Mechanical Bull Portfolio

In this post I present the current status of my Mechanical Bull portfolio which I set up on 24 May 2013 with an initial investment of £30,000. This is not my real-life portfolio. I am constantly adding cash to my real-life portfolio, which complicates measurements of performance. However, I use the same buy and sell principles and I have interests in 12 out of the 15 stocks currently held in the portfolio below. The only stocks I don't currently have an interest in are Keller, Matchtech and Microfocus International. The reasons are mostly just down to timing. For simplicity's sake I exclude trading costs, but I also exclude dividend payments. I believe this to be a conservative approach, which if anything should slightly underestimate actual performance.

The portfolio has increased in value by 29% since inception, which is annualised rate of over 52.5%. The FTSE AllShare has fallen by 2.3% over the same period. I see this level of performance as exceptional and I do not expect it to continue. Still, it appears pretty solid with 75% of past and current stock showing gains. The overall overperformance has not been driven by just a couple of stocks, which gives me a fair degree of confidence in the approach. I will update this spreadsheet every month around the 24th of the month when I will usually make my trades.

Creston and Microfocus International are currently in line for the chop. Creston had a disappointing set of results last week while Microfocus have just drifted down in the MB scoring stakes. Interserve and Kentz are looking likely purchases in the lead up to Christmas. I have bought and sold Interserve twice (in real life) since early 2011, making a small profit each time. The second time I sold was in August this year as a result of following my current strategy. So, there is a natural resistance to buying in again when the price has jumped up further. I also currently own Kentz in my real-life portfolio. It has done pretty well is now my second most valuable holding.
 

Mechanical Bull Portfolio as at 12 December 2013