June 2025: Show times

I really want to stop mentioning Trump.

Even when he sends troops into LA, one of my favourite cities.

But when he launches 30kt bombs on Iran, it is very hard to avoid talking about him.

In the context of what Trump’s been up to, the welfare reform screw-ups by the Labour government seem almost laughably trivial. Even though they make my blood boil and, I think, will have more impact on our economy than Trump’s militarism will have on the USA’s.

We’ve had some lovely weather in June, with the lovely long evenings to enjoy too. I’ve had some memorable London experiences, including a visit to Parliament, some high altitude fun and two (very different) shows – one of which even saw me on stage in the Barbican Theatre! I’ve also had some fun on the coast – including a very memorable evening in Poole harbour.

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May 2025: market springtime

I’ve had quite a busy May. It’s been a lovely month, featuring a wedding in the country, a trip to the Isle of Wight, my first visit to a dairy farm in 40+ years, a lovely trip to the Cotswolds, and more.

If you can identify any of the locations above feel free to shout out in the comments.

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My exits – a post mortem

Readers will know that I dabble with active investing – I pick stocks.

Lord, make me passive, but not yet

Rather like The Investor at Monevator, I firmly believe in the merits of low cost index tracking as an investment strategy, but I also enjoy the thrills / intellectual excitement of deviating from the true path.

Over the years I have owned dozens of ‘single line’ stocks. These days, partly due to my competing desire to reduce complexity, I have a rather simpler portfolio with ‘only’ around 25 single company holdings.

One question I have wondered about for a while is: what happened to those stocks I used to own, but have ‘exited’? Was I right to exit them? Are the stocks I continue to hold better than the ones I used to own?

A full analysis of this question is beyond the scope of my blog or, for that matter, my abilities.

But let’s start with Facebook.

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