Report for October 2008

At the end of a most volatile month on the world's stock-markets, there is just a hint that the bottom has been reached and some stability is returning, albeit at levels not seen for more than 5 years. On October 30 the FTSE100 closed down 13% on the month at 4242, compared with 4266 in October 2003.

During the month our current portfolio fell 9% so we outperformed the FTSE100 despite every single holding falling in value. The stocks we held in July fell by 11%, so our new selection is doing better than the old. Furthermore, the Unit Value fell "only" 4% so our strategy of keeping plenty of our money in cash is benefitting us.

But we are now at the time when we should think about re-investing in the market, on the assumption that things won't get much worse than this.