As expected, December was a very volatile month in the US markets. We saw the biggest point loss in the Dow on a Christmas Eve ever, then we saw the biggest point gain ever on the day after Christmas.
Portfolio Update
December was an interesting month. I decided to exit Zopa and distribute the capital to other lenders. You can read in more detail why I decided to do this further down in the Zopa section of the update. I also added some more information to the table and charts section giving more information on income and XIRR calculations, as well as adding income graphs for each lender.
The Growth Portfolio took a dip in October, mostly due to some uncertainly about the US midterm elections, which will be held in November (6th). That, added to the trade war situation with China really shook things up a bit. It may calm down towards the end of November once we get the elections out of the way. Who knows if it will rally, or fall depending on if democrats or republicans win the house and/or the senate. Personally I think it will rally back up into the new year. Optimism is high right now, but not quite high enough for a major crash yet (yes, you read correctly, “optimism”, markets typically seem to do the opposite of what people think they will do). If you look to the past, when people are most optimistic is when the biggest crashes happened, when no one was expecting it.
Peer to Peer Lending Portfolio Update for October 2018. Live versions of these charts are always available here. Overview Portfolio growth is plodding along as expected. A little over £833 income for the month which really isn’t bad. I get emails from banks regularly touting 1.3% interest on their super-duper accounts, which would mean
Return figures for September 2018. The Growth Portfolio pulled back a little in August. The markets still have a bit of confusion about the trade wars it seems, plus all this posturing going on in the U.S. about Trump and his team, so things were a little mixed. Pullbacks & drawdowns happen frequently with this
Growth Portfolio Update for August 2018 August was a great month for the portfolios we are following! My Personal Portfolio is still heading up now REIT’s have found themselves, and we have finally passed the Permanent Portfolio for the year! My Personal Portfolio (Portfolio 1 below) is where my capital is invested and it