November 2013: Portfolio Update.

Markets took a slight pause for breath again with heightened concerns over shadowy housing bubbles and the long wait for US Treasury guidance on the future trend for quantitative easing.

As a result the FTSE pulled back slightly by -1.2%, but my portfolio made a small gain of 1.09% with the help of Rolls-Royce gaining 7.39% and dividends from Morrison's, Centrica, Aviva, Apple, and RSA. 

I took a major decision to sell RSA given the company's second profit warning in as many weeks and news that the full year profits are now exposed to a black hole from the company's Irish division. 
My decision to sell here was triggered by an open ended concern over a wider write down, concerns over the dividend, and the potential for regulatory action.

So a short lived tenure in my portfolio for RSA has come to an end for the time being. So much for my attempt to top up my dividends following Aviva's cut last earlier in the year.

The table below still shows RSA, but at the selling price, and will be removed in my next update.

Merchant Adventurer's Index
			Forecast	1 month	YTD	35 mth
	Price	% holding	Div. yield	% gain	% gain	% gain
R-R	1235.00p	32.57%	1.78%	7.39%	41.39%	98.23%
National Grid	775.00p	13.60%	5.43%	-1.21%	10.24%	40.14%
Aviva	429.30p	10.06%	3.76%	-4.41%	15.09%	27.06%
Apple **	$556.07	6.05%	1.75%	4.36%	5.38%	33.32%
BP	482.00p	5.60%	4.83%	-0.15%	12.54%	6.40%
Vodafone	226.80p	4.54%	4.55%	1.02%	21.46%	19.80%
IG Group	585.00p	4.20%	4.08%	-4.65%	30.00%	22.59%
William Hill	385.60p	3.50%	3.04%	-3.82%	17.06%	109.36%
Imperial Tobacco	2324.00p	2.60%	4.99%	-0.21%	2.88%	2.88%
BAT	3261.00p	2.47%	4.42%	-5.09%	-2.78%	-2.78%
General Electric **	$26.66	2.11%	2.45%	-0.02%	25.50%	66.55%
Centrica	338.30p	1.69%	5.13%	-4.27%	1.41%	2.02%
BAE Systems	427.40p	1.70%	4.74%	-6.00%	26.86%	29.52%
Microsoft **	$38.13	1.91%	2.22%	5.74%	40.95%	30.14%
SSE	1327.00p	1.46%	6.65%	-6.29%	-6.42%	8.33%
Morrisons	265.50p	1.33%	4.88%	-5.72%	0.95%	-0.78%
BG Group	1248.50p	1.45%	1.41%	-1.96%	23.31%	-3.67%
RSA Ins.Grp	107.36p	1.15%	5.96%	-16.39%	-9.25%	-9.25%
Tesco	347.95p	1.11%	4.34%	-4.46%	3.56%	-12.78%
Cash		0.88%	0.00%
		100.00%	3.36%
				1 Month	YTD	35 mth
Virtual Portfolio gain (incl. Dividends)
- 1 month gain   2060.17 -	2082.68			1.09%
- YTD gain         1644.62 -	2082.68				26.64%
- 35 month gain 1264.20 -	2082.68					64.74%
- 47 month gain 1000.00 -	2082.68					108.27%
FTSE gain (excl. Dividends)
- 1 month gain   6731.43 -	6650.57			-1.20%
- YTD gain         5897.81 -	6650.57				12.76%
- 35 month gain 5971.01 -	6650.57					11.38%
- 47 month gain 5412.88 -	6650.57					22.87%
Transactions:
11/11/2013	Sell	RSA @ 107.36p
11/11/2013	Div	Morrisons @ 3.84p per share
15/11/2013	Div	Centrica @ 4.92p per share
15/11/2013	Div	Aviva @ 5.6p per share
18/11/2013	Div	Apple @ £1.5829 per share (est)
22/11/2013	Div	RSA @ 2.28p per share
Notes:
*     US Dividends are adjusted for exchange rate and 15% withholding tax
**   Sterling : Dollar exchange rate = £1: $1.6366 as at 30/11/13

And the chart:

Click to enlarge, close to return.

Quite exciting that the aforementioned market concerns aside, my portfolio has performed strongly in the year to date and is well placed for any year-end rally.

But even without that, I would be more than happy to lock in the current year to date performance of 26.64%.

And, we could be in recovery!

Earlier Posts:

- October 2013: Portfolio Update.
- September 2013: Portfolio Update.
- August 2013: Portfolio Update.
- July 2013: Portfolio Adjustment (for new funds).
- July 2013: Portfolio Update.

- June 2013: Portfolio Update.

- May 2013: Portfolio Update.

- 20 May 2013: Portfolio milestone.
- April 2013: Portfolio Update.
- March 2013: Portfolio Update.
- February 2013: Portfolio update.
- January 2013: Portfolio Update.
- December 2012: Portfolio Update (2012 Year-end).

October 2013: Portfolio Update

October has proven to be a good month for the FTSE and my portfolio with respective gains of 4.17% and 5.79%.
Pleasingly it took my overall gains back above 100% over 46 months boosted by a steady flow of dividends.
Double digit gains in the month came from Aviva, Apple, BP, and GE. 
On the downside, small pullbacks from  William Hill, Centrica, and SSE as short term success from punters and continued publicity over power company tariffs put pressure on these three.

Dividends in the month were added from IG and GE.

And. although easing slightly dollar strength against sterling continued to deflate some of my portfolio gains.

Nice to see Apple start to build some momentum again as expectation of the long awaited China Mobile deal escalates.

So the scores on the doors:

Merchant Adventurer's Index
			Forecast	1 month	YTD	34 mth
	Price	% holding	Div. yield	% gain	% gain	% gain
R-R	1150.00p	30.66%	1.91%	3.42%	31.65%	84.59%
National Grid	784.50p	13.92%	5.36%	7.39%	11.59%	41.86%
Aviva	449.10p	10.63%	3.59%	13.18%	20.40%	32.92%
Apple **	$522.35	5.86%	1.86%	10.74%	0.97%	27.75%
BP	482.70p	5.67%	4.82%	11.45%	12.70%	6.55%
Vodafone	224.50p	4.54%	4.60%	3.94%	20.22%	18.58%
IG Group	613.50p	4.45%	3.89%	5.96%	36.33%	28.56%
William Hill	400.90p	3.68%	2.93%	-0.52%	21.71%	117.67%
Imperial Tobacco	2329.00p	2.64%	4.98%	1.84%	3.10%	3.10%
BAT	3436.00p	2.63%	4.19%	4.87%	2.44%	2.44%
General Electric **	$26.14	2.14%	2.50%	10.48%	25.53%	66.59%
Centrica	353.40p	1.79%	4.91%	-4.41%	5.94%	6.57%
BAE Systems	454.70p	1.83%	4.46%	0.07%	34.97%	37.79%
Microsoft **	$35.35	1.83%	2.40%	7.61%	33.30%	23.08%
SSE	1416.00p	1.58%	6.23%	-3.93%	-0.14%	15.59%
Morrisons	281.60p	1.43%	4.60%	0.57%	7.07%	5.23%
BG Group	1273.50p	1.50%	1.39%	7.88%	25.78%	-1.74%
RSA Ins.Grp	128.40p	1.40%	4.98%	6.20%	8.53%	8.53%
Tesco	364.20p	1.17%	4.15%	1.45%	8.39%	-8.70%
Cash		0.66%	0.00%
		100.00%	3.40%
				1 Month	YTD	34 mth
Virtual Portfolio gain (incl. Dividends)
- 1 month gain   1947.37 -	2060.17			5.79%
- YTD gain         1644.62 -	2060.17				25.27%
- 34 month gain 1264.20 -	2060.17					62.96%
- 46 month gain 1000.00 -	2060.17					106.02%
FTSE gain (excl. Dividends)
- 1 month gain   6462.22 -	6731.43			4.17%
- YTD gain         5897.81 -	6731.43				14.13%
- 34 month gain 5971.01 -	6731.43					12.74%
- 46 month gain 5412.88 -	6731.43					24.36%
Transactions:
22/10/2013	Div	IG Group @ 17.5p per share
29/10/2013	Div	Gen. Electric @ 9.97p per share
Notes:
*     US Dividends are adjusted for exchange rate and 15% withholding tax
**   Sterling : Dollar exchange rate = £1: $1.60436 as at 31/10/13

And, the 3 year chart: 

Click to enlarge, close to return.

So as global economies seem to be in a shallow recovery phase now, there are factional concerns over the withdrawal of easy money supply, particularly in the US, and a new housing bubble in the UK.

For myself, I'm not sure that there is any substance to either concern and will be happy when the artificial interference's are removed.

Looking ahead, although I am still feeling positive that my portfolio can continue to make steady gains, there may yet be a test for my long term resolve, as my portfolio may not power ahead if recovery locks in and the markets increasing appetite for risk sees more cyclical and speculative investments come to the fore. 

But, I hope I am a more self aware investor these days and that, by focusing on a longer term goal, I can continue to smooth a good long term average of year on year gains, whilst minimizing my exposure to the kind of speculative investment that can tempt me from my path with promises that never materialize.

Until next month.

Earlier Posts:

- September 2013: Portfolio Update.
- August 2013: Portfolio Update.
- July 2013: Portfolio Adjustment (for new funds).
- July 2013: Portfolio Update.

- June 2013: Portfolio Update.

- May 2013: Portfolio Update.

- 20 May 2013: Portfolio milestone.
- April 2013: Portfolio Update.
- March 2013: Portfolio Update.
- February 2013: Portfolio update.
- January 2013: Portfolio Update.
- December 2012: Portfolio Update (2012 Year-end).