Thinking

Key thing I'm thinking now... you can always get back in. To both a long and a short position or a share. The yield will still be there practically all the time. So important to trust instincts with selling as well as buying... go with my gut.

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Mark Howitt
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@MarkHowitt
51s51 seconds ago
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Marstons will benefit from the better weather and world cup... think it can get to 110p or more quite quickly...

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Mark Howitt
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@MarkHowitt
4m4 minutes ago
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Got to 91,000 pretty quickly on http://www.markhowitt.blogspot.com ... quite a lot of Russian and American views. 100,000 views in a few months...

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Mark Howitt
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5m5 minutes ago
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With spreads I think it is very important to trust my instincts... most of the time when I think something is 'pretty high' it goes down... and there is not much of a spread on the FTSE 100 shares I buy... need to act more quickly on instinct.

Instincts

With spreads I think it is very important to trust my instincts... most of the time when I think something is 'pretty high' it goes down... and there is not much of a spread on the FTSE 100 shares I buy... need to act more quickly on instinct.

Marstons

Mark Howitt
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@MarkHowitt
12s13 seconds ago
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Gone long on @MarstonsPLC it's similar to @greeneking and cheap at these levels

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Goal Day

Day off regular work today so it's a lot of share investment time and other things... have quite a lot of short exposure with spreads which is working fine so far... happy to network and trade ideas.

Mark Howitt ‏ @MarkHowitt 3s3 seconds ago More Shorted @sainsburys it's overvalued atm... if the Asda deal gets through it may be delayed/conditions place on it too... in profit so far.

Mark Howitt
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@MarkHowitt
3s3 seconds ago
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Shorted @sainsburys it's overvalued atm... if the Asda deal gets through it may be delayed/conditions place on it too... in profit so far.

No Emotional Attachment To Shares

Blasting out a quick but IMPORTANT stream of mind for you on Sunday...

You should have no emotional attachment to shares. If you own shares you are a shareholder, not an employee.

Even looking back on my life with Centrica shares... I was part of their share scheme but when I left I 'lost' my bonus shares. Centrica doesn't REALLY care about me although British Gas was a good company overall to work for...

For companies you have not even worked for there should be no emotional attachment. HSBC does not care about Mark Howitt. BP does not care about Mark Howitt. Sure I own part of the business and make money out of both shares but they don't care about me AS A PERSON.

So you should not hold onto a share just because you have for years or have any kind of feeling of 'loyalty' to them. They don't have loyalty to you. Chris Bailey is getting onto to make a spreadsheet of all my shares and see if I am making the most efficient use of my capital. I'm not literally going to do that but if I feel a share is overvalued I will sell it. I can always buy it back again if it drops down to a lower level.

With spreadbetting I can make a small financial allocation and get exposure to any share in the world.

So yeah... No Emotional Attachment To Shares. All that matters is how much money you make.

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Mark Howitt
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4s5 seconds ago
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Done 2 walks today and will be doing one or more per day!

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Mark Howitt
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@MarkHowitt
23s24 seconds ago
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Shares and spreads going pretty well... BP, Shell, GNK and IAG all up nicely... always room for improvement though.

More Zen Wizard

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23h23 hours ago
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NEW ZEN WIZARD http://markhowitt.blogspot.co.uk/2018/05/zen-wizard.html …

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Mark Howitt
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14s14 seconds ago
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Or like a zen monk you could say... but a bit more ruthless than a 'monk'... same none care for consumerism though.

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Mark Howitt
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@MarkHowitt
53s53 seconds ago
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You have to be calm and 'learned' yet use your wizard power (and money) to see the right opportunity then strike.

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Mark Howitt
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@MarkHowitt
2m2 minutes ago
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Zen wizard.

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Mark Howitt
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2m2 minutes ago
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Zen wizard is best description I can think of a good share share investor/trader.

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Zen Wizard

To be a good share investor/trader you should almost be like a zen wizard. You have to be calm and see the opportunities then pounce at the right time. In a way it’s good to be almost emotionless when trading. You should never panic when there are losses as long as the fundamentals of the share remains the same.

There always will be chances to go ‘long and short’ practically every day but you just have to remain calm and pounce at the right time. And there are more things to go ‘long and short’ on than at any point in human history right now. There will be more in the future. So you kind of just have to hone your ‘wizard skill’ as much as possible and do it as much as possible.

To save time and energy you can always just let a spread hit its limit rather than watch it too much... you should have a clear target in mind when placing a spread that you want to hit.

Downside Risk

Downside risk



When you’re thinking of selling a share you should be aware of the downside risk. Best example I can think of is BT. Bought it around 92p in 2009. Got to nearly 500p in late 2015. Now it’s about 208p.

Or think how much BP dropped after the spill. Much higher now though.

It's good to be positive and optimistic but you should try and consider the downside risk in anything. What's the risk of not meeting new quality people? What's the risk of not maintaining relationships with good people?

It's a bit similar to 'opportunity cost'. What are the costs of keeping doing what you're doing and what could you gain or lose by doing something else?

If you have clear goals you'll know what you want so you will often go for it hard... but be aware of the risks too.

You can use it to your advantage in shares by shorting shares where people have not evaluated the downside risks enough. I still believe both Tesco and Morrisons are overpriced because some people don't really see the threat of Aldi and Lidl. They're not as big in London as they are 'up north' for example and I'm sure a lot of rich people have never shopped in Aldi... the threat is there though.

The downside risk is much more pronounced with spreadbetting because potentially you can lose a lot. If you think something is going to be flat or close to flat you shouldn’t do it.



On the flip side the upside risk is much higher. In the 1 minute it takes to place a trade you could make more than your day’s wages with a relatively small amount of money.


Time risk and do not be needy.



It’s very important not be needy… especially when you’re spending time in front of a computer.



Ideally how I feel is that I should get my results from what I’m doing then move onto something else. Don’t waste time just aimlessly browsing.


However you have to sometimes just be PATIENT with spreadbetting. It’s quite hard to know how much time to allocate it but if you’re doing it you should probably allocate a bit each weekday- it doesn’t have to be LOTS though.

You can save time to an extent doing this if you want by just having limit orders and letting the spreads hit them.

You should look at what is the return you are getting on your time and your money. Again trust your instincts.

I’m getting to the stage where I believe I KNOW something is good value and then I should certainly instinctively do it. I’m right at least 85% of the time. However if I look too much I may just do it when it is a quite good opportunity.



Anyway pleased overall with share performance... other areas in life room for improvement though. So less time on money and more time on other things..

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Mark Howitt
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@MarkHowitt
36s36 seconds ago
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I guess we're at over 90,000 views because people like a REAL TALK share writer who buys and shorts shares not 'fake' writers who just write for the money but don't own the shares they say they love...

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Mark Howitt
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@MarkHowitt
1m1 minute ago
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Maybe I should just charge £6 a month to visit http://www.markhowitt.blogspot.com I think my share tips are at LEAST as good as @ShareProphets :)

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Mark Howitt
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@MarkHowitt
2m2 minutes ago
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Honestly the way I feel about shares now is very positive... just closed my Taylor Wimpey spreads for a nice profit, ITV has been soaring up, IAG rocketing up, GNK flying up, SSE recovering, BP and SHELL both soaring...

Connect

Shares and spreads doing well... happy to connect with interesting people this weekend :)

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Mark Howitt
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@MarkHowitt
4h4 hours ago
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Replying to @conkers3 @groupstageexit and 47 others
@ITV has that mass market appeal that's good for ads.

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5h5 hours ago
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Shares and spreads doing well... happy to connect with interesting people this weekend :)

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Focus

Feeling very goal focused now... diet and exercise getting better which will help my whole life. Exercise every day.

Crest

Mark Howitt
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@MarkHowitt
14s15 seconds ago
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Bought @CrestNicholson good value at these levels... low PE over 6.75% yield and posh houses in nice areas.

Share Day

Mark Howitt
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@MarkHowitt
57m57 minutes ago
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Actually happy it's a normal share day today- working yesterday every day is goal day.

Networking

I'm also at the point in my life where I won't tolerate any negativity or things that impact badly on my goals from anyone... while at the same time being open to cool people. People where we can mutually add value to each other. Connect if you're one of those people.

Exercise

Exercise is going well and diet is getting better... going to work on these things every day. Less money time more time on this.

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@MarkHowitt
37s37 seconds ago
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So yeah... I will be writing MORE QUALITY CONTENT :)

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Mark Howitt
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I really feel that's a fine way to write these days, as a lot of people have short attention spans.

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Mark Howitt
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1m1 minute ago
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Economy of words.

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Mark Howitt
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2m2 minutes ago
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I like having a style which is minimalist.

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Mark Howitt
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2m2 minutes ago
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Maybe some more fiction or even a political post...

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Mark Howitt
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2m2 minutes ago
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Because sure I've had over 150,000 views worldwide on my share writing but it's quite hard to write a share article in an interesting style... although I've done it sometimes.

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Mark Howitt
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3m3 minutes ago
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Quite often during a day I think of a nice phrase I could write down... at some point I will do quite a bit of none share writing.

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Mark Howitt
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3m3 minutes ago
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In around two days time we will officially be over NINETY THOUSAND VIEWS on http://www.markhowitt.blogspot.com Thanks for your all support... and thanks to ME for creating great content ;)

Comments On Learn By Doing

Mark Howitt
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@MarkHowitt
20s21 seconds ago
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Replying to @Financial_Orbit
Yes reading is fine and most people should read more. BUT... I personally have read too much and not done enough. There are probably readers of mine who have done the same- that's why I wrote it. When you get past the 2,000 books mark you can be selective in what you read.

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Chris Bailey
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Replying to @MarkHowitt
Well worth reading Charlie M on reading https://25iq.com/2015/07/26/a-dozen-things-charlie-munger-has-said-about-reading/ … Never time wasted. Sure, you do learn by doing but it can be quite time anarchic. And time is the most valuable commodity an investor has...

Shares

Very strong day for my shares and spreads yday... @ITV and @BP_plc rising nicely... @Morrisons short did well too. Day off today so more time for shares and networking.

Learn By Doing

Hi...

Day off 'regular work' today yet still goal day... and I have an idea for an article...

Called Learn By Doing...

For too much of my life I have read too much. I got hooked young, brought into the library by my mother at about 3 or 4. I think I was conditioned to the mindset of- the more you read the more you know and the better you will be. And that's true TO AN EXTENT. But it's also not true.

You can read too much and your brain can get overloaded. And often just reading something is not the best way to learn it. Even with a subject you could consider partly theoretical like chess... you will definitely learn more by playing a lot rather than just reading about it. I remember at 14 reading up massively on chess history... to be a better player I should have just played as much as possible.

For something more physical it's even more about doing. For example running. I ran quite a bit in my teens- I was forced to by school. And looking back some of that was the toughest part of school, it hurt the most in a way. But you can also say that it brought some of the most practical benefits too. TBH I think when young it is good for education to have a forced physical aspect to it... you shouldn't have to push yourself too hard but I pushed myself pretty hard when running. And today I will continue with my daily exercise.

I still probably read too much now. The thing is you can read up on something so much... but when you come to actually DO IT you will often find things are different than what you have read. You probably won't get things perfect first time. However by just pushing yourself to learn new things you will gradually become better at learning. For new things that I am learning now... I have made some silly mistakes, but nothing too massive, yet I've learnt from them and won't do them again. I really think I am at the age now where I have to push my comfort zone.

Do things, learn things, reflect, then do them better.

Tesco

@sainsburys merger is bad news for both @Tesco and @Morrisons . Phoned my father and he sold out of his SBRY shares at a decent profit... I can see both Tesco and Morrisons share price moving much closer towards 200p.

BP

Strong results for @BP_plc today... they can still soar upwards! Long term, maybe within about 3 years, oil will reach 100 dollars a barrel. BP only needs it to be 50 dollars a barrel to be profitable.