August 2014: Portfolio Update.

Two thirds of the year down, and my portfolio continues to run a small year to date loss of -0.34% v. the FTSE100's 1.05%.
Very disappointing but understandable given the difficulties and setbacks from my largest holding, Rolls-Royce, the 2 supermarket investments, Tesco and Morrison, and then the strength of the pound against the dollar.

Still disappointing, and probably should have seen me axe the supermarkets.

So the month is traditionally by best for dividends received as National Grid payout in August, with further contributions from Imperial Tobacco, Apple, Verizon, and Vodafone.

The only swings of note in the portfolio coming from a renaissance in Apple, +9.08%, and the sinking of Tesco, -10.87%.

Merchant Adventurer's Index
			Forecast	1 month	YTD	44 mth
	Price	% holding	Div. yield	% gain	% gain	% gain
R-R	1021.00p	26.78%	2.49%	-1.83%	-18.42%	55.53%
National Grid	899.00p	14.33%	4.82%	5.15%	14.09%	62.57%
Aviva	521.00p	11.08%	3.68%	3.37%	15.86%	54.20%
BP	481.65p	5.08%	5.18%	-0.49%	-1.31%	6.32%
Apple **	$102.50	6.99%	1.63%	9.08%	27.20%	69.61%
Vodafone	206.75p	2.05%	5.50%	4.42%	-18.05%	-18.05%
Verizon **	3001.31p	1.42%	3.79%	-0.58%	8.14%	8.14%
IG Group	607.00p	3.95%	4.71%	-0.49%	-1.46%	27.20%
William Hill	350.00p	2.89%	3.63%	-0.85%	-12.91%	90.04%
Imperial Tobacco	2627.00p	2.67%	5.34%	2.18%	12.36%	16.29%
BAT	3553.50p	2.44%	4.43%	2.02%	9.74%	5.94%
General Electric **	$25.98	1.84%	2.71%	5.09%	-7.80%	60.02%
Microsoft **	$45.43	2.04%	2.12%	7.08%	20.73%	52.88%
BAE Systems	445.10p	1.61%	4.69%	4.00%	2.32%	34.88%
Centrica	319.40p	1.45%	5.69%	3.37%	-8.14%	-3.68%
SSE	1518.00p	1.52%	5.92%	4.19%	10.80%	23.92%
Morrisons	177.50p	0.81%	6.95%	5.03%	-31.99%	-33.67%
BG Group	1201.50p	1.27%	1.70%	2.52%	-7.40%	-7.29%
Tesco	229.95p	0.67%	3.78%	-10.87%	-31.22%	-42.36%
Barrat Dev.	369.90p	1.19%	3.84%	5.99%	3.48%	3.48%
Cash		7.92%	0.00%
		100.00%	3.34%
				1 Month	YTD	44 mth
Virtual Portfolio gain (incl. Dividends)
- 1 month gain   2092.15 -	2132.02			1.91%
- YTD gain         1644.62	2132.02				-0.34%
- 44 month gain 1264.20 -	2132.02					68.65%
- 56 month gain 1000.00 -	2132.02					113.20%
FTSE gain (excl. Dividends)
- 1 month gain   6730.11 -	6819.75			1.33%
- YTD gain         5897.81	6819.75				1.05%
- 44 month gain 5971.01 -	6819.75					14.21%
- 56 month gain 5412.88 -	6819.75					25.99%
Transactions:
05/08/2014	Div	Verizon @ 26.56p per share
06/08/2014	Div	Vodafone @ 10.55p per share
18/08/2014	Div	Apple @ 23.59p per share
19/08/2014	Div	Imperial Tobacco @ 38.8p per share
20/08/2014	Div	National Grid @ 27.54p per share
Notes:
*     US Dividends are adjusted for exchange rate and 15% withholding tax
**   Sterling : Dollar exchange rate = £1: $1.65994 as at 31/08/14

Chartwise, things are back pushing the ceiling of all time highs so its not all bad news, more one of consolidation.

Click to enlarge, close to return.

So looking ahead, one topic I have chosen to ignore is the Scottish referendum, mainly because I don't understand the outcome but the sooner the better as it is the uncertainty that has the biggest effect. 

Anyway, I have added new funds to my portfolio, rather than re-invest, in the poor deals now on offer.
These have actually come from many years invested in the National Savings Index Linked certificates so it has been disappointing to give them up but at least allows me to recycle the funds back into my ISA.
I will be looking to invest most of this before the year-end and any traditional year-end rally, although I also like to get past October and its historic "Black" events


Previous Posts:
- July 2014: Portfolio Update.
- June 2014: Portfolio Update.
- May 2014: Portfolio Update.
- April 2014: Portfolio Update.
- March 2014: Portfolio Update.
- 2013 Dividends profiled.
- February 2014: Portfolio Update
- January 2014: Portfolio Update
- December 2013: Portfolio Update.