talkmagic.co.uk

Looking for a second opinion about something.

I am very, very tempted with the new China Special Sits fund from Fidelity (for obvious reasons, the main one being Anthony Bolton) and am considering putting some money that way, however in order to give it a boost I was considering transferring the money I currently hold in the Schroder US Smaller Companies fund. I do have reservations;

-This will distort the overall geographical diversification of my portfolio.
-Bolton might just be a marketing ploy to attract investment, then he'll retire again.
-Chinese economy/government concerns me (I've avoided the JPM Russian Securities Inv. Trust for the same reasons).

I know this has nothing to do with magic, hence it being in here, however the financial sites I peruse get very messy with this kind of question because everyone thinks they know better than everyone else, it's one big ego trip.

The Schroder fund is a very good fund however I question the ongoing bull of the US, especially compared to China.

So what do you all think?

You highlight the perennial conundrum for the small investor.

gillows wrote:You highlight the perennial conundrum for the small investor.

Presumably that being that as our currency is fiat that there is actually nothing to invest!

^ More the vagaries and forces acting on any given market.

I don't deal, but work in the antique furniture/art trade and have seen the overall value of it go up roughly 10% a year since I don't know how long, then fall right back to what it was about twenty years ago. Nothing has changed, the furniture is exactly the same as ever it was, except nobody wants it anymore.

If you read your Wealth of Nations and accept the arguments on the Division of Labour, Use of Money, Cost of Materials and Manufacture, blah, blah, blah... You still can't factor in the fickleness of the marketeers. The clever corporate investors don't give two hoots what a company does, or it's value. They concern themselves with what all the other investors are thinking and where they will place their bets. Guess right, you take them to the cleaners. Get it wrong, you lose the lot.

There's nothing rational about it. You place your bet and hope all the other punters think the same as you, and then second guess their every move and act on it before they do.

gillows wrote:You place your bet and hope all the other punters think the same as you, and then second guess their every move and act on it before they do.

:D

^ I wouldn't say I was nuts about the stock market, but it does fascinate me.

I'm going out now, when I get back I'll tell you a story that a gold trader told me about an incident from the old pit trading days, that pushed the market up by some in five minutes then caused it to drop back with interest when the whole story came out.

It'll tell you all you need to know about the whys and wherefores of erratic market fluctuations.