Report for October 2009

A quick report this month: virtually no change in the FTSE100, our portfolio, or our Unit Value. We are still "in profit" overall with a Unit Value of 103. Several of our unit trusts slipped by up to 6%, but we made up for that with a 3% rise in Tesco's share price. Note that our cash holding is nearly £3,000.

Report for September 2009

Another good month where the FTSE100 and our portfolio both rose 5%. Our Unit Value rose 4% to 103 (the first time we have shown a profit since August last year).

Apart from Severn Trent and Dixons all our holdings in stocks, unit trusts and bonds rose last month giving an overall lift on our portfolio of £647 to £14,700. China and Europe did best.

We now have £2,517 in cash, and it would be sensible to invest this money to benefit from the current steady rise in valuations.

Report for August 2009

August was another good month in the stock market with the FTSE100 rising by 8% to almost 5000. Our portfolio performed well, but not quite so well, rising by 3%. The Unit Value rose 2% and now stands at 99; i.e 1% below par after 10 years!

On the whole our funds are steadily growing with Gartmore Selected Opportunities rising 12% and F&C Multi-Manager Growth rising 7%. Our China Growth fund slipped 3% but still looks as though it has recovered from the trough seen earlier in the year. Our remaining four directly-owned stocks [Tesco, Severn Trent, BHP Billiton and Island Oil & Gas] have also shown a steady growth during the last three months.

Report for July 2009

July was another good month and the "bull run" on the London Stock Exchange continues with the FTSE100 showing a 6% rise to 4547. Our portfolio rose 4% to £13,708 and the Unit Value rose 5% to 96.74. The Unit Value graph shows a steady parallel rise over the last five months since the trough in February 2009, and we are are now a little above the values seen at the start of this analysis six years ago.

The best performers were the China and European Funds and BHP Billiton (10% rises). Severn Trent disappointed with an 11% fall. Island Oil and Gas is drifting up and down with the currents in the Irish Sea, and we only hold onto this stock to avoid converting a paper loss to a real one!

Report for June 2009

The FTSE100 fell 3% in June, another indication that we are not out of the recession "wood" yet.

Our portfolio fell in value as every single one of our shares and funds went down, but because the bond values rose by 5-6% our portfolio fell only 1% and is valued now at £13,151.

The Unit Value eased down to 92, a fall of 1%.

One member withdrew a substantial share of his funds, leaving £1673 in cash.

Report for May 2009

Another positive month: enough movement to suggest we are now seeing a sustained recovery after a long bear market.

The FTSE100 rose 5% to 4418 and our Unit Value rose 3% to 93.2.

Our China holdings are showing the sort of rise we were used to a year or two ago, and they have gone ahead by 10% this month. Both the US unit trust holdings fell, and International Property is very disappointing. The remainder showed modest but consistent progress upward.

We are holding a third of our assets in cash, expecting a large withdrawal from one member soon.

Report for April 2009

April continued to see the FTSE100 rise. It reached 4189, 7% higher than at the end of March, and it has continued to rise in these first days of May. Our portfolio showed a somewhat more modest rise of 4% rise to £12,793. The Unit Value rose by 2% to 90.75, so it is now "only" 9% in the red.

Share and bond values rose across the board except BHP Billiton which fell by 2% (though it remains volatile) and New Star Property which fell 10%. We received no interest or dividend payments this month, and made no further investments.