Panic stations

I am embarrassed to admit it! The sharp fall in the China market on Tuesday threw me into a panic. The weakness in the FTSE did not help. In a less agitated frame of mind I would have realized that the threat of an earlier interest rate rise was behind the fall in UK shares.

I was blinded by the fact that I had such a large profit to protect. So, foolishly, I decided to take my money off the table on what turned out to be yet another spectacular day for my selection of China shares..

I was lucky. Some of the move up in my shares took place first thing - not a good enough to make me change my mind because, I reasoned, shares like these can turn on a sixpence. So even though I was selling wholesale, I did rack up some early morning profits.

As the day wore on and prices continued to rise. I admitted my mistake to myself and bought back in the evening. Not too late to pick up more profit in the markets' closing hours. I managed about two and a half percent - on a day when I could have made about twice as much.

Lessons? My share picking system has not failed me. Big decisions made at start of day are often wrong - I must be more careful and strict with myself.

Here is a chart of my selection of shares. It shows why I had such a bumpy ride and why it turned out well in the end.

I have another decision to make now. My SIPP account is now moving forward nicely but my ISA account is stuck in a rut. UK shares just do not cut the mustard. The US generates much better profits far more quickly. But I am not allowed to hold foreign currency in my ISA account. The practical problem here is that exchanging currency into dollars and out again costs 4%. I have been too mean to make this payment up to now but achieving the sort of returns that these Chinese shares have provided makes paying this charge a viable option. It adversely affects the risk profile but I can stand that.

The other problem is that not all foreign shares quoted on the US market are eligible for an ISA and a brief investigation suggests that most of my China shares would be ruled out for that reason. So back to the drawing board.

My medical investigation went as well as these things do. Unfortunately It did not show all that the doctor needed to see so it needs to be repeated. What fun!