Well, now 2 full months of the new Millennium have been completed and I would like to take this opportunity to take stock of the year so far and to bring other Fools up to speed with what has been happening in all the Investment Clubs so far.
Firstly, and probably quite predictably, the Millennium Bug concerns have had absolutely zero effect on the clubs, well certainly from a detrimental viewpoint. I was personally convinced that the Bug would be of the "damp squib" variety, but as all the clubs were rather long in technology stocks I was a little concerned as to the market perception of the whole sector.
I needn't have worried. Regular readers of this column will know that the clubs' portfolios have performed admirably so far and February has been the best month yet! The increase cannot continue at this level, surely (says he for the 3rd month on the trot!).
So, here, on a club by club basis, is a brief resumé of the yearly exploits and activities so far.
H&G Investments
The mother of all the clubs in the H&G family, and certainly the most famous, having been extensively featured in all forms of media since January 1997. Although no longer a "new" news story in itself, the club members are always willing to assist the media in any way, shape or form (and frequently do!). We were the first club to be featured on The Money Channel in their investment club slot on their launch day. Our article was trailed by what is now known as the "H&G rap", performed after one too many pints of IPA. The Money Channel say they are going to use it every month. (I reckon we should get royalties.)
As for the portfolio, strong gains have been made so far this year, thanks mainly to Baltimore Technologies (LSE: BLM), ARM Holdings (LSE: ARM), NXT (LSE: NTX), Retail Decisions (LSE: RTD), Kingston Communications (LSE: KCOM) and Redstone Telecom (LSE: RED). Last month we added to our Telecom portfolio by wading in with a huge chunk of Vodafone AirTouch (LSE: VOD), unfortunately right at the top of the market, but we are unbothered as this is a long-term investment.
We also hold a "boom-or-bust" portfolio which consists of various speculative mining stocks that will "fly or die". We only have a very small investment, typically £250, in any one of them, and we generally choose one of them per year at Christmas. The December 1999 choice was Greenwich Resources (LSE: GRWA), which has yet to really do anything in either direction. This was added to the other speccy stocks, Atlantic Caspian Resources (LSE: ACA), Bula Resources (LSE: BUS), Pan Andean Resources (LSE: PRE), African Gold (LSE: AFG) and Gold Mines of Sardinia (LSE: GMN). Only Bula and Pan Andean are showing us a profit so far (although we nearly got really excited after a report leaked out of Bula stating that they had struck salt water in the Dead Sea....)
The Brass Monkeys
Club Secretary Barry Lake has been the flavour of the month with the BBC this year, being featured on the Radio 4 Moneybox programme TWICE, and being interviewed by Radio 5 Live from the On The Money exhibition on 26th February. This was in addition to the club being filmed in January for BBC Newsroom South-East. Barry has also been extremely busy trying to sort out a website for us. We think he's done rather well. Check the effort out.
The portfolio has a lot of the same stocks as H&G, but without the boom-or-bust stuff. In addition, other good performers have been Robotic Technology Systems (LSE: RTS), Pacific Media (LSE: PCM) and Shire Pharmaceuticals (LSE: SHP). We have managed to nearly triple the value of the club since last October. This was due to the implementation of a revolutionary investment policy of only buying shares that go up! Full details of our investments are shown on the site, and if you want a bit of a laugh, check out the "Usual Suspects" section.
The Dirty Harrys
The newest member of the H&G family, having only started last October, and we have been lucky enough to be featured by The Independent newspaper every month since we started. Our Social Secretary Tony "Sesame" Street has sweated blood guts and gore on our website so check that out too!
Please also check out the Poll regarding our secretary, Dave Colwell, who we think looks just like Keith Flint out of The Prodigy. Why not tell us what you think!
The portfolio also goes from strength to strength. Again, a major technology bent to the investments for this club, with Kewill Systems (LSE: KWL) a notable inclusion. We have only been going 4 months, but have already managed to more than double our portfolio since our inception at the back end of last year.
Socially
All clubs' members will be invited to the "Family" Xmas do to be held in the Spring at Romford Dog Track and no doubt there will be another summer BBQ at some member's house (possibly mine! D'OH!).
That's all for the time being, you Fools. If there is a particular subject you would like me to write one of these articles about, do let me know on the Investment Clubs discussion board.
Fool USA