Buy and hold, hopefully forever…
It seems that Mark Barnett is beginning to make his mark on the Edinburgh Investment Trust, a portfolio formerly managed by Neil Woodford. Woodford, a man about as inconspicuous and modish as Uluru when it comes to taking and holding positions, is a difficult act to follow, but Barnett seems to have set about the task by significantly diluting some […]
On walking into a used car lot, the experienced buyer will do no more than cast a vaguely disparaging glance at the price tag. His or her first action will instead be a stern request that the bonnet be raised aloft so that the engine can be scrutinised. I think it should be similar when you […]
I bought a few more IBM shares on Wednesday. At a time when new companies that earnestly tout their “cloud” credentials are floating with little more than hot air, IBM are already waiting on the battlefield armed with their trusty inventory of new patents, which are still being collected by them at a faster rate than by any of their […]
ISA season is upon us and the financial pages are, sure enough, beginning to unveil their tips for our cash. One article in particular caught my eye over the weekend – the Daily Telegraph’s 10 suggested investments for a balanced portfolio based on the value principles of Ben Graham. This is an interesting idea and […]
Everyone knows that the last 15 or 16 years have been a roller coaster for the stock market. The dot com mania, when geeks became rock stars, was followed by the inevitable crash, when they were demoted to being geeks again. After that we had the “Financial Crisis” when it was the bankers who lost the social popularity contest, having caused damage […]
The organisers of the St. Patrick’s Day parade seem to be coming under increasing pressure over their continued exclusion of gay and lesbian groups. This year, both Guinness and Heineken pulled out of the parade in New York. At a time when mega corporations are often widely criticised for putting profit before principle, I think this is an […]
The idea of evaluating a share on the basis of whether it pays 2% or 2.5%, how well covered its payout is, and whether the payout ratio is rising or falling is repugnant to many investors. To these thrill seekers, the prospects for turbo-charged growth in earnings, blue skies thinking in the business model (for example […]
There aren’t many people with a love of Microsoft. Whether it is too big, too old, too bullying or too geeky, it is difficult to know; perhaps it is all of those, but it is still a powerful beast. Anyway, I will take a look at it and try to decide whether its distinct lack of passionate […]
I suspect that this is the most important subject in investment. Should you hold bonds? Should you hold gold? Should you have “emerging” equities? Should you buy fine wines and, if so, should you drink them? There is so much learned and well-reasoned but flatly contradictory advice that it is difficult to know who to listen to. […]
Before you decide what to invest in, you have to consider what you can invest in. Warren Buffett, in an excellent article for Fortune, breaks investments into three categories: Currency-based investments Money-market funds, bonds, mortgages, bank deposits. Unproductive assets Commodities, gold, wine, art, flash motors, and so on. Productive assets Businesses, farms, real estate, and […]