4/9/26 - $vst - covered and some mkt comments

4/9/26 :: VROCKSTAR :: VST
covered and some mkt comments

- as you all know i've been mostly cash heading into the beginning of the year, and while i think it's been a good position at the same time, i can't help but notice the implied vol across most names i like (i don't blame MM's!)
- so here's the deal
- i think this is a year of headline survival. if you want to play the taco tuesday wheel of fortune, be my guess. i'm not in the klub, so i'm playing the game that's served me well... identifying growers, aware of the shifting tides (AI as i've written about/ thoughts etc.), still primarily focused on btc/eth and also chips/energy... and where i'll bite on high qual names if/when.
- so VST was an early 2025 play for me. this thing is an awesome name for this environment
- CERAWeek convos tell u that energy prices are only going higher, these guys r well positioned to keep running that 5% fcf yield util for at least the next few yrs
- so i'm thinking "okay" i get 5% yield (better than T's) in a real money (power infra) and i can rent ITM calls for nearly 30-50% arr depending on how risk-averse i want to be? this seems like a great play.
- it's been something i've been doing the last few weeks increasingly so, (ESP on SBET at that $7 strike for 5/15). ive done a ton of work to identify about 100 names i'm happy to rotate in/out of depending on where they are and i have a clear idea of valuation
- frankly, a lot of stuff is on sale. so i might be "missing" major upside on the below, but in earnest, i'm going to run this playbook a bit long in the tooth in this year to buy myself some touch-grass time and earn a healthy yield with downside protection.
- so here's the portfolio rn as of writing (w/o getting into too many of the expires which are mainly 5/15 i.e. 35 days from now targeting ~5% yields)

all spot, no leverage

unhedged
- 15% sbet
- 8% nu

hedged/ covered calls (many ITM strikes)
- 32% sbet
- 16% nu
- 5% nvda
- 3% uber
- 3% yeti
- 3% now
- 2.5% vst
- 2.5% veev
- 1.5% se
- 1.5% wyfi
- rest is cash/ about 8% gross but nearly 15% net (b/c of the CC's)

2025 was a weird year for me. gave a lot back mid year, stayed afloat but ended -5% on the year and so far -10% this year. not had this sort of streak for a while, so i'm playing a bit of defense and going back to basics. will look to automate these notes w/ my trading logs in the coming months and this has been the thrust/ key part of tracking my moves (writing about them!) and perhaps this identifies new names, finds some holes in my thinking etc. stay tuned
be well

V