The 7 Positions I Bought to Open 2026 — From APLD to Bitcoin, Here's My Price Discipline

In Q1 2026 I added to seven names — individual stocks and ETFs — outside of the routine DCA into the core three-fund portfolio (SCHD, VOO, QQQM/SCHG). This piece walks through each of the seven, why I bought at the price I bought, and what the entry rule was.

The framework underneath is simple. Buy only when price is below fundamentals and the long-term thesis on the business or asset is intact. Otherwise, just keep the DCA running. No exceptions, no chasing.

1. APLD (Applied Digital Corporation) — Buy Below $30

APLD is a high-risk, high-reward bet on AI and HPC infrastructure. When I first covered it in June 2025 it was around $12. It's run as high as the $40s and now sits in the mid-$20s.

My buy line: anything below $30. The long-term thesis is the AI infrastructure demand surge plus the data center capex cycle, and as long as that thesis holds, mid-$20s through $30 is the entry zone. Position size stays smaller than a core holding because volatility is high and the name is sensitive to the macro tape.

2. SoFi — Buy Below $30

SoFi is a name I add to often. The long-term thesis is that digital financial infrastructure ultimately wins share from traditional banks, and the quarterly numbers — user growth, deposit growth, the swing into net profitability — keep validating that thesis.

Buy line: under $30. When the stock dropped a few weeks back, I added more aggressively than usual. Not a core position by itself, but a single-name allocation I've been steadily growing.

3. Meta — Bought 25–30% Off the All-Time High

Meta entry was at the 25–30% drawdown from its 2025 all-time high, with a doubling-down on the further legs down. The full reasoning is in a separate piece, but the short version — the short-term margin compression from capex acceleration is moat-widening, not business-breaking, and the window when the market is reacting only to the short-term P&L is the buying opportunity.

4. Amazon — Bought on the Move Below $200

Amazon shaped up the same way. As it dropped from $240 to under $200, the market simultaneously priced in AWS deceleration and the AI capex burden. I treated both as short-term noise. The position is up over 15% from my entry. The deeper diversification versus Meta means lower short-term volatility, which is the appeal on the stability side.

5. SPMO (Invesco S&P 500 Momentum ETF) — Buy Below $110

SPMO is the heaviest ETF position I run outside of the core three-fund portfolio. It selects S&P 500 names with the strongest price momentum and has historically delivered alpha over the plain index in trending markets.

When SPMO dropped to around $108–$107, I bought heavily. Buy line: below $110. As of right now SPMO is positive year-to-date while the S&P 500, total market, and QQQ are all negative. The momentum factor is outperforming the index in this window, which is precisely when this kind of fund earns its keep.

6. VXUS (Vanguard Total International Stock ETF) — Diversification Add

VXUS is small. Less than 5% of the total portfolio, but I keep adding for two reasons.

First, it's the cleanest way to get exposure to companies that can't be held through U.S.-listed individual stocks — TSMC, Samsung, that tier. Second, it's a hedge against geopolitical risk and dollar-value swings. The five-year-plus horizon will probably see continued debate around dollar weakness, and in that scenario the currency effect on foreign assets helps.

It covers both developed and emerging markets in a single fund, so I don't need to stack multiple country-specific ETFs to get the diversification.

7. Bitcoin — Accumulation Phase

Last one is Bitcoin. The current range — high $60Ks to low $70Ks — looks like an accumulation phase to me. Once it crosses back above $100K I think the probability of revisiting these levels keeps shrinking, so adding a fixed amount each month before that happens is the rational move.

This isn't a trading position. It only makes sense if you're committed to holding 5+ years. If you can't sit through the short-term volatility, don't enter at all. I run it as monthly DCA with the same fixed amount, with optional extra adds on sharp drawdowns.

What the Seven Have in Common

These seven names span different sectors and asset classes, but the entry rule is identical.

Buy only when price moves below an explicit pre-set buy line. Buy only when the long-term thesis on the business or asset hasn't broken. Restrain additional buying in the windows that print fresh all-time highs. When those three principles are applied consistently, the annual decision fatigue around "what do I buy this year" drops sharply.

The core three-fund DCA (SCHD, VOO, QQQM/SCHG), plus monthly DCA on Berkshire, Microsoft, and Bitcoin, runs regardless of price. The seven decisions above all sit in the layer above that — "what do I add on top of the core?" Keeping the two layers separate means the core never gets disturbed regardless of how the market is moving.