Member Info for Alas_Smith

Not necessarily, Brass0. Dividend declarations are from profits and the managers may decide to vary the proportion that is distributed, reduce / increase the distribution or cancel the distribution. A high yield can ring warning bells, particularly if the share price is falling.

2022 has been an absolute shocker for many investors, myself included and there seems to be no shortfall in terms of gloom and worry. Safe havens? Well, I've not found anywhere to hide so it is really just a case of waiting for the bad news to come out.

Covid is largely finished - a few pockets here and there in the developed world, but is now compared with seasonal flu. The worries (as I see them) are inflation, recession and keeping a lid on the Balkans. Broadly, I believe that miners are in a super-cycle and my decision to buy shares in RIO roughly 18 months ago has my holding in profit. The adage of running profits seems sensible in such circumstance and to add to holding on the "statue" days. Inflation is usually transitory from "one off" occurrances. We have had rather too many "one off's" this year to suggest that inflation will be transitory and I am expecting it to reach 12% this year and drop to around 4% next. That should benefit bank shares as interest rates rise, but will "kill off" investment, particularly in major projects.

And the rise in interest rates, together with inflation has all the hallmarks of a recession. And I believe that the UK is already in such recession, although not formally announced, especially as the Courts have been opened up to evict rogue tenants. Recessions have the effect to cause poorly capitalised businesses to fail so have made a small investment in Begbie Traynor, the insolvency specialists.

Anyway, markets come back in time, they always do. I have always preferred to average UP and be 100% invested. I am currently sitting on 5% cash; this will be swollen over the next few months with dividends that are thrown off.

Well done. A profit is not a profit until it has been banked. I have a buy order that is in the process of being filled today for both RIO and NWG

Added a few more on Wednesday, this time for elder son. Have a feeling that markets are going to be pretty poor for the remainder of the year. The huge discount for a mature trust under proven managers means that investors can be spoiled for entry points. I appreciate that I am probably wittering away to myself.

With the prospect of recession for UK almost a given, the OECD forecasting that the UK will have growth (contraction) poorer than most G20 countries, I believe I was correct in my decision to sell when I did.

Although board prices are rising, the demand for board is not, hence lead times reduced and bespoke cutters no longer working overtime.

Naturally, I am not a doomster, but I see no compelling reason to apply cash (and I am sitting on a greater %age now than at any time in the past) until all the bad news is priced in. There will always be little glimmers of good news, but the broad picture is for more stormy weather.

I like SMDS as a business. It is dull and necessary; just now (for me) not the correct time to invest again. Yes, I know my business is tiny and yes, I can take patronising and disparaging remarks from others with good grace, but I am interested in capital growth for my portfolio and at the moment, SMDS is not priced sufficiently attractively for me.

Delisting does not mean that shares in the company cease to have value. A market will always be available, though the price offered may not be either transparent or viable. The price immediately before technical suspension was 30p. Buyers might be rare to find on a matched bargain at 20p, but at 10p a few brave buyers will take a punt. At 5p even of there was no further information released, I wager that most institutional sellers would cut losses and cash in what remains of their holding.

The private punter tends either to capitulate far too late orjust hangs on for the inevitable….. an investment that is basiclly, worthless. For the very rich, not a problem as the loss can be applied against profits to reduce CGT, but SIPP or ISA holdings do not even have that benefit.

All in all, it is a sorry situation. We all pick lemons from time to time when building our wealth. I have NEVER held shares in DX and closed my business acount with DX for reasons given in previous posts.

There is advantage for institutional investors to hold shares in DX even if delisted as those holdings are effectively there is the good chance that the business will be subject to restructuring, change of executive greater participation from shareholder t board level with probable appointment of executive director and eventual relisting.

The great healer of all things is time.

FWIW, I have owned shares at one time or another in both LLOY and NWG. My portfolio has been constructed for growth and any dividend thrown off has been comsidered a bonus.

Weighing up the pros and cons for each equity for MY portfolio at a point when I had no exposure to UK banking sector, the balance fell in favour of NWG. I tend to review my portfolio every month and potential growth favours UK bank equities, I have begun to drip cash into NWG following an initial chunk of cash to have my target exposure of 1.5% portfolio by end of year in this equity and 3% exposure to sector. In cash terms my average “unit” that I buy is £10,000. I currently have 72 holdings in my portfolio plus cash. Cash held is generally under 0.5%, but at the moment am sitting on 2.1% cash.

With an absence of good news, markets will remain in a broad down trend I believe for the remainder of the year and although there might be a small rally during the year, my portfolio is expected the end the year -19%

Next year I believe will start badly but begin to improve from April and inflation begins to beb eliminated. That aside, recessions do happen and bear markets are savage. 2022 marked the startbof a bear market and there’s no sign of it ending this year.

opulentia, I would be interested in your thoughts (and those for other contributors) on any interim dividend that might be announced in July.

Although Shore Capital raises Hill & Smith to 'buy' today, the share price has not responded.

fromage, as I am an optimist, FWIW, I think that your approach is sensible. The adage sell in May and go away is my sensible head telling me to sit on cash, ignore "inflation" and prepare for a savage bear market that might last a couple of years.

Picking re-entry points is tricky in bull markets but timing the bear ones is really tough. It has not helped in that I find myself now head of my family facing a substantial IHT bill with a falling market, rising interest rates and the prospect of a collapse in the housing market (which forms the bulk of the IHT bill). Oh well... nothing that a decent bottle of claret won't numb.

Well, I thought that todays statement was pretty upbeat.... and for a moment, so did Mr Market. But we are at the cusp of a recession in the UK, IMO, and, sticking my neck out a little further in the early stage of a bear market that started in February. My hunch is that the market will remain week for quite a few months, but it is not to say that there is gloom and despondency for the duration. I will be sitting on cash that is generated from my holdings and see no compelling reason to buy or sell until the market has gained composure.

Luckylurker, the contracts that permitted “maximum part time” are long over. A perk for senior doctors.

Anyway, my investment in NWG has been made, settlement occurred yesterday and I doubt I will make further comment on this board

The points that you are conveniently forgetting eccles04 are that dividends are not assured and that ther is no guarantee that capital will be preserved. Shell was a big dividend player for many years, but after 50 years of increase, it was cut dramatically. Imperial brands has maintained great dividend payout but at tremendous erosion of capital.

For RIO, if your mythical investors had taken your advice in May 2008, sure there have been dividends but the share price dropped over the course of 7 months from a little under 6000p to 820p. And the company went a whole year without paying dividends.

FWIW, I believe we are in for a comoddities supercycle, hence my reason to have bought shares in RIO. From an investing perspective, markets are forwrad looking and until all the bad news is priced in, markets will not recover their poise. I am not ashamed in the least to have only ever bought at the best possible time on 2 occasions..... entirely accidental

Thank you. Currently sitting on (for me) a high proportion of cash. Few hiding places this year but a few gems in my portfolio. Sold another tranche of my holding in Shell yesterday. Bad news is still coming out and until there is good news (aside from the reduced severity of Covid), markets are likely to fall further.

Even companies whose revenues have been stable have been marked down. Correction from high valuation due to the change in geo-politics account for much. Markets do change and strong rises often occur. Judging when to apply cash is as important as taking profits and cutting losses. Although there are some excellent opportunities at the moment, my normally optimistic nature is struggling in the metaphorical fog that investors find ourselves.

If it is of any consolation the FCA are utterly useless in the matter of suspension and delisting. As a minority sharehoder I made investment in Graphene Nanochem plc. Shares were suspended for the technical reason that it was unable to provide accounts. I provided evidence in the guise of RNS statements issued by the company of all the deals, MOU's and agreements in place for the period of 3 years, all of which was little more than a tissue of lies. No action was taken by the FCA either against the company, its directors of the auditors. Complaint was also made of the NOMAD that seemed to me to be in breach of its duty. I believe that they were embarassed to be associated with that company, but no action (that I could evidence) was taken there either.

The FCA website has all the information that you can use. You simply need to challenge that the rules for listing are questioned and the grounds on which you raise your concern.

Good luck.

For my part, I was persuaded to use DX as a carrier. It lasted just 5 months - they had been courting work from my company for years - as, aside from failing to deliver goods on the following day to 30% of addresses, there was an element of "stock evaporation" that was far higher than had been in ALL the goods delivered in the previous 8 years aggregated. My temper finally snapped when I wrote to Mr Dunn spelling out the appalling service and that there would be one change to improve. I did not have the dignity of reply so I elevated the matter to the investor relations team.

After some smoothing words, I agreed to send 1 consignment to Diageo - the return of a case of alcohol surplus to that provided in a promotion. The consignment failed to deliver and miraculously every bottle diappeared, the claim being that it had fallen off a conveyor.

Our account is tiny in comparison with some, sending between 50,000 and 70,000 parcels annually. The service is shocking, the level of theft high and, quite frankly the executive team are out of their depth and have no business in managing a quoted company. Good luck though - It did give me some pleasure in writing my complaint to the FCA, though I would have preferred not to have had to take a loss of £36,000 from my investment as it was made within an ISA wrapper and thus no tax advantage to mitigate in future years.

And more last week with my monthly savings. 2022 has been pretty brutal with few hiding places. Once the market has all the bad news in, then it can regain its poise but thus far my portfolio profits from 2021 have evaporated and half of those in 2020.

Trading is a strategy that I do not understand. I buy when my research tips the balance from avoid to own and I sell when there is no compelling reason to consider holding. In order to trade, far more research is needed to be able to cope with minutiae. And with a market that is in turbulence, better, IMO to close the cirtains, try and get a good nights sleep wearing ear defenders to block out the noise.

Peace and calm will return to markets. It always does. Judging the median point for that is the difficulty. Once a recession is actually called, then I will behin to bung cash back into equities. Sidelines for me is my shout for all equities.

'fraid I am not in the mood to be buying in substantial amounts at the moment as markets are writhing with all manner of unsettling events and little or no positive news anywhere, other than the easing of Covid severity in many countries. There are few hiding places for investors at the moment and, although it is uncomfortable I am just waiting for the volatility to subside allowing the market to regain poise.

It does help that many of my holdings generate some dividend and having cash on the sidelines for future investment is the best course of action. My regular monthly drip feed into trackers continues.

Junior doctors are paid appallingly badly in the UK and the sooner that this is addressed the better. That aside, I have added to my holding in NWG yesterday and will continue to drip cash in by way of my regular svings. FWIW, cash thrown off as dividends is being kept as dry ammunition once the downside risks are outweighed by the upside ones.

Case really of sweating things out for change in sentiment. The YTD has wiped out all the gainsfrom 2021 and hlf the gains from 2020. And dispiritng as it seems on a superficial level, my decision to buy T44 (albeit too early) is proving wise.

hmmmmm.... not much blue today. Still, am not complaining.

Dispiriting as it is to see paper wealth evaporating, case of sweating things out.