Are you struggling to post comments onto Blogs?

The internet is constantly evolving.  There are many options which are effected by the browser you are using, if you are logged into an account or not, or even if you have an account with various social or blogging platforms.  Just the terms I have used in this first paragraph for many will be confusing.

We know something works and if we do certain other things, this also works, but too often we cannot replicate it, explain or really understand how it works.

It has become complicated in an attempt to reduce SPAM, and it seems to be, the spammers who are able to do it best!

Firstly what is Spam?  This list is quite long, but typically it when all someone see’s in the comment is a web address.  SPAM is also posting the same thing more than once at the same time, with no changes.  I was asked by someone why her monthly post was considered SPAM. It is simple really, its the same post. If she changed the wording or the image it would no longer be considered SPAM.  Also if you are going to share a specific post, don't share it to 20 different places at the same time. If you need to share to 20 different places, make sure each one is different and not the same.  And finally SPAM is something which is not wanted, and for a lot of people it is something offensive in someway.  So if you don't want your posts or comments to be treated as SPAM put some thought into how others will view it.  Many Spammers are people who are paid by others to help promote their websites. So if you do pay someone to help you, make sure they are not doing it by spamming.

So finally, when you feel brave enough to post a comment, make sure it is relevant to the blog, even if its just to say you enjoyed reading it.  Don't be afraid to add your name and if you are not a spammer, there is a box for your website address.  This is useful on two counts.

 Firstly it helps the person whose Blog you have posted to decide if you are a spammer or not. When they moderate your post, they will be the only person who will see your name. They can click to go to your website and decide if it is appropriate for their readers and if you are a spammer or not.

Secondly you can have a good back link to your website, as long as the blogger does not have a "no follow" attribute. Bloggers should not object to this, as if you keep coming back to make comments and read their blog you are helping them too. 

June 2016 - Investment No 11

We had the referendum and the results are out!  The UK voted to leave the EU.  Of course as predicted the market panicked and share prices dived! One of the comments made was "house prices would drop" as people sold up and left the UK.  Of course this meant the stock market prices of the  house builders dropped. And did they drop.

My old favourite Persimmon fell.  And boy did it fall. Just over a year ago I sold my 56 shares  in Persimmon for a  15% profit after holding them for 6 months, and the share price had actually gone up a little more in the following months. Now they were more than 30% down.  Now if you remember from my last investment I had used up the cash I had previously created by purchasing 229 Anglo American plc shares.  What I had not mentioned was 2 days before the referendum they were showing a 11% profit after dealing costs - so I sold them.

Additionally Centrica plc paid a dividend of £37.93 so I actually had over £1,500 in cash available in my dealing account.  However due to all the uncertainty about the future, I chickened out, and only used £1,250 of the cash to purchase 78 shares in Persimmon plc.  This was 22 more shares than I had purchased back in March 2015 so I was happy. At the back of mind I was trying to hedge my bets slightly. By holding back a little money, if the market did carry on down I could look at purchasing more, and if it stablised and went back up, well it did not matter as I would just find something else to purchase!  I think you could safely say I was an optimist.

https://www.persimmonhomes.com





I shall be taking a break over Christmas and the new year from posting the next installment about my share portfolio.  This means it will be 2 weeks before you will find out about my next investment.

May 2016 - Investment No 10

As the saying goes - hindsight is a wonderful thing.  I am writing this about my next investment and looking at what I had been doing, my initial thoughts were why did I do that? As I explain the history you will see what I mean.   The Referendum to decide if the UK should stay in the EU or not was just over a month away, and I knew things were going to be quite volatile in the run up to it.  So I decided to sell my 190 shares in Anglo American plc as I needed some cash to purchase shares as I felt the market may drop straight after the vote.  These shares  were showing a overall profit of about 27%  and I had only held them for 2 months.

Additionally since 6 April 2016, GlaxoSmithKline had paid a dividend of £30.96 and HSBC holdings had paid a dividend of £30.96

With the sale of Anglo American plc and the dividends I now had over £1,350 to invest in shares, but as I watched the market start to fall over the following 10 days I realised the Anglo American plc share price had dropped by nearly 15%, so I could not help myself - I purchased 229 shares.  My new holding was 39 shares more than the holding I had sold.  What can I say?  

http://www.angloamerican.com

April 5, 2016 - UK Tax year end

Finally it is the end of the 2nd full year since I started this portfolio. I was able to make a purchase every quarter.

Before the end of the tax year end I received 2 more dividends.  £17.48 from SSE and £14.09 from Royal Dutch Shell B.  This brought my monthly return for the year to £15.17 (2015 : £13.33)

The Facts:
Total new money invest during the year:  £2,325.00
Total new money invested since starting the portfolio: £7,225.00
Total dividends for the year:  £182.04
Total dividends since starting the portfolio £341.94

If I sold the shares on the 5th April 2016, I would have had £6,644.71in cash in the account. Overall a 8% loss on my original cash, so still not looking great.

But as I said last year, that is the thing about shares.  They can go up and they can go down.  I just hope the regular income increases and eventually the share prices may follow too.