Hello all and welcome to the next installment of my blog! I realise this is somewhat belated as I've not posted for 3 weeks now so apologies there! This is partly due to laziness on my behalf, and then searing back pain which left me unable to leave my own bed! When I say unable to leave the bed, I mean literally, even the slightest movement caused excrutiating pain that I can't even begin to explain! I am now well on the road to recovery and fingers crossed I'll be back to full fitness soon and while this means I can't go to the gym etc. like usual, it's a massive relief just to be able to walk normally!
In between this set back I've mostly been doing what everybody else does at this time of year, drink too much and generally get into the festive spirit! My PT certainly won't too overly pleased when I eventually report back with an inflated stomach! As usual I'm leaving most of my Christmas purchasing too late which means I'll be firmly in the panicking mode come next week, it's funny how we never seem to learn, or is that just me? 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. Not a great deal has been going on, although HAT dropped enough triggering it's stop loss I had in place at 260p making me take a loss of around 10%. Now this makes my total website gains, errr not be gains but a loss over all! Not to worry though, it's part of the process and to be honest I'd rather be transparent with my trading, not so much to anyone who visits but more to myself. This is the whole reason for creating this as I mentioned in my first update, I've got nowhere to hide from myself in a way, it's there for all to see! Elsewhere with my current holdings, MRS is still suspended with no real firm date of applying for that to be lifted, it appears there have been some fairly serious financial fiddling going from the original CEO. He has now been removed from the company and the rest of the board appear to be trying to get everything back up and running to a satisfactory level. Fingers crossed it won't take a massive hit (or even worse fold!!), but I'm not getting my hopes up too much. I've already resigned myself to fearing the worst so anything more is a bonus. ESP is still hovering around the same level, though they have recently announced an extension to it's existing fixed rate term loan, giving them more finances to purchase more student halls. BKY still holding firmly and have released a couple of positive updates in the past couple of weeks. The first being the completion of the Offtake Agreement with Interalloys, doubling the original contracted volume to 2 million lb with the option to extend even further. There are also other potentially similar deals in the pipeline also, further adding to the long term strength of this in my view. The company has also purchased additional land around the Salamanca mine after the recent oversubscribed placing "which will accelerate the development" of said mine. I'm currently sat at 20% profit on this though have no intentions of selling for awhile. There have been no further updates from SOM in my absense but again I continue to hold into a profit (10%), it just seems a little bit stuck under 230p presently, all in good time though! I've just been going through some recent breakouts and shares with positive news released today, and one which really sticks out is IQE, a company who make electronic (not McCains) chips for various uses such as smartphones, various photonic devices (optical networking, dvd drives etc.) and a whole host of other uses. They posted a rather bullish statement this morning containing one of my favourite phrases, "ahead of expectations" when referring to profit, when it's year end results are published in March. The statement has seen the price increase by a decent 7% today, but even with that in mind it still seems to be at a decent price currently. Very tempted to purchase some and will be keeping an eye on it in the coming days. I've updated my Trades page to reflect dealings made. Until next time...
1 Comment
We're at that time of year now where it seems almost impossible for a dog owner to keep the kitchen floor clean. It wasn't quite so bad in our old house as the flooring was dark coloured, but in our new place, we thought the gleaming white floor tiling and cream cupboards would brighten the kitchen/diner up so much. This is until you take the dogs for a walk and there's mud walked through everywhere. It's like a never ending battle where there is only one winner! That aside, there is a lot to be said for being able to get outside for half an hour or so in a morning to just take in some fresh country air and appreciate life a little bit!
Another largely quiet week again in the Walker household. Mrs Walker was quite unwell so unfortunately had to cancel on some friends Friday night, though judging by my hangover after the last time we met up I think my liver will have thanked me!! Luckily a full recovery has been made and that meant we were able to visit Zip World in North Wales. We went on the Zip World Velocity which is quoted as being "The longest zip line in the Europe and the fastest in the world", quite a claim! It's situated in an old slate mine and you're taken right up to the top in the back of a rickety truck to breathtaking views over the Welsh valleys. Once up there you get a realisation of exactly what they mean! You're fastened in and make sure you're safe, but essentially you dangle on a bit of wire hanging over a vast quarry ready to hit speeds of over 100mph! If you're in the area and enjoy this sort of thing I would definitely recommend it though it can be a bit pricey. 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. No buys or sells this week so a bit of a review of my current portfolio performance. Management Resources (MRS) is still suspended as has been the case since late October. This was due "a number of operational and finance matters that require review". Subsequently this was followed up by an RNS stating that the CEO had been relieved of his position, seemingly due to the company growing and possibly he not being suited to run the company anymore. The main issue appears to be with the consulting side of the business and indeed in the most recent update from the company, they have now closed this department. There is no information as to exactly when trading will begin again on these so I'll be keeping an eye out and think I'll look to dump these as there are too many question marks over it for me now. A bad move on my behalf after seeing it recommended on the internet. Please remember, never follow internet tipsters (especially don't follow me!!!). Lesson learned hopefully... Berkeley Resources (BKY) has been a bit static recently which will probably be the case until either an update is given on the infrastructure work at their Salamanca mine or an announcement is made on the next off take of Uranium from said mine. The Salamanca mine is due to come online in 2018 so intend to hold this until at least this time. Currently sitting at 15% profit with this holding. Empiric Student Properties (ESP) has been on the verge of getting sold on. I've been holding this one for nearly 6 months and it's generally just moved sideways but recently has dropped leaving me up to 8% down. It has recovered a touch this week and I'm now sitting at 6% down, though dividend payouts during my time holding negates this loss. I'm just sensing I could possibly use the cash better elsewhere. I think I will review properly at the end of this month and make a decision. H&T Group (HAT) hasn't done a great deal yet although I've only held this since the start of the month. I'll be keeping an eye on the price movement here but will also have another eye on the pending full year results due out early next year. The last trading update stated that profits before tax are expected to be "above the top end of market expectations". A bullish statement indeed. Somero (SOM) has already risen nicely since purchasing on the 15th November, I'm currently approx. 10% up. It's a nice quite share this which has seen steady rises over the past 5 years. Think we may see a bit of pull back short term should the gains increase but I think this could be a decent winner. Until next time, Ian Good evening and welcome to this weeks update of my toils to make a little bit of cash!
I've spent a bit of time here and there this past week making a few tweaks and changes to the site and will look to improve it as time passes and I learn more. I did manage to create myself a bit of a website logo at the top of the page, I know you were all marvelling at it as soon as you got here! It's been a relatively quiet week here at Walker towers, with the dark nights now firmly set in it's generally a similar pattern of heading to the gym after work, having something to eat and then slobbing in front of the TV. This week saw the final episode of SAS: Who Dares Wins on Channel 4. Back for it's 2nd series, a group of general everyday people, are put through a series of very challenging tasks made to imitate an SAS training camp. We seriously enjoyed it and Moses was a deserved winner in the end though my hat goes off to anyone who entered! As much as I would like to think I could do it, I severely doubt I actually would go through it! Elsewhere we bobbed into our local small town centre on Saturday for a spot of lunch at one of the quaint little cafes in the square before having a wander around the Makers Market dodging the rain! After which I dropped Mrs Walker off at home before dragging myself over to Vale Park. Yes I have another confession to make, not only am I crap trader, I am also a Port Vale fan for my sins! We were crap for a good hour of the game but somehow turned around a 0-1 to end up winning 2-1! So in the end, a good Saturday overall! Markets Just the single trade this week which was the purchase of Somero (SOM). This first came to my attention much earlier in the year when it was trading at around 150p, since then it has risen and is now sitting at just over 200p. Now this may seem like it has risen quite a bit already (which it has!), however it once again came to my attention last week when it broke out of it's short term range and has now started pushing it's all time highs. Looking at the figures it still looks cheap and will be looking to hold this for some time. They are an American company who specialise in concrete levelling, and deliver increasing revenue and profits year on year. I have updated my Trades page HERE. Until next time, Ian Good evening all, this is my first proper update on this blog where I'll begin to go through my a few things such as portfolio performance, buys & sells, and any shares generally which have caught my eye.
I guess there's only one place to begin this week, and that's the US Election! As with the Brexit vote, the result came as a complete shock to many with images of people crying, rioting and outright condemnation from many both in the States and indeed here in the UK. People are saying it was a vote against the establishment, a vote for the common person and a vote for someone who shares their beliefs. I'm sure multi billionaire President Trump is just the person to fill this role! Politics aside, the markets have taken a bit of a hit initially, though as with Brexit, I think we can be pretty confident that things will recover quickly and move upwards as we move into the traditionally buoyant December. In my own dealings, I've sold one and bought one this week. I'll begin with the sale, PhotoMe (PHTM) was a share I hadn't really held too long and to be honest, I bought it on the back of a recommendation (I know I know). It initially moved up a touch but then showed signs of turning southwards in the short term and decided to cut it for pretty much breakeven. I'll be honest, I hadn't totally done a great deal of research into either so played a heavy role in my decision having done a lot of reading recently (more on that shortly). Since selling it's continued to drop so perhaps for now it will prove to be a good decision but I shan't dwell on it too long from here on. As I say, I also made a purchase. H&T Group (HAT) delivered a positive trading update this week, commenting that full year profits are expected to be "above the top end of market expectations". Very positive indeed. Buoyed by the increase in price of gold this pawnbrokers/payday loan company are steadily increasing profits over the past 2 years plus whatever the results show this. I'll keep a close eye on this one as it needs to break through 300p to progress I feel. I've added a couple of shares to my watch list also, those being Trifast (TRI), and Somero (SOM). Both tick all the boxes I am trying to look for in companies going forward and will keep a close watch on how they move. Over the past couple of weeks I've got through a fair bit of reading on trading and investing. Allegedly knowledge is power so am trying to take in as much as possible, whilst trying to avoid overcomplicating things which could cloud any judgements made. I finished "The Naked Trader: 4th Edition" (https://harriman-house.com/the-naked-trader-4) early in the week, which is pretty much a standard bible for uncomplicated advice and guidance on the subject, seriously if you're even thinking about dabbling in the market, read this book first! I also have the 2nd Edition of the same but this is the most up to date and there are a lot of new things added which are much more relevant in todays markets. I know it'll never be too far away from my side when doing any research in the future. Another book I've been reading is called "The Art of Execution" by Lee Freeman-Shor (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Art-Execution-investors-millions-markets/dp/085719495X). Lee was a fund manager at Old Mutual Global Investors and this book looks at his finding from reviewing deals made by a group of investors he managed between 2006 and 2013. He groups the investors into 5 categories based on their psychological tendencies and the results that these yielded. I've not quite finished it yet but it's well worth a look into when thinking about mindset and what plans you put in place when holding both losing and winning positions. Until next time, Ian NO FINANCIAL ADVICE - The Information on this website is provided for education and informational purposes only, without any express or implied warranty of any kind, including warranties of accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose. The Information contained in or provided from or through this website is not intended to be and does not constitute financial advice, investment advice, trading advice or any other advice. The Information on this website and provided from or through this website is general in nature and is not specific to you the Reader or anyone else. YOU SHOULD NOT MAKE ANY DECISION, FINANCIAL, INVESTMENTS, TRADING OR OTHERWISE, BASED ON ANY OF THE INFORMATION PRESENTED ON THIS WEBSITE WITHOUT UNDERTAKING INDEPENDENT DUE DILIGENCE AND CONSULTATION WITH A PROFESSIONAL BROKER OR COMPETENT FINANCIAL ADVISOR. You understand that you are using any and all Information available on or through this forum AT YOUR OWN RISK. RISK STATEMENT - The trading of stocks, futures, commodities, index futures or any other securities has potential rewards, and it also has potential risks involved. Trading may not be suitable for all users of this Website. Anyone wishing to invest should seek his or her own independent financial or professional advice. Good evening to anyone who is bored enough to read this! My name is Ian and I've created this blog as a method to try and give myself some sort of accountability in my quest to make the transition from a crap trader/investor, into someone who can actually make a decent pot of cash to hopefully one day pay off my mortgage. This is a long way off right now, but from small acorns and all that! I'm not exactly sure how often I'll post updates on here, it will either be a weekly thing regardless of any buys/sells made, or just as and when I make such decisions. If you find your way over to the Trades page of my blog you can check back on any positions I currently hold, and positions I have held in the past along with any profits or losses. The chart is a mixture from both a SIPP and a Stocks & Shares ISA. I will give a bit of a background in due course about trades I have made in the past soon. You may notice more than a hint of Robbie Burns aka. The Naked Trader in format of blog and theory behind deals made, this is because for a beginner I believe his website and books are the best place to start and would recommend anyone pick up his book "The Naked Trader vol 4" as it the easiest to understand literature I've certainly found.
I'm new to this blogging lark so the format etc. may change in due course as I play around with the settings and get used to it. Cheers for now, 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
Categories |