2017 April – End of Month Update

Slack Investor remains IN for US, UK, and Australian index shares.

April 2017 has seen rises, in the US and Australian markets and a dip in the UK Index. So far, the Slack Investment Cycle returns for the US, UK and Australian markets are 141.0%, 7.6% and 12.0%, respectively.

Bull markets are a funny thing – and there is no doubt that all markets that Slack Investor follows are in various stages of a bull run – they are comforting as the Slack Investor can congratulate himself on what a stock market genius he is (Ironic comment!) – And yet, I can’t help but feel a sense of unease that things have been “too good for too long”.

Looking at the index chart pages, I get the feeling that it has been a long time since my stop losses have been adjusted upwards in the UK and ASX markets – and this will have the potential to erode any gains should the markets fall suddenly. However, I am comforted that the Slack Investor monthly-decision based method is tried and true and has brought rewards in the past … so I’m staying the course … the objective Slack method is designed to keep you in the markets as long as possible and only withdraw from the fray during a major downturn.

I am also comforted by the fact that we frail humans have behavioural biases, we lack patience and we want to tinker with things! Although Slack Investor is unable to track down the original source, an often quoted study by Fidelity (e.g., Business Insider) investigating the Fidelity trading accounts between 2003 and 2013, found that its best performing accounts were the inactive ones – Either owned by people who had forgotten that they had an account, or by dead people!

The Slack Investor does not recommend complete inaction though – but trading less has its merits.

While it is fresh in my mind I will drop in another example of the fine New Zealand experience below…

For more information on parameters such as progressive gains, look on the Slack investor ASX Index, US Index and UK Index pages for updated details – and a look at the charts. Next end of month update on the index charts will be early in June.