So here we are, the Christmas lunch is gone and a distant memory (as is
the extended family!) and we can now settle back to do what we all do
best – bargain hunt in the sales. Each year I amble up to town and
spend a day watching large over-made up polyester clad women who are
not natural blondes in Selfridges diving around and then claiming that
they have saved at least “this” much. So off they waddle with their
leopard skin print diamante encrusted g-string bikini and a pot of
Z-Sure Aromatic lip waxing gel that normally trades for £350 but is now
reduced to £275 (a bargain no doubt). You also get the overweight
sweaty cab driver from Braintree buying the Brioni three piece suit for
£750 when he should actually be asking himself – when the hell in my
line of work will I ever wear this? Still off he goes happy in the
knowledge that the Harvester will have never before seen such a well
dressed man tucking into their 3 courses for £9.99 Sunday special.
My
point here is this - don’t buy what does not suit you or is way out of
your reach and not your normal style. In this case they each have items
that will sit unused for months whilst they try to settle in their
minds and in reality a credit card bill of magnificent proportions.
This
same philosophy we should adopt for our trading, stick to what you
know, feel comfortable with and can afford. You have to build up a
knowledge and a substantial cash reserve before you can try that
bizarre or fantastic new stock or other vehicle. Certainly with the
reserves both mentally and physically in place you can then advance and
move into new arenas and you can carry forward and not be forced to
retreat back to the old life. I mean let's face it, would you swap back
from your Jaeger-Le-Coultre Reverso Grande GMT for the BargainShop "buy
two packs of briefs get a 'stylish quality quartz movement' fashion watch"? I think not.
So
with that in mind I should say that for many years now my principal
speciality and core knowledge lies in the mining and resources market.
This is where I grew up and cut my teeth, this is where I blundered
around to start with acting as a junior gopher running errands and
taking heaps of well deserved abuse. But I learnt through perseverance
and hard work.
I often meet up with a mate Pete, a trader who
started out at the same time, in the City wine bar La Femme Facile and
we have 'Do you remember?' sessions over a bottle of Château Léoville
Poyferré 2001. He has since started running his own fund principally
using his family’s money and through the use of his acquired knowledge
has successfully turned this into a fund of renowned performance.
Is
he successful? I hear you ask. Well with a one bed flat in Watford, a
two bed terrace in Droitwich, a 1992 Nissan Micra and family holidays
in Magaluf, okay. (In reality he owns a couple of large estates in
southern France and homes in London, Rome and Hong Kong – however it is
true he does drive a 1992 brown Nissan Micra)
Cut to the chase
I hear you cry, all in good time my single cuff friends. Whilst I have
been piecing together this modern day equivalent of Voltaires ramblings
of Pangloss (metaphysico-theologo-cosmolonigology) I have been trading
away.
From the delectable selection on offer in the Resources
and Mining market I have chosen a couple of singular gems – Patron Oil
and Snatching Lead. Have they worked for me? A modest 4p gain off a
base of 160.7p for Patron and 13p off 1390.4p for Snatching Lead. Will
they work for you? Using the words my wife uses most nights – “The
moment has passed”.
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