Trading the stockmarket (NO Referrals)

Associate
Joined
13 Jun 2016
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1,499
Location
UK
Bit early to call either way IMO - the price is over-reaching a bit on the basis of expectation of their prospects. Personally I wouldn't be selling AMD right now - they like a lot of tech are probably in a for a bit of a bumpy ride with this whole coronavirus stuff but long term prospects look good.
Not selling mine. I am up 14.19% since buying in. Unfortunately as I've only recently started investing in stocks, I only invested in 1.3 shares and it's by far my smallest position now. Been investing in dividend payers since, so not going to be rich off the AMD rise. :eek:
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
10,632
Location
Notts
That's an incredibly simplistic and naive metric to use as a basis to invest.

Err, dividend history is often one of the primary factors that draws people to a particular share. Shell in particular are renowned for it. Of course, it’s not the sole reason someone should invest, at all. The more research someone can undertake and gather about a company, the better, obviously.

The last line was a casual remark, of course. I don’t have the time or the inclination to give an in-depth drill down (pun not intended) of the long term future of the hydrocarbon industry.

People are discussing arbitrage and tech stocks, yet you have a negative view on blue chip, stalwarts of the index. Infect, a few of your recent comments seem to be disparaging rather than encouraging or contributory. Perhaps offer some advice of your own rather than merely being dismissive?
 
Associate
Joined
13 Jun 2016
Posts
1,499
Location
UK
Was chatting to a mate yesterday and telling him that I've recently started investing in stocks. I referred him with Trading 212 and I was quite chuffed when the free share I got for the referral was National Grid - better than a kick in the teeth for sure!
 
Associate
Joined
17 May 2003
Posts
427
Location
Lancashire
I planned to start overpaying my mortgage but instead I'm buying my company's stock. So far I'm 20% up on since October (MMC Inc) they keep performing I'll have my mortgage paid of in 9 years (£250k).
Are you buying shares in any other company or just MMC Inc? They've performed well in the last year but I'd be wary of having everything in them.
 
Soldato
Joined
10 Mar 2006
Posts
2,912
Location
Fife
I planned to start overpaying my mortgage but instead I'm buying my company's stock. So far I'm 20% up on since October (MMC Inc) they keep performing I'll have my mortgage paid of in 9 years (£250k).

Are they offering you a discount compared to the rest of the market? Do you have anything else in your portfolio?

Overpaying your mortgage when credit is this cheap is just daft but there could be better places to put your money in to.
 
Soldato
Joined
25 Sep 2009
Posts
9,616
Location
Billericay, UK
Are you buying shares in any other company or just MMC Inc? They've performed well in the last year but I'd be wary of having everything in them.
Are they offering you a discount compared to the rest of the market? Do you have anything else in your portfolio?

Overpaying your mortgage when credit is this cheap is just daft but there could be better places to put your money in to.

SAYE scheme 3 years with a 5% discount so at worse all I lose is inflation. The plan is to take out another 3 year scheme this year and run the two in parallel for about 10 years or so. Prior to December last year they had been stuck at around $100 for about 18 months, they acquired Jardine Lloyd Thompson for $6 billion and I believe investors have been waiting to see what effect it would have on the business as a whole.

I've got other shares that I hold privately in stadium group and Mayan oil neither of which have been particularly great.
 
Soldato
Joined
19 Oct 2008
Posts
5,949
Are they offering you a discount compared to the rest of the market? Do you have anything else in your portfolio?

Overpaying your mortgage when credit is this cheap is just daft but there could be better places to put your money in to.
It's not daft but it depends on ones personal circumstances and risk profile/tolerance etc. Mortgage rates are only low if you keep re-mortgaging which itself is a PITA too for many.
Some say it's best to pay down all debt as top priority. I've done a combination over the years. I've invested when I was sure of good returns and paid down mortgage (offsetting it) when less confident. Once you have zero debt, at least on balance, you can think a bit differently to investing too - it's psychologically different.

For example, someone who has a 150k mortgage and 10k savings earning £25k-35 a year should probably focus on reducing debt IMO. Paying down a mortgage carries lower risk than investing. The US has been in a lengthy bull market but it will end someday, probably with a lengthy bear market. Recent years has been easy money but it probably won't last. Shame the UK FTSE has been a laggard due to the problems we have here. I've been hoping the FTSE pops upwards before the US bull market ends.
 
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Soldato
Joined
26 Aug 2005
Posts
6,891
Location
London
It'll probably work out cheaper so you can do. This should help you work out weighted fees.

If you DIY you'll want to rebalance as thats handled with the LifeStrategy funds.


I used to DIY an 80/20. The 80 was made up of, US 26%, UK 20%, Global Property 10%, Emerging, Europe, Pacific, Japan all 6% and small cap 5%. But I've now moved to LifeStrategy 80 and don't think about it at all.

Cheers - how's the fund trending for you?

What are people's view on Freetrade?
 
Soldato
Joined
15 May 2007
Posts
12,804
Location
Ipswich / Bodham
Err, dividend history is often one of the primary factors that draws people to a particular share. Shell in particular are renowned for it. Of course, it’s not the sole reason someone should invest, at all. The more research someone can undertake and gather about a company, the better, obviously.

The last line was a casual remark, of course. I don’t have the time or the inclination to give an in-depth drill down (pun not intended) of the long term future of the hydrocarbon industry.

People are discussing arbitrage and tech stocks, yet you have a negative view on blue chip, stalwarts of the index. Infect, a few of your recent comments seem to be disparaging rather than encouraging or contributory. Perhaps offer some advice of your own rather than merely being dismissive?

This isn't a place to be needlessly encouraging. See Tesla discussion. I was simply calling a buy recommendation on Shell, a hydrocarbon company, being simplistic and naive purely on the basis that you stated that they haven't cut their dividend since 1945. That's worked really well on other firms in the past who made a name on not cutting their dividend (hello Rentokill). My advice would be to speak to professionals or invest via a good low cost tracker that's aligned to your end goals rather than listen to people on a computer tech forum who don't have the time or inclination to give an in-depth drill down ;) But yeah, each to their own. :)
 
Soldato
Joined
13 Jul 2004
Posts
20,079
Location
Stanley Hotel, Colorado
In USA you can fix below 4% or so for 20 years because government took over backing all mortgages directly

http://www.blueshare.co.uk/community/index.php?threads/sxx-sirius-minerals-share-chat.1890/page-234
I'd rather they just let AAL go ahead, anyone who comes in to finance would want a premium for doing so and to imagine the money required today is the last of it is too optimistic. The market overall isnt as bullish on potential for this commodity as they want the results and cashflow today seems like, it can take 10 years before its obviously a good margin product.
AAL pays a 4% div and adds greater range, people look at performance and ideals but in terms of risk its not all negative. Ditto putting all of a pension in 1 share was always incorrect even when it was rising, unfortunately a few did that it appears.

https://www.investorschronicle.co.uk/shares/2020/02/07/date-set-for-sirius-anglo-takeover-vote/

Overpaying your mortgage when credit is this cheap is just daft but there could be better places to put your money in to.

No its not as clear cut as that, the house payment is really about risk. Whats the term of the mortgage left to serve, if its like 20 years then we dont know credit is cheap when the rate is variable.
Is 10% rates possible yea and will you have to abandon the house in that case, if so then its totally correct to be paying down that debt asap not imagining blue skies.
I'm not going to argue about it, the entire market is behind your pov, like everyone standing on one side of a rowing boat its easily upset and incorrect. Reduce risk is best.
 
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Soldato
Joined
8 Feb 2004
Posts
3,701
Location
London
I could do with some advice on Capital Gains Tax and the £12k tax-free allowance each year on fund shares sold.

I have various investments in funds, and a decent profit margin currently.

As I understand it, you can make up to £12k profit on shares held within a given tax year, tax-free.

Is this scenario allowed -
1. I sell my fund shares just before the end of the tax year
2. Invest £20k of this in a new S&S ISA
3. Invest the rest of the money in the same funds I held before

Or does the 30-day "bed and breakfast" rule for CGT apply to step 3? I've read that you must leave a 30 day gap between selling and buying, but I'm not clear if this applies to funds. Would I have to buy in a completely different fund, and if so does it matter which shares are within each fund?
 
Caporegime
Joined
29 Jan 2008
Posts
58,899
Or does the 30-day "bed and breakfast" rule for CGT apply to step 3? I've read that you must leave a 30 day gap between selling and buying, but I'm not clear if this applies to funds. Would I have to buy in a completely different fund, and if so does it matter which shares are within each fund?

Yes it applies to funds. Good thing about funds is that there are various similar products out there... so you could sell one and buy a very similar but (for CGT purposes) entirely different fund from another provider - doesn't matter that the underlying funds both contain a load similar assets or are in reality practically identical...

There are other things you could do - if you're married you could make use of your spouse here etc..
 
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