Share prices are all shown in pence. A website link for each company is given below. This is primarily a reference thread for myself. Discussion of an individual stock should ideally take place on its own existing discussion thread please, where its followers can readily find it.

The stocks displayed here are not recommendations - merely ones that I have chosen to run with. Most have already risen precariously, and some may collapse.

This is an aggressive portfolio being constructed between 10 July and 30 July 2017. On 10 July it comprised small stakes in four stocks I already owned (SOM,RST,TPF,ANII) representing in total 8.6%, and 91.4% cash. Stakes in those four were increased and a dozen other stocks bought. By 24 July, 65% stocks, 35% cash. Mostly held within a stockdealing ISA. The cash element is not earning interest; it will at times be used to temporarily boost stakes in one or other of the stocks or to buy another. I pay an ISA fee of £5 per quarter in total, and a brokerage fee of £9.90 per trade..

Initially I aim to run it for 5 months till 31 Dec 2017, by when I am hoping to be up 15%. This portfolio was funded by proceeds from the sale of a flat, the rent from which was generating 7%pa. The aim is to convincingly better that return. At 31 December I shall consider withdrawing a sum equivalent to what would have been 5 months rent, and to possibly do the same each six months thereafter (though I shall reassess that plan at Dec 31). Stocks that fail to maintain good performance will be reduced or ditched along the way (can't afford passengers) a few others might be bought. Fast ones that get too big might be topsliced to keep the portfolio in balance. I expect the initial setting up costs (brokerage fees on 16 stocks, and buy/sell price spreads of up to 4%) to be a drag on overall valuation in the opening weeks.



##################################################
PORTFOLIO 69 ENDS AT POST 191, DETAILING A GAIN OF 79.64% BETWEEN
JULY AND END-OF-2017. PART OF THE TOTAL HAS BEEN CASHED IN AND
WITHDRAWN. THE START OF PORTFOLIO 70, RUNNING 3 MONTHS FROM
START OF 2018, IS DETAILED IN POST 192
##################################################

Sir Derek Jones appointed as a non-executive director at IQE - brings some strong connections:
http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=5762291

VRS
i guess i'll hang on to the rump of my holding, though it is also tempting to bank the final lump of a very good profit, notwithstanding the falls of the last couple of days

good evening MrJ ..... a chap on the other side has mentioned TAP
are you still holding this, and if so, what is your view?
it's not a company i have ever followed at all

VRS
took a late plunge and bought back 80% of the lot i sold at 49 for 57.5
fortunately VRS looks to have closed at 60/62, so fingers x'ed for the future

I still hold Taptica (TAP) and am into profit on it. But I am a cautious holder of it and might reduce my stake. It currently represents 6.73% of my portfolio which is a bit too much for my liking. I might trim it to below 5%.

but presumably you still feel it has some reasonable upside?

I still expect good news of some sort from VRS befor Xmas. It remains my biggest holding. The tranche that I sold around at 37.5% in the hope of buying in again lower, I ended up having to pay 40p for - so that didn't work. But it ain't doing bad ;-)

Taptica, yes, I still expect more from it between now and Easter. But I confess to not being totally convinced and am prepared to drop it if it annoys me.

....... END-OF-WEEK-UPDATE
....... Friday 01 December

....... Portfolio now up a whopping 85.83% since July

A phenomenally good week. Mostly thanks to VRS which despite the huge surge, I think still has legs. I ditched Sophos (SOPH) today at a loss, but it stays on my watchlist. (Purchase poorly timed by me)

Thanks juzzle for bringing VRS to my and others attention, I cannot watch them all.

dreamcatcher - until I came to set up this portfolio in July, I had never heard of it. I got lucky.

I see Neil Woodford has put a warning out today

He might be right, he might be wrong. But his own judgment has crumbled somewhat since his glory days.

https://www.ft.com/content/c6ef0f16-d51f-11e7-a303-9060cb1e5f44


I am under no illusions regarding the riskiness of the stocks I play with. They are all vulnerable to collapse.

Well that's AIM for you Juzzle, you have picked the right ones and traded them well. Well done, bit of a hat tip to dc, he does come up with some crackers.

and a few stinkers Chris. :-))

When VRS went bananas on Friday, I wondered if some news had leaked. This morning the news is very BIG news! Their (unnamed) new customer appears to be (probably) DowDupont? (Dow and DuPont would both have been Versarien's 'biggest potential customers' list - and a month ago those two merged. So both big fish have been landed together if the name guessing is correct)

#158 - what a lucky chap i am

Several of the charts in my header relate to stocks that have formed part of this portfolio at times, but in some cases no longer do - but they remain on my watchlist to possibly buy back into at times. Others look a little exhausted. I shall rearrange the header charts later this week. (I might decrease the size of charts that are now merely on my watchlist).

VRS
on the move up again (+6.5%) albeit on pretty low volume

....... END-OF-WEEK-UPDATE
....... Friday 08 December

....... Portfolio now up 119.8% since July

Up 18.29% on a week ago.

Only another 3 weeks or so to go to the end of this adventure and the start of the next.

Added a few more IQE this afternoon ahead of a (probable) trading update next week. Fully invested; only 0.3% cash now. VRS and IQE between them account for most of the portfolio. 21.4% is in IQE, 63.64% is in VRS, 15% others, making it the most dangerously unbalanced portfolio I've ever held.