My personal pension fund did alright last year, mainly because I had a decent amount of commodity and tobacco investments, the firm dollar helped more than hindered and when the world markets got volatile I embraced it rather than ran away into a load of cash. Obviously, as with every year as an actual investor, I bogged plenty of things up too. Back in early September, I said I was going to be “still leaving Associated British Foods (ABF) to the experts”. Initially that worked out alright as the 1400p share price it was became more like a 1200p one. By contrast, today though it is north of 1800p.

Hello Share People. That big dilemma is still with us. If you’d aped me and swapped your shares for cash in the Spring, you made the right call. But you need to be in it to win it. And there’s no point in staying in cash if the big share rally is starting. And we all know it will, eventually. But what should we do right now.

Hello share collectors.  This old punter is still mostly in cash. There’s nothing in the runes makes me believe shares will rally soon. In fact, the economic indicators are getting worse. However, we still have some sectors that could thrive even in the alligator swamp. And some that will be bitten more than others.

The way the markets are currently it feels like there is plenty of risk in buying anything, even in the sectors that are expected to remain strong in the coming months.

Hello Share Trekkers. As Mr Rising Price is really beginning to bite now, it’s timely to look at ways people are cutting their spending. Because increased economising will obviously affect the profits, and hence the share prices, of some companies. But not others. Here are some sectors which you might want to avoid, at least pro tem.

Hello Share Toters. This old punter is downsizing. That means selling stuff on eBay. That was very profitable in the lockdowns as ordering by mail boomed. Now far fewer folks are buying my tasty gear. Latest figures on online buying bear me out. According to the Office of National Statistics, retail sales fell by an unexpected 1.4% in March. And February's sales figures were also revised down. Most of this decline being due to online selling.

Gold analyst, Jeffrey Christian, believes it is clear the world is shifting towards higher gold prices.

Hello, Share Tasters. One of the most popular shops on the street is Primark. It’s had a hard time of the pandemic though, as it doesn’t do online trading. Never mind, its stores are opening now. And thanks mainly to that, its parent company Associated British Foods (ABF) has seen a surge in revenue. It’s currently up by nearly a half on last time, reaching £3.6 billion.

Hello, Share Munchers. Most indicators point to a surge in share prices during the summer. So much for the city adage ‘Go away in May and don’t come back till Leger Day (early September)’. It’s always wise to keep at least 10% of our assets in cash rather than shares. But I’ve just exchanged some of my dough for stock in expectation that a share boom happens.

Hello, Share Placers. Have you heard of the circular economy? It’s taking off big time. And you can buy shares in a growing army of companies that are involved in it.  The pandemic has given a huge boost to the circular economy. But what exactly is it?

Picking shares that are worth buying at the moment is a real minefield as the situation with Covid-19 is changing all the time. It would be very easy just to sit here and say ‘sell everything’ and you could probably stick a pin in a list of stocks at the moment to pick a sell recommendation, and the chances are that it would go down, at least in the near time!

TW Health warning. This is fake news from Project Fear. Over to our resident Euro loon Malcolm who writes: Hello, Share Squeezers. At present, the Footsie has not been bashed in by Brexit fears. However, while most of the world has seen a big surge in share values, the UK has not. And if we get a no deal Brexit, as Boris could precipitate, shares in certain sectors could be hit. So if you think that a disorderly exit will happen, you might want to consider swapping out of these sectors first. Here they are. 

A tiny AIM investment company called Agronomics (ANIC) suddenly seems to have become very popular, but I think you’d have to be mad to be paying the current share price. If we look at it under its previous name of Port Erin Biopharma Investments (PEBI), before the recent change to Agronomics, it immediately becomes apparent that its main area of investments is in the pharmaceutical sector, with several listed and non-listed holdings...

Hello, Share Puddlers.  It’s very possible that the next leader of the Tory party will be a tougher negotiator than Mrs May. This would be more likely to end in a no-deal Brexit. So how will this affect the companies we share shifters invest in? Here are some precautions you might take.

If you look at the AIM market it is full of companies that have been promising the earth for years, but have yet to actually achieve much of any real substance.

Premier Foods (PFD) is one that I have been following with interest over the past week or so since a potential offer for the company was revealed.