Balanced View: Intelligent Discussion of Market Trends

hatman,

I agree with much of what you say re Investment Trusts, however there are still opportunities, as I'm sure you will agree.

I do not play "bog standard" trusts as you are at the whims of the discount. All of my plays have been at the short end of the splits sector, and in particular Zero's, where discounts have to narrow. My particular favourite MGB, has been a superb performer over the 14 months since I started buying them, with performance coming in NAV as well as share price. Because of the "Aberdeen" effect these were ludicrously priced, but Bruce Stout has done a great job in any case.

Nowt there are few bargains out there, my attention is moving towards Income shares, where the dividend streams cover much of the share price. The suggestion I put forward gives you the exposure to markets, but at the same time enabling you to stay substantially in cash. I am yet to put this into practise for clients, but is an option worth considering.

My main play at the moment is Long CSFI/Short deep ITM FTSE Calls. CSFI have less than a year to run and can be bought on a 20% discount(stripping out dividend stream)to NAV. There is a direct correllation between the level of the FTSE and the wind-up price, so it should be a no lose strategy.

tiltonboy