Member Info for DowpJones

Hi All, nothing much to say - I just want to get beyond the spam. Had a pretty good couple of weeks since lowering my profit expectations. Coming out much earlier and finally learning to get out quickly on losses.

Good morning gentlemen,

Not much to say about the markets really. My PF is down by a further 15% this year but I have seen some shoots of revival. My largest holding UFO is up 25% this month and although still seriously under water, it does seem to be turning a corner with the odd bit of good news coming out. Still got several LTHs which have halved in value but managed to trade a few shares this month for a modest profit of around 5%. Just bought into BBY and OBDC this week so we shall see how they go. Will also unload my final traunch of GRG this week or next, again for a modest gain. Hope you are all doing well. I miss the wisdom and balance this board has offered me as it seems to have run out of steam a little. Hopefully we will all enjoy a second wind. maybe the election will offer a boost to the markets and a bit of renewed optimism. Time will tell. Best wishes to you all, Daisyboi

This week has been a lot brighter, with lots of up-ticks for a change. Finally, my largest holding UFO is looking like it might deliver. UP 40% this month. I'm still under water with it but there seems to be a steady stream of good news coming now so hopefully the patience will be rewarded in due course. Bought into VOD yesterday on the drop - happy to take a modest short-term profit there. Also took punts on BWY, SNWS and IPEL recently which are all moving in the right direction currently. Hope everyone else is enjoying good success

Sounds like a very sensible strategy O, I think I may adopt it too. Much of it seems to be a waiting game right now. I have been averaging down on UFO, but as you say, averaging up makes more sense. I just need to back something that is actually moving up!! haha

Morning all, I haven't visited here for quite a while as I'm pretty depressed with the PF position over the last year and have opted to just sit it out until I can see more clearly. This week I have dipped my toe into DNLM and BAB, which both immediately fell! Trading really isn't working for me at all and I think I need to be content to take a much longer term view and just hold what I believe to be good options for long term gains. Hope you are all enjoying a bit more success than me lol

It's been a gloomy year all round. My biggest holding is UFO which promise to be shovel ready in their key mine in Q2 of 2023 so I'm hoping to finally see some profit. happy to hold off until then. VMUK also looking like a modest return in Q1 so I'll take that whilst waiting on my deep red sea of shares to change colour. I guess patience is required just now. merry Christmas to you all and I hope you have a relaxing time with your nearest and dearest.

Trying to build some momentum back and figure out what is likely to do reasonably well on the bumpy road ahead. I've opted for Tesco on the basis that we will all still have to eat and I think they are smart enough to know they are now going to have to take the threat from their German competitors more seriously and I've also bough Diageo as more people will likely be staying at home/not eating out and so offsales will likely go up. Not sure I'm right but fed up watching red digits now. Good luck all.

Morning all. Have taken a couple of months away from trading as I just couldn't seem to call anything correctly. Also had a month off of work to wander round Europe which was lovely after so long not being able to travel. back in the game now (although PF remains 25% down on its highest) and have sold Kingfisher and Mitie for a modest profit and bought into ATT this morning so lets see what happens. Hope you are all doing well.

Sorry to read of your loss T. I lost my brother unexpectedly last year - they leave a massive hole. I hope you are holding up as well as can be.

It seems I used up all my luck last year. Absolutely nothing going my way. I held Poly before the war so I'm still 79% down. made a very modest profit on Angle this month but most things remain in the red by quite a long way. To add to all of that, we have snow this morning. Have a good day gentlemen

T - I think you are right to be wary of the French in the upcoming game. I don't feel England are anywhere near them just now. The young No 10 has been a revelation and is exciting to watch but there isn't much else on show to suggest they can match France in any department. I find myself sitting on my hands just now. I have a little cash to get in the game but I just can't see clearly where I should put it. So much indecision is making me nervous and I feel more like any trade just now would be a massive gamble. On the other hand the volatility could play in my favour but I'm just not finding a clear opportunity that I'm comfortable with. Hope you all are seeing returns somewhere in the current mayhem.

I suffer from excessive optimism and stupidly kept hold of my Polymetal shares which are now down 50%. Everything else is bouncing around like a vodka-infused Oliver Reed on a bouncy castle. LSE you sure are a wild thing, but I think I love ya. I'm quite disappointed but not at all surprised by our politicians weak reaction. Not sure what Putin's end game is other than regime change but I'm pretty certain he will get exactly what he wants from it.

T - I don't know if this is still useful for you but I have family in France who sent me this regarding the French nursing home company you mentioned last week - "So, the whole situation started because a French journalist named Victor Castanet published a book last Monday called Les Fossoyeurs that denounces the way elderly people are treated in Orpea nursing homes in France. He investigated the group for 3 years and collected over 250 employee statements describing the dreadful living conditions in those establishments (food and protection rationing, lack of staff). He focused mainly on the group’s establishment in Neuilly (near Paris), which is evidently the most luxurious and expensive one in France. Mediapart released an article last week saying that they apparently also draw up fraudulent work contracts so they can take on mainly temporary workers and let go of them whenever they like. Workers and families have apparently been saying that their goal is not to take care of the people, but to make profit. The CEO, Yves Le Masne, has been fired. The government is looking into the whole situation and has summoned the French managing director. There’s around 7500 nursing homes in France and in 2017-2018, as little as 550 were investigated. Many people are saying these establishments are not checked regularly or thoroughly enough because there aren’t enough people do conduct the investigations.

https://www.francetvinfo.fr/sante/senior/les-fossoyeurs-trois-questions-sur-le-livre-qui-fait-trembler-orpea-geant-francais-des-ehpad-prives_4929027.html
https://www.letelegramme.fr/_amp/176/12913176.php
https://www.franceinter.fr/amp/societe/les-fossoyeurs-un-livre-enquete-revele-les-graves-derives-dans-les-ehpad-du-groupe-orpea

https://www.francebleu.fr/amp/infos/societe/scandale-orpea-comment-sont-controles-les-ehpad-en-france-1643174373

https://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/centre-val-de-loire/indre-loire/maltraitance-dans-les-ehpad-la-solution-serait-qu-il-y-ait-plus-de-controles-dans-les-maisons-de-retraite-cela-fait-20-ans-qu-on-le-demande-2435566.amp

I guess it’s early to say because Orpea is denying the allegations entirely and the government hasn’t started investigating yet, but it does not look good at all ?? It’s quite a well known fact here that people in nursing homes aren’t treated properly to be honest. People have been saying it for years."

UFO and GRG both been good to me today. UFO is currently my biggest hold by a substantial margin (perhaps too much) but if it carries on this momentum next week then I can slice some profit. A marginally better week all things considered. Have a great weekend all.

T - many thanks for the wise words. I have taken your advice and am following MM on Twitter and will purchase his books. I hope you are recovering well from your fall. I must admit to being quite paralysed this past month and not having the confidence to move my money anywhere. Consequently it remains in the trades I made earlier on the month and heavily in the red. It's been a valuable lesson and I think I am at least aware of what I should have done. I now have to decide whether to stomach some 10-20% losses and move on or sit tight and be patient for my current holds to pick up. I think on this occasion I am going to opt for the latter as I do not see anything I could buy into with confidence right now as I wonder if all sectors are not going to be more than a little jittery whilst Putin continues to flex his muscles.

Afternoon all. N - good call on Microsoft. Interesting how M&As play out. Sold off DEC today at a break even point and opting for a bit more in BT although I'm temped by VMUK. Have certainly needed the braces this week. My trading account is down by about 10% on where I had forecast for the end of January. Will hopefully make some of that up next week but I've got to say I got a bit spooked last week with the way the market was heading and made some silly moves. paying for them now. Every days a school day I guess. Hope you are all doing well and charting a profitable course through this current difficulty.

T - SEE looks a great prospect to me but I'm so inexperienced that I wonder whether I am just buying into good PR? The last company I like this much was AVON!! Still, many manufacturers seem to like what they are doing and there is scope to expand into aviation etc as I believe they have already starting scoping this out.
Damp and freezing here this morning but a little bit of optimism creeping into my PF after a tough start to the year. Watching PHNX rise steadily this morning to a point where I will be happy to sell.

Have taken a bit of a hammering yesterday and today.
N - thanks for advice re AVON. It was one of my few rising shares yesterday when I went to sell it so I've decided to hold on just a while longer and see where it goes. Happy to sell when current improvement runs out of steam. UFO is 10% up for me but that is where the good news ends this week. Took profits on banking shares and everything else has come to a stuttering halt - or worse! Sold out of SEE yesterday but plan to get back in and perhaps put this in the pension account as I think they might do pretty well in the long term. Anyone else hold SEE?

T & N - Many thanks for the advise re AVON. For some strange reason I just can't bring myself to part with it. It's by far my biggest loss to date so just ego I suspect. Will off-load it tomorrow and lick my wounds. As I said previously I put all my spare cash into UFO but I have bought into ASC after coming out of CINE. The level of debt with CINE concerns me, especially with their ongoing court battle. I'm not convinced they will come out the other side in good shape with so many film releases being delayed and people perhaps being reluctant to share enclosed spaces for a while. Hope I'm wrong but I didn't have the nerve to hold any longer. I made a massive £22 on the deal but up is up I suppose. I have been following SSE for a while and with the government sounding like they will raise/abolish the price cap and Sunak saying that there will be money made available for those unable to pay the increased prices I think now might be a good time to jump in if I can raise some cash from selling elsewhere. I have some PFC which I will off-load tomorrow if they have another good day so that may allow me to enter SSE. Has anyone had a look at KETL. I'm amazed that such a strong company with high barriers of entry to competitors has such a low price. They have an almost world-wide monopoly yet their price just doesn't seem to reflect their value or potential. I would be interested to know your thoughts.

Morning all and a happy New year to you. Banking sector seems to be performing strongly in the opening days of the year. I've held HSBA since April and it has had many a false start since then but finally gaining some ground now. I have bought and sold VMUK several times in the past few months and again it is pushing ahead with some gusto at last. SEE also doing well for me today. I'm still holding AVON as not really sure what to do with it - currently 61% down. When do you decide to cut your losses and what makes you opt to hold for some improvement. I'm not expecting it to regain its former glory but I would rather lose 40% than 61% but at the same time the money is currently idle and earning me nothing. Perhaps its better to cut my ties and put the money to work elsewhere. How do you work these issues out gentlemen?