Chris Perruna
Real Estate Development Executive, Individual Investor
Nasdaq-100 fund QQQ should keep beating income fund QQQI, and the gap should widen through the next downturn. In major declines a QQQI holder loses capital, distributes capital and caps their own rebound, impairing long-term compounding. QQQI costs about 0.68% a year versus about 0.20% for QQQ, roughly 3.4 times more, and its fees, options flow and spreads mainly benefit the issuer. Since its January 2024 launch it has trailed QQQ without yet facing a downturn. x.com x.comÂ
The Nasdaq-100 can fund a comfortable retirement: $1 million compounding at 15% a year, with $80,000 withdrawn annually, would leave over $2.5 million after 10 years. US markets now have more liquidity, global adoption and world-leading companies, so a long sideways stretch looks less likely than in the past, and monthly withdrawals let the rest keep compounding. A collapse of these global companies would only happen in a catastrophe like nuclear war. Past returns don't guarantee future ones. … Show more
The Nasdaq 100 is suited to be a core holding thanks to having the largest size and liquidity among top tech ETFs, even though its roughly 19-22% annualized 10-year return trails the leaders. Semiconductor ETFs topped the decade at around 35-38% a year. x.comÂ
QQQI offers automated income without the work of managing options, paying distributions north of 1% a month from an options-selling strategy. Its return-of-capital structure means the distributions carry no tax burden until principal is sold. x.comÂ
Shorting the Nasdaq-100 looks unwise here. The McClellan Oscillator is at levels not seen since the tariff lows, yet with oil and yields surging the index sits inches from all-time highs. Good news on top of PCE, such as from Micron or the jobs report, could push it higher. x.comÂ
Favoring the Nasdaq 100 over small caps remains right because the digital economy has changed market structure, and AI is accelerating that shift. Fading QQQ against IWM has been the widowmaker trade in US equities since the iPhone launch. The Magnificent 7 are breaking out to new all-time highs as AI enters a consumer-agent stage, while small caps suffer from fears over rates and oil. Breadth warnings are everywhere, but the structure has changed: adapt or die. x.comÂ
The Nasdaq 100 high-income ETF QQQI is a core long-term hold, with its distributions reinvested to compound over time. x.comÂ
The S&P 500 fund VOO beats covered-call income ETFs like GPIX and QQQI because covered calls cap upside, leaving long-run returns worse. Since GPIX's October 2023 inception, VOO has compounded 26.4% a year versus GPIX's 23.6%, while QQQ's 25.4% beat QQQI's 21%. Fees add drag of about 1.1% for GPIX and 2.2% for QQQI versus 0.1% for VOO, and large monthly payouts are tax-inefficient. x.com x.comÂ
The Nasdaq-100 is still early in the AI cycle, and corrections are part of every major growth cycle, not the end of it. Since the dot-com bottom, QQQ is up over 2,000% despite surviving an 83% dot-com collapse, a 55% drop in the financial crisis, and 33% declines in the COVID crash and the 2022 bear market. More than 80% of calendar years still finished positive. x.comÂ
The new generation of covered-call income ETFs on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 is preferable to traditional dividend funds like SCHD, serving as counterbalances built to underperform in bull markets and outperform in flat or down ones. Given a bullish long-term market outlook, plain S&P 500 or Nasdaq 100 funds should still outperform them over decades. x.com x.comÂ
With the Fed meeting behind it, the Nasdaq 100 is entering its next phase of expansion; the recent pullback was a re-accumulation opportunity, not a time to raise cash. Stocks are filling gaps and moving back into attractive areas, so cash set aside before the drop should now be deployed into the dislocation ahead of the next leg higher. x.comÂ