“Amid the carnage, one truism holds firm – Boring is Best”

(by Richard Holway) This time not my words but the headline from The Times on Saturday. Readers are probably bored too with me restating the truism which I rather like to think I ‘invented’ back in 1992. (Well, I can’t discover any earlier use of it than my own to describe companies with long term consistent performance records with equally predicable forward earnings streams).

My two remaining Holway Boring Award Holders are Capita and Sage. It is interesting to note that both have out-performed the FTSE100 year (albeit that that means they have both lost less). The FTSE100 is down 39% YTD. Sage is down 27% but Capita is down a ’mere’ 12%.

Although I sold almost all my equity holdings a year back (something I recorded at the time on HotViews) I kept both Capita and Sage – a decision I do not regret. My other tech favourite – Apple – is another story. I sold half my Apple holding when I had doubled my money. Apple hit $200 at end 2007. Apple closed Friday at $90. Clearly a decision I only got half right!