HSIC	Add	$476.00	$68.00	0.04%	$69.88	2.76%
CAH	Add	$472.00	$59.00	0.04%	$61.27	3.85%
SRCL	Add	$462.00	$66.00	0.04%	$67.99	3.02%
SHPG	New Buy	$441.00	$147.00	0.04%	$155.12	5.52%
EMR	Add	$327.52	$66.73	0.03%	$69.69	4.43%
SON	Add	$283.04	$53.67	0.02%	$53.14	-0.99%
BMTC	Add	$278.88	$45.57	0.02%	$44.20	-3.01%
UNP	Add	$208.48	$130.32	0.02%	$134.10	2.90%
BDX	Add	$200.00	$217.96	0.02%	$214.06	-1.79%
VMI	Add	$200.00	$163.13	0.02%	$165.85	1.67%
DPS	Add	$200.00	$94.36	0.02%	$97.06	2.87%
NVS	Add	$200.00	$83.06	0.02%	$83.96	1.09%
OMC	Add	$200.00	$74.13	0.02%	$72.83	-1.75%
GIS	Add	$200.00	$56.31	0.02%	$59.29	5.30%
SNY	Add	$200.00	$44.01	0.02%	$43.00	-2.30%
YORW	Add	$200.00	$34.67	0.02%	$33.90	-2.22%
EXC	Add	$155.17	$40.79	0.01%	$39.41	-3.39%
NSC	Add	$80.89	$141.91	0.01%	$144.90	2.11%
PEG	Add	$64.87	$51.53	0.01%	$51.50	-0.05%
K	Add	$31.80	$65.03	0.00%	$67.98	4.54%
SJI	Add	$13.42	$31.25	0.00%	$31.23	-0.05%
OGS	Add	$12.56	$78.99	0.00%	$73.26	-7.26%
WVVI	New Buy	$8.36	$8.36	0.00%	$8.33	-0.36%
PNW	Add	$6.27	$91.54	0.00%	$85.18	-6.95%
VTI	Add	$4.79	$136.86	0.00%	$137.25	0.29%
VEA	Add	$4.15	$44.54	0.00%	$44.86	0.72%
WTR	Add	$3.53	$35.76	0.00%	$39.23	9.70%
VWO	Add	$0.97	$44.31	0.00%	$45.91	3.61%
VGIT	Add	$0.45	$64.47	0.00%	$63.95	-0.81%
LQD	Add	$0.44	$121.21	0.00%	$121.56	0.29%
TIP	Add	$0.33	$114.58	0.00%	$114.08	-0.44%
SJNK	Add	$0.18	$27.11	0.00%	$27.56	1.67%
VNQ	Add	$0.07	$83.33	0.00%	$82.98	-0.42%
EDZ	Sold Short	-$2,169.61	$10.85	-0.19%	$9.06	16.48%
SQQQ	Sold Short	-$3,425.66	$22.84	-0.29%	$21.51	5.81%
	Bought	$9,626.66		0.83%		$156.56
	Sold	-$5,595.27		-0.48%		$556.77
	Net	$4,031.39		0.35%		$713.33

Purchases
I continued to put my excess cash to work into stocks. I made 5 new buys this month. HBI, EGOV, NWL, SHPG are quality stocks trading near 52-week lows and, except for EGOV, rated highly by Morningstar. WWVI is bought to see if there might be any shareholder incentives, which have been widely publicized on the web. Healthcare stocks like CVS, CAH, HSIC and industrial stock SRCL continued to trade near 52-week lows so I added to my stake in them. The rest are part of my monthly investment plan and dividend reinvestments.

Timing was good this month, as the purchases I made this month are up $156,56 by the end of the month, or about 1.63% from cost, better than the S&P500TR of 1.11% this month.

Sales
I shorted some more EDZ and SQQQ when they rose briefly above my initial sale price. These shorts paid off as they are up 16.48% and 5.81% respectively in profit (not including hard to borrow interest expense, which figure to be around 1.6% and 0.2% respectively), yielding $556.77 in profit.

Overall my transactions this month are up $713.33, or 17.69% of $4,031.39 net cash inflow. Not bad.

Here is how my assets, liabilities, and net worth have changed over the past month:

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	Beginning balance on 12/1/2017	+ Cash inflow /(outflow)	+ $ P/L	= Ending Balance on 12/31/2017	% P/L	% Equity
ASSETS
Current assets
Cash	23,432.18	14,797.41	0.00	38,229.59	0.00%	3.25%
Bonds	17,564.03	(2,420.35)	347.04	15,490.72	1.98%	1.32%
Stocks	840,120.63	(2,037.50)	11,580.48	849,663.61	1.38%	72.34%
Total current assets	881,116.84	10,339.56	11,927.52	903,383.92	1.35%	76.91%
Tax-deferred retirement account	191,965.21	1,515.23	3,072.02	196,552.46	1.60%	16.73%
Roth IRA	77,500.89		(381.30)	77,119.59	-0.49%	6.57%
Gold	13,726.15		304.58	14,030.73	2.22%	1.19%
Other non-current assets	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00		0.00%
Total assets	1,164,309.09	11,854.79	14,922.82	1,191,086.70	1.28%	101.41%
LIABILITIES & EQUITY
Liabilities
Current liabilities	10,406.71	(124.00)	0.00	10,282.71		0.88%
Long-term liabilities
Student loan	6,286.51	(22.44)	0.00	6,264.07		0.53%
Other non-current liabilities	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00		0.00%
Total liabilities	16,693.22	(146.44)	0.00	16,546.78		1.41%
Equity (net worth)	1,147,615.87	12,001.23	14,922.82	1,174,539.92	1.30%	100.00%

This was a good month for me overall, as I saw my net worth increased 2.35% to end the year 2017 at $1,174,539.92, due to a combination of P/L (1.30%) and net cash inflow (1.05%).

Below is a chart of my net worth since I started tracking on a monthly basis:


My monthly performance against the S&P 500 is shown below:

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2017	My Portfolio Return	S&P 500 TR
Jan	2.39%	1.90%	Good
Feb	2.08%	3.97%	Bad
Mar	0.97%	0.12%	Good
Apr	2.22%	1.03%	Good
May	0.01%	1.41%	Bad
Jun	0.59%	0.62%	Bad
Jul	1.52%	2.06%	Bad
Aug	0.01%	0.31%	Bad
Sep	2.92%	2.06%	Good
Oct	1.19%	2.33%	Bad
Nov	3.64%	3.07%	Good
Dec	1.30%	1.11%	Good
YTD	20.47%	21.84%	Bad

While December was good as I beat the index, the full year 2017 overall was a losing year for me I trailed the index by 1.37%: 20.47% for me vs. 21.84% for the index. This is mainly accounted for my my underexposure to the technology sector which had a huge run this year. I am still not a big fan of tech stocks, which are too unstable for long term investing.

I had the same number of good months versus bad months, but the gains during the good months proved insufficient to overcome the bigger losses during the bad months. Note that "losing" and "bad" are all relative to the index. 2017 was a strong year for stocks and neither myself or the index saw ANY month with an actual decline. This is the first time with no decline in any month for an entire calendar year since I started the blog in 2014. A correction is long overdue. I will, however, stay invested rather than trying to time the market, given that missing the upside is a far greater risk than suffering any temporary setback. That said, I currently have $38,229.59 cash ("dry powder") which I'm ready to deploy should a correction come, and am willing to buy on margin if necessary should a big bear cause stocks to sell at fire-sale prices.

Thanks for reading, and wishing you a happy and prosperous New Year!!