u/Gehrman_JoinsTheHunt

Absolutely love a hardtail Strat, and my 2023 Tom Delonge is a special one. $800 pickup on Reverb and the neck plays like a dream. But one thing always kept it from being my forever Strat - and that was the missing neck pickup tones, like you’d hear from SRV or RHCP. So I added a neck pickup.

What I ended up with has all the same strengths of a stock TD Strat, with tons of extra versatility.

Custom Warmoth pickguard

Added a switch, and relocated the volume knob
further away from my strumming path.

Push-pull pot which switches parallel/series from the Invader bridge.

Fender Custom ‘69 Strat Neck pickup. It is wired to the 500k volume pot with a 470k resistor, so it only ‘sees’ 250k. Middle pickups have always bothered me, picking-wise, so I wanted to leave that space open.

Everything else is stock! All-in about a $150 upgrade, and I wouldn’t change a thing. I know it isn’t a purists TD but hoping some here can appreciate the effort.

How’s the price on this one?
I’m willing to wait if there are better deals, or a better model I should consider instead.

Generally it seems this size would suit my needs well - would be cooking for just 4-6 people 90% of the time.

Noob to Blackstone but have had my eye on them for a while. Thanks in advance!

Q2 performance for the leveraged plans was excellent overall, despite persistent FUD surrounding geopolitics and economic data.

9Sig had its best quarter yet, immediately rewarding the large TQQQ purchase made near the late March/early April lows. Over the course of the quarter, the strategy came within 1% of triggering its first-ever “spike reset”—an event that occurs when TQQQ doubles within a single quarter, allowing the portfolio to immediately lock in gains rather than waiting until quarter's end. Ultimately, TQQQ's highest close was $87.22, just short of the required $88.06. Despite missing that threshold, the quarterly sell signal was still more than twice the size of any signal generated over the past two years, rebuilding dry powder to over 40% of the 9Sig portfolio.

The 200-day moving average plan continued its strong performance. SSO has gained roughly 20% since the last MA cross on April 8th. The underlying index is currently about 8% above its 200DMA, with no signs of a cross soon—but that could change anytime.

HFEA remains mostly unexciting, but performance YTD has been solid. Another rebalance spent shoveling funds into TMF.

That's it for this time. Thanks to all for following along!

Rebalance detail:

 HFEA

• The allocation drifted to UPRO 65% / TMF 35% during Q2.
• Executed trades on June 30th.
• Rebalanced back to target allocation UPRO 55% / TMF 45%.

 

9Sig

• Rebalanced around the TQQQ closing price from June 26th, per The Kelly Letter schedule.
• TQQQ ended Q2 @ $71.83/share, well above the 9% quarterly growth target of $47.23. This created a $6,785 surplus in the TQQQ balance, which was sold to buy $6,785 worth of AGG.
• The new 9% quarterly growth target is to end Q3 2026 with a TQQQ balance of $14,250, which corresponds to TQQQ @ $78.29/share or better.

S&P 2x (SSO) 200-d Leverage Rotation Strategy

• The underlying S&P 500 index (7,499) remains above its 200-day moving average (6,934). The full balance will remain invested in SSO until the S&P 500 closes below its 200-day MA. Once that cross happens, I will sell all SSO and buy BIL the following day, per the rotation strategy from Leverage for the Long Run .

 

← Previous post 

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Background 

Q3 2026 update to my original post from March 2024, where I started 3 different long-term leveraged strategies. Each portfolio began with a $10,000 initial balance and has been followed strictly. There have been no additional contributions, and all dividends were reinvested. To serve as the control group, a $10,000 buy-and-hold investment was made into an unleveraged S&P 500 Index Fund (FXAIX) at the same time. This project is not a simulation - all data since the beginning represents actual, live investments with real money.

All-time highs went all-time higher in May.

 

9Sig has extended the lead and is now within striking distance of triggering its first-ever "spike reset" rule, which takes the portfolio back to its starting 60/40 allocation after TQQQ gains 100% within a single quarter. This action is taken immediately (before the next quarterly rebalance), and is the only such time that 9Sig ever acts outside of the routine schedule. A closing price of $88.06 is the threshold for this, just 4% above the current price.

 

The 200-day moving average plan continued its strong performance, with SSO gaining 24% since the recent MA cross on April 8th. The Hedgefundie plan continues to lag the benchmark and other leveraged strategies in total return, but has actually been competitive YTD.

 

There has been a lot of new interest and FOMO lately, so just a reminder that these posts are not financial advice. I do not recommend leverage for anyone. It's just something I choose to do with my own money. Despite recent performance, there is still incredible risk when dealing with LETFs. This entire project could go up in smoke at any time.

 

Whether that happens or not, these rules-based strategies will continue doing what they do, and I'll keep sharing the updates. Thanks to all for following along.

 

Current status:

 

HFEA

• Current allocation has drifted to UPRO 66% / TMF 34%.
• At the end of Q2, will rebalance back to target allocation UPRO 55% / TMF 45%.

 

 

9Sig

• SPIKE RESET outlook: Will reset to 60/40 immediately if TQQQ closes above $88.06 before the end of the quarter.
• The standard 9% growth goal is for TQQQ to finish the quarter @ $47.23 or better.
• Current TQQQ price is $84.56; the resulting TQQQ balance surplus is $10,310 above the quarterly goal.
• Will rebalance next on June 29th per The Kelly Letter schedule; at that time I will either "buy up" any shortfall or "sell down" any surplus in the TQQQ balance.

 

S&P 2x (SSO) 200-d Leverage Rotation Strategy

• The underlying S&P 500 index (7,580) remains above its 200-day moving average (6,830). The full balance will remain invested in SSO until the S&P 500 closes below its 200-day MA.  Once that cross happens, I will sell all SSO and buy BIL the following day, per the rotation strategy from Leverage for the Long Run .

 

 

← Previous post 

 

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Background 

June 2026 update to my original post from March 2024, where I started 3 different long-term leveraged strategies. Each portfolio began with a $10,000 initial balance and has been followed strictly. There have been no additional contributions, and all dividends were reinvested. To serve as the control group, a $10,000 buy-and-hold investment was made into an unleveraged S&P 500 Index Fund (FXAIX) at the same time. This project is not a simulation - all data since the beginning represents actual, live investments with real money.

I like JD heritage, but just can’t quite love it. The nose is incredible though - marshmallow, cinnamon, toffee for days

The market recovered to new highs in April, as did the leveraged plans here. As of yesterday's close, 9Sig is the first of these leveraged strategies to achieve 100% total return since the project began in March 2024. This plan has recently made large gains after buying TQQQ heavily in the Q2 rebalance. The timing may seem prescient given the quick recovery since, but that was pure luck; just like last April, the bottom happened to coincide almost perfectly with 9Sig's pre-defined quarterly schedule.

 

The 200-day Moving Average plan closed above its MA on April 8th, following roughly 3 weeks of trading below the average. This particular rotation resulted in -4.5% underperformance versus a buy-and-hold SSO strategy. This is essentially the cost of insurance. No strategy will win every time, but it will be nice to see a cycle where the flight to safety is profitable.

 

HFEA is also back to previous highs, although less impressively so. Its TMF hedge continues to struggle due to pressure from rates and inflation uncertainty.

 

The train rolls on - rules will be followed, and emotions will be ignored. Thanks to all for following along! 

 

Current status:

 

HFEA

• Current allocation has drifted to UPRO 63% / TMF 37%.
• At the end of Q2, will rebalance back to target allocation UPRO 55% / TMF 45%.

 

 

9Sig

• The 9% growth goal is for TQQQ to finish the quarter @ $47.23 or better.
• Current TQQQ price is $63.54; the resulting TQQQ balance surplus is $4,501 above the quarterly goal.
• Will rebalance next on June 29th per The Kelly Letter schedule; at that time I will either "buy up" any shortfall or "sell down" any surplus in the TQQQ balance.

 

S&P 2x (SSO) 200-d Leverage Rotation Strategy

• Last action on April 8 2026: The underlying S&P 500 (6,783) closed above its 200-day moving average (6,655) on April 8th. Exited BIL at market open on April 9 2026. Invested the full balance ($13,498) in SSO @ $55.76/share.
• The full balance will remain invested in SSO until the S&P 500 closes below its 200-day MA. Once that cross happens, I will sell all SSO and buy BIL the following day, per the rotation strategy from Leverage for the Long Run .

 

  

← Previous post 

 

---

Background 

May 2026 update to my original post from March 2024, where I started 3 different long-term leveraged strategies. Each portfolio began with a $10,000 initial balance and has been followed strictly. There have been no additional contributions, and all dividends were reinvested. To serve as the control group, a $10,000 buy-and-hold investment was made into an unleveraged S&P 500 Index Fund (FXAIX) at the same time. This project is not a simulation - all data since the beginning represents actual, live investments with real money.