At the end of March, one of those share market newsletters I subscribe to tried spruiking another more premium newsletter dealing with share market volatility, talking about ‘Big Wednesday’ – a period of great volatility and falls.
I wrote about that matter at the time. Soon after, the Trump tariff announcements caused some falls, followed immediately afterwards with great rises – a kangaroo market as some financial journalist called it.
That newsletter didn’t talk about Big Wednesday after that for a few weeks. Last week, after almost 2 months, they started predicting Big Wednesday yet again. Just as they have predicted it at various other times in the past few years.
I’m not going to listen to those predictions. I am inclined to think that a prediction about the megadraw jackpots this week on both Auslotto and Powerball are just as likely to come true.
What I think the takeaway from my experience at the time of the Covid bear market in early 2020 is that sitting on one’s share portfolio instead of trying to time the market is a safer bet for long term wealth.
Today was a very happy and totally unexpected day on the ASX for me. Washington Soul H Pattison, commonly known as Soul Patts, announced a merger with Brickworks.
For my entire life (56 years), Soul Patts and Brickworks have been in a strategic alliance where they have been significant shareholders in each other’s company. This has takeover proofed both businesses, although there have been raiders and shareholder advocates who have tried to undermine this arrangement.
With the merger, this will create a $14 billion conglomerate, which will probably be even more takeover proof than the cross shareholding arrangement.
As of ten seconds ago, the share price of Soul Patts shares have surged $5.64 since the opening bell this morning. That represents (given I have 5000 shares) a gain of $28,200 today. This has never happened to me before – mostly sudden share market movements have down seriously south.
I assume that profit takers will liquidate their holdings, and that once the endorphins wear off, the share price will drop again.
But I’m not selling for a quick profit. Soul Patts is the closest thing we have in Australia to Berkshire Hathaway, and I am holding on for the long haul.
Lost For Words! 