What % of your portfolio is in UK stocks?

Thrugelmir

ZingPowZing wrote: »

3 1/2% of lost GDP post-Brexit is the kindest forecast, the scarier ones have been suppressed by Govt.You don't need a crystal ball to reveal the economic future of the country, you can see a train coming.

We all know accurate forecasts are. GDP is a limited measure in terms of standard of living. The thing that matters most to people on an individual basis.

IanSt

ZingPowZing wrote: »

The rest sounds a bit cranky.

So no considered reply, just a rather nasty comment - I think I'll start ignoring you from now on.

bowlhead99

IanSt wrote: »

So no considered reply, just a rather nasty comment - I think I'll start ignoring you from now on.

I'll sit on the fence on the value or otherwise of using ignore lists on forums, though don't do it myself.

I would however agree with ZPZ that when you have an investment thread which starts turning into longer political messages, a point-by-point riposte is not necessarily fruitful. It's perfectly acceptable to comment on one part of a post and say that you're not going to engage with all the rest because the rest sounds a bit cranky.

Certainly if we are talking about the practical relative merits of weighting a portfolio towards home or overseas during times of political and economic uncertainty - and someone starts talking about the dead going unburied, pubs closing early in the 70s, the work of 'economy-crushing henchmen' and other nefarious imagery - it's not unreasonable to ignore those parts of someone's post and simply engage with the parts that sound less 'cranky'.

DairyQueen

bowlhead99 wrote: »

I
I would however agree with ZPZ that when you have an investment thread which starts turning into longer political messages, a point-by-point riposte is not necessarily fruitful. It's perfectly acceptable to comment on one part of a post and say that you're not going to engage with all the rest because the rest sounds a bit cranky.

Certainly if we are talking about the practical relative merits of weighting a portfolio towards home or overseas during times of political and economic uncertainty - and someone starts talking about the dead going unburied, pubs closing early in the 70s, the work of 'economy-crushing henchmen' and other nefarious imagery - it's not unreasonable to ignore those parts of someone's post and simply engage with the parts that sound less 'cranky'.

I was indeed cranky. From an investment perspective Brexit is a sideshow. Our membership of the EU (or lack of) is not an issue worthy of rebalancing a portfolio, and yet some posters exploit this forum as a political tool in order to exaggerate its importance.

Recent history tells us that the forecasts of economic 'experts' (BoE/IMF, etc) aren't reliable. The impact of remaining/leaving is unknown but we do know that economic armageddon isn't on the agenda.

My rant was intended to demonstrate the potential impact of an issue far more consequential to the UK's economic wellbeing over the next 10/20 years and on which, unlike the issue of EU membership, there are many historic templates. Hard-left, national policies ill-suited the climate of the 1970s let alone a world where globalisation and free movement of capital dominates.

Eating baked beans by candlelight in our chilly 1970s living room was a childhood adventure but I doubt my parents considered it such. Nor was it viewed quite so optimistically by UK companies and domestic and international investors. Unlike any prediction offered with respect to our future relationship with the EU, the imagery I used was factual. Less we forget: the dead did stay unburied. Rubbish did lay rotting in the streets until the army was brought-in to remove it. Power was cut-off several days each week. Unions were in control of government. The UK was bankrupt. Inflation was 20%+

My portfolio is highly diversified and Brexit has no place in my rebalancing decisions. My UK weightings are unaffected. However, a left-wing government is a different issue. How best to position a portfolio against this possibility is the question. Not armageddon but of real concern to those whose investment horizons are less than, say, 20 years.

coyrls

DairyQueen wrote: »

Eating baked beans by candlelight in our chilly 1970s living room was a childhood adventure but I doubt my parents considered it such. Nor was it viewed quite so optimistically by UK companies and domestic and international investors.

I think that experience was likely to have been during the three day week under a Conservative government.

[Deleted User]

I couldn't vote Tory but not a massive fan of Corbyn. However what I don't get is that they want to increase corporation tax and even transfer 10% of shares to employees. This will effect normal people who have pension pots in stocks.

IanSt

DairyQueen wrote: »

I was indeed cranky.

My home dictionary agrees with what google returns:

cranky
/ˈkraŋki/
adjective
1. INFORMAL•BRITISH - eccentric or strange.

2. NORTH AMERICAN - bad-tempered; irritable.

There are many words that could be used, but I really can't see how what you said or how you said it could be counted as cranky.

Thrugelmir

newbinvestor wrote: »

I couldn't vote Tory but not a massive fan of Corbyn. However what I don't get is that they want to increase corporation tax and even transfer 10% of shares to employees. This will effect normal people who have pension pots in stocks.

Everybody expects a free lunch.

Prism

newbinvestor wrote: »

I couldn't vote Tory but not a massive fan of Corbyn. However what I don't get is that they want to increase corporation tax and even transfer 10% of shares to employees. This will effect normal people who have pension pots in stocks.

Policies like that could significantly effect me. My primary tax that I pay is corporation tax so that would hit my income directly. My wealth is mostly in equities so that would also have an effect.

Yet aside from that, and for other reasons I will still most likely vote labour.

mice_and_men

DairyQueen wrote: »

The UK was bankrupt.

This specific claim is simply untrue. There was no default on, and no restructuring of, the UK national debt.