Poor Performing Investment: Dump It?

kmhtkmhtkmht

Miserably performing Tesco shares purchased at the £4.4X range, don't need the money desperately but this headache of a share is testing my patience, not really moving all that much but down - writing to ask for advice whether I should sell this poorly performing asset, despite not really needing the money or have anywhere else to put the proceeds other than savings, or hold and await better days? (as unlikely as that may be!)

cheerfulcat

Is this part of a share portfolio, or just a single shareholding? If the latter, I would suggest that you'd be better off with an investment trust ( that's assuming that the amount is too small to build a portfolio ).

dipsomaniac

if the share 'is testing your patience' it is the wrong investment for you. tesco shares (or any other individual share) on there own are not a good investment but as part of a portfolio they can be a good asset.

you need to establish what you want from an investment and look at what risks you are prepared to take. If this is the only investment you have you need to sell and either deposit the money into a good interest paying account or invest in a couple of good funds within a stock & shares ISA. most investment managers will offer a share exchange scheme where they sell the shares on your behalf and invest the proceeds into your chosen funds.

kmhtkmhtkmht

Sigh, Tsco.L sits at £4.07 at the time of writing and if I do sell off now, I stand to lose more than my betting loses in a lifetime combined, and greatly dent my morale... All comments taken aboard but it would be self mutilation to dump the shares at this low! Holding pattern till it breaks £4.3x - or until October when they announce yet another year of bumper results.

dipsomaniac

i don't know what you paid for the shares but the 52 week high is 478. it is now trading at 411 - 15% off its 52 week high. if you decided to sell today and buy into an uk equity based fund you will be buying into a lower market. the all share index is today 13% off its 52 week high. you will also be spreading your risk and hopefully sleeping better at night.

cheerfulcat

kmhtkmhtkmht wrote: »

Sigh, Tsco.L sits at £4.07 at the time of writing and if I do sell off now, I stand to lose more than my betting loses in a lifetime combined, and greatly dent my morale... All comments taken aboard but it would be self mutilation to dump the shares at this low! Holding pattern till it breaks £4.3x - or until October when they announce yet another year of bumper results.

At worst you've lost, what, 10% so far of your original investment? How much would it hurt if the share price went to the 52-week low of 360p? Not being cruel, just making sure that you understand the risks of single-share investing.

dunstonh

If you couldnt stand a 10% a loss why did you buy it in the first place?

Why do you believe that Tesco is a poor performing share?

altyfc

I have Tesco shares and, whilst they might not be performing well right now, I don't think you can really say they're poor performing. Just look at the graph over the long term... (eg. 5 years)

http://finance.google.com/finance?q=LON%3ATSCO