Timing and the decision to sell

Timing and the decision to sell


It’s been another good two weeks on the fantasy share trading game for the Cass MBA finance society.
The portfolio is now up 10% since I entered the competition. Pretty good and it’s out performing the FTSE 100 index which is my bench mark.
Since I last wrote I invested £10k in Astrazennaca. I did this because they have the biggest exposure to the US market of the UK pharmaceutical stocks.
The recent legislation change in the US should benefit them. But I’m now beginning to think, that upside benefit maybe after the competition has ended.
Unlike Ladbrokes, which had a few weeks of under performance, I knew the calendar was full of near term events to provide a catalyst to the share price, Cheltenham, World Cup and a new CEO.
My investment paid off and they are proving a good investment.
All the other stocks are in profits.

Now timing and the decision to sell:
The global recovery is back on track. US unemployment is stabilising, consumer confidence and retail sales are improving and factory output is increasing.
All good news, but the markets have run away with themselves to some extent. I guess I could be clever now and take some profits, but I think I will wait till the end of the month. I’m still sticking to the sell in May and go away principle.
I will convert a lot of stock into cash in May.
Near term I think I will sell my BG position and increase my position in Kingspan and RBS.
Retailing is also still interesting. An improvement in the weather will see a change in people’s mood and they will go shopping. It’s been too cold for people to take a day trip into the west end to go window shopping, but when the weather breaks I expect the people to go shopping and the stores to break out their new spring / summer wear which has been sitting in the stores waiting for the weather to break.

Timing is everything!