Real Name: William Konarzewski
Occupation: Consultant
Interests: Asian Markets, Emerging Markets, Funds, Property, Stocks, US Market
Location: Colchester UK
About Me:
I'm a semi-retired doctor managing a modest share portfolio for my wife and myself since December 2015. Our prime objective is predictable income. Our portfolio is well diversified (too well diversified some might say) with about 50% in funds and 50% in equities. My target is 4% income and enough capital growth to cover inflation. On the whole I invest in large companies with respectable fundamentals and dividend yields of >4%. (Yes I know such companies are intensely boring but they help me sleep well at nights.) Until last October (2018) I had achieved a 10% return (growth plus income) but now my return stands at about 6%.
Spread betting is hobby. I lose money at it (not a lot I hasten to add) but it's taught me about short term market movement and short term price volatility. I've seen 'sucker stock' double in value and good companies do the opposite. If I've learnt one thing, it's that I don't have the qualities needed to be a successful trader.
Apart from UK companies, I invest in US stocks (large companies like Apple, Microsoft, Google, McDonalds, Johnson and Johnson etc), and I hold funds that specialise in equities based in the USA, India and emerging markets
I am an avid reader and spend much of my spare time reading the writings of the great investors like Benjamin Graham, Jess Livermore, Warren Buffett and Peter Lynch. The whole psychology of the stock market fascinates me and I am trying to work out how to use 'reflexivity' - as described by George Soros - to time my buying and selling more effectively.
My novel entitled 'Lion's Breakfast' is a dystopian fiction set in 2050 at a time when there is no funding for pensions or healthcare for the elderly. (This will of course happen - at present we have 4 tax payers supporting each elderly citizen - in 2050 we shall have two tax payers supporting each elderly citizen. I base this on government figures and not my own speculation. We're all living too long!) The book is available on Amazon (Kindle & paperback format) and self-published as I could not persuade any publishers to take it on. Whilst I claim no great merit as a writer - although I do hold an MA in Creative Writing - I believe the whole issue of how a country deals with its aging population is of vital interest to everyone who expects to grow old. It is something most of us prefer not to think about, rather like climate change, unsustainable national debt and the next global recession.
Agreed there are always exceptions. But even Warren Buffett sells his losers - Tesco cost him about $250 million before he got rid of it. And he's not above a bit of quiet trading - recent sales of airlines and Phillips 66. (He calls airlines 'terrible investments'.) Most famously of all, he ditched Berkshire Hathaway as a textile company after 20 years of losses -…
I'm interested to know what other long term investors got out of this book. If the answers are good, maybe I need to be having another look.Whether one is a long term investor or a short term trader / speculator it is always useful to understand the behaviour of the market. Livermore's expositions on the subject are clinical. But it is important to realise he…
Excellent summary thanks. It defines the difference between speculators and investors. It's worth noting that Jess Livermore bankrupted himself several times despite his undoubted genius. Ultimately he lived off his wife's income and shot himself, regarding himself as a failure both in terms of finance and relationships. Martin Zweig (of the underperforming growth screen) was an ardent admirer of Jess Livermore and made a fortune…
Hmmm. A sense of humour?https://www.1843magazine.com/dispatches/dispatches/let-me-explain-the-problem-with-german-humourNot to mention schadenfreude....
These shares don't look good I'm afraid. I sold my holding at a 32% loss some time ago and I'm certainly not thinking of buying more now that the price has fallen to 515 from a 52 week high of 2076. They could have a lot further to fall.
