2007 Review: Investment Highlights

KCIG highlights:Not to give away too much, we did fulfil Motley Fool's advise on stocks(aim higher than index). However, we underperformed vs. our own very reasonable target for the year due to choices made earlier in the year.

• Nice surprises: We bought EABL as a defensive stock, but got a bonus issue and the post-bonus price is now around 25% higher than our initial buying price.
  

• Greedy surprises: We bought more Equity after it went up 30% within a month and pretty much averaged our gains down. Not clever.

Broadly speaking however, the yr has been a success in other targets that we had set ourselves e.g. membership, funds raised etc. My experience of investment clubs is that coming together is the easy part,staying together is a tougher nut to crack.

Personal highlights: My portfolio has exceeded my expectations by someway with all green's except Barclays which I bought just after the spilt and mistimed courtesy of my broker. Of the greens, the best has to be NIC which I posted about the day I was buying. As soon as Kimunya's budget was out I ordered some NIC shares at then price of Ksh107 ostensibly to take advantage of the sure-fire rights issue only to be awarded with a bonus (pardon the pun) bonus issue. So far, 80%+ (not bad for six months). I also got DTK without quite the same result but then I want to hold both for 3yrs minimum (less if there is a regime change). Of the rest, HFCK was a juggling act. It was clear from a few yrs back that HFCK needed a capital-rich partner, having bought some when dead cheap, I somewhat wiped those gains by buying when it was in the 30s, then had to watch as the share started a downward spiral towards ksh20. At this price, I bought some to balance out the yr and just like that,  Equity/Britak stepped in and thus saved the day for me. Still, NSE for 2007 has one more act to be played courtesy of the Safaricom IPO and this may well wipe some peep's gains.
Away from the NSE, I've also been steadily increasing my exposure to the BRIC nations and that has gone very well so far.

Peeps, thanks for the company in 2007. Merry Xmas, enjoy the elections (a Kikuyu was praying for this the other day and you just had to be there it was that funny).

May God bless your endeavours in 2008. I know 2008 will a be humongous year....

2007 Review: Blogging Highlights

Blogging has been for me just a way of putting down mainly thoughts on the investment world, work, and minimal other stuff like issues appertaining to the motherland. One of the good things has been the ability to put down some of the stuff I research while I am doing my investing and geting feedback from readers. A repository if you like. With the yr coming to an end, I'll take a few weeks off and visit the motherland for some nyama choma with fried matoke and greens, sweet potatoes; introduce MT Jnr to his extended clan; catch some rays et al.

So why not go thru some of the highlights in blogsphere:

1. Meet-ups: The reason d’etat for starting this blog was to give a then embryonic KCIG some PR so we could get more members. So it was ironic when a blogger posted comments asking us what we were doing at the NSE when we could go to FTSE or AIMS. Months later that blogger was enjoying some chapos at our house but then outdid himself by posting an embarrassing post on the same. I refer of course to the long-monikered Christopher Ssembonge. It was a pleasure meeting you bwana Ssembonge. I’ve also met several others and hope to do so as time goes by.
2. Reading great blogs: As far as influences go I’d say CT stands out for me because of the passion, knowledge and in-depth understanding of the subject matters he writes about and especially those appertaining to required improvements for Kenya’s economy which are mostly on point. Bankele’s AGM coverage has been very informative and helpful for me as an investor. Riba Capital cleanly presented yet well-analysed and informative posts have been a joy to read (still waiting for the TC prospectus though). Away from investments, I’ve enjoyed reading Kenyaeconomics (still waiting for the his piece on inflation in Kenya), Kenya Imagine (I initially thought they were being typical know-it-all Diasporians but they are objective and have a good variety of excellent writers), Sunny’s column, the aforementioned LovelyMoney (this post was too funny) and Wakenya wa Sweden (one of my favourite countries in Europe).
3. Bloggers I wish would post more often: Pesa Tu who has done some excellent posts (on Safaricom and Mobilitelea) and Equity vs. Barclays and KenyaEconomics I’d encourage to post more often as both have something fresh to say about investment and economy respectively. And the aforementioned CT who seems to post in peaks and very deep troughs
4. Bloggers I wish would post less often: Kumekucha wins this category hands-down. To use your blog to disseminate tribal hatred (whether aimed at Giriamas, Kiuks, Luos, Kambas etc) would be the lowest of the low at any time, but at General Elections when temperatures are high anyway is not intelligent in my view. Let me tell you a secret, no politician in Kenya today cares about you. All will fill their baskets (bellies) first and then if the are leftovers will be open the gate for you to come in. Ask yourself where Kibaki has been as corruption has been on a runaway train, what pro-development bill even for Coast Raila has introduced to parliament similarly with Kalonzo. The best way to get ahead in life will be to develop the skills you need, find ways of growing you and your extended family during economic growth times so you can survive during any downturns.