The Return of an old friend

It was like greeting an old friend today who I had not seen in a long while. The overall year to date performance of my portfolio changed from red to black territory and I am now up 0.3%! I have not been in this position since early 2007, and it was hugely satisfying to see.

I spent Bank Holiday Monday afternoon working - after all, New York was open and I am heavy on US shares at the moment. I sold Chevron for a 14% profit since last August, but also sold Sun Trust Banks for a whopping 58% loss. I had tried to hold on, but with the dividend cut last year my own rules said it must go!

In their place I bought into Candadian National Railway Company and Middlesex Water (a stable utility dividend generator).

Having looked at what's taken me into positive territory shows many of my shares doing well, of particular note to Barclays. But Thomson Reuters is the number one driver, closing at £18.45 compared to my purchase price of £15.20 last December. Seems people still need information these days, whether it be good or bad!