Performance

Most funds have not recovered from pre-GFC state. Because I invest in high risk stocks, my own portfolio came out badly. But what is remarkable is the recovery. The blue chips rarely double or triple within a year. Lowest for BHP in 3 years is $20, ASX is $23, RIO $23.59, CBA $24, WOW $22.85, WES $14.24, ANZ $11.83, NAB $15.85, STO $9.33. And a lot have not exceeded their pre-GFC highs.

These are stable stocks unlike my uranium and some mining stocks which melted away and some options are worth less than toilet paper (which can be used once and become fertiliser after going through my septic system).

However, my rescue came with good mining stocks, the likes of GIR (low of 29c, now $2.80), EXT and AND. And buying West African and Indonesian miners and topping up better miners. There are some let downs but if I only invested small sums in most of them so they are not as disastrous. CDU and EXM are my big letdowns but I hold hope for RAU. The performance has streaked ahead of the risk factor, helped along by price of gold rising and multiple good announcements. The good announcements are not unpredictable. That is why seismic study, gravity scans and various exploration techniques are used before expensive drillings. They are not always right but I take calculated risk.

So next month, I take over my Morgan Stanley portfolio, keep the blue chips for stability and use the cash for my own portfolio. I have been outperforming the expensive city brokers by a wide margin... and I am only a gasman who does simple arithmetic, with no financial training other than from my 'poorly' educated father. The big city brokers have been bypassing me for placements and other capital raising too because they are not interested in anything under a million dollars. I think I will invest some with Patersons which gives smaller investors a bit of the cherries. It is involved with a lot of mining placements and floats.