LM portfolio as at 30/12/2022:
| Code | Sector | Date Bought | Cost | Value | Gain/Loss |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LM051 | ETC | 07/11/2022 | £1270 | £1260 | (1.12%) |
And there we have it, 2022 confined to the archives. No going back, no changing anything. It's done. I'm wiping my hands of it and showing you my palms whilst backing away. Done!
Although... I should probably check how the portfolio did... before I forget about the year completely.
2020 was a dumpster fire so surely 2022 couldn't have been that bad could it?
Let me check.
Here's the update from the end of 2020: LISAMillionaire.com Update Thursday 31st December 2020 but to save you the time of going back to read it, here is the relevant sentence:
"... down around 8.6%"
I've just put the figures into the spreadsheet and pressed the Enter button with one finger whilst covering my eyes with my other hand and peeking through my fingers I can confirm that the return for 2022 is:
Minus 9.4%
Not good. The needle has moved the wrong way for the second time in three years and it takes me further away from where I need to be. One of these years is going to have to give me a big return to get back on track to that 7 figure LISA balance.
The GOOD NEWS is that it could've been a lost worse. Whilst the FTSE 100 somehow managed to gain almost 1% over the year, both the FTSE 250 and S&P 500 fell around 20%. So buying a tracker and leaving it would've left me worse off.
Doesn't make me feel much better but I guess it's a positive of sorts.
I took some time out of my busy schedule to get a screenshot on my phone of the FTSE 250's performance over the year:
As you can see, Google has its year to date loss as 21.11% although this must be because they are calculating using the start price as the close of the first trading day of 2022.
I got it as being down 19.71% down as I used the close of the last day of 2021.
In any case it was a massive down year and must be painful for anyone who simply held on to their shares and watched.
One share I checked on today was THG (The Hut Group) which, if you remember, I bought around December last year, held for no time at all and lost slightly more than 20% of my stake.
Well it turns out I made the wisest possible decision in dumping that particular investment as things have gotten much worse. THG closed out 2022 at 43.9p having ended 2021 at 229.2p - a drop over the course of the year in excess of 80%.
Losing 20% I can handle but 80% is a whole different kettle of fish. Never say never when it comes to shares but it would take something extraordinary to let THG carry any of my investment money again.
The Festive Season
I hope everyone reading this had a very pleasant Christmas and New Year. Mine was lovely although cut short as I was in bed for half 8 on New Years Eve feeling like death warmed up. Nothing to do with alcohol unfortunately, it was some kind of bug. New Years Day was hangover-free but I still felt bad. Today I'm pretty much match-fit and ready to go. Lucky, really, because I'm back in work.
The betting systems I have been using have really suger-coated the blow of losing money in the LISA this year. Both systems have made steady gains since I started using them in May 2022. I look forward to seeing this continue in 2023.
Over Christmas found myself over-hearing some in-laws discuss betting and finding their take on it very interesting, although I didn't join the conversation.
Unless someone specifically asks me, I tend to keep the fact that I follow betting systems to myself and I definitely keep the results quiet. As Dave Farrar says in his book 'The Perfect Punter': "gambling is a habit to be milked when it is working and patronised when it isn't".
When I've made the mistake of mentioning gambling to friends, family or workmates in the past I've always regretted it. If it's a good win then "drinks are on you" but if it's a loss then I'd find myself trying to explain that daily losses aren't important in the grand scheme of things, I always look longer term and keep accurate records so I quickly know what works. This always falls on deaf ears so I've learned it's easier to say nothing.
My in-laws were chatting about their results for 2022. One had paid £300 into Skybet over the year and had a balance of £102. "Well that's not bad" said the other, "you've basically paid £200 for some entertainment".
Quite sensible way of looking at it, I thought. He's had some fun, probably enjoyed seeing some horses win over the year and lost on average just less than £20 per month.
A little later I heard another telling his wife that he will probably "give gambling a go this year".
"I'll put in £20 and do a few little bets. If I could make £50 a month then it'd probably be quite good".
Yes, I thought, smirking internally, because it's THAT easy!