Ridley has been a star performer in my portfolio this year. Only 7 months after I purchased it for $12.45 I have sold it for $24.32. So that’s almost a 100% return right? Well not quite, the currency moved against me by 13% which knocks that 100 down to more like 70%. Ah but that’s where my hedge comes in, it should make up the shortfall – that’s what I thought. Well imagine my surprise when it contributed just 5% to my return. I made an error which has cost me dearly – don’t make the same mistake.
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I’ve made a lot of portfolio changes over the last week or so, I don’t know if I’ve just been lucky but I’ve recently found quite a few investments that are attractive.
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A lot has been happening in the markets over the last couple of months but unfortunately I haven’t found much to take advantage of. Partly I have been too busy to look for investments but also most of the carnage seems to be hitting oil companies and mining, neither of which I think are particularly attractive on aggregate at the moment. I have made some changes to my portfolio in the last week however, but these are not a reaction to macro events these are specific adjustments I have made.
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It’s that time of year again, I review my portfolio performance every 6 months as a compromise between short term volatility and waiting too long between reviews. The first half of 2014 has been a bit of a roller coaster for my portfolio, driven mainly by swings in the price of my biggest holding Craven House Capital. The rest of the portfolio has been much smoother, seeing nice steady gains.
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An update on some recent changes to the portfolio. Novus Energy (TSX:NVS) has been taken over, I have initiated a position in Clear Leisure (AIM:CLP), and have a good old rant about foreign currencies!
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In the second half the portfolio returned 29.8% beating both the S&P 500 at 15.4% and FTSE All share at 11% (both including dividends). I am pleased with the performance this year, which has totalled 49.4%. I wouldnt have expected to beat the market by such a margin in what has been quite a frothy year, with a lot of companies selling at full or over-valuations. I am also reluctant to give myself a pat on the back as there are many companies I didn’t pick that also did well, it was a good year to be a small cap investor.
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The following is a list of stocks that I monitor. It’s a mix of interesting businesses and ones that I…
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