LM portfolio as at 09/01/2026:
| Code | Sector | Date Bought | Cost | Value | Gain/Loss |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LM079 LM079-2 LM079-3 |
No Specific Industry | 22/02/2024 16/10/2024 03/12/2024 |
£4310 | £5950 | 38.10% |
| LM086 LM086-2 LM086-3 LM086-4 |
Banks | 02/12/2024 10/02/2025 10/09/2025 02/01/2026 |
£6090 | £8610 | 41.49% |
| LM090 LM090-2 LM090-3 |
Aerospace & Defense | 06/01/2025 23/04/2025 10/09/2025 |
£4560 | £7530 | 64.99% |
| LM091 LM091-2 LM091-3 |
Basic Materials | 12/09/2025 17/11/2025 01/12/2025 |
£4560 | £5960 | 30.62% |
| LM095 | Services | 01/12/2025 | £1520 | £1710 | 12.78% |
| LM096 | Insurance (Life) | 22/12/2025 | £1520 | £1570 | 3.38% |
I've bent the rules - again. Last time it was to update the stop-loss limit to cut losing positions much more quickly, this time it's to buy more of a well-performing share.
Previously the maximum numbers of "units" I could invest in any one share or ETF was three but the eagle-eyed viewer will have noticed that LM086 now has FOUR units invested in it.
There's no specific reason for upping the limit on how much I can risk on any one idea, I've just seen that some of these investments are steadily climbing in line with the overall UK market and I've decided to plough some more money into them.
In fact, on Monday I will likely add another unit to LM090 too.
The funds should be there as last week I was able to pay the first quarter of this year's allowance into the LISA. I'm confident that I'll be able to find the full £4,000 to invest this year and therefore I'll qualify for the full bonus.
Should the portfolio value continue to nudge higher as it has been doing in the last few weeks then the new deposit and the subsequent bonus may just take it to the next level where the unit value increases.
At present each "unit" has been £1,500 since the fund got to £30,000. I don't want to count my chickens too soon but I am hopeful we will go over £40,000 in the near future and at that point I will nudge the unit value up to £2,000.
Friday saw the FTSE 100 break its all-time high closing record.
The funny thing is, back in 1999 the same index closed at an all-time high on New Years Eve but then fell off a cliff over the next 3 years. It took over 15 years to get back to the same level of just under 7,000.
Since then it has powered upwards and in 2026 it has closed over 10,000 on 5 of the 6 tradings days so far.
Very bullish signs although maybe we shouldn't get too excited; people were taking it as an extremely bullish sign that the FTSE 100 closed at its highest level to date on the 31/12/1999 too.
Podcasts
Friday saw the release of another episode of one of my favourite podcasts - "Twin Petes". The name comes from the two original hosts who were both named Peter. One of the Petes left due to ill health and was replaced by Henry, who from what I can gather works in the finance industry.
Twin Petes is one of the only podcasts that I listen to immediately when it is released. Most I simply queue up on my phone.
Now this is not because I get any great investing ideas from it. I've been listening to it for years and I don't think I've ever purchased anything based on them discussing it. However, I do enjoy getting other people's view of investing and the financial markets.
Take this last episode as a great example - I've gone back and re-listened to it because I wanted to make sure I described it correctly.
Pete told the guests and listeners that he had watched for ages as a share climbed in value before finally buying. It then started to fall and he currently sits with a 16% loss.
I had been waiting historically for many a year, watching this share price go up and up and up... And then I decided this year to take an investment in it... the share price is probably down about 16% since I bought it, if not more...
Such is investing - the share drops as soon as you buy it but the question I have is; why wait? If you had decided you wanted to be invested in this share then what are you waiting for? Just buy it and if you're really worried that the timing is wrong, include a tight stop-loss so you can get out before you lose too much.
It appears in this case he got too fixated on getting a "bargain" and wanted the price to drop before he bought in. The problem being that it never dropped so he sat and watched as it grew and grew, never pulling the trigger. Then when he finally gave up waiting, he purchased the share at what turns out to be the top.
Comical.
It doesn't pay to penny pinch. In my opinion you should pull the trigger as soon as you decide it's a share you want to own. Otherwise you end up paying more when you delay.
He really should just sell now because it can't be much fun looking at a large minus figure in your portfolio.
Dodgy decisions aside, I do like both hosts of the podcast, they seem to be decent people who really care about helping others in the market. It would be fascinating to find out how their portfolios have performed over the past few years as I get the idea that Pete especially is the kind of person who often becomes a "long term investor" in loads of shares that he bought for short term gain and then couldn't bring himself to accept the loss when they started dropping.
This particular share they were talking about was RELX - trading at around 650p in 2013 and steadily rising up to 4000p or so in February 2025. Pete had multiple opportunities to buy this at new 52 week highs over the years - even new all-time highs - but waited... for reasons known only to himself.
And now he's losing money.