Tired of Zero Dividends? Here's How I Made $18,522 in April

Every month, I publish one of these portfolio updates because I believe investors learn more from real numbers than hypothetical projections.

April's total income came in at:

$18,522 in distributions

Breaking that down further:

• $617 per day

• $4,631 per week

And compared to March's income of $15,641, that's a roughly 30% increase month-over-month.

At first glance, those numbers look incredible.

But there's an important lesson here.

Income investors often focus too much on a single month.

The reality is that different funds pay on different schedules. Some months will naturally be higher than others.

That's why I focus on rolling trends instead.

Across March and April combined, the portfolio generated:

$34,164 in income

That's the number that matters more to me.

The distributions were only part of the story.

On April 30th, my portfolio value stood at:

$838,312

Just twelve days later, on May 12th:

$880,000

That's more than $42,000 in unrealized gains in less than two weeks.

Those gains weren't just nice to look at.

They became signals.

Signals that it was time to rebalance, redeploy capital, and make strategic adjustments.

If you've followed the channel for any length of time, this won't surprise you.

My largest income producer in April was once again:

CHPY (YieldMax Semiconductor Covered Call ETF)

April Income:

$5,089

For comparison:

March Income: $1,654

That's a staggering 207% increase month-over-month.

Why?

Because CHPY benefits from exactly the type of market environment we experienced in April.

• Strong semiconductor performance

• Elevated volatility

• Rich option premiums

• Weekly distribution schedule

The combination created a perfect setup for higher payouts.

And the price action didn't hurt either.

Between late April and mid-May:

• Price moved from roughly $62.79

• To approximately $74.57

An increase of about 18% in just three weeks.

This may sound counterintuitive.

CHPY is working.

The income is strong.

The price appreciation has been exceptional.

So why would I sell any?

Because concentration risk matters.

CHPY now represents approximately 18.6% of my portfolio.

That's not because I intentionally allocated that much capital.

It's because the position grew.

And part of portfolio management is allowing winners to fund future opportunities.

My plan is simple:

• Take some gains

• Lock in profits

• Reallocate capital into new experiments

Not because CHPY is broken.

Because it's doing its job.

One of the biggest changes I made involved GDXY.

If you've watched previous updates, you know this position had become increasingly difficult to justify.

The thesis wasn't necessarily broken.

I'm still bullish on gold and miners over the long term.

But portfolio management isn't just about being right.

It's about opportunity cost.

I reduced my position from:

5,700+ shares

To roughly:

875 shares

That meant realizing losses.

But it also freed up capital that could potentially work harder elsewhere.

This wasn't an emotional decision.

It was a thesis-based exit.

And that's an important distinction.

The capital from GDXY didn't sit in cash.

It immediately went to work.

I've currently launched three separate portfolio experiments.

Each designed to answer a different question.

Experiment #1: NEOS Boosted ETFs

The first experiment focuses on NEOS Investments' newly launched boosted ETF lineup.

Current positions include:

XQQI

• Approx. $8,000 invested

XSPI

• Approx. $6,700 invested

XBCI

• Approx. $1,200 invested

Total allocation:

~$16,000

The objective is straightforward.

Can these funds generate meaningfully higher income while avoiding excessive NAV erosion?

If the answer is yes, these positions could earn larger allocations over time.

If not, the experiment ends and the capital moves elsewhere.

Experiment #2: State Street Sector Income ETFs

The second experiment focuses on diversification.

Historically, my portfolio has been heavily concentrated in technology.

These positions allow me to generate income from sectors outside of tech.

Current sectors include:

• Utilities

• Industrials

• Materials

• Energy

• Healthcare

Combined allocation:

~$32,000

I'm intentionally keeping these positions small.

I want at least a quarter's worth of data before making larger commitments.

Why Energy and Healthcare?

Energy was an easy decision.

Between geopolitical uncertainty and strong commodity markets, the sector continues benefiting from powerful tailwinds.

Healthcare is different.

It's a contrarian bet.

Healthcare has significantly underperformed technology over the past few years.

If leadership rotates away from semiconductors and AI, healthcare could quietly become one of the strongest opportunities available.

For now, it's a test.

But it's a test I'm watching closely.

Experiment #3: SEPY

The third experiment may be the most controversial. SEPY

SEPY combines:

• Crypto-related equities

• Covered call income generation

Its holdings include companies such as:

• Coinbase

• Bitcoin miners

• Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy)

• Other crypto-linked businesses

I deployed roughly:

$19,000

into the position.

The goal isn't to maximize crypto exposure.

The goal is to determine whether crypto-linked income can become a sustainable part of the portfolio.

The position has already paid its first distribution.

Now it's time to see how the thesis develops.

Following the rebalancing activity, the portfolio is now organized into four primary buckets.

Income Engine

The workhorses.

Positions designed to generate substantial monthly cash flow.

Examples include:

• CHPY

• FEPI

• BTCI

• SEPY

Core Foundation

The long-term income layer.

Including positions such as:

• QQQI

• SPYI

• IWMI

Defensive Mode

The diversification bucket.

Including:

• State Street sector ETFs

• Utilities

• Industrials

• Healthcare

• Materials

• Energy

Experimental Bucket

The newest ideas.

Combined allocation:

Approximately $56,000

Large enough to matter.

Small enough to fail safely.

There's one position currently on notice:

ESPY

The thesis simply isn't performing the way I expected.

The fund performs best in flat markets.

And we've been experiencing anything but a flat market.

At the moment, there's a strong possibility I exit the position entirely and redeploy that capital into stronger opportunities.

Stay tuned.

Several questions remain unanswered.

1. How Much of CHPY Should I Trim?

The fund continues to perform exceptionally well.

But concentration risk remains real.

The goal is to gradually lock in gains without disrupting the income stream.

2. Do the NEOS Boosted ETFs Justify the Risk?

In another month or so, I'll have enough data to evaluate:

• Yield sustainability

• NAV performance

• Total return

That's when the real decision gets made.

3. Can SEPY Deliver on the Crypto Income Thesis?

Crypto remains one of my highest-conviction long-term themes.

But conviction isn't enough.

The numbers have to support the thesis.

4. Which State Street Sectors Earn More Capital?

This is still a live experiment.

The winners will eventually receive additional allocations.

The losers won't.

Most people look at the headline:

"$18,522 in one month."

But that's not the real lesson.

The real lesson is what happens after the income arrives.

It's:

• Trimming winners

• Exiting weaker positions

• Redeploying capital

• Testing new ideas

• Staying disciplined

Income alone doesn't build wealth.

Capital allocation does.

That's the framework I continue using today.

Income first.

Growth layered intentionally.

Defense built in from the beginning—not added later.

And so far, that approach continues to move the portfolio in the right direction.