171 - The CONY Loan Is Gone But Can We Salvage The Damage?

In this episode, we’re giving the latest update on our CONY YieldMax Experiment — and this is a big one: the loan is finally paid off.The original idea was to test whether we could take out a loan, invest the money into a high-yield ETF like CONY, and use the dividend payouts to cover the loan payments. In theory, it sounded like a way to use other people’s money to build an income-producing asset.In reality? It got ugly.CONY started strong with a massive early payout, but the combination of declining distributions, NAV erosion, a reverse split, Coinbase volatility, crypto weakness, and high loan interest turned the experiment into a very expensive lesson. The loan carried a 17.25% interest rate, and the total interest paid was over $2,200, making the recovery math even harder.Now that the loan is paid off, the experiment has entered a new phase. There are no more monthly loan payments dragging it down. The only question left is whether the remaining CONY position can recover if crypto and Coinbase rebound — or whether we eventually need to sell what’s left and redeploy into better high-income opportunities.In this episode, we cover:Why we started the CONY YieldMax ExperimentHow the loan-based high-yield ETF strategy failedWhy the interest rate mattered so muchHow declining payouts and NAV erosion changed the mathWhat the reverse split did to the positionWhy the loan payoff changes the next phase of the experimentWhether CONY could rebound if crypto winter is overWhen selling and redeploying may make more senseThe biggest lessons learned from this experimentWhy concentration risk matters with high-yield ETFsThis is not a victory lap. It’s a real-world case study in high-yield ETF risk, leverage, income chasing, and what happens when a juicy payout turns into a principal-destroying machine.Now we wait and see: can we recover our investment, or is this just the slow eulogy of a failed experiment?View The Spreadsheet:Direct LinkYoutube VideoRelevant VideosCONY Experiment SeriesLeave A Comment:On this episode's Youtube Video_________________________________________________________________________________DISCLAIMER Ticker metrics change as markets and companies change, so always do your own research. The content in this podcast is based on personal experience and is for educational purposes, not financial advice. See full disclaimer here.Episode music was created using Loudly.