A belated write-up of the month of August.
Thinking back a month, two stories pop out for me.
One was the death of Russian mutineer Yevgeny Prigozhin – a larger-than-life modern day warlord, responsible for the ‘little green men’ at the start of the Russian/Ukraine war in 2014, the troll farms that may well have influenced both the Trump election and the Brexit referendum, several regime changes in Africa and a bizarre rebellion in Russia just (in fact, exactly) two months earlier.
The second story was the long awaited expansion of London’s Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) rules across the whole of London. This means that polluting vehicles (about 1 in 6 in recently expanded areas) must pay £12.50 every day that they drive. The ULEZ started many years ago – under a certain Mr B Johnson as London mayor in fact – and saw some grumbling but nothing unexpected when it expanded into my area a few years back. But the expansion to London’s outskirts – 20 miles from the centre – set off a political storm when it caused an upset in the Uxbridge by-election (caused by that same Mr Johnson’s latest antics), and since then the politics of environmentally-driven policies have been upended. There will be more repercussions attributed to the ULEZ and that Uxbridge byelection, I’m certain.
My August
August saw an influx of overseas visitors. A highlight was a trip to The Hut restaurant on the Isle of Wight, which is London prices and service levels in a fantastic coastal setting.
I also managed a bit of walking on the south coast, near Weymouth.
Markets in August
The markets were fairly miserable in August. I don’t recall any specific news events or drivers but equities dropped everywhere, and fixed income lost a bit of ground too. The USD continued to regain ground from its mid July low. The AUD fell, at one point dropping to £1:$1.9962.
My portfolio
My portfolio fell by 1% in August. It remains about 14% below its 2021 high water mark, on a unitised basis.
The summer months are a dividend drought for me. Sadly they have also come with significant summer fun expenses. So I’ve not even been able to cover my interest costs, let alone make any repayments of my debt. Not a good look. With a falling portfolio, my leverage level increased a bit.
I remain a bit overweight US equities, and underweight non-UK/US equities. I look overweight USD cash and underweight GBP but in practice my loan is more GBP and less USD than my target allocation. I accept my target allocation is probably wrong here but haven’t decided what to do about that.
— Ends —
Media clippings
FIRE v London 