S.T.A.Y. Plus™ current position for Active portion of portfolio:  "CAUTION" 

Gravity has been winning the battle with the S&P 500 in the past week, and essentially all year. The red line is struggling to get off the ground in a sustainable way. In general, the longer the market stagnates, the more likely it could experience a precipitous drop. However, it is also possible that something could energize it too. As Dave likes to say, "We don't make the weather, we just have to fly in it."   So far our "active" and "core" models are performing nicely. 

Regardless of what happens next, we are poised to make any adjustments that are needed. 

S.T.A.Y. Plus™ current position for Active portion of portfolio:  "CAUTION" 

The theme of market volatility appears to be transitioning towards a theme of a market stall. The S&P has been struggling to surpass the 2% gain threshold for 2026 (see red line below). This type of stagnation often precedes a full-blown drawdown (but not always). The good news is that the STAY strategy has been thriving in this market. Even our "core" model is finding nice gains, in spite of the less aggressive nature of it's security selection criteria. Our "active" model continues to operate in the "caution" mode (more restrictive criteria for security selection), however, it has already reached a 4.5% return, YTD. 

Although it's unclear exactly what will happen in the market moving forward, we are poised to respond using the discipline of the STAY Plus strategy that focuses on both protection and growth.

S.T.A.Y. Plus™ current position for Active portion of portfolio:  "CAUTION" 

Market volatility is the theme of the last two weeks. This is why we are in the "CAUTION" mode. In fact, we have sold two of the 20 positions in our active portfolio because they had given up almost all of their gains. After a search for any securities that would meet our criteria for replacing them in a "CAUTION" market, we came up empty and have decided that cash is ok for that 10% of the active portfolio at this time. It is notable that the last couple days have been good to the STAY strategy in spite of the S&P taking a downward dive. Today may end up with similar results based on what has transpired so far.

We expect the coming weeks to provide more of the same, but we will be ready to make appropriate moves, no matter what conditions the market brings.

S.T.A.Y. Plus™ current position for Active portion of portfolio:  "CAUTION" 

The market continues to jump around with more volatility than certainty. The good news is that we've been running the S.T.A.Y. Plus™ strategy in "caution" mode. However, the caution hasn't been an impediment to the upward progress. YTD the "active" model is up more than 3%, almost 2% ahead of the S&P 500. The "core" model is also ahead of the S&P 500. While it is still very early and this is a small sample size, it's great to be moving up and to the right, especially while in a mode of heightened caution.

In case you missed the exciting video announcement that discusses our additional strategy offerings, you can check it out right HERE.

S.T.A.Y. Plus™ current position for Active portion of portfolio:  "CAUTION" 

The 2025 market had three different segments that played out with the first 4-month segment being quite volatile and negative, the second 4-month segment moving up at an aggressive pace and the third 4-month segment continuing up, but showing signs of slowing momentum. The S.T.A.Y. Plus strategy performed well for most of the year, but it struggled in Q4 due to some sharp downward pressure combined with market strength and momentum weakening, triggering moves to cash in the "Active" model. The "Core" model struggled a bit in the first 4-month segment, however, it got on track and was able to deliver a 5% return in the last 8 months with very little volatility. 

As best as we can tell, the market wants to continue up at a moderate pace, however, it continues to show signs of slowing momentum, which can precede a major pullback. For now, we have reinvested all of the cash in the "Active" portfolio, but we have selected less volatile securities until the market strength and momentum improves. 

In regards to 2026- stay tuned! We are very excited to announce some new complementary strategy offerings that are now available through the Axos platform. In the next week, we will send you a video that explains the new offerings and what makes them compelling. 

S.T.A.Y. Plus™ current position for Active portion of portfolio:  "BUY" 

Over the past 2 weeks the market has been moving up nicely. After re-engaging ~95% of all investable cash in recent weeks, our "active" model has closed the gap on the S&P (see chart below). In addition, the "core" model has consistently earned between .1 and .15% per week (APR of 5.2% - 7.8%) with almost no downward volatility. 

As exciting as it is to "make money" in the market, we still believe that the most important part of our investment strategy is avoiding market crashes. You can be certain that we remain vigilant in our daily efforts to protect your funds from market crash events, even as we are fully invested.

S.T.A.Y. Plus™ current position for Active portion of portfolio:  "BUY" 

Last week the market had mixed results, ending slightly down. This week is off to a good start, and our "Active" model is slightly out-pacing the S&P so far. As you can see below, our "Core" model continues to plow ahead with a modest but steady pace. Our "Active" model is holding 15% cash, and our "Core" is holding 5% cash, which should add nicely to our returns, as long as the market continues to cooperate.