Just before Christmas I was mulling selling some shares to keep my powder dry. All the predictors are for a tough 2026 Q1 for the consumer and Business owner (myself included).
Some of the mulls were shares that had made decent gains and others that were in profit but not well understood by me. I don’t analyse my post-sale share performance. Obviously I take the odd peek (who doesn’t) but once you have made the sale you shouldn’t really look back, unless it is cyclical and you are looking to buy back in should it fall back. I sold BATS and IMB about a year ago and they have continued to climb. On the other hand, I gave up with EVOK, sold at a loss and it has now dropped by another 60%. Swings and roundabouts.
Whilst I eventually decided to sit on my hands for now, Secure Trust bank (STB) was mulled at one point as it had had a great run following it getting off lightly after the car finance issues blighting the trade. Anyways, at Close of Play Christmas Eve, literally 2 minutes before the Market shut down it issued a Press Release stating that it had sold its Car Finance Book at a Premium. It had already stopped writing new Business and was running it off, so this is a nice clean way of ending and it can concentrate on the rest of the Business.
When I logged on this morning – the first time the Markets had opened since then, it took me a while to spot the reaction. I check RNSs first thing and as this information was released 5 days ago I didn’t spot anything, until I saw the share price reaction. As I type, it’s up 16-17% and climbing.
That is a great End of Year Brucie Bonus and re-emphasises the adage about “It’s not timing the Market, but Time in the Market that counts”. If I had sold, I would have missed out. Instead the shareholding is knocking on a 100% return over 2 years.
Top of the Season to you all.