Trading Trail #5: Week 1 Portfolio Snapshot

At the end of the first week I’m pleased to report that the overall portfolio value is pretty much at break-even at £997.86, having varied on Friday between ~£986 and ~£1005.

This is a good result because — if no positions had moved at all, up or down — I would have expected the portfolio value to have been down by more than £50 simply as a result of opening 28 positions during the week with a spread of about 2 points suffered on each one. The result is lucky really, because I could not have predicted which positions would rise in value (or how far) to offset those initial spreads.

Here are the current positions:

It’s a pity that this Capital Spreads snapshot does not show the current stop order level alongside each position. It means I have to refer to a separate Order Book screen, a portion of which is shown below (because the whole thing is too unwieldy).

This partial Order Book snapshot is instructive in a couple of respects. Not only does it show the prevailing stop levels on my open positions, but also it shows that my Aviva stop order is now guaranteed (as I told you here) and shows that I have a new opening order in place on Bovis.

This opening order represents a potential pyramid into Bovis, because an existing Bovis position in one of my other accounts is already in profit by £150. And don’t forget that I also have a short opening order (not shown) on Homeserve, which I’m not really expecting to be triggered any time soon — if at all.

A reminder: what’s it all about?

It is worth reiterating at this point that what I’m creating here is a medium-to-long-term position trading portfolio, rather like a traditional investment portfolio — but not exactly. It’s similar because I’m prepared to hold positions indefinitely while they realise their longer-term upside potential and while I collect any dividend credits along the way. It’s different because I’m not afraid of stopping out quickly for a small loss on any new position that goes wrong, and it’s different — of course — because this is a spread betting account rather than a traditional share dealing account. I might even throw in some ‘short’ position trades, which you wouldn’t see in a regular share dealing account.

You will have noticed by now that I open all new positions at a nominal £1-per-point. This is partly to keep things simple, partly to get those stocks merely onto my radar with the lowest possible stake, and partly because I know that there should be plenty of time to pyramid the smaller 10p stocks up to more £££s-per-point en route to them becoming 1000p stocks.

Tony Loton is a private trader, and author of the book “Position Trading” (Second Edition) published by LOTONtech.

Tags: trading portfolio