FIRE v London

November: a generally poor month in the markets, despite US federal shutdown ending after 42 days. Australian equities had worst drop for a while. UK equities were the tallest dwarf.

2025 Budget: Damage assessment The big news in the UK this week was the latest Budget by the Chancellor Rachel Reeves. The scare story in the budget runup All UK readers of this blog will know that the rumours and counter-rumour…

What's the budget done to FatFIREs like me? Here's my take. firevlondon.com/2025/11/30/2... #investing #FatFIRE #budget2025

The mansion tax map: where the money comes from We map the impact of the new “mansion tax” using Land Registry data, showing where the revenue comes from in each postcode and constituency

Great interactive tool - endless fun - well done @danneidle.bsky.social taxpolicy.org.uk/2025/11/27/m...

The perils of top slicing - I sold $GOOG at $255 and $265 in the last month. Heading up to $295 based on this week's results. Thankfully I still hold plenty.

$GOOG is on an absolute tear. I have been top slicing (as it's one of my biggest holdings) above $255 and my holding is still worth more than a month ago.

Sep ’25: Gains continue, and I trim September was a busy month. In the middle of it we saw a disruptive tube strike. I don’t use the tube that much so didn’t expect it to affect me much but two important meetings were pos…

September update - with a slight tweak to the investment strategy firevlondon.com/2025/10/11/s... #investing #portfolioreturns #fire

Why France is at risk of becoming the new sick man of Europe The country is at the conjuncture of several crises at once - but is it fair to blame Macron for 'this shipwreck'?

P.S. France, which is held up as more 'bust' than the UK, has annual debt charges of less than £60bn (€67bn) a year - thanks to its membership of the Euro. 4/4 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article....

Secondly, no wonder the government finances are in such a mess with >£110bn of annual interest charges alone. 3/4. obr.uk/forecasts-in...

Firstly, investors like me are guaranteed 5.25% income for 16 years. Over 5% a year for that long. Compounded, 5.25% more than doubles in 16 years. Risk-free (except for risk UK defaults on debts in that timeframe, which is less zero than it used to be). 2/4

There is something extraordinary about HMT issuing this gilt: 5.25% 2041. 1/4

Weekend reading: the white heat death of innovation* - Monevator Cryptic crypto, plus all the week's best reads

How Britain is on the cutting-edge of bureaucracy, with crypto ETNs the latest exemplar…

Plus all the week's money and investing reads including bits by @ToddWenning @mrmoneymustache @awealthofcs @Noahpinion @paulkrugman and many (many) more!

monevator.com/weekend-read...

Sep '25 markets: bouyant, in a word. S&P has really shaken off the Tariffs Tantrum, with AI/Tech leading the way, and is pulling everything else with it so far as I can see.

Markets in August: US rate cut looking more likely has pulled USD down, but lifts US Equities & Bonds; elsewhere, currencies steady, moderating equity gains, but bonds dip slightly.

I'm being beaten by the Wellcone Trust. But I'm beating Oxford, Cambridge and Harvard. I'll take that. 10 year returns stats. firevlondon.com/monthly-retu...

July's markets - Equities were quite a pleasant place to be, particularly in the UK. Bonds easing off a little bit, everywhere. Tariff shocks nowhere in sight.

Excellent writing by FT's Robert Armstrong re bitcoin

June markets: S&P posted another strong month as tariffs fade from view, tho USD down; UK generally weak, reflecting general gloomy mood. Bonds in UK/US up, Equity in other markets also up.

Swapping a rental property for a share portfolio Having sold my London rental flat, what was I to do next? I’ve paid the £20k+ transaction fees. I have paid off the mortgage. I set aside the amount to pay my Capital Gains Tax, a liability w…

My latest post - on swapping a property investment for stocks/shares portfolio firevlondon.com/2025/06/22/s...

May was a good month for investments - with a slight exception for UK bonds. S&P led the charge, as the TACO meme took hold (slightly denting USD).

Excellent, astute piece by James Max in ££FT on.ft.com/43SmvxZ

BoE cuts rates by 25bps to 4.25%. Time for an update on my portfolio leverage #dontdothis. Loan To Value (green) close to target. Interest costs (pink columns) continuing to fall, though still high relative to a 'free money' era back in 2021. #investing #marginloans

Weekend reading: risky retirements - Monevator What caught my eye this week. I noticed an article in This Is Money this week featuring a reader upset that their pension hadn’t been life-styled into lower-risk assets as they’d hoped. Instead, they ...

Thanks @monevator.bsky.social for the Weekend Reading link #investing #realestate #buytolet monevator.com/weekend-read...

A stupid decision to sell my rental property I sold my rental property last year, after owning it over 20 years. It’s a lovely property, worth around £1m, right in the heart of London – near the middle of the map below. I used to …

Latest blog post - on mistakes I made deciding to sell my rental flat firevlondon.com/2025/04/20/a... #investing #realestate

Mar ’25: Anticipating tariffs What’s in the news? Talking about the news in March, give nwhat’s been happing on the tariff front over the last few weeks, seems a bit pointless. We entered March with a lot of drama a…

My write-up about my portfolio in March - which admittedly feels quite a long time ago #investing firevlondon.com/2025/04/11/m...

March markets.... just before the plunge. GBP sandwiched between falling Dollars (USD & AUD) and rising EUR. Equities dropping in anticipation of tariff-mania. Bonds quiet, and uncorrelated to equities (for once).

The stock markets are swooning, but my 12 month return is still (barely) positive. Still very ignorable.

not over 1 year it isn't - it's about 4% off vs GBP for instance

For once, Bonds (Yellow) are doing what they are supposed to do vs Equities (Blue) - be uncorrelated.

8 days later.... S&P500 is still up 5% y-on-y (a target that has moved 8d, admittedly)

Two limit orders filling on the last day of the month round out a busy month for the portfolio firevlondon.com/diary/