• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About This Website
    • A polite reminder
  • How To
    • Use this website and benefit from the subscription option
    • Pick a financial adviser
    • Ensure your investment adviser is delivering good value
    • Get expert help with running your own portfolio
    • Pick a ‘tax wrapper’
    • Pick a Trading Platform
    • Diversify a portfolio in today’s world
    • Invest in line with your conscience
    • Research (screen for) a specific fund requirement (m)
    • Pick a fund for the future or how to be a contrarian (m)
    • Find the ‘next best thing’ and make rational sell decisions (fund switching) (m)
    • Time investment sales (skim profits) (m)
    • Interpret a Morningstar X-Ray (m)
    • Use Trustnet for Research (m)
    • How to review a neglected portfolio when the world has moved on (m)
  • *Important Information*
  • Real World
    • A Frank Introduction to Investing
    • Costs
    • Investment Risk – Your Starter For 10
    • How are advisers fees worked out?
    • 10+ top tips for investors
    • An actual portfolio review (m)
    • Benchmarks – a thorny subject
    • Disinvestment from fossil fuel businesses – are there better options?
  • Tales of the Unexpected
    • Lola
    • Round and Round the Mulberry Bush
    • FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) and the lazy mind.
    • Property Development Schemes
  • For More Experienced Investors
  • Glossary with a Difference
  • Member Only Content (M)
    • Example of simple cash flow planner (m)
    • Long Reads
      • What is market shorting and is it a bad thing?
      • How to conduct a periodic portfolio review (m)
      • Investing without management (passively) – a better way? (m)
  • Portfolios and Funds (m)
    • Lessons in Portfolio Construction and Maintenance – Introduction
      • High Level Asset Allocation
      • Selecting Funds
      • Cash Flow and Tax Issues in Portfolio Construction
      • Setting Objectives and Understanding Risks
      • A suggested portfolio for Alex Bright
  • Multi Asset Academy (m)
    • Some basic basics
    • Who are Vanguard?
    • Are multi-asset funds expensive?
    • Cheap and cheerful?
    • Its all about asset allocation, but…
    • Myth and misunderstandings
    • Taking money out of multi asset funds – the pros and cons
    • Distribution funds – the forerunner of multi asset investing?
    • DIY Multi Asset – adding risk controls
    • Benchmark Fog
  • Member Login
  • Logout

Its Not Harry

Comment and opinion for retail investors in the UK

Announcements

Profit taking (skimming/slicing) – is there a trick to it?

8th October 2018 by Mark Potter Leave a Comment

One of my readers has suggested an article giving general advice on when to take profits and in what sort of proportion would be useful.

This is a subject with several aspects.  How do you know when you are near the top of a market?  Is that even possible?  What about tax?  If you sell out of a good fund, where would you re-invest?  Should you re-invest at all?  Is the old quotation “time in the markets is better than timing the markets” (Anthony Bolton, ex Fidelity) the simple answer?

I can seek to answer these questions or at least propose  a logical way of taking decisions but the topic justifies an article as opposed to just a blog post.  I will add one to the “How to” area as soon as I can.  It will be unrestricted.

Filed Under: Announcements, Basics, Education

October Watching Brief now on-line (m)

8th October 2018 by Mark Potter Leave a Comment

My filtered thoughts of the moment are now available to subscribers here

Filed Under: Announcements

Radio Silence!

8th October 2018 by Mark Potter Leave a Comment

There have been no new posts on the site for a couple of weeks because I have been on holiday!  I was in the UK, France and Italy and could claim I was doing important on location research on  Brexit, the potential troubles with the Euro and so on.  But mainly I was enjoying the food and drink (at least on the South of the Channel)!

I did in fact get some anecdotal evidence of what people in France and Italy worry about in terms of economics and politics and that is definitely not Brexit.

The October news and comment will be published very shortly when I will address the current investment climate and the prospects for investors.

Filed Under: Announcements, Markets

Update to Important Information

11th July 2018 by Mark Potter Leave a Comment

This is just to advise site users that the Important Information page has been slightly updated following feedback from users and some further familiarity with the latest data protection rules (GDPR).  The changes cover situations where we are temporarily supplied with data for analysis and also include contact information for subscribers as this was not otherwise shown on the site (as part of the anti-spam and anti-hacking tactics!).

 

Filed Under: Announcements, Site Content

Launch trial membership period now ended

2nd July 2018 by Mark Potter Leave a Comment

As advised by personal emails, access to the member only site content  is now only available to paying subscribers.  Free access is now no longer available.

If you would like to commence a subscription, please use the joining application form that is available every time you try to access a member only article.  There are various other places on the site where you get the opportunity to subscribe.

There is no fixed membership term and new applicants who have not already enjoyed a trial period will not need to pay their first subscription until after the end of the first full month of access, so there is a free trial period.  Payment is by standing order, not direct debit, so totally within your control.

Filed Under: Announcements

June Watching Brief published (m)

4th June 2018 by Mark Potter Leave a Comment

In very uncertain times, I have done my best to provide some brief analysis.

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please Log In. Not a Member? Join Us

Filed Under: Announcements

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Page 1
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 10
  • Page 11
  • Page 12
  • Page 13
  • Page 14
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • Mid-month Musings – September 2026
  • Deep Dive – September 2026
  • Mid Month Musings with Mark (not me!)
  • Thank You
  • Deep Dive – August 2026

Archives

Categories

  • Academic theory
  • Announcements
  • Asset Allocation
  • Basics
  • Cost of investing
  • Economics
  • Education
  • Funds
  • House rules
  • Humour
  • Innovation
  • Markets
  • Members Only
  • Monthly commentary
  • News
  • Opinion
  • Passives and Trackers
  • Politics
  • Portfolios
  • Rants
  • Research tools
  • Site Content
  • Sustainability/ESG
  • Trading
  • Uncategorised