Trading the stockmarket (NO Referrals)

Centrica axing 5,000 jobs out of 27,000 total (20,000 in UK). Lot of management positions going. They have needed to streamline for a long time. Energy is very competitive at the moment. Share price hasn’t risen today though.
 
Russinating said:
@EddScott Who were you in with?

The cost of Trading 212 is the spread, basically. I don't think they do an ISA?
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Currently using the Share Dealing account on IG. Have opened an ISA on IG and put £3K in but haven't invested so could move it to 212.

I'm thinking of putting the same amount of money in my pension into Vanguard LS100 as in the ISA and see who finishes ahead in 12 months time :)
 
EddScott said:
I pulled everything this morning. :(

I am up overall since I started so no losses as such. Had to hold my hand up and decide I may have got a little carried away. I had a little too much than I'd originally wanted to invest in play and I got the jitters over the last 2 days.

My thinking is that, being with IG, each trade is £3. I'd rather pay the selling fee per share then hold on and watch everything continue to fall. I'm a bit vague on stamp duty costs etc so would be interested to hear the views of more seasoned investors why my move was a good/bad idea. I do have the feeling I'm probably making all the noob mistakes of a new investor.

I have been using IG but Trading212 has been suggested to me as they have no commissions on trades - I've had a look at them but it's not completely clear what their costs actually are.

Finally, I was always aware that my investments were not within an ISA - for all sorts of reasons. I've decided I will go back in via an ISA (either IG or Trading 212) but with less money in the game and a more reasoned approach to purchases.
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You have not made any noob mistakes, only the natural tendency of real human behaviour.

Risk tolerance is a funny thing and it evolves over time. Let’s say you had a portfolio of £10,000 and the market drops 50%. Now, that 50% (5k) drop may be no big deal - maybe you will earn it back over the next couple of months, so you decide to ride it out and it doesn’t keep you up at night. Yeah it’s a bit **** to be down 50%, but, well, it doesn’t change the world.

Now run that scenario with a £100,000 portfolio. The drop is 50k. Maybe that’s 2/3/4/5+ years of savings that are ‘gone’. Can you truly, honestly say that you wouldn’t hit sell - better to preserve the 50k that’s left right? I would bet the vast majority would struggle with that.

Over the next few months you will probably see this scenario play out. People have seen nothing but green days and reckon this investing lark is easy - they will have vastly overestimated their risk tolerance. They will sell at a loss - they always do.

You are fortunate that you didn’t sell at a loss, but you have learned something about your risk tolerance. It is an intensely personal thing: it is based on so many factors - current financial position, potential future earnings, age, lifestyle, aims and ambitions and so on. Unfortunately for many, they learn this painful lesson after losing money.

I don’t think I am a seasoned investor by any means, but I would say that you have a really good foundation for future investment decisions based on this experience.
 
Topped up Persimmon - Think its a good long term hold. As someone said earlier, housebuilders have their own monopoly as they control supply. Recently been going up slow and steady. Stockopedia rate it highly, higher than other house builders. Hope the last 2-3 days drop is due to ftse100 generally rather than Persimmon.

Topped up Wizzair - Intend to hold long term. As I said earlier all the websites I read/use suggest its a better buy than IAG. They have lots of money and are still talking of expansion. Hope gov introduce air bridges soon which should boost share price accross the board for airlines. 'Buy the gossip' Also Wizzair are mostly european flights. Even during a pandemic and recession I predict people are likley to go on cheap holidays across Europe rather than long hall.

Purchased On The Beach - Online holiday sales company. Same reasons as above. Plus they dont have highstreet stores so much easier for them to operate with less staff/overheads via internet. Hope iv brough cheap today due to drops in holiday related shares last few days. Long term hold.

CAML - Picked up a tiny bit. Just so I can be Skeptics friend!

ITV - Popular with Robbie (Naked Trader). He seems to buy and sell it a lot. He picks a lot more winners than loosers. Gamble here. If I make 3-4-5% next few days I will sell.

Greggs - Purchased more (shame I didnt buy a few hours earlier today!). Agree with @Skeptic's thoughts. I have a hospitality background. Greggs are impossible to compete with on the highstreet. Very short term im expecting profit. Medium term, not sure as highstreets are dying. Long term they will do well and reinvent themselves and move to drive throughs and none traditional locations just like Costa and other have.

AA - Having purchased at 18 and sold at 29 recently - Im greedy now. Purchased a bit at 25. No idea what my plan is yet!

JDW - Was annoyed I didnt buy at 850/900. Its down last few days so got in today for a long term hold. Bit like greggs, I belive long term they are hard to compete against. Cheap beer. Though all my hospitality experiance tells me they are NOT worth 2/3rs of what they were pre Covid. But as iv seen recently, real life and the stock market does not align. Its what people are willing to pay for the share that matters. Im sure many will jump on the JDW bandwagon when they open up. Probably sell in several weeks before they start announcing the real damage that their P&L's have taken. Which is obvious really. 'Your only as good as your last quater' - From my hospitality mentor.


Sorry for the wall of text. Thought some of you may like to see what and why. Any thoughts welcome.

Finally: Things may drop more tomorrow/monday so iv not gone all in on the above companies. Will drip feed in coming days.
 
Signed up for Vanguard today but still going to use their S&P 500 fund, for now at least. Just want to keep some money identifiably separate but their ESG funds are interesting.
 
Market is so manic at the moment. But we've had a few of these pull backs. Unless we get another 10% it's noise in this context?

Where are the covid threads? Are they hidden from newbs?

Edit - Just saw the close action! I take it all back. This is something?
 
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I wasnt expecting such a big drop in the US! This looks like the biggest WOW moment since the stock market fell apart in March.

Perhaps all my buying today was very bad timing! Looks now like we will have more of the same tomorrow!
 
I am expecting more drops tomorrow. I will probably use it as an opportunity to move in. I am down about 7% across my portfolio but most of my holds are for medium / longer term.

I am currently buying my shares with Fidelity via a S&S ISA. There's a £10 charge per trade. I presume other platforms are cheaper? I am not rapidly buying or selling (i.e. within days), and I am shifting about £1k a trade.
 
PureAppleJuice said:
I am currently buying my shares with Fidelity via a S&S ISA. There's a £10 charge per trade. I presume other platforms are cheaper? I am not rapidly buying or selling (i.e. within days), and I am shifting about £1k a trade.
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HL charges have been posted before and aren’t much different.

£12 for up to 5 trades, £9 for 6-20, £6 20+. Based on the previous month. From memory.

I’ve seen £3, £6 and free (included in spread) on other platforms.

Not much in it if you’re ‘frequently/occasionally’ rather than ‘day’ trading, especially on 4 figure sums.
 
Yucca said:
Topped up Persimmon - Think its a good long term hold. As someone said earlier, housebuilders have their own monopoly as they control supply.
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That may have been me. I did take a little profit with them and have gone more risky short to mid term.

One of those is IAG:

I'm still slightly up on IAG, I am tempted to get rid of it all and re-enter when this drop finishes, particularly that I agree it will fall more (not too much though...i hope). Who knows what to do :)
 
I assume the quickist and earliest way to get out if you think tomorrow will be further drops is to sit on desktop/iPhone and just sell one share at a time at 8am when markets open?
 
Buy RR not IAG is my thought, the tools not those who use them. IAG is more speculative and selective but RR is a lot more certain to progress over decades. As a company they are a unique resource in the world, IAG is a good brand so its harder to say but I'd favour RR of the two.
Thats considering we are in a volatile period for at least a couple years, the FED increasing its load by 2 trillion and carrying out measures never seen before doesnt make it all better, its a bandaid really. Stocks will disconnect from the real economy with easy money policy, thats observable in every country which rubbished their currency.
Dollar index recently

mistakes of a new investor.
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Simplest measure a new investor could do is to hold a unit trust and be aware of its largest portfolio holdings. Follow them like you just bought them because you did :D Most of the FTSE is really in the top ten shares, even if you go for the all-share but still you get a part of growth outside of direct view. Hold losers sell winners is a classic mistake of a new investor, its quite hard to tell which when everything falls or worse goes up and really muddys the water.


https://seekingalpha.com/news/35824...tm_campaign=rta-stock-news&utm_content=link-3

Might declare chapter 11 bankruptcy on Monday, might also double and continue that way. Imo they shouldnt declare anything that lends advantage to the debt if they can avoid, they have so many assets but also possibly no way to service the debt I dont know.
Long term any dollar debt liability will fair poorly vs commodity value but perhaps they have run out of time. At some point people who can judge bond markets well will gain the advantage regarding stock price movement. Its obvious cheap energy destroys the company profits but they also have quite a few hedges in place for now anyway.
A gold miner on the other hand shouldnt keep any hedge imo

quickist and earliest way to get out
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I reserve the right to be completely wrong but its already too late, selling tomorrow is in anticipation of moves down Monday, Tuesday etc. raising stops this week and previous was a good idea, partial sells etc.
Its a Mexican wave, next is Asia > UK/Europe > USA, in theory each market can follow, break or amplify that pattern but BP trades in US market so it will be already clipped before 8am by market makers. Some book will explain this process better then I understand it.
BP June 1st price range might be a buy maybe looking for oil price issues, 310 300 or so
 
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Yucca said:
I assume the quickist and earliest way to get out if you think tomorrow will be further drops is to sit on desktop/iPhone and just sell one share at a time at 8am when markets open?
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You could place the trade right now and it would execute as soon as possible when the markets open. However, been a big drop. It may be a bad week but things will rebound.

If you can afford to hold then do so - you may sell at the bottom, you may not. There is no way of knowing but try to remove the emotion or anxiety.
 
Thanks all,

I agree completely, I dont need the money now, my total investment is relatively low. They will be staying put, I just dont like to lose...even if i know theyre long term holds :)
 
Yucca said:
I wasnt expecting such a big drop in the US! This looks like the biggest WOW moment since the stock market fell apart in March.

Perhaps all my buying today was very bad timing! Looks now like we will have more of the same tomorrow!
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I rate your buys pretty highly. Many of them are solid long term performers and, while they will go down with the broader market, will prevail over the longer course. I think the best mantra is just to strap in (if financially viable) because we are really in unique territory. Not in the ‘this time it’s different’ sense, but in the ‘what will be left when the dust settles’ sense. Unfortunately the USA decision to ‘open up’ is fine in principle, but a virus and its consequences doesn’t bow to the whim of the tango man.

When this is all dealt with, say 6-12 months, what will the world look like? Will Greggs still be killing it? Will the world need copper? Homes? TV? Breakdown cover? Pubs?

There will always be somebody who timed it better, but don’t let ‘perfect’ be the enemy of ‘good’. If you are happy with your entry price, then that’s that, don’t give it another thought! If it’s cheaper tomorrow, so what? It could have been more expensive tomorrow and then you’d have felt that you should have bought more!

PS as some buys echo mine we will either celebrate or commiserate together!
 
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