The latest Investing Matters Podcast episode featuring Jeremy Skillington, CEO of Poolbeg Pharma has just been released. Listen here.
A move into BTC may well be a factor. I have a small holding in a certain blockchain miner which has utterly exploded over the last month and is still rocketing. I believe other blockchain companies are experiencing similar results right now.
This is not a ramp or deramp - by far the largest block of my portfolio remains in gold, specifically GGP - but it seems some people are viewing BTC as comparable to gold as available store of wealth. That might be having an impact of the gold price?
A move into BTC may well be a factor. I have a small holding in a certain blockchain miner which has utterly exploded over the last month and is still rocketing. I believe other blockchain companies are experiencing similar results right now.
This is not a ramp or deramp - by far the largest block of my portfolio remains in gold, specifically GGP - but it seems some people are viewing BTC as comparable to gold as available store of wealth. That might be having an impact of the gold price?
ChristopheB; Mulletman has gotten there first with your answer but to confirm, no, I have never paid VAT or import duties on any bullion I've purchased from Europe. However, as Mulletman says, Brexit has likely changed that.
"I have a morbid fear of giving HMRC any of my hard earned for them to squander"
Right there with you, speedy.
Since my portfolio is small and gold Britannias are - alas - out of my current reach, I've also been buying up silver Britannias but getting mine supplied VAT-free from Europen dealers (Europeanmint in Estonia and Silver-To-Go in Germany).
Obviously, you do need to take into account any shipping charges, but these become fairly negligable if the order is a large one.
The out-patients are out in force today, I see.
Excellent question, SaS; I don't. The cases alluded to are those in which I've seen posters being accused of lying by other posters, which in itself raises the interesting question of why they then feel the need to attack Alice based on their assumptions of her duplicity.
A few recent comments on this and other boards, coupled with the fact I'm scrupulously honest about my own small holdings, have gotten me thinking about the reasons that some people feel the need to lie about their shares.
Please note that whilst I'm interested in your thoughts, this thread is intended for open dialogue and discussion; please don't use it to belittle, attack, or otherwise condemn any actual current or past poster.
In fact, let's make this even simpler. We're going to use Alice as our subject (selected as a placeholder name beginning with the first letter of the alphabet only; not intended as the actual name of any real poster).
So beyond the obvious attempts at market manipulation, why does Alice lie about her shares?
Of course, since we're little more than hierarchical pack animals, I suspect part of it may be that Alice wants to be seen as more successful than she really is; to improve her standing - or, rather, what she mistakenly perceives as her standing - in the pack. But why? Other posters are people Alice has probably never met and probably never will, so what is the point of lying to them? Surely Alice runs the risk of people reacting negatively to her if she's perceived as boasting about her success, so why do it? Isn't it better to either be honest or simply keep quiet?
I'd be interested to see what you think. So, tell me, why does Alice lie about her shares?
Thank you, Adam, for your kind words but - for clarity - I don't feel belittled. Slightly envious, absolutely!
In more seriousness, I think it's all relative. I'm still young and in keeping with many my age I have to face insanely high rents on a modest wage with no hope of ever getting onto the housing ladder; at least, not living where I do. That does make hearing stories about people paying off their mortage in a swoop or holding millions of shares slightly grate, but I think it's really important for me to remember that those comments are made because of the poster's excitement at their good fortune and not as an attack upon those who are less well off.
So, once again, I thank you for your post and your kindess, but the reality is I'm at the beginning of my investment journey and whilst I'm simply not in a position to make huge investments, I'm very happy with those I have made and am making. Thanks in no small part to the quality of many posters on this board, I have seen my little portfolio grow heathily.
ATB
Good heavens; such insanely large holdings by some users!
Being of extremely limited means - thanks largely to a ruinously high rent in one of the country's most expensive cities and a particular fondness for quality wines - my meagre holding in GGP stands at an unenviable 22k shares, with an average of 23.8p.
Still, a profit is a profit, and value is relative. I hope to build a small block of money with GGP to fund other - hopefully successful - investments in the future.
I also hold ARB (in at 4.8p) but, given it's tied to the comparatively volatile crypto markets, it's currently a much more speculative investment than GGP or my other holdings.
However, it's worth remembering that ARB is a *crypto* miner; not exclusively a *bitcoin* miner, and the difference is important.
Whether you understand blockchain technology or not, it remains a fact and the assets - the 'coins' - that base themselves on that technology are both here to stay and will, I suspect, continue to have a significant impact on the world's digital financial markets over the coming years.
Also a Powerhouse holder. As well as GGP, I'm heavily invested (in terms of portfolio weighting, not - alas - capital!) in renewables and green energy, so it's nice to see things taking off. Looking forward to a distinctly green and gold future.
" I know its nowhere near some peoples percentages but i'm super proud of myself for holding this long"
And so you should be. As others have said, it's all relative and individual circumstances are..well..individual.
For me, I got in very late so it's currently *almost* half a bag for me and I won't see my first total bag until 46p, but that's just fine; a profit is a profit as far as I'm concerned. And to be invested in such a solid company with excellent future prospects is both exciting and rewarding.
Of course, in one sense, Arnold and his ilk act as reliable reverse-barometers; if they screech out that your shares are going to hell in a hand-cart then it's a pretty reliable indicator your shares are just fine.
Or, put another way, a website owned by a bullion investment company really, really want you to tell you to ignore everything else and invest with them by putting out articles of lurid structure and questionable research.
This paragraph [from the article] particularly stands out for me:
"The Chinese have just invented a quantum computer that is 100 trillion times faster than current computers. It is also 10 billion times faster than the computer that Google is working on. The risk of the Chinese hacking or destroying major parts of the global internet and the digital financial system must be major."
Leaving aside the fact this reads like the kind of juvenile hyperbole you'd expect from a six-year old, it illustrates a woefully inadequate understanding not only of blockchain technology but also, perhaps more alarmingly, of basic computing.
As always, DYOR, but I'd take anything written by Ergon on his own website with a pinch of salt (and, when it comes to technical matters, I'd be inclined to increase that to a sack of salt).
Same. I have GGP on a price alert on II and received an SMS about a price at 37p at 16:37:12.
None of the sites I use to check the share price histories - including LSE - show such a spike, so I'm guessing this may have been a glitch?
"If you get the vaccine and your health is permanently and drastically affected, it's all your fault. "
Can you name the last person in your life who died from Smallpox; a horrendous virus that has blighted mankind for thousands of years and killed millions?
I can't either.
The reason is vaccines.
I sometimes suspect it's only a healthy awareness of censorship that prevents Gervaise from using expletive infixation in his updates!
"do you know how many high end / high power clients you deal with when you sell prestige cars, Bob from "Cams Cafe" does not pop in to buy an AMG GT or G-Wagon"
I fear you are confusing credit with credibility.
Let's just put this distinctly non-story into context for a moment.
On the one hand, we have a horrendous virus that has killed - by a *very* rough estimate - about one in a thousand people who have contracted it in the UK (yes, the actual situation is nuanced and there are comorbidies to factor in, but as a ballpark figure the 1:1000 is about right).
Now, on the other hand we have a vaccine that has so far caused two people - people who both have long histories of chronic allergic reactions - to have allergic reactions.
That really isn't a newsworthy story, and my understanding is those two individuals have now been treated and have no ill after-effects.
There will always be a tiny handful of people who experience adverse reactions to vaccines, but that isn't an indication that a vaccine is inherantly unsafe, and to suggest otherwise is not only medically ignorant but socially irresponsible.
Sorry, back to the GGP chat.
"Its going into shares to hopefully have a quick flip and double (fingers crossed)"
I would strongly advise you to be careful. Your decisions are your own, of course, but a large part of the reason why I have a comparatively tiny investment amount in GGP is because I refuse to ever invest money I cannot afford to lose or money I need for essentials.
I know the thrill of a upward spike is compelling, believe me I've been more than a little enthused by the tiny profits my little investment has made, but I am wary about allowing that intoxicating reaction to compell me to take risky or unwise actions.
I tend to the side of being a slow, cautious investor myself, and a profit is a profit as far as I'm concerned, so I'd be very wary about committing any funds that are better spent elsewhere.