Roundtable Discussion; The Future of Mineral Sands. Watch the video here.
Yes, I can also understand. I got scared when it dropped to 18p last year and sold some. Although I then regretted it and ended up re-buying around 20p, I'm looking at a life-changing amount on paper because I bought most of my holding around 1.9p. Having been around when Newmont walked, and having made some very bad investment decisions elsewhere, I find it hard to trust my luck or that bad news couldn't hit any share at any time. So I admit I got nervous and sold.
This time however, I held strong and even bought more at 23p and 27p. I'm a bit more confident in my decisions now I've been dabbling in shares for a few years, and have seen several similar rises and falls. Still find it nerve-wracking to watch though.
I did not invest £100k. I invested approx £10k originally. It was a lot of money for me (about 1/4 of my savings).
The reason why I took the gamble was because I'd inherited some shares in a FTSE 100 company, and I opened a trading account to sell some. A relative had been doing alright with IQE shares, so decided that rather than pay off some of the mortgage (low interest) or put in a bank (low interest), I would try investing in something higher risk in the hope of bigger gains.
I bought into IQE and made £1000 profit as it went into the late 2017 peak, which I promptly lost again the following year (still waiting for that to recover to the price I bought at). I don't remember how I came across GGP but I can only imagine it was via someone tipping it on the IQE or LION board as I bought both GGP and LION at a similar time. I was attracted by the optimism around Newmont (this was before they walked).
LION has obvs been a disaster, as was money I put into a P2P lending company that went into administration right around the time Newcrest walked away from GGP. That was a very bad few months! I'd made so much of a loss across the board that I thought I might as well stick around. I sold about a third of my GGP holding at a loss on the way back up (1.6p! Regretting that now!) to try and at least recoup some of the loss.
To be brutally honest, I did no research, was heavily influenced by reading posts online, the only reason I took such a risk in the first place was because it was inherited money so didn't feel quite real, and the only reason why I stuck around was because the various losses I had around Jan 18 were so great (for me) I thought I had little else to lose by holding. I've been MASSIVELY lucky to get into my current position where GGP is more than covering my other losses. It was definitely not skill. I strongly do not recommend my strategy. After I sell out from GGP I expect to put my money somewhere much safer!
Soooo many errors! The top two were:
1) I originally had 600,000 GGP shares (ish), which I bought around 1.9p just before Newmont walked. When they crashed, it was hard (it was a lot of money for me. I can't even remember why I risked it). When it recovered (slightly) I sold 200,000 shares (still at a loss) at 0.9p and then 1.6p to try and minimise the losses, thinking it would go back down again. If I'd held on to them, I'd be about £50,000 better off today.
2) Just before the Newmont crash, I had a lot of savings into Collateral P2P, intending to use it towards a wedding/house deposit. The entire platform collapsed a month after Newmont walked. Bad times! Administration is ongoing - looking doubtful I'll ever see any of that money again.
There are others but those two cost me the most. The only three shares I've ever made a profit on are ARM (years ago), Unilever, and this.
I am EXTREMELY grateful to GGP, which has now covered all my previous losses. I have definitely been luckier than I deserve and probably won't trade much after this. I'd never have held on so long without the knowledgeable posters on this board. I must have learned something though because I didn't sell today!
As you can see, I almost never post - I am not an experienced investor and don't feel like I have anything to contribute most of the time. But I do read this board most days.
I've been invested since before Newmont walked, and bought shares at an average of 1.9p only to watch them crash in value overnight. It was pretty awful; the amount was very small for most people on here but a significant amount for me. I can't even remember what made me originally invest here - much more luck than judgement.
I just wanted to say thank you to those posters who are knowledgeable about this company and share their knowledge. Without their comments I would have sold out as soon as the price went back up to 1.9p, just grateful to make back the paper loss. Today the price has gone up such that, if I wanted to, I could pay off my mortgage, which is a MASSIVE thing for me. Soon I will top slice some shares and make the maximum allowable overpayment for this year. Anyway - thank you again.