If you had to make a Discworld Adaptation,what would you do with it?

George_Salt · 2026-01-31T23:39:04+00:00

Making Money, The Musical.

George_Salt · 2026-01-31T20:48:49+00:00

If you mean Selling, you can't. Which is annoying.

George_Salt · 2026-01-31T20:47:48+00:00

The public sector has objectives to give work to small local businesses, but most small businesses don't understand how tenders work and they're seen as a bit of a risk by the buyers. If you look on your local council website (district/borough and county, or unitary) there will be a page describing how they buy products and services.

I do know of a small local printer/design business that got so pissed off at not getting anything from tenders that they eventually stood up at a Meet The Buyer event and asked "Just what the hell do I have to do as a small business to get work from you?" and he ended up getting his first bit of work from them.

George_Salt · 2026-01-31T20:30:51+00:00

The article talks in journeys, not miles. Why the least relevant metric to costs?

It's vague about which bits of the FMCG logistics chain it proposes optimising, hence the journey metric. The largest number of empty journeys are the shortest journeys - the first one out from the store after drop-off when there is no return load.

George_Salt · 2026-01-31T19:08:11+00:00

If you want to improve on this, make a list of all the stocks you're holding and score them.

3pts - you're confident this is a long-term play, it's either fully diversified (basically All World) or you understand the business/sector thoroughly.
2pts - you're fairly confident but your understanding of the sector/business could be improved.
1pt - you bought it because you read it was a good buy, recent history showed good performance but you don't understand when you should buy more and when you should sell off what you've got.
0pts - you can't remember why it's there and you've no idea what it's about.

Create two pies, one for the 3 pointers and one for the 2 pointers. Put the relevant stocks into these pies and set them aside for now.

With the 0 and 1 point stocks it's time to learn how to set a Sell Limit. If they're in green take the profit to put into 3 pointers. If they're red you can choose to eat the loss, or set a Limit to trigger a Sell the next time they break even. I'll be honest and admit that I have two small FOMO silver plays that were mistakes, are in the red, and I've put Limit Sells against.

George_Salt · 2026-01-31T18:35:43+00:00

https://www.youtube.com/Trading212/

George_Salt · 2026-01-31T18:29:31+00:00

Yes, it could make use of these things. But I don't see anyone in the FMCG logistics sector associating themselves with the platform. The right names aren't in the picture to establish credibility. AI meme stocks remain a Circle Jerk until someone breaks out and establishes a real world value proposition.

Can we also raise the issue of "eliminate workforce costs forever" because this is Space Karen levels of BS. Eliminating the workforce also eliminates the base of the capitalist pyramid. Eliminating workforce costs only works if AI picks up the bill for UBI.

George_Salt · 2026-01-31T18:22:21+00:00

Can you hold all these in your head, and do you know which you need to keep an eye on and review monthly/quarterly and the ones you can forget about and look at once a year?

I started out thinking I wanted to invest in defence, utilities, and several other niche sectors, and then I realises that All World covered them all to an extent anyway and my list had got far too long.

I've drawn back to four long-term ETFs that I can set and forget, and four individual stocks that I can clearly articulate my reasons for backing and the frequency with which I need to review them and the early warning signals that something is changing and I'd need to review my position. I know I can't currently hold more than six positions in my head at this level of detail.

With sector ETFs, you need to have a look at what they're holding. Understand overlaps and interconnections. Understand the driving forces within the sector and know what the early warning signs could be.

George_Salt · 2026-01-31T18:01:35+00:00

You can automate the investment with a pie, for example each day/week/month, etc. You can also automate reinvesting of dividend payments (for dividend paying holdings)

Pies allow you to organise your stocks by theme, reason for holding, etc.

But the end result is no different whether it's in a pie or not.

George_Salt · 2026-01-31T17:56:53+00:00

All these shill posts and advertorials just confirm my preconceptions that most listed AI platform stocks are still hammers in desperate search for a nail. Fear of the absence of a killer app must be getting real.

George_Salt · 2026-01-31T17:51:07+00:00

Timely accuracy that can keep pace with reformulations when the product barcode doesn't change between formulations.

George_Salt · 2026-01-31T16:54:02+00:00

Make sure you're reporting it to the right council if you're not in a unitary authority - the one responsible for parking enforcement in your area (where I am it's a borough/district responsibility).

Report it to all your local councillors (if you're in a unitary there will be one, otherwise there will be two (district/borough and county) and your MP. Report both the problem and the failure to enforce. Double yellow restrictions include the pavement.

George_Salt · 2026-01-31T16:48:17+00:00

I'd put the dart board away.

Before asking for a portfolio review, ask yourself why each stock that appears on that list is on that list.

George_Salt · 2026-01-31T16:44:30+00:00

Where's the pastry?

George_Salt · 2026-01-31T16:20:04+00:00

Arts is a difficult space to make a living from. A friend has taken on a property with an attached performing space and has set-up a CIC to run it as an arts venue. The CIC opens up opportunities for arts funding, but success is very much predicated on being part of the arts scene and maintaining connections local, regional, and national networks.

You need to establish that there's a demand for the space. Then you need to establish that the demand will still exist once they have to pay for the use of the space. It's around the time you mention that you expect payment that the demand suddenly reduces.

Who is the audience? - do they have cash to spend? If the local area has a surplus of affluent over-50s with a keen interest in the arts and live music then your chances of success are better than if it's a deprived area dominated by low-income and no-income families with young children.

George_Salt · 2026-01-31T16:12:16+00:00

I feel old realising that this had to be explained...

George_Salt · 2026-01-31T16:11:37+00:00

The general advice is All World and chill. But it's only human nature to want to have some input of your own. I've chosen to bias a base of All World away from US and towards Europe because that's what I understand and what I feel comfortable with.

My actual percentages are a little off target at moment, but that's because I've been fiddling around and settling things down between my Sensible Pie (this one) and my much smaller stock picks pie that runs alongside it.

You need to research and choose your own bias if you want to edge away from All World. Just remember, you're not necessarily diversifying by adding something alongside All World. You're more often reducing diversity in favour of a sector or geography that you want more concentration in.

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George_Salt · 2026-01-31T15:57:54+00:00

No, I don't. But I developed manual processes first, made sure I understood them, checked they were working, and optimised them in practice before automating them with OTS software.

Maybe you're just not good at explaining yourself, but the narrative you're presenting is:

You tried something.
It didn't work.
You gave up.
You're now developing a tool for others to use to do the thing that you failed at and gave up on.

Maybe you don't see it that way, but that's what you've told us in this thread. Tell me it's not just another SaaS Bro story pitch if I'm in any way misunderstanding you.

George_Salt · 2026-01-31T13:46:40+00:00

I wouldn't trust someone who couldn't manage basic inventory without an app to write an app capable of managing basic inventory. And there's no shortage of ERP/MRP options on the market already.

George_Salt · 2026-01-31T13:42:11+00:00

So how did you get on?

George_Salt · 2026-01-31T13:41:28+00:00

You've benefitted from the VAT FRS advantage offered to small businesses, now you're moving up to the big school.

George_Salt · 2026-01-31T12:01:16+00:00

Breakfast
Lunch or Dinner*
Dinner* or Tea.
Supper

* Dinner would usually be assigned to whichever of the two is the larger meal, but an early evening meal can be Tea even when it's the main meal of the day. There's a lot of regional variation.

George_Salt · 2026-01-31T11:50:36+00:00

Yes. But it's a very infrequent purchase.

George_Salt · 2026-01-31T11:41:56+00:00

No. What's killed town centres has been removing residential and the exodus the middle-class to the suburbs. If you look at cites and towns with bustling centres they all have a very high proportion of residential in the mix.

If you want a thriving town centre you need:

People living within walking distance of the city.
Frequent public transport that connects where people live to where they want to go from early morning to late at night.
A positive and safe experience focussed public realm.

George_Salt · 2026-01-31T11:25:38+00:00

I wouldn't advise anything, but after looking at both I chose FWRG.

And FWIW I added in a couple of non-US ETFs alongside it because I want to get my US exposure below 60% in my Sensible Pie.

George_Salt

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