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[BWS]

Hello.

I have traded shares for years and use a long term approach with low risk trades. So far it has done me proud.
However, theres not much to talk about when you buy a stock and let it sit for 3,5, or 10 years. So, I've decided to open a separate small account with a different broker and with a different strategy.
The broker Im using charges £5 each way per trade (my usual broker charges between £11.95 and £5.95 depending how many trades you do a month, and Ive tended to do few, so pay £11.95)
Then theres 0.5% stamp duty charged.
So, if you are only placing £1000 per trade, your total trading costs with the new broker from buying to selling are £15 ( £5 to buy, £5 stamp duty, £5 to sell) versus £28.90 with my old broker)
Therefore you need price to rise 1.5% to cover your £15 trading costs (plus a few pence for the brokers spread).

What I decided to do was to open this account with £5k and try to trade it as close to £10k as I could, without being silly, in 12 months. This means I need to average 6% per month, compounded.

Lets see how this goes

[BWS]

I started this account on 4th January. Here's what I did in January. (In future I'll try to post 'as it happens', I'll also explain why)

JANUARY 2021

Open Account £5000

5th Jan  Bought 3025 IAG @ 150p  total cost £4537.50   Sold 21st Jan@ 158p total sell £4779.50  Costs 2 x £5 + £22.69 Stamp Duty (SD)    P/L after costs +£209.31  Account value £5209.31

15th Jan Bought 80 WH Smith @1590.39p total £1275.12  Sold 20th Jan @1692.80p total £1354.24 costs 2 x £5 +£6.38 SD                         P/L after costs + £62.74   Account value £5272.05

20th Jan Bought 756 Dot Digital @ 168.5p total £1273.86 Still holding this share but todays price is 181p so looking good

[BWS]

FEBRUARY 2021

20th Jan Bought 756 Dot Digital @ 168.5p total £1273.86 Still Holding - Dot Digital provide a marketing automation platform for over 700,000 marketeers internationally, and this is a growing market. Working on a subscription-based model for 91% of their income, this achieves high gross margins of around 90%. Their ROC runs at 22%. International revenue is growing and should grow more as they focus on this area. One of a small number of UK based tech companies, I believe they are a sound investment for this portfolio - being AIM listed rather than the main market makes their share price more volatile. I would hope this could reach 200p within a month or two.

8th Feb Bought 10 Games Workshop @ 10,010p total cost £1001  Still Holding - Profits for the half year to November showed more than 50% growth to £92m, not bad for a company that makes wargame figures for followers to assemble, paint, and play with. They have a very loyal user base and have recently launched Warhammer 40000, which broke all records for factory production volumes. Another recent move into online gaming resulted in 87% revenue growth. 75% gross margins and increased manufacturing capacity bode well for the future. I am looking for a sell price of around 11,500p per share

8th Feb  Bought 31 Avon Rubber @ 3174.88p  total cost £984.21  Still Holding - Manufacturer of protective helmets for military and fire fighters. Shares fell late 2020 after a hold up in supply for the US army which meant some sales that would have gone into 2020 figures may now not come until 2021. However, still a good company and management adamant that they will still hit budget.  Again, an AIM share so I wouldnt normally buy this, but as a short term bet I feel it is well worth a punt. I'm looking to sell at around 3250-3300 within a month

9th Feb  Bought 151 Cohort @650p total cost £981.50. A digital specialist for defence industries. The UKs defence budget plans should benefit Cohort with their expertise in cyber warfare, AI, and a focus on naval capability. I am looking for a quick turnaround on this share, will sell if it hits 685p



Account at 16:40 today £5,435.44

[eddieb]

Hi Ben, liking the new thread as I have been a stock trader much longer than a forex trader.
Particularly like the explanations for taking a stock, clear that you are going relatively short-term on this account so your cliteria for buying in will be different to how you normally trade, so theres a bit of a sea change there for you to adapt to.
You seem to have made a good start, may it long continue.

Namaste

[BWS]

Thanks Eddie

Ben

[BWS]

Not a lot of movement across the UK stockmarkets today.

DotDigital has been my star performer today, up 3%. Games Workshop down 1.5%, and the others flat, although Cohort must have fallen after I typed here yesterday.

Account value today £5419.68

[BWS]

Bought another share this morning.
605 shares in Morrison Supermarkets @ 170.82p, total cost £1033.46 plus trading costs. - Whilst still a lot smaller than Tesco, Sainsbury, and Asda, Morrisons did manage the biggest growth in market share of the big 7 supermarkets last year. Add in their partnership with Amazon whereby there are designated Amazon lockers in Morrison stores for Amazon customers living in flats/shared housing can have deliveries sent to, and you potentially have a lot of people making extra trips to their local Morrisons than before. Possible, but less likely, is Amazons growing interest in bricks and mortar grocery stores - could this eventually lead to a bid? Its possible, but probably too long term for this account. Another unlikely possibility is that retail shareholders do a GameStop with Morrisons, since this share has long been a victim of short sellers. Even if that doesn't materialise, at least the possibility may discourage further short-selling.

[BWS]

A disappointing last week or so on the trading front. Today being typical, with most shares in the UK trading down as we all wait for Boris to confirm tonight that he is going to stick to his guns and keep the lockdown running until the data says otherwise.
On a personal front, I totally agree, but its hurting business.
The shares in this portfolio have slipped down along with everything else, although Morrisons shows promise and DotDigital is still in profit.
Games Workshop is down, but as this share has grown 20-fold in 6 years I think they are entitled to take a breather. I found this very interesting article about Games Workshop that I would recommend to anyone considering investing it them.
https://www.thetwentiestrader.com/post/games-workshop-a-peek-behind-the-fortress-wall

[BWS]

My bad week or so continues!
Despite promising analysts reviews and updates my overall Double Your Money (DYM) portfolio continues to slide. I am contemplating cutting my losses on one of them, Cohort, which is now about 10% down on my purchase price.
The strengthening of sterling versus the dollar is causing the damage. 3 of my 5 shares earn a lot of their income in dollars and a weak dollar undermines their profit when it is converted back into sterling. Do I wait for currencies to stabilise or change for a stock that is more UK-based?

[ElvisChute]

Sorry to hear that man, markets are a bit s##t right now. I don't trade stocks but have friends who have lost big time on Tesla this week.

[BWS]

Sorry to hear that man, markets are a bit s##t right now. I don't trade stocks but have friends who have lost big time on Tesla this week.

Thank you for your comment, appreciate it.

Some of you may have noticed that the stockmarkets are down again today and my portfolio has been affected again. However, its not all doom and gloom, Morrisons are up on the day and overall since my purchase, and Cohort have risen 1.18% this morning, although this is on a tiny number of trades so it wouldn't take much to send them back in reverse.

[BWS]

Closing balance for Feb down to just 5100.47, very disappointing month.
Stockmarket looking better today, and as economy opens up we should see continued improvement so long as the Chancellor doesnt do anything thet business hates in Wednesdays budget.

[BWS]

Slight improvement since my last post, total now up to £5182.28.
Cohort has improved slowly, still 5% below cost as is Avon Rubber. Both much improved on the 10% loss each showed on Friday, stronger dollar is helping.

[BWS]

As per last post, things are slowly improving.
Total value now £5201, at least going in the right direction.
Avon continues to be a disappointment and a drag on the portfolio as a hold, 8.79% down on my cost including charges. They pay their dividend today, although that wont make much difference to me.

[eddieb]

Its certainly been a difficult last week for UK stock pickers, but things seem to be back on the up again.
Fingers crossed for your portfolio (and mine)