Why this exists.

Investing is easy to rewrite with hindsight. The winners are easy to remember. Bad entries, broken theses and stocks sold too early have a habit of becoming less clear with time.

Writing down what I bought, why I bought it, what I expected to happen and what would make me change my mind leaves a proper record. Publishing it adds another layer of accountability and means I can’t quietly rewrite the story afterwards.

It turns out the fear of looking stupid in public can be a surprisingly useful risk-management tool.

That is the point of the journal. Not to be right all the time, but to build a better process over time.

I focus on UK small and micro-cap stocks, mostly on AIM, because this is where I think a private investor can still build an edge.

Coverage is limited, liquidity is often poor and many companies are too small for institutions to own in meaningful size. That creates plenty of bad businesses. It also creates periods of genuine mispricing.

I’m usually looking for a business the market has written off or misunderstood, where better trading, a repaired balance sheet, a catalyst or a change in sentiment could force a reassessment.

The business comes first. Charts help me think about timing, risk and whether the market might be starting to change its mind.

The portfolio is published as a monthly snapshot rather than a live feed. Positions can change between updates, and articles reflect what I knew and believed on the date they were written.

I write in the first person because this is my own record. I try to explain the upside, the risks, what could break the thesis and what would make me sell.

I may hold the stocks I write about, and I’ll say so. Views change. Positions change. When they do, I’ll update the record rather than pretend the original view was always right.