Your Top share for 2011

ChrisEvanson

Yes.... Desire. I have them on my watch list because everywhere I went people were raving about them. I nearly bought in when they were bobbing along at 35p and being touted as a no brainer. Again, added to my watch list and sat tight and now am just relieved I didn't listen.

My preferred option (and I know it is not infallible) is to invest into markets or shares hit by bad news that when you scratch the surface either doesn't actually affect them (but affects others in the sector.... eg a well performing retailer with all the right figures and growth being adversely affected by a dog retailer going belly up). Time it right and you can invest in relatively safe shares at a bargain price.

The Japanese market is a case in point. Plunged after the disaster there but quickly bounced back. BP - the oil spill was a disaster but when you studied the value of the company and the relative cost of the lawsuits etc, it was literally - ahem - a drop in the ocean. Dropped to £3 and rose to over £5. Possibly the troubles ahead will take it back down but you could have already banked profits and get back in later on.

Lloyds and RBS I am in for the long term, with hindsight (which is a wonderful thing) I invested far too soon, but the amount of interference by the government has really set things back. I can see good growth in both but maybe not in 2012 as I had hoped, possibly nearer 2013. Money locked away and forgotten about.

jimjames

hails14 wrote: »

hi there i have been reading this thread today and it sounds interesting i am fairly new to this game. i have a few shares in barclays and wincanton but they have both took a dip

i am looking to add to my portfolio is it still worth putting money into BEM or RRL??

thanks in advance for advice

hails14

Why those 2 shares? Would you buy a share that has already increased 140% or one that is going to in future? Unfortunately the problem is that you have no way of knowing if it is likely to grow further or drop back.

I prefer to invest in what I understand. GPE may not have the spectacular growth of the two top shares but 28% growth in 4 months is good enough for me. I topped up my holdings mid March as their results were announced. The latest NAV is 534p so I can see a lot more upside when the discount returns to a more normal level. Being an investment trust investing in a wide variety of private equity buyouts makes it a very diversified option and with far less risk than a single company.

Oil or commodity shares are far more dependent on the rumours and news of success or otherwise and valuation is far harder to determine.

hails14

I bought into barclays when they were at 117 and wincanton was a tip so probs will have to keep hold of them as chris was saying I only have shares in companies that really dipped I also have shares in rbs and lloyds

I thought since other money savers were talking about rrl and DES I thought that maybe they might be worth a try

sabretoothtigger

I sold some Barc at 130, opps But I didnt sell all of it until it was well over 300. I still own a bit now.

I know of someone who bought at 70 watched it go to 50 then to 390 but has never sold any.

Barc is high risk, half the company is on Wall street and very related to high risk government and corporate debt sales and profits. Most of the other half is handling housing or consumer debt, not exactly safe either.
They could be 200 again in extreme circumstances but still possible

I thought since other money savers were talking

Not unless you agree. I talk about RRL and I sold Barc at 130, maybe Im wrong again

cashbackproblems

I hold Barc at an average of about 350p...my worse buy ever! Plus they r not even paying much dividends.

jimjames

hails14 wrote: »

I thought since other money savers were talking about rrl and DES I thought that maybe they might be worth a try

Apologies if my reply seemed too harsh but I wanted to highlight that buying any share or fund on the basis of past performance isn't always a good idea.

I'm happy to take some risks but prefer to have collective investments rather than single shares especially in AIM and volatile sectors that can drop or rise massively on no real news.

grogsy

SRES is ready to Boom and is at an unreal price at the moment. Massive results expected in the new few weeks. A second share to be monitored is GRL which is progressing nicely.

NTOG is my final tip but I think it may be too late to get on this however massive growth still to be had.

ChrisEvanson

Good point above re investing in collective investments. My L&G FTSE tracker ISA has at least maintained the money being placed into it the last few months, whereas my shares have lost around 7%. However on the other hand the collective investments, whilst smoothing losses out, also smooth profits out! If you buy into a growth share, it can obviously outperform the relevant index, just as buying a dog can underperform.

sabretoothtigger

ChrisEvanson wrote: »

I have read the Emed board on interactive investor website and whilst yes they may well make a lot of money eventually, they could equally not get anywhere and pull out and collapse, but because they are all investors they are almost like brainwashed fanatics in their optimism

I dont think they will collapse just like that, share price isnt always a fair reflection of prospects

Anyway the price is beaten up badly now. Copper prices have been bad for a while, chinese laws are cracking down on its use as loan security in housing

Also the company is naturally let down by its lack of progress on the mine. That doesnt mean total failure just a reset of expectations.

Nows the time to be positive when everyones stubbed their toes on the rough ground of slow and awkward business. This is Spain after all


Anyhow Im posting just to say 10p is in line with the lowest prices EMED has kept over the last year.
The dreamy highs of 20p are a joke now but this base line could hold still so we shall see.

By this I mean simply a straight line drawn of each months lowest prices would show as 10p for this month, its still a positive growing share over a couple years

It shouldnt be any surprise how volatile they have been. I wish I was buying in just now. I regretted not buying more in last autumn so wont lose sight right now as there is no news to really be negative on this share

ses6jwg

Cheeky little ims from greggs today

some say worth a nibble