Double Bass Instrument
Gauss holds a similar set of ETFs as the Kepler. In addition to securities found in the Kepler, three recession resistant ETFs are added. They are: Consumer Staples (VDC), Health (VHT) and Utilities (VPU).
As with the Kepler I will wait for the SHV April dividends to be declared before selling shares and then placing numerous limit orders for those ETFs well below target. Under target asset class information is available in the following two worksheets or screenshots.
Gauss Asset Allocation Holdings
Below are the asset classes and current holdings in the Gauss portfolio. VTI is the U.S. Equities holding. This ETF is the “rock” of the portfolio. Supplementing it are three sectors ETFs that are deemed to be essential during a possible recession. Those three are: VDC, VHT, and VPU. Staples, Health and Utilities are essential for survival.
Income is derived from SCHD and VIG. SHM and SOXX are the high flying AI holdings. SGOL is the gold holding. VEA and VWO cover developed international and emerging markets respectively.
Gauss Rebalancing Recommendations
I plan to revisit the Gauss after the SHV dividends are recorded. After selling shares of SHV I will place limit orders for the various asset classes that are below target. Limit orders will be placed from 3% to 15% below the current price and the exact limit order is determined by the three-year average volatility. Most securities currently have a volatility ranging between 15% and 20%. Currently, ETF volatility is a little higher than normal.
Gauss Performance Data
Since 12/31/2021 the Gauss has far outperformed all but the S&P 500 (SPY). It remains to be seen how this new asset allocation will perform vs the potential benchmarks.
Gauss Risk Ratios
The Gauss took a financial beating this last month, dropping nearly 5% according to the IAM software. This decline also shows up in the following table as all four risk measurements are lower than they were in February. The April data is too young to be of much consequence, but the trend is anything but positive. The Iran war and tariffs are playing havoc with the world economy and the broadly diversified Gauss is mirror of the global economy.
Kepler Portfolio Update: 19 December 2025
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Four portfolios are scheduled for review this coming week and they are: Bethe, Copernicus, Huygens, and McClintock. Copernicus and McClintock are managed differently than Bethe and Huygens.
Based on the current volatile market, watch the three Sector BPI portfolios to see how they handle this market environment.
Lowell