Income & Expenses For August 2019: Saved $12,335.56, 97.29% of After-Tax Income

Since 2014, I have been tracking my monthly income and expenses. You can see a breakdown of every penny I earn and spend. For perspective, this budget is for a household of two in a small US city. By documenting my journey, I aim to demonstrate the feasibility of saving a significant portion of your income and provide some ideas and inspiration for your own budget.

Below are my income and expenses for August 2019. You can see all my monthly budgets here.

	Aug 2019
Income
Wages	$13,620.02
Dividends	$366.07
Other Income	$656.47
Total Income	$14,642.56
Expense
Federal Income Tax	$1,354.80
Federal Tax Pmt/(Refund)
FICA-SS	$497.97
FICA-Medicare	$110.15
Housing	$4.55
Student loan repayment	$46.41
Food	$91.30
Car Insurance	$129.15
Electric	$28.88
Water	$28.17
Amazon sale costs	$2.75
Other Expense	$12.87
Total Expense	$2,307.00
Surplus/(Deficit)	$12,335.56
Before Tax Saving Rate	84.24%
After Tax Income	$12,679.64
Ex-Tax Total Expense	$344.08
After Tax Saving Rate	97.29%
Goal	95.00%

Net Worth Update August 2019: $1,602,833.01 (-$33,537.94, -2.05%)

Welcome to my monthly net worth update! Here is how my assets, liabilities, and net worth have changed over the past month:

	Beginning balance on 8/1/2019	+ Cash inflow /(outflow)	+ $ P/L	= Ending Balance on 8/31/2019	% P/L	% Equity
ASSETS
Current assets
Cash	34,384.98	(3,375.68)	0.00	31,009.30	0.00%	1.93%
Bonds	14,649.92	(82.37)	14.68	14,582.23	0.10%	0.91%
Stocks	1,235,069.31	9,877.59	(37,333.72)	1,207,613.18	-3.02%	75.34%
Total current assets	1,284,104.21	6,419.54	(37,319.04)	1,253,204.71	-2.91%	78.19%
Tax-deferred retirement account	232,878.67	1,975.03	(7,044.13)	227,809.57	-3.02%	14.21%
Roth IRA	93,320.87		(4,276.14)	89,044.73	-4.58%	5.56%
Home	42,958.00		1,284.00	44,242.00	2.99%	2.76%
Gold	15,257.86		1,211.63	16,469.48	7.94%	1.03%
Other non-current assets	111.05	40.00	(2.48)	148.57	-2.23%	0.01%
Total assets	1,668,630.66	8,434.57	(46,146.17)	1,630,919.06	-2.77%	101.75%
LIABILITIES & EQUITY
Liabilities
Current liabilities	26,446.85	(4,139.88)	0.00	22,306.97		1.39%
Long-term liabilities
Student loan	5,812.86	(33.78)	0.00	5,779.08		0.36%
Other non-current liabilities	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00		0.00%
Total liabilities	32,259.71	(4,173.66)	0.00	28,086.05		1.75%
Equity (net worth)	1,636,370.95	12,608.23	(46,146.17)	1,602,833.01	-2.82%	100.00%

Net worth: Bottom line up front, my net worth decreased by $33,537.94, -2.05% this month due to marked-to-market investment loss (-$46,146.17, -2.82%) partially offset by net cash inflow ($12,608.23, 0.77%).

Portfolio Update August 2019: Bought 46 Stocks (12 New Buys!) and Sold 3

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 8/31/19:

Ticker	Shares Held	Cost Basis	Price	Total Invested	Market Value	G/L ($)	G/L (%)	Weight	Div/sh	Dividend	Yield	YOC
Total	17490.25459	$53.61	$74.14	$937,570.16	$1,296,646.42	$359,076.26	38.30%	100.00%		$18,976.84	1.46%	2.02%
IJR	1314	$70.94	$75.58	$93,213.45	$99,312.12	$6,098.67	6.54%	7.66%	$1.12	$1,471.55	1.48%	1.58%
BIIB	299.21406	$244.31	$219.75	$73,099.90	$65,752.29	-$7,347.61	-10.05%	5.07%	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%
BDX	198.014047	$97.97	$253.92	$19,400.00	$50,279.73	$30,879.73	159.17%	3.88%	$3.08	$609.88	1.21%	3.14%
AZO	39.90259	$696.88	$1,101.69	$27,807.18	$43,960.28	$16,153.10	58.09%	3.39%	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%
CI	268	$156.06	$153.97	$41,823.28	$41,263.96	-$559.32	-1.34%	3.18%	$0.04	$10.72	0.03%	0.03%
AFL	790.6242	$26.18	$50.18	$20,700.00	$39,673.52	$18,973.52	91.66%	3.06%	$1.08	$853.87	2.15%	4.12%
BRK.B	164.37839	$158.67	$203.41	$26,082.44	$33,436.21	$7,353.77	28.19%	2.58%	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%
XOM	384.10799	$72.64	$68.48	$27,900.00	$26,303.72	-$1,596.28	-5.72%	2.03%	$3.48	$1,336.70	5.08%	4.79%
SRCL	580	$54.63	$44.89	$31,687.64	$26,036.20	-$5,651.44	-17.83%	2.01%	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%
AN	536	$37.84	$47.46	$20,282.14	$25,438.56	$5,156.42	25.42%	1.96%	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%
SPGI	93.383013	$48.19	$260.19	$4,500.00	$24,297.33	$19,797.33	439.94%	1.87%	$2.28	$212.91	0.88%	4.73%
EXC	505.872	$26.41	$47.26	$13,359.77	$23,907.51	$10,547.74	78.95%	1.84%	$1.45	$733.51	3.07%	5.49%
BKNG	12.14009	$1,699.43	$1,966.41	$20,631.22	$23,872.39	$3,241.17	15.71%	1.84%	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%
NSC	136.977	$73.74	$174.05	$10,100.00	$23,840.85	$13,740.85	136.05%	1.84%	$3.76	$515.03	2.16%	5.10%
WMT	198	$69.34	$114.26	$13,728.34	$22,623.48	$8,895.14	64.79%	1.74%	$2.10	$415.80	1.84%	3.03%
CERN	302.40417	$51.42	$68.91	$15,548.43	$20,838.67	$5,290.24	34.02%	1.61%	$0.72	$217.73	1.04%	1.40%
MSFT	147	$40.09	$137.79	$5,893.41	$20,255.13	$14,361.72	243.69%	1.56%	$1.84	$270.48	1.34%	4.59%
NKE	223	$51.28	$84.50	$11,435.52	$18,843.50	$7,407.98	64.78%	1.45%	$0.88	$196.24	1.04%	1.72%
AYI	149.358468	$133.39	$125.41	$19,922.34	$18,731.05	-$1,191.29	-5.98%	1.44%	$0.52	$77.67	0.41%	0.39%
VFC	227	$54.02	$81.95	$12,262.27	$18,602.65	$6,340.38	51.71%	1.43%	$2.04	$463.08	2.49%	3.78%
EMR	302.832546	$48.87	$59.59	$14,800.00	$18,045.79	$3,245.79	21.93%	1.39%	$1.96	$593.55	3.29%	4.01%
LMT	44.233058	$105.15	$384.11	$4,651.18	$16,990.36	$12,339.18	265.29%	1.31%	$8.80	$389.25	2.29%	8.37%
YORW	451.318	$24.71	$37.34	$11,150.00	$16,852.21	$5,702.21	51.14%	1.30%	$0.69	$311.41	1.85%	2.79%
DIS	115	$81.18	$137.26	$9,335.99	$15,784.90	$6,448.91	69.08%	1.22%	$1.76	$202.40	1.28%	2.17%
MCD	72	$104.07	$217.97	$7,493.25	$15,693.84	$8,200.59	109.44%	1.21%	$4.64	$334.08	2.13%	4.46%
DLTR	148.11655	$84.40	$101.53	$12,501.38	$15,038.27	$2,536.89	20.29%	1.16%	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%
FISV	140.02897	$63.84	$106.94	$8,939.75	$14,974.70	$6,034.95	67.51%	1.15%	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%
SON	259.9598	$37.12	$57.20	$9,650.00	$14,869.70	$5,219.70	54.09%	1.15%	$1.72	$447.13	3.01%	4.63%
DISCA	529	$18.79	$27.60	$9,941.49	$14,600.40	$4,658.91	46.86%	1.13%	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%
UL	229	$41.80	$63.18	$9,572.56	$14,468.22	$4,895.66	51.14%	1.12%	$1.83	$419.07	2.90%	4.38%
BMTC	417.740155	$26.09	$34.10	$10,900.00	$14,244.94	$3,344.94	30.69%	1.10%	$1.04	$434.45	3.05%	3.99%
UHS	95	$111.67	$144.58	$10,608.60	$13,735.10	$3,126.50	29.47%	1.06%	$0.80	$76.00	0.55%	0.72%
GIS	250.904	$41.85	$53.80	$10,500.00	$13,498.64	$2,998.64	28.56%	1.04%	$1.96	$491.77	3.64%	4.68%
NVS	135.153	$63.01	$90.11	$8,516.58	$12,178.64	$3,662.05	43.00%	0.94%	$2.83	$382.48	3.14%	4.49%
SNY	278.413	$38.07	$42.95	$10,600.00	$11,957.84	$1,357.84	12.81%	0.92%	$1.74	$484.44	4.05%	4.57%
VMI	86.805	$127.30	$135.50	$11,050.00	$11,762.08	$712.08	6.44%	0.91%	$1.50	$130.21	1.11%	1.18%
INTC	245	$27.23	$47.41	$6,670.35	$11,615.45	$4,945.10	74.14%	0.90%	$1.26	$308.70	2.66%	4.63%
ESLT	70	$36.40	$155.02	$2,547.95	$10,851.40	$8,303.45	325.89%	0.84%	$1.76	$123.20	1.14%	4.84%
LH	63.78428	$143.69	$167.56	$9,165.07	$10,687.69	$1,522.62	16.61%	0.82%	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%
NPSNY	228	$45.99	$45.25	$10,484.87	$10,317.00	-$167.87	-1.60%	0.80%	$0.09	$20.52	0.20%	0.20%
GWW	37	$169.75	$273.65	$6,280.76	$10,125.05	$3,844.29	61.21%	0.78%	$5.76	$213.12	2.10%	3.39%
PEP	73.892185	$78.96	$136.73	$5,834.51	$10,103.28	$4,268.77	73.16%	0.78%	$3.82	$282.27	2.79%	4.84%
PG	81.38	$63.71	$120.23	$5,184.62	$9,784.32	$4,599.70	88.72%	0.75%	$2.98	$242.51	2.48%	4.68%
PEG	159.961	$27.82	$60.47	$4,450.00	$9,672.84	$5,222.84	117.37%	0.75%	$1.88	$300.73	3.11%	6.76%
BABA	54	$164.53	$175.03	$8,884.58	$9,451.62	$567.04	6.38%	0.73%	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%
CHKP	82.34484	$104.23	$107.70	$8,582.52	$8,868.54	$286.02	3.33%	0.68%	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%
LKQ	334	$26.25	$26.27	$8,766.98	$8,774.18	$7.20	0.08%	0.68%	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%
AAN	133	$22.62	$64.11	$3,008.06	$8,526.63	$5,518.57	183.46%	0.66%	$0.14	$18.62	0.22%	0.62%
NVO	163	$38.92	$52.11	$6,344.74	$8,493.93	$2,149.19	33.87%	0.66%	$1.25	$203.75	2.40%	3.21%
HSIC	136	$58.32	$61.62	$7,930.94	$8,380.32	$449.38	5.67%	0.65%	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%
BIDU	80	$109.66	$104.47	$8,772.47	$8,357.60	-$414.87	-4.73%	0.64%	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%
TCEHY	190	$40.78	$41.27	$7,748.04	$7,841.30	$93.26	1.20%	0.60%	$0.26	$49.40	0.63%	0.64%
CSX	108	$20.96	$67.02	$2,263.24	$7,238.16	$4,974.92	219.81%	0.56%	$0.96	$103.68	1.43%	4.58%
ATGE	167	$22.11	$42.72	$3,692.65	$7,134.24	$3,441.59	93.20%	0.55%	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%
VIG	60	$59.80	$118.42	$3,588.01	$7,105.20	$3,517.19	98.03%	0.55%	$2.06	$123.60	1.74%	3.44%
WAT	32.82966	$190.62	$211.89	$6,257.86	$6,956.28	$698.42	11.16%	0.54%	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%
RL	76	$90.84	$88.34	$6,904.03	$6,713.84	-$190.19	-2.75%	0.52%	$2.75	$209.00	3.11%	3.03%
FFIV	51.90098	$144.09	$128.73	$7,478.18	$6,681.21	-$796.97	-10.66%	0.52%	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%
CTSH	101	$55.43	$61.39	$5,598.39	$6,200.39	$602.00	10.75%	0.48%	$0.80	$80.80	1.30%	1.44%
RLI	63.680108	$67.73	$91.57	$4,313.00	$5,831.19	$1,518.19	35.20%	0.45%	$0.92	$58.59	1.00%	1.36%
K	82.707	$50.10	$62.80	$4,143.58	$5,194.00	$1,050.42	25.35%	0.40%	$2.28	$188.57	3.63%	4.55%
VEA	126	$31.26	$40.09	$3,938.52	$5,051.34	$1,112.82	28.25%	0.39%	$1.17	$147.42	2.92%	3.74%
RBCAA	118	$21.06	$42.45	$2,485.50	$5,009.10	$2,523.60	101.53%	0.39%	$1.06	$125.08	2.50%	5.03%
SAM	11	$133.65	$438.42	$1,470.10	$4,822.62	$3,352.52	228.05%	0.37%	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%
UNP	29.247883	$123.09	$161.96	$3,600.00	$4,736.99	$1,136.99	31.58%	0.37%	$3.88	$113.48	2.40%	3.15%
OMC	60.668	$68.51	$76.06	$4,156.62	$4,614.41	$457.79	11.01%	0.36%	$2.60	$157.74	3.42%	3.79%
FB	24	$142.38	$185.67	$3,417.05	$4,456.08	$1,039.03	30.41%	0.34%	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%
BVN	282	$9.23	$15.24	$2,601.60	$4,297.68	$1,696.08	65.19%	0.33%	$0.12	$33.84	0.79%	1.30%
DHR	29	$79.24	$142.09	$2,298.10	$4,120.61	$1,822.51	79.31%	0.32%	$0.68	$19.72	0.48%	0.86%
JNJ	32	$111.61	$128.36	$3,571.49	$4,107.52	$536.03	15.01%	0.32%	$3.80	$121.60	2.96%	3.40%
TSS	30.291	$97.02	$134.22	$2,938.87	$4,065.66	$1,126.79	38.34%	0.31%	$0.52	$15.75	0.39%	0.54%
HPQ	220	$8.89	$18.29	$1,956.29	$4,023.80	$2,067.51	105.69%	0.31%	$0.64	$140.80	3.50%	7.20%
SBS	307	$4.92	$12.38	$1,510.38	$3,800.66	$2,290.28	151.64%	0.29%	$0.30	$92.10	2.42%	6.10%
WELL	40.3453	$52.05	$89.56	$2,100.00	$3,613.33	$1,513.33	72.06%	0.28%	$3.48	$140.40	3.89%	6.69%
PAYX	43.882	$30.76	$81.70	$1,350.00	$3,585.16	$2,235.16	165.57%	0.28%	$2.48	$108.83	3.04%	8.06%
WB	84	$37.60	$41.37	$3,158.48	$3,475.08	$316.60	10.02%	0.27%	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%
ORLY	9	$189.26	$383.76	$1,703.36	$3,453.84	$1,750.48	102.77%	0.27%	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%
TGT	32	$59.00	$107.04	$1,887.92	$3,425.28	$1,537.36	81.43%	0.26%	$2.64	$84.48	2.47%	4.47%
MCK	24	$127.42	$138.27	$3,058.04	$3,318.48	$260.44	8.52%	0.26%	$1.64	$39.36	1.19%	1.29%
YY	58	$60.95	$57.15	$3,535.00	$3,314.70	-$220.30	-6.23%	0.26%	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%
ELAN	126	$15.68	$26.02	$1,975.11	$3,278.52	$1,303.41	65.99%	0.25%	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%
DE	21	$74.65	$154.91	$1,567.56	$3,253.11	$1,685.55	107.53%	0.25%	$3.04	$63.84	1.96%	4.07%
CVX	27	$86.38	$117.72	$2,332.19	$3,178.44	$846.25	36.29%	0.25%	$4.76	$128.52	4.04%	5.51%
GPS	200	$20.94	$15.79	$4,187.60	$3,158.00	-$1,029.60	-24.59%	0.24%	$0.97	$194.00	6.14%	4.63%
HPE	220	$5.73	$13.82	$1,261.31	$3,040.40	$1,779.09	141.05%	0.23%	$0.45	$99.00	3.26%	7.85%
AMCR	307	$8.44	$9.82	$2,589.74	$3,014.74	$425.00	16.41%	0.23%	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%
NNN	51.206	$39.06	$56.15	$2,000.00	$2,875.22	$875.22	43.76%	0.22%	$2.06	$105.48	3.67%	5.27%
OGS	31.159	$32.09	$91.61	$1,000.00	$2,854.48	$1,854.48	185.45%	0.22%	$2.00	$62.32	2.18%	6.23%
TIF	33	$60.25	$84.87	$1,988.40	$2,800.71	$812.31	40.85%	0.22%	$2.32	$76.56	2.73%	3.85%
PII	34	$76.53	$82.02	$2,602.00	$2,788.68	$186.68	7.17%	0.22%	$2.44	$82.96	2.97%	3.19%
STRA	16	$48.00	$169.23	$768.00	$2,707.68	$1,939.68	252.56%	0.21%	$2.00	$32.00	1.18%	4.17%
SBRCY	197	$5.50	$13.73	$1,082.83	$2,704.81	$1,621.98	149.79%	0.21%	$1.01	$198.97	7.36%	18.37%
BEN	96	$30.25	$26.28	$2,904.33	$2,522.88	-$381.45	-13.13%	0.19%	$1.04	$99.84	3.96%	3.44%
TLK	72	$16.08	$31.42	$1,157.84	$2,262.24	$1,104.40	95.38%	0.17%	$0.76	$54.72	2.42%	4.73%
PPL	75.607	$22.17	$29.55	$1,676.52	$2,234.19	$557.67	33.26%	0.17%	$1.65	$124.75	5.58%	7.44%
CBOE	17	$94.92	$119.16	$1,613.60	$2,025.72	$412.12	25.54%	0.16%	$1.44	$24.48	1.21%	1.52%
IRBT	32	$67.91	$61.81	$2,172.99	$1,977.92	-$195.07	-8.98%	0.15%	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%
AXP	16	$59.77	$120.37	$956.29	$1,925.92	$969.63	101.39%	0.15%	$1.56	$24.96	1.30%	2.61%
AAP	13	$117.65	$137.95	$1,529.46	$1,793.35	$263.89	17.25%	0.14%	$0.24	$3.12	0.17%	0.20%
GGG	39	$24.33	$45.57	$949.00	$1,777.23	$828.23	87.27%	0.14%	$0.64	$24.96	1.40%	2.63%
FDX	11	$154.71	$158.61	$1,701.85	$1,744.71	$42.86	2.52%	0.13%	$2.60	$28.60	1.64%	1.68%
SINA	42	$35.69	$41.18	$1,498.80	$1,729.56	$230.76	15.40%	0.13%	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%
CARO	50	$8.91	$34.15	$445.30	$1,707.50	$1,262.20	283.45%	0.13%	$0.36	$18.00	1.05%	4.04%
WBA	33	$36.78	$51.19	$1,213.89	$1,689.27	$475.38	39.16%	0.13%	$1.83	$60.39	3.57%	4.97%
ILMN	6	$285.55	$281.42	$1,713.30	$1,688.52	-$24.78	-1.45%	0.13%	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%
TROW	15	$67.00	$110.62	$1,005.00	$1,659.30	$654.30	65.10%	0.13%	$3.04	$45.60	2.75%	4.54%
SJI	51.0416	$22.53	$32.34	$1,150.00	$1,650.69	$500.69	43.54%	0.13%	$1.15	$58.70	3.56%	5.10%
ALC	27	$47.53	$60.96	$1,283.42	$1,645.92	$362.50	28.25%	0.13%	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%
HDB	15	$94.00	$107.80	$1,410.00	$1,617.00	$207.00	14.68%	0.12%	$0.65	$9.75	0.60%	0.69%
BF.B	27	$36.66	$58.99	$989.71	$1,592.73	$603.02	60.93%	0.12%	$0.66	$17.82	1.12%	1.80%
DPZ	7	$230.86	$226.84	$1,616.00	$1,587.88	-$28.12	-1.74%	0.12%	$2.60	$18.20	1.15%	1.13%
FOX	48	$15.75	$32.80	$756.01	$1,574.40	$818.39	108.25%	0.12%	$0.46	$22.08	1.40%	2.92%
WUBA	29	$52.30	$53.79	$1,516.78	$1,559.91	$43.13	2.84%	0.12%	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%
EGOV	74	$14.42	$20.82	$1,067.00	$1,540.68	$473.68	44.39%	0.12%	$0.32	$23.68	1.54%	2.22%
CPRI	58	$33.92	$26.38	$1,967.30	$1,530.04	-$437.26	-22.23%	0.12%	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%
NTR	30	$56.37	$50.36	$1,691.06	$1,510.80	-$180.26	-10.66%	0.12%	$1.80	$54.00	3.57%	3.19%
MDLZ	27	$43.55	$55.22	$1,175.86	$1,490.94	$315.08	26.80%	0.11%	$1.14	$30.78	2.06%	2.62%
WFC	32	$45.86	$46.57	$1,467.50	$1,490.24	$22.74	1.55%	0.11%	$2.04	$65.28	4.38%	4.45%
ALB	24	$64.16	$61.73	$1,539.75	$1,481.52	-$58.23	-3.78%	0.11%	$1.47	$35.28	2.38%	2.29%
MRK	17	$57.28	$86.47	$973.79	$1,469.99	$496.20	50.96%	0.11%	$2.20	$37.40	2.54%	3.84%
RHI	26	$36.06	$53.47	$937.56	$1,390.22	$452.66	48.28%	0.11%	$1.24	$32.24	2.32%	3.44%
WLK	23	$44.00	$58.59	$1,012.00	$1,347.57	$335.57	33.16%	0.10%	$1.00	$23.00	1.71%	2.27%
KDP	48.936721	$21.04	$27.28	$1,029.61	$1,334.99	$305.38	29.66%	0.10%	$0.60	$29.36	2.20%	2.85%
KSS	28	$43.64	$47.26	$1,221.96	$1,323.28	$101.32	8.29%	0.10%	$2.68	$75.04	5.67%	6.14%
TESS	88.983	$8.99	$14.78	$800.00	$1,315.17	$515.17	64.40%	0.10%	$0.80	$71.19	5.41%	8.90%
MPC	26	$49.13	$49.21	$1,277.40	$1,279.46	$2.06	0.16%	0.10%	$2.12	$55.12	4.31%	4.32%
SCL	13	$38.46	$95.39	$499.98	$1,240.07	$740.09	148.02%	0.10%	$1.00	$13.00	1.05%	2.60%
NVDA	7	$170.78	$167.51	$1,195.46	$1,172.57	-$22.89	-1.91%	0.09%	$0.64	$4.48	0.38%	0.37%
ATVI	22	$47.92	$50.60	$1,054.24	$1,113.20	$58.96	5.59%	0.09%	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%
KTB	32	$24.70	$34.24	$790.36	$1,095.68	$305.32	38.63%	0.08%	$2.24	$71.68	6.54%	9.07%
GPC	12	$80.00	$90.29	$960.00	$1,083.48	$123.48	12.86%	0.08%	$3.05	$36.60	3.38%	3.81%
AAPL	5	$94.64	$208.74	$473.20	$1,043.70	$570.50	120.56%	0.08%	$3.08	$15.40	1.48%	3.25%
ISRG	2	$490.00	$511.34	$980.00	$1,022.68	$42.68	4.36%	0.08%	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%
TSCO	10	$49.99	$101.88	$499.90	$1,018.80	$518.90	103.80%	0.08%	$1.28	$12.80	1.26%	2.56%
SCHW	26	$38.76	$38.27	$1,007.80	$995.02	-$12.78	-1.27%	0.08%	$0.68	$17.68	1.78%	1.75%
HFC	22	$23.50	$44.36	$517.00	$975.92	$458.92	88.77%	0.08%	$1.32	$29.04	2.98%	5.62%
ABMD	5	$192.31	$193.07	$961.55	$965.35	$3.80	0.40%	0.07%	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%
ICE	10	$56.49	$93.48	$564.90	$934.80	$369.90	65.48%	0.07%	$1.10	$11.00	1.18%	1.95%
PNW	9.553423	$32.55	$95.31	$311.00	$910.54	$599.54	192.78%	0.07%	$2.95	$28.18	3.10%	9.06%
AEO	54	$11.93	$16.82	$644.35	$908.28	$263.93	40.96%	0.07%	$0.55	$29.70	3.27%	4.61%
AMGN	4	$141.00	$208.62	$564.00	$834.48	$270.48	47.96%	0.06%	$5.80	$23.20	2.78%	4.11%
MMM	5	$172.95	$161.72	$864.75	$808.60	-$56.15	-6.49%	0.06%	$5.76	$28.80	3.56%	3.33%
WTR	18.022511	$27.74	$44.29	$500.00	$798.22	$298.22	59.64%	0.06%	$0.94	$16.94	2.12%	3.39%
HSY	5	$90.47	$158.48	$452.35	$792.40	$340.05	75.17%	0.06%	$3.09	$15.45	1.95%	3.42%
TJX	14	$34.50	$54.97	$483.00	$769.58	$286.58	59.33%	0.06%	$0.92	$12.88	1.67%	2.67%
KMX	9	$58.54	$83.28	$526.86	$749.52	$222.66	42.26%	0.06%	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%
WSM	11	$44.00	$65.80	$484.00	$723.80	$239.80	49.55%	0.06%	$1.92	$21.12	2.92%	4.36%
PB	11	$45.43	$64.92	$499.73	$714.12	$214.39	42.90%	0.06%	$1.64	$18.04	2.53%	3.61%
HRL	16	$31.00	$42.61	$496.00	$681.76	$185.76	37.45%	0.05%	$0.84	$13.44	1.97%	2.71%
CPB	15	$34.50	$45.00	$517.50	$675.00	$157.50	30.43%	0.05%	$1.40	$21.00	3.11%	4.06%
EFSI	22	$22.85	$29.81	$502.70	$655.82	$153.12	30.46%	0.05%	$1.00	$22.00	3.35%	4.38%
RAVN	22	$22.60	$29.17	$497.20	$641.74	$144.54	29.07%	0.05%	$0.52	$11.44	1.78%	2.30%
ARLP	41	$26.68	$15.47	$1,094.01	$634.27	-$459.74	-42.02%	0.05%	$2.16	$88.56	13.96%	8.09%
FZROX	60.06	$9.99	$10.36	$600.00	$622.22	$22.22	3.70%	0.05%	$0.06	$3.30	0.53%	0.55%
BCPC	7	$71.00	$88.79	$497.00	$621.53	$124.53	25.06%	0.05%	$0.47	$3.29	0.53%	0.66%
DXC	18	$26.20	$33.22	$471.58	$597.96	$126.38	26.80%	0.05%	$0.84	$15.12	2.53%	3.21%
CCFN	12	$39.50	$49.35	$474.00	$592.20	$118.20	24.94%	0.05%	$1.56	$18.72	3.16%	3.95%
FZILX	61.891	$9.69	$9.54	$600.00	$590.44	-$9.56	-1.59%	0.05%	$0.06	$3.59	0.61%	0.60%
LANC	4	$117.75	$145.90	$471.00	$583.60	$112.60	23.91%	0.05%	$2.60	$10.40	1.78%	2.21%
IDCBY	45	$12.18	$12.52	$548.10	$563.40	$15.30	2.79%	0.04%	$0.73	$32.85	5.83%	5.99%
GE	67	$7.42	$8.25	$496.94	$552.75	$55.81	11.23%	0.04%	$0.04	$2.68	0.48%	0.54%
PYPL	5	$107.67	$109.05	$538.35	$545.25	$6.90	1.28%	0.04%	$1.76	$8.80	1.61%	1.63%
VAR	5	$106.00	$105.93	$530.00	$529.65	-$0.35	-0.07%	0.04%	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%
NTTYY	11	$22.30	$47.93	$245.34	$527.23	$281.89	114.90%	0.04%	$1.76	$19.36	3.67%	7.89%
USB	10	$50.25	$52.69	$502.50	$526.90	$24.40	4.86%	0.04%	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%
ATHM	6	$82.00	$87.16	$492.00	$522.96	$30.96	6.29%	0.04%	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%
FFIV	4	$116.00	$128.73	$464.00	$514.92	$50.92	10.97%	0.04%	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%
SQ	8	$64.08	$61.84	$512.64	$494.72	-$17.92	-3.50%	0.04%	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%
AXE	8	$62.50	$59.97	$500.00	$479.76	-$20.24	-4.05%	0.04%	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%
ROK	3	$153.24	$152.79	$459.72	$458.37	-$1.35	-0.29%	0.04%	$3.88	$11.64	2.54%	2.53%
VMW	3	$135.50	$141.44	$406.50	$424.32	$17.82	4.38%	0.03%	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%
TAP	8	$59.90	$51.36	$479.20	$410.88	-$68.32	-14.26%	0.03%	$2.28	$18.24	4.44%	3.81%
VST	15	$46.73	$24.95	$700.93	$374.25	-$326.68	-46.61%	0.03%	$0.50	$7.50	2.00%	1.07%
CVET	28	$40.05	$13.29	$1,121.30	$372.12	-$749.18	-66.81%	0.03%	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%
MPLX	13	$35.96	$27.91	$467.43	$362.83	-$104.60	-22.38%	0.03%	$2.67	$34.71	9.57%	7.43%
TRGP	7	$8.09	$36.12	$56.66	$252.84	$196.18	346.24%	0.02%	$3.64	$25.48	10.08%	44.97%
ULTA	1	$200.00	$237.73	$200.00	$237.73	$37.73	18.87%	0.02%	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%
PRSP	9	$7.71	$25.95	$69.41	$233.55	$164.14	236.48%	0.02%	$0.24	$2.16	0.92%	3.11%
LYG	50	$3.24	$2.39	$162.00	$119.50	-$42.50	-26.23%	0.01%	$0.17	$8.50	7.11%	5.25%
RUTH	6	$21.73	$19.45	$130.40	$116.70	-$13.70	-10.51%	0.01%	$0.48	$2.88	2.47%	2.21%
MVC	11	$8.84	$8.77	$97.28	$96.47	-$0.81	-0.83%	0.01%	$0.60	$6.60	6.84%	6.78%
TSCDY	11	$15.14	$8.02	$166.58	$88.22	-$78.36	-47.04%	0.01%	$0.32	$3.52	3.99%	2.11%
CHL	2	$45.89	$41.31	$91.77	$82.62	-$9.15	-9.97%	0.01%	$2.05	$4.10	4.96%	4.47%
BCS	11	$14.23	$6.64	$156.53	$73.04	-$83.49	-53.34%	0.01%	$0.26	$2.86	3.92%	1.83%
AMC	5	$18.00	$11.11	$90.00	$55.55	-$34.45	-38.28%	0.00%	$0.80	$4.00	7.20%	4.44%
BK	1	$47.34	$42.06	$47.34	$42.06	-$5.28	-11.15%	0.00%	$1.24	$1.24	2.95%	2.62%
SNV	1	$36.50	$35.54	$36.50	$35.54	-$0.96	-2.63%	0.00%	$1.20	$1.20	3.38%	3.29%
WVVI	1	$8.36	$6.96	$8.36	$6.96	-$1.40	-16.75%	0.00%	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%
ZVO	1	$17.85	$2.28	$17.85	$2.28	-$15.57	-87.23%	0.00%	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%
BKS	1	$8.70	$0.04	$8.70	$0.04	-$8.66	-99.54%	0.00%	$0.60	$0.60	1500.00%	6.90%
FAZ	-20	$172.08	$37.50	-$3,441.54	-$750.00	$2,691.54	78.21%	-0.06%
SQQQ	-160	$69.39	$33.69	-$11,101.75	-$5,390.40	$5,711.35	51.45%	-0.42%
EDZ	-120	$56.24	$50.41	-$6,748.91	-$6,049.20	$699.71	10.37%	-0.47%
TZA	-200	$79.97	$50.62	-$15,993.84	-$10,124.00	$5,869.84	36.70%	-0.78%

My transactions in August are as follow:

Stock	Action	Cost	Price per share	% of Portfolio	Current Price	MTM P/L (%)	MTM P/L ($)
NPSNY	Add	$8,172.92	$45.15	0.50%	$45.25	0.21%	$17.33
BIDU	Add	$3,536.15	$98.23	0.22%	$104.47	6.36%	$224.77
IRBT	Add	$1,666.70	$66.67	0.10%	$61.81	-7.29%	-$121.45
WB	Add	$1,651.48	$35.90	0.10%	$41.37	15.23%	$251.54
CTSH	Add	$1,591.77	$61.22	0.10%	$61.39	0.27%	$4.37
YY	Add	$1,485.00	$55.00	0.09%	$57.15	3.91%	$58.05
BIIB	Add	$1,450.54	$233.75	0.09%	$219.75	-5.99%	-$86.87
FDX	Add	$1,233.80	$154.23	0.08%	$158.61	2.84%	$35.08
DPZ	Add	$1,126.00	$225.20	0.07%	$226.84	0.73%	$8.20
ILMN	Add	$1,120.00	$280.00	0.07%	$281.42	0.51%	$5.68
ALB	Add	$1,049.75	$61.75	0.06%	$61.73	-0.03%	-$0.34
NVDA	New Buy	$1,043.00	$149.00	0.06%	$167.51	12.42%	$129.57
SINA	Add	$1,020.00	$34.00	0.06%	$41.18	21.12%	$215.40
ATVI	New Buy	$1,001.00	$45.50	0.06%	$50.60	11.21%	$112.20
LKQ	Add	$1,000.00	$25.00	0.06%	$26.27	5.08%	$50.80
WUBA	Add	$1,000.00	$50.00	0.06%	$53.79	7.58%	$75.80
CPRI	Add	$989.00	$31.90	0.06%	$26.38	-17.31%	-$171.22
ISRG	New Buy	$980.00	$490.00	0.06%	$511.34	4.36%	$42.68
ABMD	New Buy	$960.00	$192.00	0.06%	$193.07	0.56%	$5.35
SRCL	Add	$924.37	$40.19	0.06%	$44.89	11.69%	$108.10
CHKP	Add	$840.81	$111.48	0.05%	$107.70	-3.39%	-$28.51
DLTR	Add	$620.61	$102.73	0.04%	$101.53	-1.17%	-$7.25
BRK.B	Add	$583.75	$206.56	0.04%	$203.41	-1.53%	-$8.90
CGC	New Buy	$572.00	$26.00	0.03%	$23.58	-9.31%	-$53.24
VAR	New Buy	$530.00	$106.00	0.03%	$105.93	-0.07%	-$0.35
AAP	Add	$521.96	$130.49	0.03%	$137.95	5.72%	$29.84
SCHW	Add	$515.62	$36.83	0.03%	$38.27	3.91%	$20.16
PYPL	New Buy	$515.00	$103.00	0.03%	$109.05	5.87%	$30.25
SQ	New Buy	$504.00	$63.00	0.03%	$61.84	-1.84%	-$9.28
AXE	New Buy	$500.00	$62.50	0.03%	$59.97	-4.05%	-$20.24
ATHM	New Buy	$492.00	$82.00	0.03%	$87.16	6.29%	$30.96
WAT	Add	$472.00	$211.97	0.03%	$211.89	-0.04%	-$0.18
LH	Add	$453.10	$167.59	0.03%	$167.56	-0.02%	-$0.08
ROK	New Buy	$441.09	$147.03	0.03%	$152.79	3.92%	$17.28
VMW	New Buy	$406.50	$135.50	0.02%	$141.44	4.38%	$17.82
AZO	Add	$233.59	$1,118.51	0.01%	$1,101.69	-1.50%	-$3.51
AYI	Add	$214.96	$121.86	0.01%	$125.41	2.91%	$6.26
SPGI	Add	$200.00	$258.20	0.01%	$260.19	0.77%	$1.54
TSS	Add	$200.00	$127.55	0.01%	$134.22	5.23%	$10.46
VMI	Add	$200.00	$128.45	0.01%	$135.50	5.49%	$10.97
YORW	Add	$200.00	$38.16	0.01%	$37.34	-2.15%	-$4.30
FFIV	Add	$129.51	$148.34	0.01%	$128.73	-13.22%	-$17.12
GIS	Add	$121.85	$54.47	0.01%	$53.80	-1.23%	-$1.50
RUTH	Add	$84.40	$21.10	0.01%	$19.45	-7.82%	-$6.60
PAYX	Add	$27.00	$82.07	0.00%	$81.70	-0.45%	-$0.12
NNN	Add	$26.39	$54.75	0.00%	$56.15	2.56%	$0.67
SQQQ	Sold Short	-$1,364.68	$38.99	-0.08%	$33.69	-13.60%	$185.53
TZA	Sold Short	-$2,119.68	$52.99	-0.13%	$50.62	-4.48%	$94.88
VWO	Sold Out	-$28,879.60	$39.40	-1.76%	$40.40	2.54%	-$733.60
	Bought	$42,607.62		2.60%		2.30%	$980.07
	Sold	-$32,363.96		-1.98%		-1.40%	-$453.19
	Net	$10,243.66		0.63%		5.14%	$526.88

Purchases

August was a volatile month for the market, but in the end the index dropped only 1.58% for the month, nothing to write home about. During each pullback, I kept buying more stocks to lighten my cash. I take the latest Fed rate cut as a bullish signal. Don't fight the Fed, as they say on Wall Street.

I initiated 12 new positions in names that have undergone significant pullbacks such as due to a recent bad earnings report, as in the case of VMW. Most are solid growth stocks like NVDA, ATVI, ISRG, VAR, PYPL, SQ. ABMD seems oversold, having lost 58% since its peak last September. ATHM is another Chinese tech growth stock. 

CGC is the most risky name I bought of all: it is losing money, has always lost money, and may not even make money in the future. It is a speculative play on marijuana getting legalized and gaining big market shares. As CGC continued to drop after my purchase, I now feel pretty foolish.

I added to a lot of Chinese tech stocks like NPSNY, BIDU, WB, YY, SINA, WUBA that I already liked, as discussed last month. 

I also added to other growth stocks like IRBT, CTSH, BIIB, DPZ, ILMN, LKQ, CPRI, SRCL, AAP as well as quality dividend stocks like FDX and ALB as they dropped in price.

The smaller purchases are part of my monthly investment plans and DRIPs.

Sales

I sold out VWO for couple reasons. First, its expense ratio of 0.12% is too high compared to only 0.03% for VTI. Second, VWO is an emerging market index that includes a lot of state owned companies that do not tend to act in the shareholders' best interests. For a better way to play emerging market, it is better to just buy individual stocks in privately owned companies like those I mentioned above or simply multinational US companies that do business globally.

I also shorted SQQQ and TZA, 3x inverse ETFs on Nasdaq and Russell 2000, respectively, as the market fell. These should lose value very fast as volatility continues and the market resumes its upward climb.

My overall portfolio dividend yield of 1.46% is now lower than the market. My goal in the future is to continue lowering this further by replacing dividend stocks with zeros to minimize my tax liability. Stock market downturn is a good opportunity for me to replace high dividend payers with no or low paying ones.