Ann: Change in substantial holding, page-15

Hi @Just_a_guy , BRG is another that I have bought recently and effectively hold REA through NWS, my problem is being fully invested and I was mostly invested before this big down turn (down around 15% last time I checked).  Along with many of the posters on here it is the companies in my portfolio that are being hit hardest, IFL for good reasons, but most others like ARB are driven by sentiment and to some extent falling house prices.  The stuff I am less interested in such as miners and the big 4 banks seem to be holding up better than quality stocks, indeed BHP has barely seen a blip.  Miners and banks are mostly in the too hard basket for me - miners require a thorough understanding of reserves and banks an estimation on future bad debts, not to mention both are highly cyclical.

Agree that the 5% risk free return jumps to 7% or so after tax and fees.  Though if the companies above fell by another 15-20%, ARB and similar ilk would be trading on 16 to 17 times and all of a sudden the equation becomes more palatable.  

It has been painful watching a couple of years of savings vanish in a few short months - should have had a higher cash weighting!  That horse has bolted and I figure all I can do is hold on and add if things get really cheap, buy more.  If REA should get into the 40s on market sentiment and not an earnings downgrade I would be buying alongside you.

PS Couldn't agree more with @MarsC on margin loans.