The portfolio has stumbled a little through the end of November, with Orica leading the charge in the worng direction, now down about 11% since I bought it. There's been some so-so news (axing employees to cut costs, sale of it's non-mining chemicals division) and some commodities noise in recent weeks. I still back Orica as a company that will continue to be a market-leader regardless of wider mining conditions.
While the portfolio has lost a little value, we have had the 2nd-largest single-day ASX200 fall of 2014, the largest two-day drop since Aug 3, 2011 and the worst start to December in history on the wider market, so everyone is hurting. We don't measure our success or failure in such short time-frames, but I share just to keep a little perspective. The All Ords has tumbled more than twice as far as the portfolio since inception.
HFA Holdings lost some of the momentum it had given our portfolio at last review, but measuring the price at such short intervals will give results that sway like that from time to time. I'm stoked to have HFA providing some exposure to the financial industry at the current price.
New Purchase:
Woolworths Limited's share price has taken a stumble in the last few weeks, and I have decided to jump in with all of the remaining cash in the portfolio (~$2,700). Woolworths first quarter earnings report had some lagging results in petrol and Big W, which seems to have spooked investors and brought the share price down. Total sales excluding Petrol were up 4.1% - Woolies is going to be ok.
It means Woolworths becomes our smallest holding, and also removes the flexibility for another move like this in the short term as all remaining cash is being invested. This is a pretty risky strategy, but with a long-term outlook and a strong dividend paying portfolio I'm confident in the overall risk profile. Woolworths is a proven performer with a strong dividend history, and we're stoked to jump in at this price. Whether I have picked the bottom remains to be seen, but I'm not fussed because this is a great company with a share price reacting strongly to a results from a single quarter! This will be a blip on the radar one day.
