Holiday reading

Just before my holiday to Brazil, I decided more research was required, so downloaded "The Intelligent Investor" by Benjamin Graham, and absorbed its wisdom over the 16 days.

I came back invigorated and keen to try out my new measures. There were so many columns to add to my spreadsheet and so many conditional formatting rules to flag those great shares.

I applied my new thinking to my existing portfolio. It wasn't a pretty site, with KIBO:Kibo Mining the only one to turn every category green.

After the initial disappointment, further scrutiny made me feel a bit better, but what would be the ultimate test of my new method? I looked at all my watch lists and added all the new info from their financial reports, and a few of them really stood out - green everywhere.

I acted almost immediately - with so many great new shares, I had to get some. I still had credit from my premium bond withdrawal so set about spending it

On 19th October 2015 I made my biggest ever purchase. 225 shares at 887.96p plus £9.99 stamp duty costing £2019.85 in SHB:Shaftesbury. They develop and rent out expensive premises in London and are on a steady climb in share price. Normally I wouldn't touch such an expensive share, but with such steady growth I could see them topping 2000p a share. In just 9 days they have risen to 938.5p and I'm already £90 up. Could the new system be working?

On 23rd October 2015 I decided £2000 wasn't an unreasonable sum for one stock, in fact if I'm to whittle down my portfolio to a more manageable size, then I ought to be nearer £2000 on each transaction than £1000. So with that in mind, my next all-green stock was TON:Titon Holdings. 2400 shares at 82.4p plus £9.89 stamp duty costing £1999.44. Titon Holdings make ventilation systems and door knobs, and they seem to be very good at it, with increasing profits and regular dividends. In 4 trading days their share price has gone up a few pence, but with a huge spread and commission I've got £90 to go before I break even. Not a problem when my review point is 500p!

On the same day I bought 550 shares in TND:Tandem Group at 194.75p for £1083.08. Tandem make bikes, which are going through a boom at the moment. They also sell franchised toys, and with Star Wars coming out soon, there's tons of potential. My review point is 600p so I have high hopes. Unfortunately this is another with a great big spread, so although the price has risen slightly the sell price is 180p and I'm £105 down. I need it to go up to 200p just to get into profit, but it will.

My next purchase was a top-up of MMX:Minds + Machines. I'm so convinced this is a brilliant business model that I added 12000 shares at 9.25p costing £1121.95. Since applying my new scoring, my potential price has gone up from 200p to 285p, but that's based on current growth which isn't going to happen, so my actual review point is 85p.

My final purchase from the big premium bond pot was RCI:Rapidcloud. 3400 shares at 28.9p costing £994.55. This is a scary share, as the chart is plummeting. Problem is, I can't see why. Cloud computing is taking off, with more and more companies strategically moving systems off their premises. Rapidcloud provide the building blocks to allow companies to do this, and they are making good profits. The share price fall may be the China slowdown effect as they operate in Asia, and some changes in Malaysian tax laws will hit their short term profit. However revenues are up in the first 6 months of this year, and they are about to start paying dividends. My review point is 150p so I'm anticipating a reversal in fortune - at some point. The price has gone up in the last few days, but this is another share with a massive spread, so if I wanted to sell now I would lose £88. Good job I don't!

Next post features a very pleasant surprise...