Stocks and shares

[Colin C No.3]

Had/ have shares in:-

Woolworths
M&S
DFS
BP
JB Sports
Puma
British Steel
De Lorean
HRH Prince Andrew’s Homes for Destitute Women.

I’ve kept a graph.








It shows all the hotels in Ceylon in 1975.

[normal rules]

Totally agree, when you look at it over a longer period the ups and downs tend to smooth out in a positive manner, trying to time the market is always fraught with additional risk and smoothing in over a longer period is the way to go.

Its a shame that a lot of people who just wanted somewhere safe to deposit their savings found that their normal bank, cash isa and savings account would not work for them anymore and they dived in head first into a very accommodating market which was waiting to swallow then whole. The volatility since the coming of Covid19 will have left a fair few out of pocket, trying to tell them to look at it from a longer term perspective has not been an easy thing.

The legal and general tech fund is not without risk. But if you look at this graph, this is what £1000 invested 5 yrs ago is now worth. And, if you have the wonga, you can invest your full isa allowance every year. 20k.

[scunny rover]

Crypto not sure
Nfts the world has gone mad

[big fat yorkshire pudding]

Totally agree, when you look at it over a longer period the ups and downs tend to smooth out in a positive manner, trying to time the market is always fraught with additional risk and smoothing in over a longer period is the way to go.

Its a shame that a lot of people who just wanted somewhere safe to deposit their savings found that their normal bank, cash isa and savings account would not work for them anymore and they dived in head first into a very accommodating market which was waiting to swallow then whole. The volatility since the coming of Covid19 will have left a fair few out of pocket, trying to tell them to look at it from a longer term perspective has not been an easy thing.

The legal and general tech fund is not without risk. But if you look at this graph, this is what £1000 invested 5 yrs ago is now worth. And, if you have the wonga, you can invest your full isa allowance every year. 20k.

I actually hold a small amount in this though I sold out 90% of my holding last year, it made me a pretty good return.

[big fat yorkshire pudding]

**Sorry, didn't realise other's had posted while I was typing, this is in reply to BFYP**

It's certainly interesting in terms of the volatility compared with funds, for example. Myn portfolio regularly sees swings of 3 or 4% a day, which was never the case when I was exclusively in funds.

I have a really aggressive / adventurous attitude to risk compared to a lot of people, but that tends to show itself more in my state of mind when considering losses rather than in the shares I choose to invest in I think - in the sense that I have no idea whether I've made good decisions, but I don't lose sleep worrying about it. That being said, generally I steer clear of most small companies because by going with larger stuff I feel more confident in being able to choose things without it being a time drain.

What I mean is, I feel when companies get to a certain size, or position within society, I feel like I understand the business enough by either being part of their target customer base, or by observing from afar, without ever needing to look at the financials of the company in any detail, to be comfortable investing in them. I've been considering putting something in UK smaller companies lately but if I do, it will probably be a fund, as my single shares usually fall into 2 different 'types'.


- Big stuff that I feel like I understand without looking at their financials or having to research them, or larger companies I'm genuinely interested in. Examples would be Amazon, Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft. I don't need to look at their balance sheets to know these companies are taking over the world and I truly believe they are solid long term companies to invest in. They're classed as risky because they're big tech equities, but I tend to equate risk with likelihood. The only scenario where I lose all of my money is if those companies simulateneously go bust. How likely is that to happen? It always seems very easy to me to change whether something sounds like a sensible judgement or an incredibly stupid one by reframing the question when it comes to investing.

- Speculative gambles. Things that could pop-off and make a lot of money (in terms of percentage growth) or could just as easily completely tank and lose everything. Examples of these would be Cineworld, Kier, BNGO, Medipharm Labs. Some of these have more thought put into them than others but with minimal research and speculation. Cineworld are a good example of this where I believe if they get their debt under control coming out of the back of Covid they could do very well. Others are completely off the cuff plays based on something I might have heard or read and am literally just in a casino at that point - "Certain parts of the world are legalising weed....weedstocks might do well....Medipharm labs, that sounds cool". Literally as flippant as that. But those picks are relatively very small parts of my portfolio.

There are a few outliers, maybe they were a top pick in a fund I saw and I just wanted to cut out the middle man (Shopify), maybe they've got an interestingly unique market position (Games Workshop) or maybe I was just experimenting with a special dividend (McAfee) but mostly they drop into those 2 areas.

Ultimately what I'm saying is most of what I do has very little financial knowledge to back it up (and therefore isn't very time consuming at all) - which to many people sounds like financial suicide. I'd certainly never recommend it to anybody as a 'strategy' but framing it in the big picture context I don't think I'm being unduly risky (by leaning towards bigger companies). Above all I go into it with my eyes wide open, and believe that I'll make more good decisions than bad ones over the years, rather than sweating the individual mistakes and losses that are bound to happen, because nobody makes good decisions 100% of the time. But if you're the kind of person who would worry about it then I'd stick to the funds and let somebody else do the leg work for you.

For some context, here are 3 real numbers from my ISA right now:

- Tesla + 435% (best performer to date)
- Titan Medical - 83% (worst performer to date)
- Total account + 61%

I have a friend who would see that Titan are down 83% and would constantly fret about it, beat himself up for the decision, and generally feel like crap as a result, in spite of the fact that the big picture overall is +61%. He hasn't got the mindset for the big picture, wants to get rich quick, and constantly second guesses himself. It's not healthy. For me...yeah the Tesla number is fun..but it might come crashing back down. If it does, it's been a fun ride...but it will have to come down a LONG way to get below where I started, and ultimately it doesn't matter balanced up against the total account.

I feel like I've just spewed a stream of consciousness at this point so hopefully that made some sense along the way. Thanks for reading if you've gotten this far.

Good points and I thought I was aggressive with my fund choices, your stock choices are a bit excessive for me and that's why I prefer spreading the risk a bit through fund choices, I've a couple of mid - low cap funds mostly UK focussed as I feel that's still an undervalued area.

I used to be in on Tesla now I won't go near them despite the big gains (Elon musk fanboy) but I can't financially see the justification in the value of the business.

I'm still tempted that the next big win is some form of renewable energy company, but can't find one that I'm prepared to gamble on.

[Superspy]

Yeah, funnily enough I was considering clean energy stuff recently. There are a few clean/green/sunstainable energy funds around if you want to stick to the fund route rather than specific companies. Drax are doing more and more on the renewables front, and have a strong ambition to become carbon negative, which is one of the reasons I've got those in my portfolio - I used to work there which is why I initially invested (I like to hold shares in my employer) but I'll be sticking with them as I think they'll do well long term. Ultimately they get paid when they produce electricity, but they also get paid when they don't, for balancing the grid, so it's win-win for them IF they can achieve their renewables and carbon-capture ambitions. They also pay a reasonable dividend so aren't seen as an out-and-out growth stock.

[afro goal machine]

Youd be better on lumping on crypto currency its really low at the moment

Low? it's worth a lot more than when I considered it.

What exactly gives you faith in it now?

I havent really got a clue but its over %50 down on november

Im hoping it reaches them highs again will take time though lol

[aidanstu]

I play the stock market; if I were butler by more shares today I would be buying $AMRS, $DCPH and $LCID; I’ll b that order and holding them all for 3 years minimum.

$AMRS and $DCPH are massive under valued and have massive growth potential; with $AMRS is trading at almost $4 and has an average price target of around $20; it was $70 about 12 months ago. The risk is very low on this stock.

$DCPH fell on the news of a Quinlock cancer drug not getting approval from children; it fell 80% and is massively oversold.

€lcid is an EV start up; it has better range than TESLA, better tech and is majority owned by the Saudi royal family. There CEO was Tesla’s head technician. This company could easily host $100 in 2022 and is currently trading in the mid $20’s.

[aidanstu]

**Sorry, didn't realise other's had posted while I was typing, this is in reply to BFYP**

It's certainly interesting in terms of the volatility compared with funds, for example. Myn portfolio regularly sees swings of 3 or 4% a day, which was never the case when I was exclusively in funds.

I have a really aggressive / adventurous attitude to risk compared to a lot of people, but that tends to show itself more in my state of mind when considering losses rather than in the shares I choose to invest in I think - in the sense that I have no idea whether I've made good decisions, but I don't lose sleep worrying about it. That being said, generally I steer clear of most small companies because by going with larger stuff I feel more confident in being able to choose things without it being a time drain.

What I mean is, I feel when companies get to a certain size, or position within society, I feel like I understand the business enough by either being part of their target customer base, or by observing from afar, without ever needing to look at the financials of the company in any detail, to be comfortable investing in them. I've been considering putting something in UK smaller companies lately but if I do, it will probably be a fund, as my single shares usually fall into 2 different 'types'.


- Big stuff that I feel like I understand without looking at their financials or having to research them, or larger companies I'm genuinely interested in. Examples would be Amazon, Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft. I don't need to look at their balance sheets to know these companies are taking over the world and I truly believe they are solid long term companies to invest in. They're classed as risky because they're big tech equities, but I tend to equate risk with likelihood. The only scenario where I lose all of my money is if those companies simulateneously go bust. How likely is that to happen? It always seems very easy to me to change whether something sounds like a sensible judgement or an incredibly stupid one by reframing the question when it comes to investing.

- Speculative gambles. Things that could pop-off and make a lot of money (in terms of percentage growth) or could just as easily completely tank and lose everything. Examples of these would be Cineworld, Kier, BNGO, Medipharm Labs. Some of these have more thought put into them than others but with minimal research and speculation. Cineworld are a good example of this where I believe if they get their debt under control coming out of the back of Covid they could do very well. Others are completely off the cuff plays based on something I might have heard or read and am literally just in a casino at that point - "Certain parts of the world are legalising weed....weedstocks might do well....Medipharm labs, that sounds cool". Literally as flippant as that. But those picks are relatively very small parts of my portfolio.

There are a few outliers, maybe they were a top pick in a fund I saw and I just wanted to cut out the middle man (Shopify), maybe they've got an interestingly unique market position (Games Workshop) or maybe I was just experimenting with a special dividend (McAfee) but mostly they drop into those 2 areas.

Ultimately what I'm saying is most of what I do has very little financial knowledge to back it up (and therefore isn't very time consuming at all) - which to many people sounds like financial suicide. I'd certainly never recommend it to anybody as a 'strategy' but framing it in the big picture context I don't think I'm being unduly risky (by leaning towards bigger companies). Above all I go into it with my eyes wide open, and believe that I'll make more good decisions than bad ones over the years, rather than sweating the individual mistakes and losses that are bound to happen, because nobody makes good decisions 100% of the time. But if you're the kind of person who would worry about it then I'd stick to the funds and let somebody else do the leg work for you.

For some context, here are 3 real numbers from my ISA right now:

- Tesla + 435% (best performer to date)
- Titan Medical - 83% (worst performer to date)
- Total account + 61%

I have a friend who would see that Titan are down 83% and would constantly fret about it, beat himself up for the decision, and generally feel like crap as a result, in spite of the fact that the big picture overall is +61%. He hasn't got the mindset for the big picture, wants to get rich quick, and constantly second guesses himself. It's not healthy. For me...yeah the Tesla number is fun..but it might come crashing back down. If it does, it's been a fun ride...but it will have to come down a LONG way to get below where I started, and ultimately it doesn't matter balanced up against the total account.

I feel like I've just spewed a stream of consciousness at this point so hopefully that made some sense along the way. Thanks for reading if you've gotten this far.

Good points and I thought I was aggressive with my fund choices, your stock choices are a bit excessive for me and that's why I prefer spreading the risk a bit through fund choices, I've a couple of mid - low cap funds mostly UK focussed as I feel that's still an undervalued area.

I used to be in on Tesla now I won't go near them despite the big gains (Elon musk fanboy) but I can't financially see the justification in the value of the business.

I'm still tempted that the next big win is some form of renewable energy company, but can't find one that I'm prepared to gamble on.

Tesla is a funny one; it’s going to lose its market share to the likes of GGPI, Nio, Lucid as well as the more established names; as a company though it’s always reinventing itself and is looking at going in big into Artifical intelligence. Elon reckons this will be his biggest project yet. Cathy Wood also sees it hitting $3000 in the  it to distant future. I do t invest in Tesla personally though atm.