Wow, has it really been over a year since I last updated this site!?
Since the start of 2018 I've been on a hell of a learning curve, and a costly one at that! Last year saw me absolutely battered in percentage terms, figures of the like I hope I never see again! It was quite a volatile year on the markets all round, but a combination of getting whipped out of stocks on sharp falls through stop losses, then me trying to chase back that lost money, only to be whipped out again meant I went on a real losing streak. This culminated in ending 2018 with a loss of around 23% in my SIPP, and a whopping 60% in my ISA!!! Don't get me wrong, both portfolios were pretty low in value (both 4 figures) so percentages are always going to be high one way or another due to the number of holdings at a relevantly high percentage holding to PF value. Even so it was still an eye watering time for large parts. It was at this point I started to look at the bigger picture. What was I doing wrong? What was I doing right? Where can I improve and actually works? I feel like I was simply looking too short term, I was too reactivate to what the general day to day prices were doing. It was at this point I started to zoom those charts out, no longer was I looking at 3 months, 6 months, or even 12. I zoomed out 3 years, even 5 years in some cases. I looked only at the figures given in half year and full year results. I looked at the language used in RNS'. I basically tried to "block out the noise". It felt like I'd almost reset the way I was looking at companies. Most of what I do in how I find shares to research hasn't actually changed, there have been a few tweaks for sure, but the core of what I'm doing is still much the same. Now obviously only time will time if what I'm now doing will help. I've certainly made a positive start. Both ISA (now boosted in funds somewhat) and SIPP are both up around 21% this calendar year, on the backdrop of an ever improving FTSE. The real test will come when those volatile times return, which they will, who knows when. I feel like I'm going to be less affected by these movements now as I feel I hold some real solid companies who are demonstrating good profit increases year on year. I'm not sure if I'll pick up with the updates on here, I'll just have to see how I continue psychologically in my attitude towards my investments. I feel sometimes it led to me overtrading and I certainly don't want a return to that. If I feel I can overcome that, then I'll certainly update you more. I won't be into too much detail of individual investments, but to give you an idea on the backdrop of last years terrible run, current holdings now include the likes of CCC, D4T4, GAW, JDG & SSY which are all showing profits of over 10%, while JD. shows a very positive run leaving me up over 55% currently. These are the sort of companies I'm happy to carry on holding, even if the market did take a turn for the worse. Until next time (maybe)...
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I don’t think there are many better ways to learn about how not to do in the market than losing money! Well let me tell you this has been happening in abundance this year so far. A SIPP value down some 12.5% this calendar year has led to a lot of head scratching, self-doubting and loss of confidence in my own abilities. I think the decent year previously gave me a bit of a false sense of security about the way these things play out usually.
Here is the thing though, I know I can find decent companies who’s share prices invariably do increase over time to give very good returns. So what am I doing wrong? I think there are a few areas I need to concentrate on in greater depth. Firstly I have to look at the size of my initial stake in a business. I think with the fact that my portfolio is fairly small, I currently take positions which are the equivalent of approx. 15% of the overall value. This makes things looks amazing when everything is going swimmingly, however as recent times have shown, it can cause many issues when things aren’t quite so rosy. So that is definitely an area I can improve on instantly with any new buys I potentially make. I think this has to be linked to my own feeling of wanting the value of pf to rise quickly. I’ve always told myself “once I get up to x value I can then look at position sizing more seriously”. Secondly, I need to enter trades with a much better plan of action should prices rise or drop. I feel this is where my lack of knowledge (read non-existent almost) on technical analysis has not helped. I’ve started reading “Technical Analysis for Dummies” to hopefully help give me a slightly better understanding of why prices move around the way they do and give me a better idea with planning an exit strategy either in profit or indeed for a loss. I have no problem placing stops to take any emotional attachments out of selling losers, however there have been a number of occasions where I’ve been stopped out of a share for a loss, only for the price to then go to a level where it would have theoretically made me a decent profit. Thirdly, and I think this is potentially the most important lesson of all, is to stop checking on my holdings every half hour, hour, whatever. I do find it very, very difficult to relax during the day especially when things are looking a bit shitty, which is a lot recently! Don’t get me wrong, I don’t find myself rushing to click the sell button when I see things tanking but I think for my own sanity and stress levels I need to concentrate on not just checking values quite so often as you can drive yourself mad sometimes! In my previous post I set myself a target of finally finishing the book I was currently reading (“The Little That Still Beats The Market”), I’m pleased to report I managed this and as mentioned above I’ve start to read up on a bit of technical analysis which makes for very exciting bedtime reading!! I am actually quite enjoying reading more again though and looking forward to getting through some of the books I’ve had for some time now. Markets This week saw me get stopped out of XL Media (XLM) in both my ISA and my SIPP. Of course the price then shot back up leaving me frustrated and bemused in equal measures! However I’m going to make a clean break from this share as it’s done this to me a few times now and at the moment I could do without the volatility while I go over a few things mentioned earlier. Also, rather typically, after last time reporting that Robert Walters (RWA) was turning upwards and looked to be breaking out, it came back down quicker than it went up! However, this still looks a bit more stable and am happy to leave this well alone. The price and spread moves around seemingly ridiculous amounts here so my holding value can appear to increase and decrease quite a lot while the actual mid-price stays pretty much constant. Numis (NMS) has improved a touch leaving me just a couple of percent down from my buy price. Chart is in a nice upward trend for 2 years now so happy to leave as is. I’ve not really taken a great deal of time out to research anything new over the past couple of weeks while I look at my strategy etc. but I’m hoping to get my head in a better place to get back on track with things. As ever I’ll try to keep you guys in the loop as much as I can! Fingers crossed for some improved performance soon but obviously these things can take time! Until next time, Ian I know it’s only March, and I know I spent two weeks in Mauritius only in January, but my god do I feel like I need a holiday! I don’t know if it’s the weather, travelling back and forth to London or just my general mood but a bit of sun would be very much welcome right about now! We’ve said we’ll look to book something for later in the year though I’m not totally on the destination just yet. Any suggestions are very much welcome! We are however on the cusps of spring and all the joys that comes with this season, things like dusting off the lawnmower and other garden utensils that probably still have the tags on since purchase a couple of years ago! That said we really do want make a start on our garden this year, since moving in all we’ve done (I’ve done) is cut the grass! Although I think the most important aspect will be a hot tub!
As I said last time out, I had my motorbike theory test booked and I’m very pleased to report I actually passed! Now all I need to do is to have some more lessons and pass the relevant tests. Oh and actually buy a bike I guess! As with all the hobbies I seem to take on, everything costs an absolute fortune, I wonder what attracts me to these things!? I’ve struggled to get into any reading just lately so I definitely need to utilise my train journey time better than I have been (mostly sleeping, or working!). I think I’ll set myself a target to finish my current book before my next blog post. Let’s see if I can stick to it! I have a stack of trading related reading material to get through so I need to crack on, else how am I ever going to improve! I do like a good snooze though!! I feel like I need to apologise a bit for the general shorter nature of my posts recently, I've struggled to put things down in words if I'm honest so I'm just trying to post as regularly as I can and get "something" down. Hopefully this will improve in time and the quality will pick up, I certainly can't make any promises on this last point however!!!!! Markets I’ve not executed any trades since my last update, things are a bit uncertain for me still and with the FTSE dropping below 7000 for the first time in over a year so I think it’s probably best for my own sanity that I just sit on my hands for the time being. Robert Walters (RWA) seems to have made a bit of a break out which is encouraging. I’d like to see it move, and stay, above 700p. With the Q1 trading statement due in a couple of weeks this could be the start of another positive year for the recruitment company. Here’s hoping anyway, I do like this company. XL Media (XLM) went ex dividend this week which has seen the share price drop to the low 160’s. Given this was trading about 200p in early Jan this drop looks a little overdone, but then what do I know really? Any drop further below this would ring some alarm bells but CEO Ory Weihs seems to snap up more shares every time we see a dip in price. As with my other holdings, any dividends gained are reinvested back into the company to enhance my holdings. Like I say before, I’m not really rushing to buy anything else currently but obviously if something catches my eye I’m still doing all my usual investigations into the company. I’ll let you know if anything crops up! Until next time. Ian I've been sticking my head up from behind the sofa for a good few days and I think it's safe to emerge now. Isn't it?!
Oh I don't know! I don't think anyone knows really if they're honest. All we can do is try to follow the trends as best we can then if things turn to plop then just run around waving your arms around in a crazy panic as your hopes and dreams disappear! That last bit is probably just me actually.. In the meantime before any impending downturn I'm trying to keep my trading at a minimal, although if something ticks all my buying boxes then I'll certainly give it serious consideration. Such an example is mention further down in the markets section of this update. So what's been going on in the personal world of The Crap Trader? Well, mostly work! As mentioned previously my current contract is pretty full on at the moment with long evenings slaving away so this is reducing a large percentage of free time I have! Whilst not ideal, it does come with the territory of the type of work I do and I'd certainly rather be in this situation than out of work! Luckily due to the nature of parts of the evening work it does allow me a bit of time to step away from the computer and either take the dogs for a walk or spend some time in the gym. I feel it's mega important to allow yourself these times to just switch off and not think about anything work related. It certainly helps me stay relatively sane! This Monday morning I'll be sitting my Motorcycle theory test which will allow me to have lessons and subsequently take the "A license" test. I quite fancy getting something around 600cc to start off with, maybe a Yamaha R6, Honda CBR or maybe even a Triumph Street Triple. That said before I buy a bike I need to create space in the garage to home it (I will get round to cleaning the fish tank and selling it Mrs CT, promise!!). All that of course depends on passing this theory test first, so fingers crossed for that! Our mortgage is up for renewal in a couple of months so we had an advisor round to check out some deals for us. It looks like we're able to knock a couple of year off our overall term for the same monthly payments which is good news! It'll certainly go towards paying it off that little bit quicker! Markets It's been quite a flat week which makes a nice change from recent general downward movements. Here's what's been happening... Tuesday saw XL Media (XLM) release their full year results for 2017 with some good figures, revenues up 33%, gross profit up 37% and profit before tax up 27%. Decent steady results which help reaffirm that this company is continuing to move in the right direction. Initial reaction saw the price drop to the mid 170's, however by market close on Friday it had moved back up 3% to the mid 180's. I'm certainly not looking to relinquish my holding here for the moment. Recent buy Communisis (CMS) has dropped from my purchase price though only around 5%. You could argue I should have waited a touch to get a better entry position but a quote I read fairly recently struck a chord. Now I'll be honest, I don't remember where I saw it, who said it, or even if I've quoted it correctly but it went along the lines of "don't chase the first 5% with your buy, and don't chase the final 5% when you look to sell". Whatever the exact words were, the point made rings very true for me personally. This week I purchased Numis (NUM). It had been on my watchlist since a trading update on 6th February stating the company had experienced a very strong start to the year with revenues "significantly ahead of the comparable period the previous year", positive words indeed! It came to my attention again this week when it appeared in ADVFN's 52 week breakout "Toplist" as it broke above it's 52 week high. The figures stack up nicely and the chart is in a lovely upward trend, this coupled with that positive early trading update tempted me into clicking that buy button. Until next time, Ian Well it's not exactly been the greatest of years so far has it? It certainly hasn't for me that's for certain! Headline figures show my SIPP is down 8% since the turn of the year thus far having being quite severely hit by the market correction a few weeks back. This lead to some quite volatile price movements and some equally erratic trading from myself which certainly hasn't helped matters. I started making trades which, in themselves weren't bad companies to buy, however I was applying stops that were too tight and the volatility just knocked me clean out and this is what has cost me money in the short term. I quite quickly picked up what was happening from a psychological point of view and just immediately put a stop to any kind of trading and indeed even stopped checking company news feeds of a morning or even looking at shares I held too much safe in the knowledge that those I did still own were good companies and this was just noise. This was the first sustained "market correction" I've experienced (the brexit dip was over before it started) and it has taught me a few valuable lessons I hope I can carry with me in the future when things really hit the fan.
It's only just this past couple of weeks where I feel things have calmed down enough both in the markets generally, and in my own mindset when it comes to trading. I'll list my recent moves a bit further below. Work has been incredibly busy since we got back from our amazing holiday in Mauritius which has also hindered both my trading abilities and also my blogging, but then my blogging isn't exactly consistent at the best of times (sorry!!)! I've been trying to do a bit of reading where I can, I'm most of the way through to my old favourite The Naked Trader's book on spread betting. I don't feel confident enough to delve into those murky waters just yet but I think it can become a decent addition to my trading armoury in the future, particularly when we enter a proper downturn. Once that is finished I'm quite looking forward to getting stuck into "The Little Book That Still Beats The Market" by Joel Greenblatt having seen some good reviews on it. A positive start has been made to my "Master Plan" (crap trading performance aside) where I've been meeting my mortgage overpayments and ISA contributions. As we approach the end of the tax year I'm going to looking to paying off more/adding more to both of these accounts to help give them a boost. We're also coming to end of our current mortgage period and will be looking to get a new deal, hopefully knocking a couple of years of the term at the same time. Markets So as I mentioned earlier, I have steadily worked my way back into things with the odd new position, and also adding to existing positions. First off Robert Walters (RWA) recently released their full year accounts showing healthy rises in revenues, profit before tax and dividend. The statement mentioned they'd had "record performance" across the year with good rises in business in all countries they deal with, with only Brazil "remaining challenging". There was also a note at the end which read "The group has successfully maintained the momentum of 2017 and started the year strongly. As a result we look ahead with confidence". Very encouraging stuff indeed! So encouraging I've added to my existing position within my SIPP and have opened a new position here in my ISA. I also opened new positions in both my SIPP and ISA in Communisis (CMS). The full year results were released on Thursday which showed a steady increase in revenues, profits and dividends. They have also managed to reduce debt by 20%. Seems to be a steady stream of work coming in and the closing statement of the RNS read "Communisis is at an exciting stage in it's development with a bedrock of solid performance and deep client relationships to build upon". I personally think it looks good value and should perhaps be trading at a higher price, we shall see! It's full year results time on Tuesday 13th March for good old XL Media (XLM), looking forward to these and should hopefully see the price move onwards and upwards after positive "ahead of expectations" updates all year. Until next time Ian Well, not exactly! I can't guarantee that this site will be updated weekly with high quality content and reports of skyrocketing share picks as I hurtle toward becoming an ISA millionaire. What you will get is what I've always tried to provide here, complete honesty as I try and find my way around the chaotic and often savage world of the stock market!
At least when I can be bothered anyway... So yes, here we are, 2018 already! If you blink a couple of times we'll no doubt be in February "where's this year going, is flying by". Markets seem to have picked up where they left off after a very buoyant 2017. My SIPP has risen 3% this week already which is obviously a great start. Whether or not this will continue remains to be seen, I always seem to have this nagging feeling that things are going to turn downwards sooner or later. Let's be honest, it has to happen at some point doesn't it! What goes up, must come down. I'm not going to make any predictions about when or how this will happen as no-one really knows! Anyway enough babbling, here's what my holders have been doing recently... Markets XL Media (XLM) - XL Media has had quite an up and down time in the past month! Mid December saw the price steadily rise to 220p, then promptly drop just over 10% before the turn of the year. At it's height this share has given me my first ever "double bagger" which I was well chuffed with, until the aforementioned fall back. This week though has seen the price rise again above the 210p mark. As it stands this leaves me showing 92% profit in my SIPP and 49% in the ISA. I believe there is an update due before the end of the month and am looking forward to a continuation of the excellent progress this company has made. Computacentre (CCC) - Computacentre seems to have broken out of a range it had been stuck in and has hit new highs now in anticipation of it's full year trading update coming out on 22nd January. The last update stated the board believed full year results would be comfortably ahead of previous expectations. Always a big plus to see in a company update! Morgan Sindall (MGNS) - The chart here shows the price has been moving sideways for some time now really. It tried to break out and hit 1500p but then fell away again. Full year results aren't due until February to I'm expecting more of the same for now really! Robert Walters (RWA) - Having dropped down to around 540p back in December, I'm pleased to see this back over 610p. The next quarterly update is due on the 9th so looking forward to seeing this company continue it's good performance as reported across last year! There are a few trades I need to go over but I'm going to keep this update brief and leave these until next time! It's going to be a busy few weeks for my holdings and fingers crossed they all go in the direction I hope! I have plans in place should any bad news get released and won't hesitate to pull the trigger if required! Until next time... So as I sit here this evening, laptop on my errr...lap and trying to think of something to write about for you, I have come to the realisation that I just find myself getting far too distracted by, well, anything. Be it the TV, the dog snoring next to me, wondering if I can download the new Call of Duty game, stroking my beard (Mrs CT tells me off for doing this all the time!), literally anything. I think it's because of this I haven't updated you all for a couple of weeks. That and the fact I'm currently jobless, but more of that shortly. Hmmm I think I fancy a brew you know...
Oh sorry about that, I just got distracted for a few minutes. Where was I... Ah yes, distractions! So yeah. as I was saying, I think this is why haven't posted updates for a couple of weeks. Each time I've come to write a post, I've struggled for a topic, then found something else to do instead! I feel my trading goes through similar phases also. I'll start the day off correctly, I'll head over to www.investegate.co.uk and check out the mornings news feeds, jot down any interesting tickers to research later, then when later comes, "oh look is that the time, you know I think I fancy a brew". I can go easily go 2 or 3 weeks like this doing not a great deal more than check my portfolios to make sure nothing disastrous is happening, even then not worrying too much as I've got my stops in place. Now this may seem a bit lazy, and well, yes you're right. I can be a very lazy person at times. But one thing I've noticed recently, this doesn't appear to be of detriment to my trading performance. In fact quite the opposite. As I type this evening, my SIPP is currently sitting at it's highest value since I began some 18ish months ago, the shares I hold within my ISA are up a combined 6% on their respective buy prices and I'm sitting on 25% and 20% cash value across the two respective accounts. So what does all this mean? As things stand it appears to back up a thought I had not too long ago where a "less is more" approach to the markets is the way forward. Now this may seem obvious to those of you experienced enough, but to myself this is becoming something of a revelation. In a world where everyone screams "DO MORE", "WORK HARDER", it feels quite unnatural so takes some getting used. Certainly food for thought if nothing else. Mmm food, I'm a little peckish actually... Doh! I did it again!!! As mentioned at the start of this waffle, I am indeed currently jobless! You probably aren't aware but I am a contractor. Which generally means I get taken on at short notice, for short/medium term projects, before being released at short notice. This has it's very attractive pros, and quite a number of cons (unpaid holiday etc.). Unfortunately the company I was working for previously has lost some vital work meaning some colleagues and myself were deemed surplus to requirements. It's certainly not anyone's fault to be honest with you, just par for the course in our field. I have been lucky however in that I've managed to get hooked up with other work pretty quickly and all being well I will start again this coming Monday. In the meantime I have become a man of leisure! So what does a man of leisure do for a week while his wife is working away? Watch lot's of boxsets on Sky, and spend even more time on the Playstation. Bliss!!! In all seriousness, it's not often I take time off just to sit around doing nothing at home so it has been a very welcome change of pace! Markets Please note I am not tipping any shares and would seriously encourage anyone reading this to carry out thorough research on any company they are thinking of buying!!!!!! Once again I report good news across my two portfolios, they have both been performing well. Indeed my SIPP has grown just over 21% this calendar year and improved by 3.7% in October alone. My ISA remains on course to exceed my target for this year as briefly outlined here "The Master Plan" which is a positive as we move towards the end of the year. I purchased Computacentre (CCC) towards the end of October following a positive Trading Update which showed increased revenues and trading for the year was in line with boards expectations, which had been upgraded twice this year already. Those full year results will be released in March so a bit of time before then but happy to sit on these and all being well they won't drift down in the meantime. XL Media (XLM) had a bit of a dicky time where they appeared to have problems with the dividend payment. The company put it down to a banking error but it appeared to be taking some time to resolve. I did come very close to selling these and indeed gave them until the Friday to resolve. Thursday came and they released news that the issue had been rectified and indeed the cash was in my account within a couple of days. The price immediately surged though it has now dropped off a little since. I will watch these a little closer now as another mistake like that could really hit the value. Robert Walters (RWA) broke out into a 52 week high following their positive update I mentioned last time. That see's me around 10% up on my buy price in a fairly short space of time. Morgan Sindall (MGNS) released their latest update yesterday where it was reported that trading has continued to be strong and full year performance is expected to be slightly ahead of previous expectations. Creightons (CRL) continues it's yoyo price movement, this week it's up, next week it'll probably come back down! Well I finally got there, despite all the distractions along the way, I managed a full blog post! Thanks for reading, until next time... Ian No seriously I am…
I mean, my portfolio values keep going up, the birds sing wherever I roam and everywhere smells of roses! Ok ok, time for a spot of realism. I’m not a financial expert by any stretch, or even of average intelligence on the matter, but it’s fairly obvious even to me the markets generally have been on a tremendous bull run for quite some time now. Even a crap trader such as myself has managed to make a decent return so far (bar the odd big mistake), so the impression given currently is it’s an absolute doddle. You find a share, buy it, and hold for the inevitable rise in value. Easy peasy! “We simply attempt to be fearful when others are greedy and to be greedy when others are fearful” – Warren Buffet (of course) This is something I’ve become more and more conscious of in recent weeks. I keep seeing comments such as “this run still has more legs” and similar ilk. Whilst they may very much be right, I just have this niggling feeling. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m certainly not fearful, not by a long stretch. I have my stops in place and keep a close eye on what I hold and am still actively looking for shares to buy. I do however hold a higher percentage of cash within my respective portfolios whereas previously I would pretty much be all in. Maybe this is also a subconscious change of tact having made mistakes previously. I no longer feel that just because I have spare funds, I simply must invest them somewhere. Perhaps a slight change in mind-set to a “less is more” approach. I definitely think that updating this personal investment blog more regularly is giving me a lot more focus, along with the determination that I can actually get somewhere with this, as explained in my “Master Plan” section. I was first given the idea to start this site by the Twitter user @Wheeliedealer who is someone I would certainly give a follow if indeed you are a Twitterer. He offers some very sage advice which is always worth paying attention to! Markets Please note I am not tipping any shares and would seriously encourage anyone reading this to carry out thorough research on any company they are thinking of buying!!!!!! As you may have guessed from the above, I’ve had rather a good week with my current holdings! Recent buy Robert Walters (RWA) released a trading update for its 3rd quarter which quoted Chief Executive Mr Walters “The board is therefore confident that profit before tax for the full year will be ahead of market expectations.” One of my favourite comments from a news release. The market certainly liked it also with the share price rocketing 10% on the same day. Its next trading update will be released on the 9th Jan ’18. Creightons (CRL) holds steadfast, up 30% on my buy price which suits me just fine. As mentioned last week I top sliced a bit of profits here. XL Media (XLM) continues to storms upwards and having announced the very reputable Jonas Maternsson as a non-Executive Director the price made a definitive break out from it’s steady upward trend. The price is now making a stab at 170p though has yet to move past it. I’m now up over 50% in my SIPP holding and up 17% in my ISA. Until next time… Ian A pretty short update this week I'm afraid, which I actually started writing up on Friday evening but ran out of time to publish! I got as far as writing out the markets section below but things have been pretty flat today so it still pretty much applies (apart from XL Media!). Well we managed to survive a wet and very windy weekend in Wales. In truth it was just what we needed though, despite the pretty bleak weather we still got out onto the beach each day to give the dogs a really good walk. This in turn made our afternoons very much recovery time, or nap time! We were all pretty much wiped out! A very enjoyable time was had by all though! This week see’s Mrs CT off to that there London for what is likely to be a couple of weeks as her big project moves into its business end and requires her attention at the weekend as well as the week. Obviously this means in her absence I hope to not cause some form of major catastrophe to home or self, I can’t promise anything though! Quite gutted I won’t get to see her for a while in all honesty but the benefit of working in similar fields means I understand the reasons behind it. I do look forward to less busy and stressful times for the hard worker of the household! In the football world, the Vale continue to prove themselves to be the worst in the country as we slumped to yet another home defeat! Despite taking the lead in the first half I could have easily predicted what was to come. We finally have a new manager in playing legend Neil Aspin, I sincerely hope it works out for him but my god has he got his work cut out. Before I tortured myself at Vale Park on Saturday I sat down and read my first full copy of Investors Chronicle, of which I’d signed up to a subscription earlier in the week. I’m more wary of picking up tips from anywhere really these days but had seen a quite a few serious investors I respect are regular readers and feel that so long as I thoroughly research anything that piques my interest then see no reason why it won’t be a good source to absorb from. Markets Please note I am not tipping any shares and would seriously encourage anyone reading this to carry out thorough research on any company they are thinking of buying!!!!!! Generally a bit flat across my portfolio’s this week once again which is fine by me, it means I’m not losing money for once! I haven’t seen a great deal that has jumped out at me as far as buying is concerned, though I did notice Robbie Burns picked up Numis (NUM) in his latest update which after a quick glance is worthy of a more in depth look, something I’ll look to do this week sometime! Creightons (CRL) pushed its 52 week high up a touch leaving me up 30% on my buy price. This is prone to largish moves up and down due to its fairly small market cap. This move up prompted me to do a bit of top slicing. This is something I’ve never done before so may have got it completely wrong, however felt it was a good time to de-risk probably my most volatile holding. Also its profit to market cap ratio had crept up above my usual threshold. I sold around a quarter of my shares banking some of those nice profits. It has also probably helped my confidence a bit as I haven’t banked a profit for some time now! Encouraging moves this week again from XL Media (XLM) as it too broke through its 52 week high point. As of today it is gone above the 150p mark which is a bit of a psychological barrier broken through. Unlike Creightons, XLM’s profit to market cap ratio is still within a decent range for my strategy so happy to leave as is. Currently 40% & 8% up on my buy prices across my SIPP and ISA respectively. Morgan Sindall (MGNS) has pushed up ever so slightly after recent good gains. I think slow and steady will win the race here, that’s certainly my impression anyway. That’s more than fine with me, nice and boring!! 9% & 6% up across my SIPP and ISA here. Until next time… Ian As you may have picked up from previous posts I’m spending quite a lot of time during the week commuting to and from the office, around 3 hours a day in fact. I’ve decided to start using this time a bit more wisely while I take on the mundane drive up and down the M6 and have started listening to investment related Audiobooks! Now I’ve listened to a good few books previously but they’ve always been novels. So I’ve put together a list of books to listen which will hopefully help to educate me one or another. I started off, rather obviously, with the Naked Trader’s “How Anyone Can Make Money Trading Shares”. I’ve read this book a couple of times already but felt it a good starting point and of course it’s always good to refresh knowledge. Yesterday evening I began listening to “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill. This is quite the classic when it comes to the power of the mind and how you can use that to do exactly as the cover says. I’m still quite early into but I do find this sort of topic thoroughly engrossing. I have a few more books lined up once this is finished which I’ll share in time. Hopefully, at least some of this knowledge will lodge itself somewhere in this thick skull of mine! If anyone has any suggestions for books/audiobooks to add to my list then please let me know! I want all of the knowledge bombs rammed into my head and to make the most of my journeys!
The wife and I spent Monday evening at Market Garden in Blackpool to see our favourite band Bon Iver. This was the third time we’d seen them live and once more they didn’t disappoint, they were phenomenal! If you’ve not heard of them before please check them out, I would suggest listening to the 3 albums in order and particularly look at the back story to the first album “For Emma, Forever Ago”. The newer stuff is a bit more electronic and more produced, but live it truly is something else! Tuesday saw me begrudgingly make the trip to Burslem and specifically Vale Park for what was once again, an absolute shower of a performance against Accrington Stanley (who are they?). We really are in a world of trouble both on and off the pitch! Maybe when I’ve made my millions I can buy the club and attempt to sort out the mess!! (Not a chance comes the cry from Mrs CT!!!!). If we don’t get these issues resolved soon however I can see us slipping out of the league, and from there goodness knows what will happen but it won’t be pretty. This weekend see’s our little family (as in, the wife, our dogs and myself) slip away to the coast of Wales for some much needed R & R. I’m looking forward to switching off for a couple of days getting plenty of fresh air and clocking up a good few miles walking. Whilst not forgetting the traditional sea front fish and chips! Markets Please note I am not tipping any shares and would seriously encourage anyone reading this to carry out thorough research on any company they are thinking of buying!!!!!! Bit of an up and down time since my last update, though to be expected with the relatively small PF’s I hold and small number of stocks. BooHoo (BOO) released their results on Wednesday and as usual headlined massive uplifts in profits etc. However it was met with a pretty big drop, followed up with an even further drop this morning off the back of news that the joint CEO sold over £10m worth of shares. I must admit, I can’t say I blame her, I mean who wouldn’t take advantage of selling such a holding! And when your remaining holding is still worth over £90m I’m pretty sure she’ll survive just fine! However for my comparatively tiny holding the drop was a little too much as it dropped below a short term support price and hit my stop at a small loss, that’s just the way the cookie crumbles! I’m not overly distraught however as the share doesn’t really fit in with the style in which I want to build my portfolio, and I made a decent enough profit here last year so I’ll quickly move on. Elsewhere XL Media (XLM) has gone ex-dividend so I look forward to that little bonus hitting my account soon. There was a small drop on the ex-divi day as expected but has quickly regained that. Still appears good value to me so whilst I was tempted to top slice some profits, I’ve left it as is for now. Morgan Sindall (MGNS) is still moving fairly sideways on pretty low volume, as said previously happy to just sit and wait with this! Creightons (CRL) broke out into a 52 week high which is a positive move, it has since pulled back a little but appears to want to sit just above 40p for the moment which is more than fine with me. This sees me up around 20% on my buy price. Finally I have today also bought something! Robert Walters (RWA) appeared in one of ADVFN’s Toplists I check on a daily basis. It appears in the “52 week breakout” list and immediately looked positive. It’s got a nice upward trend on the chart, profits are rising and has a decent amount of cash sitting in it’s bank. I’ll be looking forward to that chart continuing it’s quiet, boring rise to net me a nice bit of profit! Until next time… Ian |
AuthorConfessions of a Crap Trader is a blog following a regular investor trying to make profit via the London Stock Exchange. Follow his journey as he attempts to hopefully one day pay his mortgage off in full! Archives
April 2018
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