Roller coaster ride

Still not up to much so short post.

This week has been a white knuckle ride. Thursday saw two big news events. Unexpectedly the EU cut interest rates indicating continuing worries about the European economies. The US announced much better than expected GDP figures. The result was a dive in world stock markets as the worry that QE might come to an end outweighed a potentially lower interest rate scenario and a stronger US economy.

Friday the US employment figures came out and not only were they much better than had been expected, but revisions of earlier estimates indicated that the employment level had been better for several months. It was extraordinary, the economic news was no different from Thursday and yet the markets recovered. A new high on the DOW and a strong upward move on the S&P.

I'm going to stick to describing what happened to my portfolio. Particularly all those Chinese shares I now hold on the US market. Over the day those shares dropped 5%. It's the sort of loss that left me reeling. Also it meant that a decision would soon have to be made about cutting losses. I'm lucky, I do not suffer sleepless nights. I take the loss on the chin and wait for tomorrow to guide me as to what to do next.

And then Friday. My shares stormed past Thursday's high and made a rise of 5.5%. I include charts of two of my winners. It keeps my spirits up. This is not a game for those of a nervous disposition, but I find it is worth reminding myself what can happen when I get it right. All that's left to do is to get it right more often than I get it wrong.