£3000 in stock market?

[Roy]

Does this mean a time to sell, or tighten your belt?!

😊

[KDave]

FTSE above 6000 again and is trying very hard to stay there.

[vand]

My stock portfolio is up nicely today. Very happy about those buys I was making 4-6 weeks ago now.

My whole portfolio is now down -8% from peak on a like for like basis, or just -2% when accounting for new cashflows.

[KDave]

7 minutes ago, vand said:

My stock portfolio is up nicely today. Very happy about those buys I was making 4-6 weeks ago now.

My whole portfolio is now down -8% from peak on a like for like basis, or just -2% when accounting for new cashflows.

Yes I am happy to have made some decent positions, but I am expecting another opportunity for purchases.

The V recovery was just too easy. I don't trust it. 

[HerculeHolmes]

On 14/04/2020 at 15:17, AuricGoldfinger said:

Think I’m going to buy some Vanguard Lifestrategy 80. I’m looking at at least a 10-20 year time frame. 

I don't have the first clue about stocks & shares but following a link from PensionCraft (YouTube channel) I found Vanguard and I put £2000 into a 100% equity "LifeStrategy" fund in mid-March. I have been sternly forewarned that the value can and WILL go down as well as up, but it's quite pleasing to see that's it up to £2,264 already (just shy of +14%).

[AuricGoldfinger]

15 minutes ago, HerculeHolmes said:

I don't have the first clue about stocks & shares but following a link from PensionCraft (YouTube channel) I found Vanguard and I put £2000 into a 100% equity "LifeStrategy" fund in mid-March. I have been sternly forewarned that the value can and WILL go down as well as up, but it's quite pleasing to see that's it up to £2,264 already (just shy of +14%).

I ended up buying Vanguard Lifestrategy 100% equity as well. Currently Mid march was best time to buy so well done - we may see a new low but as it stands so far so good! My SMT is doing the best so far. Watching funds daily probably isn’t the best thing to do but can’t help myself usually!

[HerculeHolmes]

6 minutes ago, AuricGoldfinger said:

I ended up buying Vanguard Lifestrategy 100% equity as well. Currently Mid march was best time to buy so well done - we may see a new low but as it stands so far so good! My SMT is doing the best so far. Watching funds daily probably isn’t the best thing to do but can’t help myself usually!

Me too. I've been checking every day since I started. I'm going to leave it alone now. I'll check up on it this time next year.

[Kman]

We must be in a bull trap surely 

I pulled back 45% of my money yesterday, probably a bit early

How can so many stocks only be 10% down and at the same level as they were in 2019 when everything was normal in the world, makes no sense

I'm glad I spent the past month setting up accounts and learning so I'm ready to be able to take advantage of a future crash, which seems looming

[KDave]

Everyone thinks its a trap. So it probably isn't. Such is the market. 

FTSE 100 has broken through and the retested 6000 a couple of times today, 6000 appears to be where a wave of buyers are coming in to support. Its make or break time, either break below 6000 and we will see some cheaper stocks again, or keep rising and witness the market flipping the V recovery at reason and natural justice. 

[vand]

Right.

Anecdotally, I have seen a lot of people in recent weeks crawling out of the woodwork with oodles of money "waiting to be put to work when the market reaches my target" having missed their chance first time around. 

So true to form it probably won't ever hit those targets.  We can't have every tom **** and harry being able to second-guess the market and outwitting it. These people will probably end up throwing in the towl and buying back when the Dow is pushing 28k, so at least they can be onboard and feel good when the market eventually hits new highs.

Personally I buy companies and funds for the long term, ie 5yrs minimum. If I'm not prepared to hold a stock for less than 5 year I'm certainly not going to entertain holding it for 5 days. Good luck to the traders - you'll win some, just don't forget to square you accounts with those you lose on.

 

[Roy]

I leave my stocks in the hands of capable others but I was intrigued by these phone apps mentioned here.

I installed Freetrade,

Cheers 👍

[KDave]

17 minutes ago, vand said:

Anecdotally, I have seen a lot of people in recent weeks crawling out of the woodwork with oodles of money "waiting to be put to work when the market reaches my target" having missed their chance first time around. 

I have seen a fair bit of this too, one guy said if it falls again his wedding fund is going in haha. Exuberance. This is partly why I think we are at the "return to normal" phase rather than a dip. 

I did it as well, I set lower buy targets in some of the oil majors when everything was still falling, which were missed, but by averaging in on the way down I managed to get some nice low averages and high yields (subject to dividend cuts).

My list still has big gaps in it, another dip would be welcome, if it can just wait a few months so I can gather the funds. 

[Kman]

I saw a lot of reports saying people were dumb for buying USO, it put me off

I even topped up my etoro account $500 specifically just to do it

$2 - $17 jesus

Edit> Don't mind me, apparently they restructured and did an 8 way split or something.. Idk, but the prices hasn't gone up the way it seems

 

[OneBlueSummer]

7 hours ago, KDave said:

Are we somewhere between 'bull trap' and 'return to normal'?

Oh man I Love this chart! I of course wish it wasn't true🤗 and everything would just return to normal but my macro part of my brain realises we are just sitting in the Denial section.🤣

 

I hope everyone for the most part needs to stop thinking of buying half full stocks and instead focus on the half empty stocks. 

[KDave]

The chart needs to be inverted for perma-bears. Currently suffering from 'delusion' and perhaps in a bit of denial (of the bull market) 

[vand]

US stocks are undoubtedly expensive. Ex-US much less so. 

BUT this also needs to be viewed in the context of how much Bonds are paying. 

US Treasuries earn at most 1.2% if you loan the government your money for 30 years. The 10y yield is 0.6%.  That means you can expect to receive $106 after 10 years for every $100 you put into bonds. 

For orthodox investors is it any wonder then that stocks are trading at rich valuations? Would you rather earn a guaranteed $6 profit over 10 years, or would you rsther take your chances and pay 20 times trailing earning for publicly traded stocks even with the certainty that earnings will be lower for the next couple of years? I would much rather the latter.

 

It is not the stock market you should be shaking your head at, its the bond market. Stocks are a far more attractive proposition that bonds right now.

[MancunianStacker]

Depending on which way the price goes at 8am tomorrow, I may go long on Shell (B) in my SIPP. Yeah I know about the oil prices etc.

[OneBlueSummer]

1 hour ago, MancunianStacker said:

Depending on which way the price goes at 8am tomorrow, I may go long on Shell (B) in my SIPP. Yeah I know about the oil prices etc.

My question is why?

[HelpingHands]

 

[MancunianStacker]

8 hours ago, OneBlueSummer said:

My question is why?

A very good question!! They’ve just cut their dividend by over 65%!!! 

[KDave]

Shell has cut its dividend by 66%, first cut since WWII!

My 13% yield average not looking quite as good now 

BP will follow then next quarter now imo, they should have done so already but the CEO is new. 

[MancunianStacker]

8 minutes ago, KDave said:

Shell has cut its dividend by 66%, first cut since WWII!

My 13% yield average not looking quite as good now 

BP will follow then next quarter now imo, they should have done so already but the CEO is new. 

I didn’t buy in the end. It made sense to go go down based on that earnings report. Long term though, what a bargain. 

[KDave]

26 minutes ago, MancunianStacker said:

I didn’t buy in the end. It made sense to go go down based on that earnings report. Long term though, what a bargain. 

If they keep the dividend at this level perhaps I will see my last ladder at £9 fingers crossed. 

[vand]

Well looks like I bought into RDSB just months before their first divi cut in modern times lol

But that's OK. It is the prudent thing to do with the oil market crashing. I would rather they looked after the business first and foremost. 

Dividend cuts are normal given circumstances. I don't need the dividend so I'm happy for them to freeze it for the next 6 months or whatever to prioritize the business. That is the risk you are taking with a divi paying strategy.

I don't think it was smart for BP to maintain their divi. It's cash the company could do with right now. It will put them in a weaker position when everything has shaken itself out.

 

[KDave]

I would like to see oil stay below $20 a barrel for as long as possible to encourage a process of distressed small companies becoming buying opportunities for the majors. BP. has made a mistake perhaps on this front by paying a dividend when soon those opportunities will be coming along.