Category: Monthly Updates

2016 December Monthly Update

trend-1445464__180Slack Investor remains IN for US, UK, and Australian index shares.

December has been a jolly month for the markets that Slack Investor follows. The US, Australian, and UK markets climbed 1.4%, 2.7%, and 3.8%, respectively.

This is also time to rub the belly and review the calendar year 2016. The Slack Self Managed Super Fund, which is my main retirement vehicle, had a mixed year due to some not so wise investments in telcos and medical stocks. However, it still returned 7.5% overall for the 12 months. This was below the benchmark ASX return of around 11% but well above the online cash rate of around 2%.

As Slack Investor has a general policy not to directly invest in mining companies, it can be expected that the Slack Fund would underperform the benchmark in a year that mining companies did exceptionally well (2016, +52%).

Although the festive spirit prevails, it is good to remind myself of the words of Rudyard Kipling from “IF”

… If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same

Slack Investor tries to follow these wise words of British stoicism and treat the transient good and bad news of the stock markets with some detachment … and remain ever vigilant in a mostly slack way!

See the ASX, US and UK-Index pages for updated details.

2016 November Monthly Update

trend-1445464__180Slack Investor remains IN for US, UK, and Australian index shares.

There has been US elections, past and upcoming European elections and referendums, uncertainty with OPEC and the oil price … Cripes! Lucky we have the old stock proverb

“The market climbs a wall of worry … and slides down on the slope of hope”

What this means to Slack Investor is that sometimes you have to tune out the noise and rely on the fact that stock markets are a great place for the long term investor. According to Fidelity, over 30 years, average annual returns for Australian shares are 9.5% and for Global shares 7.1%.

In the US, for the world of commerce, there seems to be a feeling of optimism about the upcoming Trump presidency (For me it is a little weird … and alarming, putting those last two words together). I am naturally on alert when markets like the US are at an all time high. However, I have my monthly stop loss to protect me and we soldier on for ASX, US and UK-Index stocks. The UK and US are both well above the 10-month moving average (black line on the monthly charts) and of no immediate concern. The ASX index breached the stop loss early in November but as Slack Investor makes decision on the end of month prices – and they finished well above the stop loss (red line) – no action required. See the ASX, US and UK-Index pages for details.

 

2016 October Monthly Update

trumpInteresting times … Despite the rough month on some of my individual holdings, at the end of October 2016 my index funds strategy remains on hold for each of the ASX, US and UK index positions. Slack Investor remains IN for all index holdings as the end of month prices have not breached their set stop losses … but these are volatile times … stay tuned for next month!

This pre-US election time is bringing on plenty of action in my individual positions though – after a bit of a cruisy period, and being almost 100% invested in stocks, my portfolio is now 12.5% cash … due to selling some holdings that have had some dramatic falls in this jittery ASX market.

I have the feeling that this wild time will not be over till at least the US elections are over.

What is Slack Investors strategy for the coming month? … although the start of November has brought further falls, and the “fear index” is creeping higher on the US Charts. Slack Investor does not want to become a daily trader and respond to the whims of sentiment – However, if the whims become big enough on a monthly basis, action will be taken. He has reviewed all of his individual stock positions and concluded that his remaining holdings are sound companies with good management – and will stay with them … up to a point!

Some of my individual stocks are near their selling prices and I suspect that further selling could occur and my cash position is likely to increase by next month’s monthly report. However, in the meantime, Slack Investor is taking a deep breath and enjoying the lack of decision making until another month. At the end of November, I will be making buy/sell decisions on the monthly data in a rational, but slack, way.

More detail and chart and table updates can be found on the ASX, UK,US index and Portfolio pages.

2016 September Monthly Update

hammock-1248939__180At the end of September 2016, Slack Investor is embracing the slackness of it all and stays IN for all his ASX, US and UK index positions.

The reason for this lack of action is that none of his preset stop losses have been breached and,  as the Slack Investor has a natural pre-disposition to be in the market earning dividends from investments, he cools his heels for another month … ahhhh the bliss of it all … decisions can be so fatiguing!

More detail and chart and table updates can be found on the ASX, UK and US index pages.