Well, the Greek can has been kicked further along the road and over another few ruts, but we still have the uneasy feeling that sooner or later the juggernaut of debt is going to crush it flat. Not surprisingly, the banks have taken the brunt of the uncertainty. However, after declines mid-month, equity markets have recovered strongly this week on the back of the Euro news. It seems that bad news postponed is good news, so that's alright then. In the domestic economy we've had various contradictory indicators over the past couple of weeks and I suspect we are in for several further months of directionless trading.
On the month, Sterling fell from €1.1522 to €1.1076, and from $1.6421 to $1.6070. UK 10 year gilt redemption yields rose slightly from 3.27% to 3.30%. Gold fell to $1483 per ounce. Brent Crude future continues to slide from $115.03 to $110.52 per barrel and copper rose from $9197.50 to $9435.00 per tonne. After a volatile period, the FTSE100 rose slightly from 5938.87 to 5989.76 and the FTSE250 from 11958.80 to 12040.28.
Equity Portfolio (+3.80% on year, FTSE all share +4.28%)
Not much action this month, although I did top up my holdings of insurer Catlin (CGL) at £4.08. The attraction here is the well covered yield of 6.5%, but an active hurricane season with extensive landfalls could soon put paid to that. My other positive transaction was the Lamprell (LAM) rights issue which was a steal at £2.32. The takeover of MIS seems a good fit with the existing rig fabrication business and the shares actually rose to around £3.80 on the news.
Less happily, poor trading updates from PV Crystalox Solar (PVCS) and Premier Foods (PFD) have prompted sharp falls in their prices. Both of these stocks have now halved in value over the past few months. The former looks likely to cut or even cancel its dividend. So much for the bright future of renewable energy.
These disappointments, coupled with other poorly performing stocks in the speculative niche of my portfolio, have caused my holdings to slip below the FTAS so far this year, whose progress I am now updating with estimated total return.
On a personal note, due to unexpectedly busy times running up to my imminent early retirement, I have been and, for a little while, shall be blogging less frequently. However, I am still definitely "here" and browsing the usual PF suspects.
PV Crystalox Solar seems to sing like the sirens to private investors - I've really studied it, but I hear about it often. Perhaps I'll take a look after the fall in value.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the early retirement preparations. Perhaps the day-to-day practicalities are worth an article?
And it's good luck from me too :)
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