More about the portfolio performance
Following a visual comparison of my portfolio to the S&P 500 index, a summary is in order. What the graph shows is that, over the past 4 years, the entire portfolio rose in value by about 65%, nearly matching the total return on the index, including the dividends earned on stocks that comprise the index. However, the portfolio experienced significantly more noise along the way. As for the performance of stock and options trades only - that is, excluding the contribution from trades in futures, the chart shows about 50% total return.
It is perhaps worth noting that, in plotting the performance of my portfolio, transaction costs and commissions have been taken into account, just as one would expect. For the chart of S&P 500, raw index values (with returns incremented by the assumed dividend yield) have been used. In practice, an index-tracking mutual fund will probably charge a management fee of at least 0.2% per annum. This fee has not been included in the chart.