Shares - Oh dear!

[GE90]

Hi

I would be really grateful for the views of anyone knowledgable on shares etc.

I have invested in some shares just recently, not much money involved, and mainly for fun! I was sensible in choosing most stock, but I chanced a few hundred on the AIM market, and bought PeerTV shares.

Well, last week they asked for trading to be suspended, following what appears to be the resignation of the CEO and Finance Director. It seems that the Finance Director has withdrawn their resignation:

http://www.iii.co.uk/research/LSE:PTV

http://www.digitallook.com/cgi-bin/dlmedia/rns.cgi...

Any views on whether I can kiss goodbye to my investment? Chances that they might start trading again?

Thanks very much.

[CRB14]

The fact that the Nomad has also resigned may spell doom. Companies can (and often do) come out of suspension however I wouldn't keep your hopes up.

What made you invest in an Israeli based aim company?

[Ynox]

I've been burnt by AIM stock in the past. Lost about half the value.

I'd have not gone near this company with a barge pole. Their product looks pretty ropey (I've worked in the space they're in for the past 7 years).

Chalk it up to experience, I'd be very, very surprised if the share price will recover.

[GE90]

Thanks for your replies.

Yes, thought I would need to accept that I've lost my investment (luckily small!).

I know it was a huge gamble, and at one time I could have sold and made a small profit, even after fees.....

This is/was my most risky stock!

Not sure how best to monitor this now, as if there is a chance they will continue trading, I'll want to know!

Many thanks again, and any more thoughts always appreciated.

[Jon39]

Classic first time equity investment.
Don't worry, we all do this to begin with.
It must be better to pick tiny companies, because they will grow faster.
Unfortunately, we soon learn that picking the next Microsoft or Google, is virtually impossible.

You say 'I was sensible with most', so hopefully if you have or are aiming to have, say ten companies, the failure of one will only equate to one tenth. As you will know, part of the importance of risk spreading.

In this game, we have to learn to be patient, because it is possible to become surprisingly wealthy, but not quickly. If you are fortunate, and can achieve 5 to 10 % per annum average, the compounding eventually kicks in, but not for many years.

Try to learn about business, investing in the big companies may sound boring but there are several advantages, think long-term, be fastidious with your record keeping, measure your fund performance against one of the FTSE indices so that you really know how you are doing, don't borrow to buy shares and don't be committed to selling at a particular time, don't act on share tips do your own thinking because all these people who think the can forecast the future often have ulterior motives.

Good luck.

Edited by Jon39 on Monday 1st February 17:42

[GE90]

Thanks, all good advice.

I certainly did a fair bit of research before investing. In fact, after all costs, my portfolio is up 3%!

The rest are mainly FTSE 100, in companies from industries I have knowledge of, or interest in.

[Jon39]

GE90 said:

Thanks, all good advice.

I certainly did a fair bit of research before investing. In fact, after all costs, my portfolio is up 3%!

The rest are mainly FTSE 100, in companies from industries I have knowledge of, or interest in.

Sounds just right to me.

Hope that you don't mind me saying, but when people talk to me about this subject, the comments tend to be, "My financial advisor makes about 10% a year for me", or "One of my holdings is well up". They don't really know what is going on with their investments.

I always measure my overall fund performance, together with the FTSE All-Share Index from 1st January
each year.
I feel that this has several advantages;
It accurately reveals the important part of the real performance.
It can be psychologically reassuring whenever markets are going down. Imagine seeing a value drop of say £40,000 in one week. However, if that happened to be a drop of 5%, whereas the Index fell by 7%, you should still sleep well.

When you have enough individual holdings, if you can see that you are often ahead of the market index, then leave your fund alone and see whether it continues. If so, the portfolio is right and you do not have to spend time on it. If it does not do that, then you can always try changes, or give up and buy into a tracker fund.

Edited by Jon39 on Tuesday 2nd February 09:49

[GE90]

Many thanks again, I understand, and will certainly track my own performance against the Shares Index.

Much appreciated.