Apologies ... been busy

A busy few weeks so I haven't had a chance to update you on the additions to the portfolio. I've added two lots of stocks, having made the decision that I think the market's going to have a tough time this year so holding a lot of cash is probably a good idea.

First up is IG Group, which provides technology for spread-betting. Anyone who reads any vaguely financial newspaper will have seen adverts that relate to these guys. It works in 10 traditional "western" markets (Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden), and has a dividend yield of around 4.2%. Given I think the markets are going sideways, with lots of volatility, I think lots of people will try their hand at betting. The fiance said no to this one because she doesnt approve of gambling......but I went in for it anyway.

The second is Dee Valley Water. A funny one this one - I like the water industry because it's heavily regulated in the UK, so the income should be fairly predictable. I spent around 15 months working with a company selling to water companies, and it's an interesting market. There are two types of business - water and water / wastewater. And there are some weird companies that operate in the water-only market. My favorite is / was Tendring Hundred - it only supplied about 136 square miles, but for historical reason was stand alone (it did get bought by Veolia though). In the long term, I expect there will be consolidation in the market so I went for Dee Valley as the smallest listed player. It yields over 4%, and the only thing that's really going to prevent that being maintained is government policy forcing investment or mass unemployment meaning people cant pay their bills. L approves of water companies, so it's a goody.

I'm looking at my portfolio tonight thinking it still needs more diversification, but I also need to increase the stakes I have in some companies. I am thinking more water (although possibly UU given it's great yield), more Greggs (great company - did i mention?), more Vodafone (people are SELLING - are they crazy, it yields 5%+ with a global footprint), and possibly more gold.

In fact, I think more Vodafone now in fact......