LM portfolio as at 11/02/2022:
| Code | Sector | Date Bought | Cost | Value | Gain/Loss |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LM028 LM028-2 |
'No specific industry' | 16/11/2020 10/08/2021 |
£2280 | £2660 | 16.88% |
| LM038 LM038-2 |
Banks | 10/03/2021 04/01/2022 |
£2290 | £2680 | 17.01% |
| LM039 | Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology | 30/03/2021 | £1030 | £1170 | 13.87% |
| LM040 LM040-2 |
General Financial | 27/04/2021 22/11/2021 |
£2290 | £3220 | 40.41% |
| LM041 | Real Estate Investment Trusts | 27/07/2021 | £1270 | £1310 | 3.09% |
| LM042 | Construction & Materials | 27/07/2021 | £1270 | £1350 | 6.54% |
| LM045 | Gas, Water & Multiutilities | 06/12/2021 | £1280 | £1240 | (3.10%) |
| LM047 | ETC | 17/01/2022 | £1270 | £1360 | 6.73% |
| LM048 | ETC | 31/01/2022 | £1260 | £1310 | 3.87% |
Another ETC position was added on the last day of January. You can see it at the bottom of the table above and it has the code LM048.
Aside from that there is nothing doing.
The FTSE 250 finished on Friday just under a thousand points away from the 200 day simple moving average so we are still a short distance, or maybe a few days of gains, away from getting the go-ahead for buying UK shares again.
And that's why the only new position is a commodity trade. I usually check 9 different commodities each week to see if there are any potential buys. It gives more options for the portfolio when purchasing shares isn't possible.
Perhaps I should look at shares in other countries as well. According to my broker account I can buy and hold US 'stocks' in my LISA but I first need to fill out some US government form. That's definitely something to consider in the future.
The stock I checked on was "Meta Platforms Inc" which is the name that Facebook apparently uses now. That would be the Meta that dropped 26% in one day a couple of weeks ago because Facebook isn't attracting as many users as it used to. FB is still up 10x what it was 10 years ago so don't go worrying too much about Zuckerburg visiting food banks anytime soon.
Years and years ago I used to try my luck with spreadbetting. I've covered this before but my early experiences were pretty painful. There were some good trades - I remember having my Dad text me the daily closing prices of the FTSE 100 when I was on holiday in 2004. I had an open spreadbet on that particular index and each day I would get a text telling me it had gone up a little bit.
Most trades were pretty poor though.
I would bet too much per point and didn't wait for signals, just dived in. Sometimes I think I should revisit spreadbetting in the future but the platform I used to use (Finspreads) is long gone so I'd have to try and find one that would allow me to use tiny stakes.
Anyway, if we go back 20 years ago the Dax and the FTSE 100 were pretty similar in value. Then the CAC was always lower that the FTSE 100.
For example, on the 11th February 2002 the Dax closed at 4,940.00, the FTSE 100 at 5,161.80 and the CAC at 4,353.21.
On the same date this year, the Dax closed at 15,425.12, the FTSE 100 at 7,661.02 and the CAC at 7,011.60.
The Dow went from 9,884.78 to 34,737.47 in the same timeframe.
So the Dow and the Dax have more than trebled in 20 years and the FTSE 100 and CAC haven't even doubled.
Does this mean we are due for a great deal of growth in UK shares to catch up? Or are US and German shares over-valued? Time will tell I guess - we will have to wait and see.