What is a 'safe' and simple investment stock portfolio for family and friends?

I am often asked by family and friends what they should invest in. This is an extremely difficult question because I don't want to be disowned by them if they lose their money!

Stock and Shares investment is a long term commitment. 

They can go up-diddly-up-up or down-diddly-down-down! 

Be prepared - in some years your investment pot may decrease a lot in value but don't sell!

If you can't stand to see your portfolio lose 20% in a year, then you could choose a nice safe savings account instead! However, savings accounts barely keep up with inflation. If you are a high rate tax payer and put £100K into a savings account paying 5%, then in the UK each year you will pay 40% of that 5K interest to the tax man! If cashing out after 5 years, due to loss of compounding and the tax difference, you will be about £5K better off with a 5% gain ETF even if in a taxable S&S account, than in a 5% savings account.

When investing in Stocks and Shares we must consider:

• Is an income required (Accumulating or Dividend portfolio)?
• Tax laws in your country of residence and using them to your best advantage
• Attitude to risk and loss (would you mind if your portfolio went down 40% in a year?)
• Do you need access to the money within a few years - e.g. to buy a house or car?

Try this free website for great Stock Market heat maps!

 Get todays heatmap!

At last, no more Trading 212 'scam' videos!

If you use Trading 212 to invest in Stocks and Shares or a Cash ISA, you may have noticed that the main screen can be very misleading and it is impossible to know if we have performed well or badly compared to other investors.

Here is an old screenshot which used to just show the total cost price of all the current shares in the portfolio and the gain on those current shares (e.g. current gain on £100k+ account is only £182). However, we do not know how much was deposited into the account in total or what the true return is. This account could have had total deposits of £100,000 for instance, and made various buys and sells over time. £8918 made over a period of 3 months is impressive, but over 5 years it is not so great! The gain of 0.17% does not sound impressive, but if the account had £100k made in deposits, it has actually made £8918 and if that was over a period of exactly one year, that is a 9% true gain (not 0.17%)!

What are the UK equivalents of the USA ETFs like VOO, SPY, VTI, VT, QQQ, VTV, SCHD, etc.?

ETFs like VOO (Vanguard S&P 500 ETF) and SCHD (Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF) are not available on UK broker platforms such as Trading 212, Interactive Investor, etc.

You may have seen YouTube videos which recommend these ETFs.

Here are some equivalents which are usually available to UK and non-USA citizens.

Whole market Funds

VT & VTWAX

Debugging grub2 menus that won't fully boot (e.g. ArchLinux ISOs)

If you need to construct a grub2 menu, but then find that it does not work, you can add in some extra debug lines. For instance the grub2 read command will wait for you to press the RETURN key before continuing execution and an echo command can be used to track progress and view grub2 variable values.

Here is an example grub2 menu display output screen...

and here is the grub2 menu that was used...

menuentry "Arch Linux with Parameters" {

set iso_path="/_ISO/LINUX/archlinux-2024.12.01-x86_64.iso"

search --no-floppy -f --set=root $iso_path

probe -u $root --set=archiso_img_dev_uuid

loopback loop $iso_path

ls

echo

ls (loop)/

echo

ls /

echo

ls /_ISO/LINUX/

echo

echo archiso_img_dev_uuid=${archiso_img_dev_uuid}  iso_path=${iso_path}  root=${root} 

read

linux (loop)/arch/boot/x86_64/vmlinuz-linux archisobasedir=arch img_dev=UUID=${archiso_img_dev_uuid} img_loop=${iso_path}

initrd (loop)/arch/boot/x86_64/initramfs-linux.img

read

}

This menu sets iso_path to the path of the ISO file we wish to boot.

Should I buy this ETF due to the forthcoming ban on TikTok?

TikTok is set to be banned in US law from the beginning of 2025 unless it changes ownership from the current Chinese Bytedance owners. If banned, will other Western countries follow suit too?

If this goes ahead, there is no similar alternative to TikTok, so advertising businesses and video businesses will then go to Instagram, Facebook (both owned by Meta as well as Threads and WhatsApp) and Google/Alphabet (YouTube).

You could therefore invest in Meta and Alphabet now, but if TikTok's Supreme Court appeal is successful, or Trump somehow quashes the ruling, then you could be looking at a large loss!

The ETF IUCM also has top holdings in Meta and Alphabet and its price has increased recently.

How to prepare for a stock market crash

Warren Buffet is accumulating a great deal of cash at the moment. After selling more of Berkshire's equity portfolio, including massive portions of its stakes in Apple (AAPL -0.52%) and Bank of America (BAC 0.72%), the company ended the third quarter with a record $325 billion in cash and Treasury bills on its balance sheet. That's up $48 billion from the previous quarter.

His trick has always been to buy good companies at a low price and hold. It seems he is getting ready to buy again which perhaps means he is expecting to see a bear run and can buy good companies at a cheaper price.

WB doesn't see much gain in top quality large companies at the moment. They seem overvalued. Small/mid-cap companies are not worth his time and effort (he could buy them all outright if he wanted with $325 billion). So I think he is expecting a bit of a correction but meanwhile is probably earning a nice 5%+ on his cash pile whilst he waits.

So what should we do if the SHTF?

ETFs for AI, Robotics and CyberSecurity

I think technology will pay a big part in modernising industry. Labour is becoming increasingly expensive while AI and robotics now have big advantages. Robots can work 24 hours a day, they don't need toilet breaks or get hangovers or go on strike. They are cheap to run and work really fast.

Self-driving cars are a distraction however. Like NASA developing rockets to get us to the moon when really the super-powers just wanted the technology to develop nuclear ICBMs, with AI and robotics, we develop this technology to then build semi-dedicated robots to replace our human workforce.

AI robots can also be good for the environment. Consider a small robot vehicle with four legs, cameras, GPS, LED lights and pincers for arms. Now train it to recognise wheat plants and weeds and set it down in your newly-planted field of wheat. It will work 24/7 in that field and de-weed it for you without pay! It will have a solar powered charging station to dock with every few hours. No weed killers needed! Now also equip it with an insecticide spray and train it to only spray wheat plants which show signs of infestation. This reduces the use and cost of insecticides and means more environmentally-friendly ones can be used.

Such devices have already been developed!

ETFs

So I am picking two ETFs for my 'risky but high returns' experimental portfolio:

Is now a good time to buy UK FTSE shares?

The FTSE 100 index stands just 15% higher than its level of 31 December 1999, representing a compound annual gain of barely 0.5% per annum. 

UK investors, insurance companies and pension companies have started to see the light and are leaving UK stocks for the shinier US market. A few UK companies are even starting to de-list from the FTSE and move over to the New York/NASDAQ stock exchanges.

However, if you discount the USA's 'Magnificent Seven', the UK has still performed quite well. Good UK companies are well diversified and pay good dividends. The UK also has some solid top performers as shown below (gains in 1 year):

• RR      Rolls Royce 67%
• NWG  NatWest Group 63%
• SMDS Smith(DS) Group 51%
• HL       Hargreaves Lansdown 49%
• BARC Barclays 48%

Which core ETF should I pick?

Many people like to have a core+satellite approach with their portfolio.

A popular choice for a core ETF is either:

1. MSCI global index ETF (SWDA or HMWO)
2. MSCI global Quality index ETF (XDEQ)
3. S&P 500 index ETF (VUAA or VNRA or CSPX)

For the past 5 years, the S&P 500 has shown much better returns than the MSCI global index (SWDA) however.

If we look at the performance over the last 5 years, the S&P 500 ETF VUAA has consistently performed better than SWDA or XDEQ and CSPX is slightly better.

ETFs better than EQQQ or S&P 500 in Q4 2024!

Amazon does not feature much in high-performance Tech and Comms ETFs such as IITU or IUCM and comprises only 5% within the Nasdaq EQQQ ETF.

Some Consumer Discretionary ETFs hold a large proportion of Amazon (30%) and also Tesla (15%) such as XUCD (or XSCD for GBP). If you think Amazon and Tesla will do well next year when Trump takes over, this may continue to show good gains. I think Amazon will continue to show good performance next year although import tariffs and tightening advertising regulations in the EU and UK may adversely affect the Amazon online retail business.

Note: The ETF IUCD is very similar to XUCD and is available on Trading 212.

Consumer Discretionary (blue) has shown good gains recently, mainly due to Tesla (and Amazon).

Here are the top holdings of XUCD/IUCD:

Compare holdings:

EQQQ is a compromise, but as there is not too much overlap between XUCD and my two favourite top Tech S&P 500 ETFs IITU (60% in Apple, NVidia, Microsoft) and IUCM (30% Alphabet A+C) you could also add XUCD or IUCD to these two Tech ETFs - see below.

Top stock tips (2024/11/24)

Here are some stocks/funds which seem to be performing well which you may like to research further for investment in the near future.

Raymond James Financial  (RJF)   least risky, 17 P/E

Aberdeen International   (AAB)    

Victory Capital Holdings (VCTR)  currently overvalued?

WisdomTree Inc           (WT)             

Royal London Global Select      

AMD      (AMD)                   cheap buy at present - hold for future gains

Nvidia   (NVDA)                  for 2025 - buy on dip?

Palantir (PLTR)                  risky as has very high value and P/E ???

Nvidia and Victory have ex-dividend in early Dec.   RJF is least risky

Also keep your eye on ASML which seems very undervalued at the moment.

Are Tech stocks safe?

Tech and Financials should both show good performance.

I have favoured XDEQ for world quality stocks with less in the USA and which hold approx 30% Tech but less than 10% in finance. I also have some EQQQ which performs very well when Tech is bullish. However, the Vanguard FTSE ETF VNRG is strong on Tech and Financials and may perform better in the mid-term and has outperformed XDEQ and EQQQ recently.

Please do your own research. This is not financial advice. Most of these are very volatile.

How to invest in Crypto?

Many people are tempted to trade in the cryptocurrency sector.

You could just buy some crypto currency such as Bitcoin or Ethereum from a broker such a Coinbase (COIN) or CRYPTO for Bitcoin. You need to also bear in mind that any crystallised gains made on a sell transaction of cryptocurrency may be a taxable event (e.g. Capital Gains Tax in the UK) and should be declared. Coinbase will inform HMRC of any large crypto inflows (I think around £5k+/yr going into crypto assets).

Many people invest in MicroStrategy (Nasdaq:MSTR) which loosely follows Bitcoin's performance (though you would be hard pressed to know what it does from the description!). MSTR uses investors money to buy Bitcoin and they will own approx. 4% of all Bitcoins soon. However, the share price has gained x4 more this year than Bitcoin has! It seems mad to me! It can be bought inside a ISA or SIPP unlike bitcoins or Ethereum, and so is popular with crypto investors.

There is also LON:ARB and Coinbase (COIN):

Another alternative is to buy a crypto ETF such as VanEck Crypto and Blockchain Innovators UCITS ETF (DAPP/DAGB). This can be bought within an ISA and thus gains are free of all tax.

The VanEck Crypto and Blockchain Innovators UCITS ETF seeks to track the MVIS Global Digital Assets Equity index. The MVIS Global Digital Assets Equity index tracks companies from around the world that are active in the blockchain industry.

 

The ETF's TER (total expense ratio) amounts to 0.65% p.a.. The VanEck Crypto and Blockchain Innovators UCITS ETF is the only ETF that tracks the MVIS Global Digital Assets Equity index. The ETF replicates the performance of the underlying index by full replication (buying all the index constituents). The dividends in the ETF are accumulated and reinvested in the ETF.

 

The VanEck Crypto and Blockchain Innovators UCITS ETF has 233m GBP assets under management. The ETF was launched on 30 April 2021 and is domiciled in Ireland.

I have added a few ETFs below from Justetf.com. The 'Trump effect' around Nov 4th is easy to see:

Trump Trades (stocks to buy now)

Trump stocks sectors that should show good performance in next 2 years are (with example ETFs):

• Crypto - e.g. DAPP, BLKC, CRYPTO
• Finance - e.g. IUFS 
• Industry (esp. Tech and Tesla) - e.g. IUSU, IITU or XLKQ, IUCM
• Oil/Energy - e.g. IESU
• Defense - e.g. DFNS  
• S&P 500 and Nasdaq - e.g. EQQQ, HSPA

Personally, of these, I am just investing in only some of them: EQQQ, IUFS, IUSU, IITU, IUCM and also some IESU (2%).

The Trump effect (and what should I buy now?)

My core ETFs (80+% of portfolio) over the last 6 months to 1 year have been (in descending order of value):

• SWDA MSCI Global ETF
• XDEQ World Quality Factor ETF (may change to XDEM soon as includes financials)
• Royal London Global Equity
• XLKQ Xtrackers MSCI World Quality ETF (better perf. at 46% than SWDA 26%, XDEQ 25%, EQQQ 30%, XDEM 31% in last year!)
• IITU    iShares S&P 500 Info Tech Sect ETF GBP
• IUCM iShares S&P 500 Comm Sect ETF USD
• IUFS   iShares S&P 500 Financial ETF USD
• EQQQ Invesco NASDAQ 100 (I will be increasing this soon)

Following the USA election results, the 'Trump effect' has given all of these a boost of between 2%-5% in the last few days.

My core ETFs

Should you keep your emergency 'cash pot' inside a Flexible ISA?

In the UK, we can put up to £20K into a tax-free ISAs each year and any capital gains are completely tax free.

Emergency cash pot

Many people (and particularly the self-employed) will have an emergency 'cash pot' which they can withdraw cash from should an emergency arise, such as if being unable to work due to accident or health, loss of job, unforeseen expenses, etc. 

If you need to withdraw funds (e.g. due to temporary loss of income) it is best to withdraw from your emergency cash pot which typically holds at least 3-6 months of income rather than sell your high-gain stocks/ETFs and be out of the market.

Unless you are retired and are drawing a good pension, you may need an emergency pot that is large enough to support you for at least 6 months or so, especially if you don't have any other 'cash' resources.

This pot should not be invested in volatile assets because it needs to be available at all times - if you invested it in the S&P500 and the stock market went down 50% just when you needed the cash, you would only have half the emergency funds you thought you had!

When the s*it hits the fan...

Should you pick a currency-hedged ETF if you don't live in the USA?

Some ETFs are 'hedged'. This usually means they are currency-hedged.

Currency-hedged ETFs are designed to protect investors from currency risk. They are a simple, cheap and effective way for small investors to access currency management techniques that were once the preserve of major financial institutions.  

Currency risk affects you negatively when your home currency strengthens against a foreign currency – reducing the value of your assets held in that foreign currency. That means UK based investors are exposed to currency risk on all non-hedged ETFs that trade in overseas securities.  

Currency-hedged ETFs are useful because they remove the uncertainty of exchange rate fluctuations. They sterilise your portfolio against the effect of currency so that your overseas investment doesn’t gain when the pound falls or lose when the pound rises.  

Let us look at the US Dollar versus the GB Pound.

This Android phone tip may save you $THOUSANDS one day!

So picture this - you have an android phone (e.g. android 14 or 15) and you are happily using it in your favourite pub or eating house. You are checking your emails, reading Reddit, playing a game, talking to someone or reading a text message - just the usual stuff.

So, of course, at this precise moment your phone is unlocked simply because you are using it.

You have taken the precaution set up a SIM card PIN however, so that even if someone steals your locked phone and puts your SIM card into their own unlocked phone, they will not be able to steal from you by using your phone number to receive SMS password reset messages or call premium rate numbers. You think you are pretty safe...

But now, all of a sudden, someone snatches your phone out of your hand and since they now have your unlocked phone, they can easily access your SMS messages and emails. This means they can now reset your bank PINs and email passwords which then locks you out of your own accounts and gives them full access instead of you! Google will helpfully fill in any of your passwords! Two factor authentication is not a problem because the second factor is your phone!

Best long-term ETFs for UK investors (and retire with £3 million)!

If you just want to invest in the stock market, say with £100 each and every month (called 'dollar cost averaging') automatically taken from your bank account a few days after your pay day, what ETFs should you buy?

US investors, including the famous Warren Buffet, say to just invest in the S&P 500 but UK investors may also want to diversify outside US stocks because we are affected by foreign exchange rates as well as a 15% dividend withholding tax applied to US dividends.

However, US stocks have performed much better than UK or even EU stocks, even allowing for exchange rates and foreign taxes, so we have a difficult decision.

Generate autounattend.xml files for Windows 10/11

You may be familiar with https://www.windowsafg.com/ which helps you to generate unattend.xml file to automate Windows installations. Easy2Boot also includes a utility XMLtoE2B which can be used with WAFG.

There is also a site at https://schneegans.de/windows/unattend-generator/ which you may find useful.

These can be useful if you are installing Windows using Ventoy or Easy2Boot.