Survival of the Fish Kind

It is with great relief that I can report Mickey alive and well this morning.

I was half expecting to find him floating at the top of the water, but, there he (or she) was, gently swimming around the vase.

Yes, a vase.

We don't own a goldfish bowl, or fish-tank, and so have resorted to a vase.

It's not round. But it is quite big, and should be sufficient for Mickey to have a good exercise.

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Whilst I'm here, I thought I'd update you on my shares portfolio. You may recall that I invested in some shares a while back, and have been keenly watching the value ebb and flow with the stock market.

Well, things haven't been going so well. Everything has fallen in value, with my darling, Stagecoach, being the worst offender. OK, so I had a return of £40 when the dividend was paid, but then the quantity of shares was consolidated, so now I have less, with a much less return. In fact, the value now is a paltry fiver!

Tesco has slid backwards as well, worth just over a pound, and even Standard Life has reduced to just over £200.

BSkyB is holding on around the £12 mark.

BT were doing OK, but have also slid back.

Still - as I've always maintained, this is a long term investment, so hopefully things'll improve with time.

Twice In One Day

I just wanted to report on two things.

1. Today I invested in more shares. In Photo-Me International. They're cheap (75p), and they appear to be on the up. So, we'll watch and see. The Standard Life shares powered ahead, and even Sky didn't do too badly. Tesco, on the other hand, didn't fair so well, and was one of the FTSEs biggest fallers of the day. Stagecoach remained fairly static, as did BT.

2. The bath has now been installed in the bathroom. Maybe that should have been point number one.

That's all.

Who needs a title - just read...

It's Thursday at last.
Over halfway through the week.
On Monday evening, we spontaneously decided to go to the theatre. There was an Agatha Christie play at The Lowry, called "The Unexpected Guest" and I quite fancied going to see it.
Since I had finished work at 3 o'clock (due to a late finish on Friday), there was no particular rush.

So I booked the tickets, and got seats 6 rows from the front. Excellent view, and the play was terrific. Normally we go to shows, but this was something different. No song and dance, just good, old fashioned acting. And it was very well performed.
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I've decided to give up the spread-betting business. It was not doing my health any good, and it's impossible to concentrate when at work. Still, the shares still exist, and I'll keep an eye on them.
In fact, I can report that in the 8 weeks since I started, the value of my holdings has risen by £100. Not a bad return on investment, with Stagecoach seeing an 18% rise on their own.
Find me a savings account that returns that amount!
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Bathroom is now plastered and looking more like a room. Waiting for the electrician to come and put the lights in.
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So, off to work now. More regression testing - borrrring. Still, that's what we're there to do, so will make the most of it.

Have a nice day

Spread 'em

Quite a lot has been happening over the last few days - not least the fact that my brother-in-law plumber has become a dad 3 weeks earlier than expected. So the bathroom re-fitting is now on hold for approximately a week.
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Place your bets - I wish I had. The Baby successfully chose the winner of this years Grand National, Silver Birch. The odds were 33/1 but I didn't place a bet, so failed to capitalise on his brilliance!

On the subject of bets, I have recently started Spread betting.

This is a method of speculating on a number of things, whether financial, sporting or political. I am more interested in the financial specualtion, and it is great fun watching how the markets perform and taking a punt on what will happen next.

Last Friday I bet (£2/point) that the FTSE100 would go up in value. It was a roller-coaster ride until lunchtime, when things started to even out, and I finished the day £70 up. Not bad for a starter.

I'm using a company called IG Index and they have a training programme called Tradesense. This is a six week course, during which the bets can be just pence, therefore allowing you to get comfortable with the overall concept of spread betting.

Finally - some news on my shares. Not a good week. The market dropped quite low on Thursday, which meant some of the value was reduced. However, Stagecoach bounced back like a trooper.

ShareWatch

Back on the 5th March, I wrote that I had invested some money in the stock market, when the prices fell due to issues in China.
Then, not long afterwards, the prices fell even further, and I started to think I'd made a big mistake. Oh, what a great start.

Anyway, over the last week or so, things have started to improve, and hopefully will continue to do so in the coming months. I wrote that I am in it for the long term, and I may look to invest more.

So, how are they doing.
Well - BT was slow, but appears to be growing
Stagecoach is my 'winner' at the moment, with a 14% gain
BSkyB was my worst buy - fingers crossed things get sorted soon in the Pay-TV row.
Tesco is doing alright too, with a 4.3% gain.

If you just make sure you subscribe to Sky and buy all your groceries in Tesco, I should be laughing. Oh, Stagecoach? They have a major stake in Virgin Rail, for which I booked tickets to London in June.
As for Standard Life (my freebies), they're at an all-time high, with a gain of 24.8% (or £136).

OK - so it's not big money. But it's fun, and I enjoy watching the rise and fall of the prices.

Playing The Markets

Welcome friend, to another post about me.

Actually, this could be quite a long one, so get yourself a coffee and kick off your shoes.

Firstly, I have nothing but admiration for my wife. At the end of last week she was completely floored by the 'flu. A temperature of 105, and the shakes and shivers meant almost total bedrest. Which meant that I had to take Thursday and Friday off work and look after her, and the boys; including the school run (for which I got a parking ticket for my trouble!)

That was more tiring than a day in the office and a 100 mile drive.

During the course of the weekend, I did what I could to reduce the load. We went to the cinema, went to a fair on Sunday afternoon. I dressed, fed changed nappies and bathed the baby.

Just call me SuperDad!

Anyway - I went back to work today; for a little bit of peace and quiet. Still tired though.

So, onto other news.

I've decided to play the stock market. Have a dabble. Invest a little (and I mean a little). In some cases it hardly seems worth it, but, since the prices have tumbled over the last few days - because of the financial shake in China, I thought I'd have a go.

Well, to be honest, I've been thinking about it for a while. I created a virtual portfolio on Yahoo, and tracked the performance of some companies shares. I found it quite interesting, watching the prices increase, and thinking 'if only'.

It can take some time to set up a trading account; which I now have courtesy of First Direct, and last week I took my first steps. I invested in three companies: BT, Sky and Stagecoach.
Imagine my feelings when the prices dropped further.
Today, I made my biggest investment in Tesco. Well, they do quite well and the price was reasonable.
Altogether, a £500 investment (I said it wasn't much). Put them with the 'free' Standard Life shares I have, and I hope they'll build to a nice sum.

I'm not a huge gambler, but I'm in it for the long run, so over the next year or two - who knows?