Good morning!
First of all, apologies - I had a very early night last night, and forgot to put up today's placeholder article (I have an alarm set for 21:30 on my mobile to remind me, but was already asleep by then yesterday).
Please note in the header the companies that I shall be looking at today. There's room for 1 or 2 more, so please feel free to leave requests in the comments below. Preferably for something interesting, not just an in line update. Oh and no financials, resources sector, pharma, property, or blue sky please, as I don't usually cover those (we have to whittle it down to a manageable number of stocks somehow).
Crypto-currencies
I see that Bitcoin is now down more than 40% from its recent highs, priced at $11,400 at the time of writing. Ripple is also plummeting, down 30% to $121 at the moment. Mind you, these things are so volatile, that they could even end the day up! That's why I've given up trying to trade them on IG, as even if I get the direction right, I'm invariably stopped out, due to the extreme volatility.
The spread betting companies must be having a field day with crypto-currencies, so it might well be worth looking at buying shares in that sector, if you can tolerate the regulatory risk? They've certainly made plenty of money out of me, that's for sure! It's true to say that whenever I step outside of my sphere of competence, the results are miserably poor.
Is the (so-called) crypto-currency meltdown underway? Quite possibly. I think this bubble is highly likely to blow up in 2018, due to there being so many obvious signs of the bubble being at or near its peak.
I've made no secret of my views on this - the valuations, running into many billions for things that are totally worthless, is complete nonsense. It's a speculative mania which ticks all the boxes warned about in books like Galbraith's (see picture below). This book is a terrific (and pleasingly short) & enjoyable read. I bet you'll say, "That's Bitcoin!" repeatedly, as you read this book, published in 1990. Galbraith's tone is dripping with disdain for foolish speculators, which is most enjoyable & amusing to read. It's a pity he's not around to pour scorn on Bitcoin.
Warren Buffett ("It will definitely come…
