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Here’s how Sungarden Investment Publishing works:

You ask for it.

We see if we can provide it.

When we can, we do!

That just happened again. So we’d like to tell you about it.

For a while now, many subscribers have asked us to bridge a gap. You read my articles, attend our live weekly group coaching sessions, and hear directly from the horse’s mouth (I would be the horse in that scenario). For $200 a year, you get my blog posts here at ETFYourself.com, and live or recorded access to the weekly live show.

And for $800 a year, you get that plus access to what I think is the best investment and portfolio management creation site I’ve seen in my 40-year career. Not because it is based on my Intellectual Property (ROAR Score, etc.), but because my friends at PiTrade took that IP and turned it into the foundation for what I think can be the most differentiated investment research portal around. ROAR.PiTrade.com.

We built that portal earlier this year, and asked our most engaged subscribers, the ones who have followed my work the longest, to give it a try. And just as importantly, to let us know what we could do to improve on that initial build. The response:

• Give direct access to the live trades I do for my own portfolio

• Provide commentary (“trade notes”) to rationalize the ongoing portfolio moves.

• Provide a choice as to how to access that information (traded for you or not).

As the old Burger King commercials said, you wanted to “have it YOUR way.” And after a lot of feedback from many of you, and our own internal planning and hard work, I am thrilled to announce that we have delivered what our audience asked for!

The New ROAR.PiTrade.com: Rob Isbitts’ trades, as he makes them.

As you may know, PiTrade.com, a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA), recently offered an opportunity to open an account at Interactive Brokers and invest in my two main models (ROAR Flex and the new Hedged Bond model).

However, we have heard that some people prefer to stick to their current custodian. That’s why we are also pleased to announce that through our collaborative research site, ROAR.PiTrade.com, investors will soon be able access the ROAR Flex model portfolio through a new Model Signal service.

But wait, there’s more!

Hedged Bond model portfolio is here! (Maybe just in time)

As our long-term subscribers know, ROAR Flex is the second largest part of my family’s personal portfolio. The largest part is a bond ladder. And now, I’m bringing a version of that approach to our subscribers, through ROAR.PiTrade.com, and through PiTrade.com.

What is the Hedged Bond model portfolio?

My original bond ladder required owning individual bonds, which can be more cumbersome than exchange-traded ETFs and stocks. But I don’t just buy the bond positions and hold them. I also hedge that core portfolio versus rising interest rates and inflation. And, I try to capitalize when rates fall hard.

In other words, interest rates and bond prices are cyclical, just like any other asset class. So while I’m collecting close to 5% interest over the next couple of decades, I manage around that main “ladder” to try to add return, regardless of what rates do. That combination: a “fixed” part of the portfolio, plus a “tactical” complement, is something most investors do not realize is even “a thing.” That’s because most of Wall Street would not bother with this. It isn’t “scalable” enough, or they think their clients won’t understand it.

Bridging the gap for DIY investors, with interest rates at 18-year highs

I truly think I’ve bridged the gap with Hedged Bond. Not everyones want to build their own bond ladder. But many want a bond strategy that won’t easily break down when rates go up. I think I’ve created a solution. And I’m very excited about it.

I’ll be presenting it in detail this Tuesday, on our the weekly live Zoom session. And right after that, we’ll be including Hedged Bond alongside ROAR Flex, in our new Model Signal service.

For $2,000 a year, you get access to both. As well as other strategies we’ll add soon. It’s the total package:

• My models, with trade actions communicated via email/direct message, and also updated in the research portal the moment I make a trade in my account.

• I’ll also start supplying “trade notes” which will provide an ongoing commentary on what I’m doing and why I’m doing it.

• That’s not only so you are kept up to speed on the buy and sell activity you see. But also so you can learn from what I do, and how I think. Our goal over time: make you a better portfolio manager.

Over time, I think that risk-managed investing makes a big difference for investors, both to reach retirement, and to stay retired. Now, with ROAR Flex and Hedged Bond, we’re able to provide subscribers with timely access to what I’m doing with my own money, and giving you the play-by-play as I do it.

Your Move

Click HERE to learn more about ROAR Flex

Click HERE to learn more about Hedged Bond

Click HERE to access either or both portfolios via our Model Signal service, where we send the trades, and you do the trading at your custodian of choice.,

Click HERE to be redirected to PiTrade.com, a Robo Registered Investment Advisor (RIA), to access either or both portfolios with the trading done for you at Interactive Brokers, billed on an Assets Under Management (AUM) basis.

For a while now, I’ve been reviewing in articles and live sessions what is perhaps the unsung hero of my own family’s financial future. My “bond ladder.” That’s where you buy bonds that mature annually, and either take the money and spend it (as I anticipate doing starting later this decade or early next decade), or roll it back into the ladder to add another year (“rung”) to it.

If this has a nice ring to it, it might be because you realize like I do that while bond rates are treated by much of the financial press these days as an inconvenient cousin to the stock market, some of us think that what’s happened since the start of 2022 is fanstastic for the currently-retired and semi-retired among us.

What happened? This is what happened.

Interest rates on US Treasury securities rose from the ashes of the previous decade, and restored themselves to what I consider to be a compelling long-term return level.

4.5% for 3 years? 4.8% for 10 years? 5.2% for 20 years? That isn’t anywhere near what stocks have done. And as rates have risen so much the past 5 years, and rising rates cause bond prices to fall, bond returns have, to use a techincal term…sucked.

Which is where the contrarian investor who’s semi-retired and remembers how great a bond portfolio used to be as a complement to those long-term growth investments (stocks) says “hey, why not create a little bond ladder?? Well, one thing led to another, and it turned out, my audiences here and elsewhere kept asking questions about it.

So recently, I posed the question:

If I could, in ETFYourself.com style, create a bond ladder model portfolio that skipped the part where one buys the bonds individually, would you care?

And, if I went a step further, and added “wings” to the portfolio in the form tactical ETF positions that could allow that ladder to “sit there doing it’s thing,” while I traded those other ETFs around it to hedge higher rates and add return when rates fall over time, would you care even more?

A pair of YES responses later from enough of our subscribers, and Hedged Bond model portfolio was born. This past Tuesday, I built and traded the model on PiTrade.com with my own money. And I am in the process of shifting some of my current ladder of individual bonds to the Hedged Bond model.

It is available to investors (and financial advisors) in 2 forms:

1. As a portfolio where my trades are communicated to you when they happen, just as with our new ROAR Flex allocation model and others at our research site, ROAR.PiTrade.com. To make it easier for more people to say YES, we have combined it into a single, Model Signal subscription level. Visit ROAR.PiTrade.com for details.

2. As a portfolio overseen and traded by PiTrade.com, a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA). You can get the details on that version of the Hedged Bond model there.

As you can imagine, I’m not usually in the business of showing my current portfolio to just anyone. That’s what the Model Signal service is about. Back in the days we ran an investment advisory firm, the typical client paid $20,000-$40,000 a year for a full service that included my ability to develop and manage model portfolios. Now, DIY investors and advisors can access my “best thinking” for a small fraction of that price.

I realize that many investors are new to bond portfolio investing. When rates are too low to matter and the stock market is vaulting higher most years, why bother? I think that’s changing, quickly.

Below, I present here the initial Top 10 positions I bought this week. Some will likely remain for a while, and others are “live every day,” which means I could adjust their portfolio weightings, remove them altogether, or add new ones.

You’ll also find a quick comparison of the initial Hedged Bond model portfolio to the Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF. Which by the way, does not manage tactically, and certainly does not hedge versus rising rates. It is a bond index. Which as nice as that sounds, is not at all the same thing as a stock index such as the S&P 500.

So today’s snapshot doesn’t really indicate what this portfolio might look like a week or a month from now. But it does provide a starting point for investors who want to peek a bit behind the curtain.

This, as we start offering what I think is a truly unique approach to trying to solve a rapidly-growing issue for some investors. Especially the way bonds and rates are suddenly back in the spotlight. For all the right and wrong reasons.

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As macro structural forces distort traditional market indicators, tactical investors must navigate suppressed volatility, false sector rebounds, and high index concentration through disciplined risk management and targeted hedging strategies.

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Some inquiries were made regarding our services offered so we we wanted to give everyone a summary as there have been several upgrades in the last month:

Access Premium and Flex HERE

Feel free to contact us with any questions at info@sungardeninvestment.com.

Here is yesterday’s recording for anyone who missed it or wants to review:

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DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU OWN?

If it is mostly an S&P 500 stock portfolio or ETF, you’ve signed up for an asset that historically can move 40-50% or more in an 18-month period. In EITHER direction. I’m not saying that isn’t OK for some investors. I only know myself. I would not personally sign up for that, unless I REALLY understood what was in it. And more importantly, what could go wrong.

I am not too sure that many investors realize what’s in the S&P 500. Frankly, there are about 20 stocks that matter and 480 along for the ride. I’ve written extensively about that here, so feel free to peruse the site. Or, as the University of Indiana Head Football Coach said when asked at his first press conference who he was, “just Google me.”

What concerns me more in this season is how many investors likely believe that a 60/40 portfolio is their best alternative to an all-stock index. It isn’t. And I’ve been writing about it for a long time. 60/40 is a Wall Street magic phrase for investing 60% of a portfolio in stocks and the other 40% in bonds. It works sometimes. But I’m arguing against it now, and for the foreseeable future. (For more on bonds, be sure to join us for today’s live session entitled “Welcome To The Bond Age: Leaving FOMO Behind To Set Up Retirement Cash Flow”. Registration below).

My rationale is simple: the stock market’s next major long-term move is likely down. And bonds have historically high interest rate risk (given the focus now being placed on the US $40 Trillion Debt load). That means they are unlikely to be enough of a hedge to make up for what ultimately happens to stocks in a very concentrated market.

What’s a better solution?

I sure am biased, but that’s what being a blogger is all about, eh? That’s why I present this update on the ROAR 10 ETF model. Which as you may know, it is an automated version of what I now run as a dedicated “Model Signal” portfolio called ROAR Flex.

ROAR 10 has been sitting there on the the ROAR.PiTrade.com site for many months. And I’m grateful for all those who have made the effort to understand it and why it is different. Dare I say, unique.

I went the extra step to create ROAR Flex because while the automated ROAR 10 model has been rock-solid since its 2020 inception, I think the future will challenge ALL automated portfolios. Including the ones I’ve created.

That’s why I wanted to take a moment to call your attention to what this automated model has done so far in backtested form. Because in that version,

ROAR 10 has fulfilled my mission to provide a true 60/40 alternative for investors during its first 6+ years. That’s why it serves as a base for ROAR Flex, where I start with ROAR 10 as a “core” and expand the “toolbox” to navigate any market conditions that might arise.

Let’s quickly review ROAR 10 head-to-head versus AOR, an ETF that is iShares 60/40 portfolio in a single ticker. Very convenient. But the data below makes me think there’s a better way.

First, there’s the sustained outperformance of ROAR 10 vs. AOR. Much of that was achieved when it really counted, in early 2020. The S&P 500 fell 34% in 5 weeks, and AOR dropped by more than 20%. ROAR 10? It barely budged.

Know what you own. Know why you own it. And invest with intention, not just because it is currently popular.

For questions or more information, email us at info@sungardeninvestment.com, or visit our research site for DIY investors, ROAR.PiTrade.com.

And for more analytics comparing ROAR 10 to 60/40 and to the S&P 500, visit this new post in our ROAR Flex tab.

Now, here’s a few market highlights to start this abbreviated week.

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To be clear, in a bull market, ROAR 10 will not keep pace with the S&P 500 (orange line below). It is not built for that. But this chart indicates its potential to bridge the gap between 60/40 and the SPY.

This busy set of numbers shows trailing and annual returns of ROAR 10 (black), AOR and SPY. This highlights the other risk management benefit of ROAR 10. On the right side, we see that in 2022, when the case for 60/40 truly blew up in investors’ faces, as stocks and bonds fell together, ROAR 10 stayed within shouting distance of where it ended 2021.

The ABCs of ROAR 10

This last graphic makes a simple point. ROAR 10 has produced significant Alpha with very low Beta compared to both AOR and SPY.

What does that mean? Alpha, simply put, answers the question “if the market gave me nothing, zero return, could I still make a profit?” And Beta explains how much of the market’s volatility a strategy took on in order to try to earn that Alpha.

So if we consider 60/40 (AOR) to be “the market” (stocks and bonds combined to be the market) which ROAR 10 is compared to, ROAR 10 theoretically produced 5% annual return in a flat market for AOR. And did so with less than half (48%) of the volatility.

With SPY as the market (so stock market, excluding bond market), ROAR 10 still managed to produce 3.6% positive return, and with less than 1/3 (30%) the volatility.

This is why I am always skeptical of “traditional” strategies. In my experience, they work well…until they don’t. When some market phase comes along and disrupts the “usual” approaches. That’s why I’m always looking to push the boundaries of what’s available to DIY investors. By creating models built for flexibility.

Thus the name ROAR Flex. It is not a strategy most people know. And likely, most will never discover what we built here. But for those who do, we think we’ve created the basis for very successful investment outcomes in the years ahead.

(To inquire about the ROAR Flex model portfolio and how to access it, email us at info@SungardenInvestment.com)

Important Regulatory Disclosure

This post is published by Sungarden Investment Publishing. Rob Isbitts is a publisher of financial research and model portfolios, operating under the SEC Publisher’s Exemption. He is not currently a registered investment advisor and does not provide personalized, 1-on-1 investment advice.

All information, signals, and model portfolios are provided for educational and informational purposes only. Subscribers are solely responsible for executing their own trades in their self-directed brokerage accounts. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Drawdown caps and return objectives are strategic goals, not guarantees against loss of principal.

As broad index strength masks underlying market fragility, tactical investors must navigate interest rate crosscurrents, technical flaws in major sector ETFs, and speculative behavioral traps alongside disciplined risk management.

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These days, the results of my research are often that I look for opportunities in places where, as it turns out, they don’t actually exist. That takes time. My time. And hopefully, our paid subscribers make that connection.

I am, when all is said and done, an outsourced investment research analyst to those folks. So they can take what I’m saying, 40 years into doing this type of work, and decide for themselves what matters.

I think that’s worth repeating here from time to time. Because trading, and especially investing, is not simply about “picking winners.” It is about developing a PROCESS, through repetition and experience, that allows you to make faster decisions over time.

Investors ask the same types of questions, and make the same types of decisions, over and over. Eventually, if they work hard, they reach the point where it becomes what I’ve referred to in some of our live subscriber sessions as a “twitch response.” That’s similar to what helps a professional baseball batter decide in about 1/4 of a second whether to swing at a pitch or not. Some aspects of investing and trading are just like that.

There are 8 questions I ask myself about the many ETFs and stocks I chart, multiple times a week, in part to prepare Fresh Charts posts.

• Should I keep an eye on this, so that one day I might buy it? (watchlist)

• Should I buy it now? (portfolio)

• How much of it should I buy now? (portfolio management)

• Should I keep an eye on it, as I might need to sell it soon? (defense-first mindset)

• Should I sell it now? (portfolio management, again)

• Is part of why I’m selling it because I’ll replace it with a better one? (upgrading)

• Am I selling it but do not have an immediate replacement for it? (defense, again)

• Should I sell all of it, or just some of it, and why? (position-sizing)

That’s it. That’s 33 years of learning how to manage other people’s money, 27 of those years as a fiduciary. The past 6, as a researcher, coach and model signal manager.

Have you ever wondered why people pay for someone else’s ideas, that list of 8 decisions, which a professional money manager makes, over and over again, all year, every year? THAT is what they are paying for.

The issue I’ve found since “they let me out of my cage” 6 years ago, when we sold our advisory firm and I had more freedom to speak my mind, was that may DIY investors do not realize that. They want to “do it themselves” but they are operating on the assumption that the stock market will go up forever, without the life-altering bear markets that cost people a decade or more of retirement planning progress. It happens in every cycle. I’ve seen three of them. We have not had one since 2008, and that’s a long time.

But those investors are challenged every day. There are constant obstacles put in front of them. The markets themselves are driven by mechanical forces that those who trained in the 20th century did not face.

Algorithmic trading is like the 7’6” basketball player that you know will be waiting for you, every time you drive to the hoop. You can still score, but you’ll need to account for where he is, and what he’s doing. And you don’t have too much time to make decisions.

So to me, it makes a lot of sense for DIY investors to either learn more of those 8 skills (portfolio management). And/or learn by watching someone else make and explain those decisions.

ROAR Flex / Hedged Bond model portfolio updates

At ETFYourself.com, we have you covered either way. You can read my ongoing “blog-style” thoughts here for $200 a year, or you can sign up to access one of our model portfolios. Over the next week, you’ll hear from us about how to access those models, either with trading done for you, or where we deliver the “model signals” to you to manage yourself.

As a reminder, the ROAR Flex portfolio is up and running. This is my “best thinking” tactical portfolio, spanning ETFs and stocks, aimed at producing long-term returns beyond that of “moderate risk” portfolios, with low volatilty.

If you are interested in learning more about ROAR Flex:

Email us: Info@SungardenInvestment.com

And for the many of you who have been asking about different ways to access it, we have been working as quickly as possible to, as the old Burger King commercials said, “have it YOUR way.”

But wait, there’s more! (he said, in Dad joke fashion)

As our long-term subscribers know, ROAR Flex is the second largest part of my family’s personal portfolio. The largest part is a bond ladder. And now, I’m bringing a version of that approach to our subscribers. More on that very shortly.

Now, to this week’s Fresh Charts table and commentary

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Thanks to all who attended yesterday’s session.

Rob discussed “What ROAR Scores Say Entering the Stock Market’s Cruelest Month”. Additionally, listeners got an intro to the new ROAR Flex offering. Here is the recording for your review:

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ROAR FLEX is the enhanced, live version of the main portfolio I run for my own family. The fully-automated version, ROAR 10 ETF, is backtested to the start of 2020.

Below, I’m providing an update on ROAR 10 ETF, for a very timely reason. We are heading into the season where risk management has mattered most. September, October, and with the US Midterm elections coming up, November is on the table too. September is the only month of the year that has a negative long-term performance record for the stock market. So it creates “headline risk” at a minimum.

I can’t predict the future, but I can prepare for a very wide range of possible outcomes.

That all starts with my charting, across macro markets. And the ROAR Scores we track every day through ROAR.PiTrade.com) are a core part of my ongoing analysis. Especially the risk side of the coin.

So to help you get a better sense of what I see, here’s a current tour through the major markets, where I analyze the return AND risk outlook entering this historically challenging part of the market calendar.

First, here are the allocations (as of Monday mid-day) to the automated version of the ROAR 10 ETF model portfolio.

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(To inquire about the ROAR Flex model portfolio and how to access it, email us at info@SungardenInvestment.com)

By Rob Isbitts | Sungarden Investment Publishing. Creator: ETFYourself.com.

I’ve managed money professionally since 1993, seven years after entering the World Trade Center in NYC as a fresh college grad in 1986. After toiling in the back office and helping portfolio managers create decision-making systems, I eventually became a lead decision-maker myself.

Over three decades later, I’m still at it. While I retired from the business of providing personalized, 1-on-1 advice to individual investors in 2020, I have dedicated the past several years to sharing my “best thinking” with a wider audience of self-directed investors through research and model portfolios at ETFYourself.com.

I run several models, which are on display at ROAR.PiTrade.com. The “flagship” strategy, ROAR 10, is a consolidated, automated, “off-the-shelf” version of the style of investing I used to do as an investment advisor and fund manager.

It is NOT an S&P 500-style portfolio model. Frankly, it doesn’t care what the S&P 500 does, since following it blindly would mean accepting the occasional 30% to 50% crash.

I’m too old for that! And my experience tells me I don’t need to settle for that.

My entire investment framework is built around two things, in a very strict order:

1. Avoid Big Loss (”ABL”)

2. Make as much as market conditions allow

That philosophy served me well as an advisor to others for decades. Today, it guides how I manage my own family's portfolio. The ROAR Flex signal model was created so self-directed investors can track that work, and apply it directly in their own accounts.

What is ROAR Flex?

ROAR Flex is my “Best Ideas” portfolio model. It brings my 30+ years of chart-reading, risk management, and market strategy under “one portfolio roof.” It is built around a flexible, absolute-return mission, similar to how classic hedge funds historically managed risk and return, but delivered strictly as informational model signals for self-directed investors to track in their own accounts.

ROAR Flex: Mechanics & Rules

• Built on the ROAR 10 Foundation: The strategy uses our automated ROAR 10 ETF model as a base (holding those 10 core ETFs at all times), but adds dynamic position weighting.

• Go-Anywhere Extended Universe: The core can be supplemented with tactical additions from single equities, and long, inverse, or leveraged ETFs.

• Flexible Timeframes: Positions may be held across days, weeks, or months depending on technical market conditions.

• Real-Time Signal Alerts: When market conditions prompt a trade signal or allocation update, alerts are broadcast in real time (via the ROAR.PiTrade.com). Subscribers receive exact target allocations and trade actions made in the model. From there, they can execute manually in their own self-directed brokerage accounts at their own discretion.

• Avoid Big Loss (ABL) 10% Maximum Drawdown Objective: Managed with the strategic objective of aiming to cap peak-to-trough drawdowns at 10% by shifting more capital into cash, T-bill ETFs, or inverse hedges during threatening markets. (Note: Risk targets are strategic objectives, not guarantees against loss of principal).

Historical Context: The ROAR 10 Baseline

Because ROAR Flex expands upon the foundation of our automated ROAR 10 ETF model, that baseline portfolio serves as the best historical proxy for how our tactical risk management behaves in difficult market environments.

The track record of the baseline ROAR 10 ETF model (inception 1/1/2020) recently crossed the 100% gain mark as of August 31, 2026. Over that multi-year period, it successfully navigated:

• The Covid-19 Shock (2020): S&P 500 dropped 34% in 5 weeks; ROAR 10 finished 2020 up 21.0%.

• The Stock/Bond Bear Pair (2022): Both stocks and bonds fell sharply; ROAR 10 held to a minor -2.5% drop vs -14.5% for the Moderate Benchmark (AOM).

• The Tariff Tantrum (2025): S&P 500 pulled back nearly 20%; ROAR 10 closed the year up +12.19%.

Backtested ROAR 10 ETF Model Performance (1/1/2020 – 8/31/2026)

(Source: ROAR.PiTrade.com)

(To inquire about the ROAR Flex model portfolio and how to access it, email us at info@SungardenInvestment.com)

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

• How is ROAR Flex different from the core ROAR 10 ETF model?

  ROAR Flex uses ROAR 10 as a foundation, but operates with a “go-anywhere” approach. It expands position weighting ranges and includes additional single equities and tactical long/inverse ETFs traded on dynamic schedules.

• What does “managed like hedge funds used to be” mean?

  Historically, classic hedge funds prioritized capital protection and absolute return over rigid index-tracking. ROAR Flex dynamically shifts allocations or deploys inverse setups to navigate and attempt to cushion against difficult market climates.

• How does the Avoid Big Loss (ABL) philosophy work?

  ABL uses technical risk indicators to cut exposure, raise cash, or buy inverse ETFs when market risk spikes. The goal is to avoid major drawdowns that take years just to get back to even.

• Where are my funds held, and how are trades executed?

  Your capital stays in your personal brokerage account (Schwab, Fidelity, Interactive Brokers, Vanguard, etc.). You maintain 100% ownership, visibility, and liquidity. When a model signal is generated, you receive a real-time notification to execute the market order on your own.

• Are there lock-up periods or withdrawal limits?

  None. Because you control your own account, you have full daily liquidity to add, withdraw, or pause model tracking whenever you choose.

(To inquire about the ROAR Flex model portfolio and how to access it, email us at info@SungardenInvestment.com)

Important Regulatory Disclosure

This post is published by Sungarden Investment Publishing. Rob Isbitts is a publisher of financial research and model portfolios, operating under the SEC Publisher’s Exemption. He is not currently a registered investment advisor and does not provide personalized, 1-on-1 investment advice.

All information, signals, and model portfolios are provided for educational and informational purposes only. Subscribers are solely responsible for executing their own trades in their self-directed brokerage accounts. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Drawdown caps and return objectives are strategic goals, not guarantees against loss of principal.

As tech concentration continues to mask underlying market fragility, smart capital is watching where hidden mega-cap correlations, speculative rate sensitivity, and tactical dividend allocations collide. Here is what you need to hone your strategy and manage downside risk for the week ahead.

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I don’t post often on Fridays. But I saw something in my chartwork today that I think subscribers should know. Because it might just be really important. If not next week, the last of a slow but chaotic summer for the stock market, then right after Labor Day.

I look at tons of charts. Stocks, ETFs, relations between securities. What am I looking for? Something that matters for more than just a trade. Because it has the potential to be market-moving, in a wholesale fashion. Here’s the chart and what I think.

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My portfolio currently contains an allocation to all ROAR 10 ETFs (which may be the same or different from the ROAR 10 ETF model), plus additional ETF and stock positions. The portfolio currently contains 20 securities (12 ETFs and 8 stocks).

For questions on how to access ROAR Flex, or any of my other model portfolio, email Support@PiTrade.com to reach PiTrade, a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA).

I created ROAR Flex specifically to respond to subscriber feedback here at ETFYourself.com, and in the live group sessions we’ve run the past few years. Many asked for an easier way to present and access the main portfolio (sans my bond ladder) that I run for myself, in a single account, without having to execute the trades themselves. And speaking of my bond portfolio…

Coming Soon: Dedicated, Hedged Bond Portfolio Using ETFs

ROAR Flex is just step one in taking my model portfolio framework beyond my core macro-market and swing trading ideas. I am working on an ETF-based bond ladder strategy to give subscribers a simple, automated way to generate income, but go a big step further by hedging against the risk of rising interest rates.

I am also developing a set of simple, self-guided DIY investor tools. Collectively, the goal is to help investors understand themselves as investors, focus on their own objectives, and decide for themselves how to allocate their assets. For instance, among strategies like ROAR Flex, the new bond model, other model portfolios, and their own trading efforts.

We are taking this one step at a time, as we try to build a better, simpler way to invest. As always, the goal is to share what I’m doing, so you can decide which parts of my approach make sense for you.

Rob Isbitts

Now, to today’s Fresh Charts. A summary of the ETFs and stocks which have the best setups, based on the chartwork I’ve done for decades. The overriding theme this week

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DIY investing doesn’t have to mean doing it alone.

That’s why we created ROAR Flex. It brings Rob Isbitts’ best investment ideas into one all-inclusive model portfolio. The same portfolio he runs for his own family.

• Proactive Risk Management (“Avoid Big Loss” is the #1 rule here)

• ETFs and Stocks, a “Go Anywhere” attitude

• Actively traded…but not hyperactive

• Rob manages the model, and provides the model signals to PiTrade.com

• You can access ROAR Flex through PiTrade, a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA), by opening an account custodied at Interactive Brokers or Schwab (after completing a risk profile to make sure ROAR Flex is a fit for your objectives).

• Minimum account size is $100,000. Annualized management fee is 0.70%.

• Stop juggling multiple buckets. Mirror Rob’s core personal strategy and invest with clarity. Click here to learn more and ask questions about the new ROAR Flex model portfolio.

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As you see above, I’ll be speaking once again at The Money Show Orlando. I am part of The Money Show’s educational (non-sponsored) slate of presenters, which I am very grateful for. This annual event brings together a real “Who’s Who” of the investing industry, and I’m glad to have been invited back again.

My specific speaking slot is Tuesday, October 5, 2026, 5:25-6:10pm

The full 3-day event runs from Monday 10/5 through Wednesday 10/7.

Money Show Orlando is one of most vibrant, immersive, and interactive conferences I’ve attended. And aimed squarely at self-directed investors. If you decide to attend, let me know. I rarely get the opportunity to meet our audience in person.

The US mid-term elections are going to be a market-moving event. Perhaps even before they occur. But frankly, I think by the time we get to early November, the markets will have already spoken. Here’s what I mean.

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