Interview with Newforestlad

Wednesday, 25th January 2017 10:37 - by Moosh

Today, I am pleased to bring you an exclusive interview with the LSE member, Newforestlad (NFL). It is rare for me to promote a mere acquaintance to a fully fledged friend of mine but NFL is one of those investors who made that leap and we enjoy a good friendship both during and outside of market hours.

Having recently met up on one of our annual meets I thought it would be good to take the opportunity to ask NFL some questions about his trading and investing escapades in 2016 as well as some general quizzing about his views on investing strategies and I will now share those thoughts with you!

Moosh: Hi NFL! In one word, how would you describe your investing adventures of 2016?

NFL: Fabulous.

Moosh: Could you please tell me your top 5 most memorable successful investments of 2016?

NFL: Asiamet Resources (ARS), Empyrean Energy (EME), Griffin Mining (GFM), Orosur Mining (OMI), and SRT Marine Systems (SRT).

Moosh: Has your investing style changed in any way during 2016?

NFL: It is continually evolving. I had to adapt it to the Brexit vote so decided to take smaller profits due to more nervous investors around. I had to use up to 4 different investing styles at any one time because some investments were long term while others were playing the short term swings.

Moosh: Did you learn anything new during 2016?

NFL: Taking profits when I could was important and also not sticking to price targets which sometimes didn’t get reached. I also started to keep an eye out for recent placings of shares, and especially director buys following a placing.

Moosh: Which techniques do you continue to use to aid in your investing decisions?

NFL: To get a general idea, I look for bullish tenkan –kijun crosses and daily kumo breakouts (in Ichimoku Kinko Hyo) and I also watch for the daily coppock curve and volume oscillator going positive.

Moosh: What inspires you to take profits?

NFL: You never know when bad news will hit so profit is not guaranteed from one day to the next so I like to take profit when I am happy with it. I am also inspired by a quote from Proverbs 13 verse 11:

‘ Wealth gained hastily will dwindle but whoever gathers little by little will increase it.’

Moosh: I believe you are continuing to plough on with your mission. How is that going? ¹

NFL: I started in May 2013 and am nearly 4 years into it. I am on a mission of 500 levels and am about 38% up the ladder. I aim to complete 50 levels per year which I have done. I have found the mission has given me structure and a plan of action to focus on instead of doing random investments. It is a systematic approach and has not required me to inject fresh capital into it. It also reduces the chance of impulsive buys. It has been useful to have a trading buddy as support through the mission too because I can bounce ideas and thoughts off him, which reminds me of a favourite quote of mine from Proverbs 27 verse 17:

‘Iron sharpens iron and one man sharpens another.’

I am not in competition with my trading buddy and we have similar styles of investing, and that is why the pairing works. Having the mission to give me structure helped me increase my portfolio value by 81% in 2016 and the Brexit vote was useful to me even though it wasn’t liked by many investors. At the start of the mission, I took a 3-4 month break before buying anything to help me change from my old ways to a new approach.

Moosh: When you get to higher levels of the mission do you anticipate any changes to your current strategy in order to clear the larger amounts between levels?

NFL: Not particularly. I will need more trades to clear each level and will also look to investing in more profitable and dividend paying FTSE-listed companies as well as some solid AIM companies.

Moosh: What drives you to continue investing? Why do you enjoy it?

NFL: Not wanting to be beaten; I want to complete my mission and also add another string to my bow. At one point my portfolio value had dropped by ~66% from its starting value so I wanted to recoup those losses, which I have done.

Moosh: What do you want to see from companies and what type of news interests you the most?

NFL: Good communication. For AIM companies, monthly updates would be ideal. I like to see director buys because if a director is willing to buy shares in their own company then it gives a good signal to investors.

Moosh: Which companies do you like currently?

NFL: Asiamet Resources (ARS), Orosur Mining (OMI), Redt Energy (RED), Shanta Gold (SHG), UK Oil and Gas Limited (UKOG).

Moosh: Which companies have you found are good to trade?

NFL: 88 Energy (88E), Asiamet Resources (ARS), Forbidden Technologies (FBT), Redt Energy (RED), Starcom (STAR).

Moosh: NFL, thanks for allowing me to interview you and I hope investors have found your thoughts insightful and inspiring.

Companies mentioned here are NOT recommendations to buy so please do your own research on them.

www.lse.co.uk/blogs/member/moosh-blog/zfevpb/

The Writer's views are their own, not a representation of London South East's. No advice is inferred or given. If you require financial advice, please seek an Independent Financial Adviser.