Since April this year, when it reached a high of $49.81, BHP, which is my major shareholding, has been in a slow but steady decline, owing to all the financial turmoil in the world.
At the time of our departure for Bali, it was still holding out at $44.95 but today's renewed turmoil in the USA and Europe saw it close at $38.12. That's a drop of $11.69 - or 23.5% - from its high in April! Multiply that by the number of shares I'm holding - no, I won't give you a hint - and you're looking at a lot of BIR BINTANGs; it may have even bought the brewery itself!
As my old friend Harry Hindsight keeps asking me, "Why didn't you sell then?" Well, Harry, for one thing I don't possess your eponymous vision; for another, BHP is essentially a $50-share (although some analysts have since revised the target price down to $47) and it will return to its full price in the long run. Of course, as John Maynard Keynes observed, in the long run we're all dead anyway so why worry?
In the meantime, the fully franked dividends will keep me in the lifestyle I'm not accustomed to.
P.S. Monday morning, 8th of August, back at "Riverbend", and the bloddbath continues, with BHP down to an intra-day low of $36.35.
