Share Prophet Comments

I've posted these comments on ShareProphets but they haven't appeared yet. Not quite sure why, might be a technical error. Here they are anyway.

Thank you all for your comments. Some people have a cynical view of writers, especially 'journalists', thinking we just do it for the money. I certainly don't, and like to have a connection with my readers. Writing allows me to clarify my own thoughts too.

Yes it's definitely worth spending time finding out about senior management- lately I've been doing more of this. I actually sat through a 3 hour video presentation of HSBC's results to see how their management reacted to hostile shareholders. They were actually so hostile I was surprised such a corporate company like HSBC allowed the video up on their website! But they handled it well, and that increased my confidence in the share.

On a personal note, I think at the moment I'm better at writing 'strategically' or maybe even 'philosophical' posts on shares than detailed posts on companies, but I hope to improve.

Feel free to checkout www.markhowitt.blogspot.com for more of my writing and connect with me on LinkedIn!

Thanks for your comment Libero.

I think you did the right thing by starting relatively early too. Remember most people never invest in individual share companies, ever. So don't beat yourself up too much about it. 18 is the earliest legal age you can buy for yourself anyway... I think it's OKish to start at about 21 or 22 properly like we did... but like you I wouldn't have minded investing more a bit earlier.

I'm a long term buy and hold investor now, and I think this is an 'easy' way to go about buying shares. It did take me a while to get into this strategy... I realised it maybe a year after in shares. I think I've only ever invested in one AIM share, Fayrewood an IT company, and made decent gains from it without knowing that much about the company. I got that tip from a discussion board.

I would say it's easier and safer to take a High Yield Portfolio approach for a lot of people. Depends how much time you want to spend on shares, and how good you are at stockpicking. End of the day, all that matters is how much money you make and if you make more investing in AIM shares that's fine!

Feel free to add me on LinkedIn if you like.