OUR share tips continued to rise above the deepening economic gloom, with all four portfolios pushing to new record valuations when we conducted our weekly review on Wednesday morning ahead of the Chancellor's autumn statement.
The 2012 portfolio was to the fore with a 2.2% gain, and it is now within tantalising reach of the 30% growth mark.
There were particularly strong performances from energy services group Petrofac and from Scottish Gas supplier Centrica on gossip of a potential share buy-back operation.
Even so, the performance was beaten by the slimline 2011 list which added 2.4%, boosted by a late spurt in the Tesco share price after directors confirmed they have finally lost patience with their disappointing US operations.
Standard Life also stood out among the four constituents of this portfolio, with the firm's shares rising more than 4% over the week.
We have mixed views about the Standard Life performance as the shares are on a shortlist we have drawn up for inclusion among new tips for 2013, but are becoming less attractive as a result of their recent outperformance.
Less happily, our flagship 2009 portfolio lagged behind its rivals with growth of just less than 1% after profit-taking in Diageo shares. We recognise there is now only an outside chance it will meet our target of 100% appreciation by the time it is wound up at the end of the year.
The 2010 list recorded a similar gain, with a slippage in Devro shares taking the edge off a good overall performance from the likes of AG Barr, Aberdeen Asset Management and Carr's Milling.
As usual, we have taken account of the rising market to raise our stop-loss prices on a number of shares which hit new peaks during the week, including Petrofac, Standard Life and AG Barr.
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