LM portfolio as at 02/09/2022:
| Code | Sector | Date Bought | Cost | Value | Gain/Loss |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LM045 | Gas, Water & Multiutilities | 06/12/2021 | £1280 | £1230 | (3.24%) |
Oh happy day! The kids are finally back in school.
No more sulking around the house, no more complaining about the organised activities, no more whinging about being 'forced' to go out and play.
This morning I dropped off the eldest at school and she was quickly off chatting with her friends at the other side of the playground before I could say goodbye. Which is great.
So now we're back to the normality of everyday life; school, work, weekends, stockmarkets fully open.
Yes, the markets remain open throughout summer but not on full schedule. There's lower volume and the indices seem to range-trade for the two months that coincide with school holidays. Now we're back in and hopefully we'll get some real movement - something to get excited about.
The FTSE 250 has long lost the 20,000 level and is down nearly 20% YTD. Last week it touched 18,500 before adding a little on Friday.
New 52 week highs are at a premium in UK shares - I counted just 7 on Friday with any volume whilst new 52 week lows were numerous. I am sure there will be people buying shares at the moment but in my opinion they must either be desperate gamblers, completely mad or have some kind of inside information.
Even those who have so-called "inside information" can get it wrong in very expensive ways. Our old friend The Hut Group (THG) has been tumbling week by week but that didn't stop the new Chairman from buying just over a million shares. According to the Investors Chronicle he bought "1.15mn shares at 86p each" on the 27th June 2022.
On checking the price this morning at 11am, THG is currently trading at just 52p and if it closes today below 52.4p then that is a new all-time low.
One would imagine that a Chairman of a company would know a great deal about that same company and surely would have all the "inside information" needed to make a rational investment decision.
Or maybe not. Maybe these executives are just like you or I - prone to make bad investment mistakes.
And in terms of bad investment decisions, this one is a cracker. Of the £989,000 he invested, he could get back about £575,000 today.
Except he can't sell even if he wanted to. The purchase was probably necessary to show faith in the company and to try to demonstrate to the market that THG is a healthy prospect. Selling now would send a very bad signal that even the Chairman doesn't believe in THG.
He has put his money where his mouth is and maybe he does know something. Or maybe company executives don't necessarily make good stock market investors.
And for now the fact is that for every penny the THG share price falls he will lose £11,500 with no choice but to sit and watch.