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- Small-Cap Spotlight Report: Argo Blockchain 24th February 2021 - Let’s start with a wealth warning: This article covers bitcoin miner Argo Blockchain; I am not a bitcoin expert; The bitcoin price is highly unpredictable;… ...more
- Alpesh Patel on US Investing: Is the US Stock Market Going to Crash? 19th February 2021 - After a dip caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in March of 2020, the US stock market rallied back and closed out the year at an… ...more
- The second most important ratio 17th February 2021 - If you look DotDigital, as I did a few years ago, you will find much to like about the business: Source: SharePad financial summary It… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 15/02/21 – Getting high on junk bonds 15th February 2021 - Last week Bloomberg reported that junk bond yields in the US fell below 4% the lowest level ever recorded and down from 11.5% peak yield… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: IG Group 11th February 2021 - For some time now IG Group has been flashing on my SharePad filters. The three screenshots just below show IG offers: High margins; Decent returns… ...more
- Dynamic 35: Oakley Capital Investments 9th February 2021 - Private equity fund in transition – new addition to Dynamic 35 Listed private equity funds have had a chequered record on the London Stock Exchange.… ...more
- My two ETF Growth Portfolios: January 2021 Update 9th February 2021 - Back in the middle of August I outlined two growth-oriented portfolios, comprising a gaggle of exchange traded funds. The first was a Global Trends portfolio,… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 08/02/21 – The signs are here 8th February 2021 - Moonpig IPO’ed last week at 350p, valuing the company at £1.2bn, and the shares rose +24% to 430p the following day. Meanwhile the FT reported… ...more
- Roll up! Get yer easy returns here… 3rd February 2021 - Bunzl, a company I investigated last year, is a classic roll up A distributor of everyday items consumed by businesses and organisations, it routinely acquires… ...more
- The Trader: Results from my filter 2nd February 2021 - My last article detailed my new filter. If you missed it then you can read about it here. As discussed, this filter looks for stocks… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 01/02/21 – Bored Markets Hypothesis 1st February 2021 - Some of the speculative exuberance has spilled over the punch bowl at the cryptocurrency party into a number of glass half empty equities. GameStonk, err… ...more
- Lessons from the Trend (Part 2): Moving Averages 29th January 2021 - In this article I will continue focusing on primary and secondary trends but this time I will use moving averages to define market phases. You… ...more
- Small-Cap Spotlight Report: LoopUp 27th January 2021 - Welcome to a series of occasional articles in which I shine an investigative spotlight on particular small-caps. My aim is to demonstrate how to analyse… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 25/01/21 – Expectation v surprise 25th January 2021 - I was initially unimpressed by the UK’s mass vaccination rollout. However it is important to keep updating your beliefs when data is better than you… ...more
- Alpesh Patel on US Investing: Beware! Overvalued Stock Market – What You Need to Know 22nd January 2021 - Another captivating headline – this time from Forbes. So what are the facts, and why is it increasingly a stock pickers market, where if a… ...more
- Made from girders 21st January 2021 - Barr makes Irn Bru, which I drank once, getting on for forty years ago in Scotland. Irn Bru is to Barr what Coke is to… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 18/01/21 – Reincarnation as the bond market 18th January 2021 - In the early days of a new Democrat presidency, the President’s campaign manager observed that: “I used to think if there was reincarnation, I wanted… ...more
- The Trader: Introducing my new filter 15th January 2021 - I released a new filter several weeks ago. This was a new filter I was testing and mentioned this in my Investors Chronicle column. I’ve… ...more
- The Dynamic 35: Manchester and London 14th January 2021 - "While we have this euphoria it's pretty hard to imagine the bubble breaking. But look at the data and you think this thing could go..."… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Avon Rubber 13th January 2021 - Happy 2021! I trust SharePad will help bring you good fortune in what could be another twelve months of financial thrills and spills. As usual… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 11/01/21 – Gatekeepers 11th January 2021 - The FTSE 100 started the year strongly +6% during the week to 6857. Both the S&P 500 +1.3% to 3804 Nasdaq +1.4% to 13068 were… ...more
- Annual reports made simple 6th January 2021 - Happy New year. This year, I have resolved to keep things simple, which is not easy in investing. Aide memoire... Just before Christmas Chris, a… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 04/01/21 – Wait and Hope 4th January 2021 - “Until the day when God shall deign to reveal the future to man, all human wisdom is summed up in these two words... wait and… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 29/12/20 – Amateurs 29th December 2020 - The FTSE 100 closed around 6,487 to 24 December down -15% from the start of the year. From a peak of 7670 in mid-January the… ...more
- Lessons from lockdown and other stories 23rd December 2020 - This year has confirmed that most of the news is at best irrelevant to me as an investor. Worse, the news stressed me out. It… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 21/12/20 – Bidding up Codemasters 21st December 2020 - The FTSE stayed level around 6580, while Nasdaq hit a new high of 12752. Bitcoin rose through $20,000 for the first time. I have a… ...more
- Lessons from the Trend (Part 1): Breakouts 16th December 2020 - All the best trends in the market need to start somewhere. I’m going to show you how to define a trend using two methods and… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 14/12/20 – Taxes steering behaviour? 14th December 2020 - After a strong November and start of December the FTSE 100 was largely unchanged this week at 6566. More broadly, the signs of a cyclical… ...more
- Nichols: More than Vimto 10th December 2020 - Having prospected for investments in the soft drinks industry, I think Nichols is perhaps the most intriguing of quite an interesting group. It has been… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 07/12/20 – Vaccine inoculating risk tolerance 7th December 2020 - The best performing FTSE 100 stock last week was Rolls Royce, up 19%. The worst was Unilever down 6.5%, which suggests expectations of a vaccine… ...more
- Alpesh Patel on US Investing: Stocks set to rally in 2021 4th December 2020 - "Goldman Sachs says these stocks are set to rally in 2021" It’s a captivating headline, isn’t it? Don’t worry; I’ll tell you which stocks in… ...more
- The Dynamic 35 : The Schroders Asian Total Return Trust 2nd December 2020 - Traditionally most investors tend to regard the division between developed markets (DM) and emerging markets (EM) as a simple divide. We all put more money… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 30/11/20 – The platform bandwagon rolls on 30th November 2020 - FTSE weakened slightly to 6300 in the second half of last week, but the bounce of former “Covid losers” continued with Rolls Royce, Glencore, Shell… ...more
- The Trader: A look at the pharmaceuticals sector 27th November 2020 - The pharmaceuticals sector is another popular sector with private investors and retail traders. This is because the volatility is high and traders are often attracted… ...more
- Finding the soft drinks companies with the most fizz 25th November 2020 - I know this is going to make me sound like an alcoholic, but I rarely drink soft drinks. When a reader requested an overview of… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 23/11/20 – Expectations rising 23rd November 2020 - We are beginning to see companies operating in the “real” economy announce raised guidance. Somero (exceeding previous revenue guidance by +7%), but also Headlam (materially… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Manolete Partners 20th November 2020 - I am always looking for ‘multi-baggers’ — investments that can double, triple, quadruple or more. And here’s some very good news: I have stumbled on… ...more
- Alpesh Patel on US Investing: The Stocks that “Have It All” 20th November 2020 - Like humans, such perfection doesn't exist in stocks. Like humans, fish in a big enough pond, and for a while, some get as close as… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 16/11/20 – Reflation trade 16th November 2020 - Banks and other “covid losers” were up strongly at the start of last week as Pfizer announced they believe they have a credible vaccine. US… ...more
- The Trader: A look at the commodities sector 13th November 2020 - The commodities sector is popular with private investors and retail traders. Life changing gains (and life changing losses) can be made on this sector. Back… ...more
- Dynamic 35: India Capital Growth fund 13th November 2020 - This week I have a very adventurous addition to my list of 35 Dynamic funds. I admit that it’s not without risk and its recent… ...more
- Investing through the pandemic 11th November 2020 - When I told my wife I was researching Hotel Chocolat and my first action would be to buy some chocolate, she reminded me that the… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 09/11/20 – Study silence to learn the music 9th November 2020 - The US Presidential election turned out to be closer than most people expected. Nasdaq up almost +10% over the week to 12078. Tech stocks reacted… ...more
- Alpesh Patel on US Investing: 3 “Strong Buy” looking stocks set to move up 5th November 2020 - There is no shortage of stocks that are delivering triple digit returns. Scholar Rock, Miragen, Zedge, Socket Mobile - even Tupperware is up nearly 1,000%.… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Jarvis Securities 4th November 2020 - Today I have returned to one of my favourite SharePad screens. This screen applies two ratios favoured by ‘quality’ investors — operating margin and return… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 02/11/20 – Insiders selling at the top? 2nd November 2020 - Last week markets sold off into the rising cases of Covid. The FTSE 100 fell 5% last week to 5561. Large UK banks HSBC and… ...more
- Floored 28th October 2020 - James Halstead makes vinyl flooring, the kind we see in hospital corridors, GP surgeries, clinics, schools, offices, laboratories, prisons, factories, shops, trains and boats around… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 26/10/20 – Paying up for quality? 26th October 2020 - Markets recovered slightly towards the end of the week, with the FTSE 100 at 5888. Nasdaq was at 11662. Last week Netflix reported Q3 results,… ...more
- Dynamic 35: Aurora Investment Trust 23rd October 2020 - A new addition to the Dynamic 35 Aurora Investment trust I wanted to start this article with an immediate declaration. I am a non-executive director… ...more
- The Trader: A look at the automobile sector 22nd October 2020 - The automobile sector is not one I usually deal in. However, by using the RNS service each morning and sifting through company reports, it’s easy… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 19/10/20 – On network effects and fads 19th October 2020 - “Fad companies are companies with good business models or good products. So, why would we be interested in shorting a company that has a good… ...more
- Stock selection & staying in lane 16th October 2020 - In this article I'm going to cover some big picture charting and try my best to bring across to the reader three different time frames… ...more
- Don’t waste a good crisis 15th October 2020 - Before I started fishing for a share to investigate for this week’s article, I culled my personal filter library. Many of the filters are derivations,… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 12/10/20 – On content, distribution and kurtosis 12th October 2020 - Last week the FTSE recovered to just over 6000. The (perhaps inappropriately named) Bond film No Time to Die, was postponed until next year by… ...more
- The Trader: A look at the hospitality sector 7th October 2020 - The hospitality sector has been smashed in recent months. This is for several reasons. Lower footfall in high streets, offices closed and the work from… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 05/10/20 – On uncertainty and confidence 5th October 2020 - Last week Andy Haldane at the Bank of England gave an interesting speech on “Economic Anxiety” noting that pessimism can be as contagious as the… ...more
- What does not kill a business can make it stronger 2nd October 2020 - This article was not supposed to be about paper maker James Cropper. I set out to write about Animalcare, a veterinary pharmaceutical company, but I… ...more
- Dynamic 35: RTW Venture 1st October 2020 - I have a new addition to my Dynamic 35 list of investment trusts and closed end funds. It is called RTW Venture and it is… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Polar Capital 30th September 2020 - I am not a great fan of the fund-management industry. I cannot think of another sector where the employees collect enormous salaries while the customers… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 28/09/20 – Beginner’s mind and Buy and Build 28th September 2020 - Markets sold off last week as virus case rises rose (FTSE 100 fell to below 5800 before recovering slightly later in the week, Nasdaq down… ...more
- The Trader: The Impact of Coronavirus on Trading 23rd September 2020 - One of the effects on Coronavirus has been to crash the entire stock market only to see it recover strongly. However, the impact of Coronavirus… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 21/09/20 – The long journey to exoneration 21st September 2020 - The FTSE 100 just about held its level above 6000 last week. Last week was Chilean Independence Day. It is a little known footnote in… ...more
- This time is different for Design Group 17th September 2020 - If you watch Design Group’s annual results presentation, you may detect a bashful smile on chief executive Paul Fineman’s face. Paul Fineman, chief executive of… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 14/09/20 – Americans on AIM 14th September 2020 - The oil price fell to a 3 month low in the middle of last week to below $40 a barrel. Oil is in contango (futures… ...more
- The Trader: Spread Betting 11th September 2020 - Spread betting is another way of buying and selling shares. Instead of buying the actual stock when we purchase through our broker, in spread betting… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Fuller, Smith & Turner 9th September 2020 - First, a wealth warning. The last price-to-book ‘bargain’ I looked at for SharePad was Hammerson. Back then the property group’s £5 billion asset base could… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 07/09/20 – Come back on St Leger Day 7th September 2020 - St Leger Day, as in ““Sell in May and go away, don’t come back till St Leger Day”, is approaching. I’ve always wondered who St… ...more
- A company that is already successful 3rd September 2020 - It would be convenient to report that I diligently pick every share I investigate from a Sharepad filter of exquisite construction, but it would be… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 31/08/20 – Let the future ≠ the past 31st August 2020 - Nasdaq continued to hit new highs, at 11,666 up +30% from the start of the year and up 2.5x in the last 5 years. I… ...more
- My two ETF Growth Portfolios 28th August 2020 - This week I am focusing not on my usual subject of investment trusts but switching attention to exchange traded funds or ETFs. These are a… ...more
- The Trader: Working Through Rough Periods 26th August 2020 - Unless you’re an Instagram trader, set with a laptop by the pool and a Lamborghini in the background, everybody goes through rough patches in trading.… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 24/08/20 – Searching for uncorrelated returns 24th August 2020 - Rightmove released a survey showing that the UK housing agreed sales picked up strongly to a record £37bn. A day later Persimmon reported half year… ...more
- The Trader: A Day In The Life of a Stock Trader 21st August 2020 - One of the questions I’m frequently asked is how I structure my day. Time is a trader’s most important currency because sometimes it can be… ...more
- A safety first stock 19th August 2020 - I found James Latham a couple of months ago when I was trawling for cheap shares with strong balance sheets. The shares are still cheap,… ...more
- UK banks – in the eye of the storm? 13th August 2020 - Every crisis presents opportunities. A contrarian strategy of buying bank shares during the point of maximum gloom during a recession has often, but not always,… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 10/08/20 – The last “forever” stock 10th August 2020 - The last “forever” stock For Jeremy’s last weekly note he reviews his value investing mistakes and aims to find the stock that in 10 years'… ...more
- Preparing for the worst, capitalising on the best 5th August 2020 - Listening to Porvair’s long-standing chief executive Ben Stocks talk about the challenges ahead, it is clear the company is bracing itself. Phrases like “preparing for… ...more
- The Trader: Knowing Your Market 4th August 2020 - We have covered many aspects of trading in previous articles, such as Why You Should Be Using R, Exit Strategies, and How To Avoid Blowing… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 03/08/20 – Lessons 3rd August 2020 - Lessons In the spirit of reflection in a year of uncertainty and extremes, Jeremy analyses some past weekly notes and takes another look at one he wants… ...more
- Prudent 15: Ecofin Global Utilities and Infrastructure Trust (EGL) 30th July 2020 - I do not think it is unfair to say that over the last decade we have seen a powerful shift in sentiment towards utility stocks,… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Fever-Tree Drinks 29th July 2020 - They say mums always know best. Mine has bought Fever-Tree tonic waters for some years now and I recently asked whether she remained a customer.… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 27/07/20 – The Relative Value Trade 27th July 2020 - The Relative Value Trade With a huge injection of liquidity last week the valuation differential between large US tech stocks and UK small companies is… ...more
- Making a new discoverIE 22nd July 2020 - I discovered discoverIE using a simple and fruitful method of finding new investment ideas: a list of shares sorted in SharePad by previous annual report… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 20/07/20 – Clearing up the debris 20th July 2020 - Clearing up the debris The pace of structural change is faster, perhaps, than ever before and there are an increasing number of quoted companies dedicated… ...more
- Prudent 15: International Public Partnerships 17th July 2020 - The safe bet on infrastructure: INPP (International Public Partnerships) Over the next couple of articles, we’ll be adding two new funds to our Prudent 15… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Headlam 15th July 2020 - Let me start by thanking you for clicking on an article with Headlam in the title. Rest assured, not everyone will want to read about… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 13/07/20 – Flight to Quality 13th July 2020 - Flight to Quality As the bubble spreads from large tech to healthcare and motor companies in anticipation of a flight to quality Jeremy takes a… ...more
- Volex: Reassuringly above average 9th July 2020 - If you’ve read my recent articles you will know I have been ranking shares using basic financial statistics. I found Bioventix by ranking five criteria.… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 06/07/20 – Inflation 6th July 2020 - Inflation The growth bubble continues, but eyeing inflationary storm clouds gathering over the horizon Jeremy takes a look at Melrose Industries as a potential hedge… ...more
- Dynamic 35: Witan Investment Trust 1st July 2020 - Witan – a long term buy and hold globalist fund with a value bias Investing should really be about simplicity. Take global investing. Nearly every… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 29/06/20 – Director Dealing 29th June 2020 - Director Dealing As markets tread water after extreme volatility Jeremy finds that directors have a 77% win rate on their purchasing during the volatility. A… ...more
- The Trader: Examining Retail Trading Behaviour 25th June 2020 - One of the many oft-repeated quotes around traders is that 90% of traders lose money. However, this depends on how one classifies a ‘trader’. Many… ...more
- A cheap profitable share with a strong balance sheet 24th June 2020 - Today I have added two more criteria to turn the list of cheap shares with strong balance sheets I made in my last article into… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 22/06/20 – High Conviction from here on 22nd June 2020 - High Conviction from here on With the seamless transition from bear market to bubble Jeremy suspects that now is a time to make sure we… ...more
- Ranking potential bargains 17th June 2020 - A SharePad customer, Chris, reminded me of the power of ranking recently, when he emailed to say (among other things): "I find that I am… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 15/06/20 – On-line valuations 15th June 2020 - On-line valuations The silly valuation of the latest US IPO causes Jeremy to ponder some of the UK online valuations and finds the spreadbetters to… ...more
- Prudent 15: The SDCL Energy Efficiency Income Trust 12th June 2020 - The SDCL Energy Efficiency Income Trust The idea of investing in a fund which will help facilitate the transition towards a more sustainable energy mix… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Frontier Developments 10th June 2020 - Has the market become too obsessed with ‘pandemic-proof’ shares? I ask because my SharePad screening has brought Frontier Developments to my attention. The shares of… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 08/06/20 – The Recovery Trade 8th June 2020 - The Recovery Trade In this strong market the pain trade is to buy. There are reasons this could be right and Jeremy suggests the carpet… ...more
- The Trader: Taking advantage of SharePad News 7th June 2020 - A few months ago, I wrote about how to optimise your news feed on ShareScope Pro. My suggestions to improve the news feed have been… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 01/06/20 – Dash to Trash 1st June 2020 - Dash to Trash After 14 years of growth out-performance, value is now set to perform in a recovery. Jeremy takes a look at the value… ...more
- Getting to grips with software companies 29th May 2020 - First, an admission. The software biz is a bit of a mystery to me. There’s a vast ecosystem of enterprise solutions, software that businesses increasingly… ...more
- Dynamic 35: Hg Capital 27th May 2020 - A smarter way of buying into the right kind of private growth businesses It is an unfortunate truth that more and more high growth businesses… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 25/05/20 – Investing in Intangibles 25th May 2020 - Investing in Intangibles Intangibles take greater precedence today. Both accountants and governments struggle with this while markets are quick to find answers through royalty companies.… ...more
- The Trader: Five rules for new traders 22nd May 2020 - A combination of market volatility and being locked in during lockdown has led to many turning their eye to getting involved in the stock market.… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 18/05/20 – Investing in Acquirors 18th May 2020 - Investing in Acquirors Jeremy worries about software valuations and is concerned that returns at Ideagen and Tracsis could turn out to be far less than… ...more
- The changing shape of QinetiQ 15th May 2020 - I have picked QinetiQ from my “Cash King” filter because it was one of the more reasonably priced companies that passed all the criteria. It’s… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Hikma Pharmaceuticals 13th May 2020 - One way to invest during the pandemic is to consider shares that have climbed higher as the market has dropped. Such companies may well be… ...more
- Dynamic 35: Edinburgh Worldwide 12th May 2020 - Edinburgh Worldwide – a great long-term home for growth investors Investors in funds such as Scottish Mortgage will have noticed a very peculiar phenomenon over… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 11/05/20 – The 50-year view 11th May 2020 - The 50-year view As equity markets squeeze up Jeremy suggests equities may have further to go on the back of credit markets. A screen of… ...more
- The Trader: How to Avoid Blowing Your Account 7th May 2020 - The market is moving with extreme volatility in recent weeks. This offers traders many opportunities to prosper and profit, but volatility is a double-edged sword.… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 04/05/20 – The Small Cap Opportunity 4th May 2020 - The Small Cap Opportunity With markets squeezing up, pushed by central banks money printing we are at a moment of opportunity for overlooked small cap… ...more
- In search of the cash kings 29th April 2020 - While the stock market and the pandemic may have stabilised, I’m still thinking about financially strong firms. We never know when the next shock will… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 27/04/20 – To the Future 27th April 2020 - To the Future With markets trending sideways Jeremy sees inflation ahead and takes at look at the food manufacturers which could be beneficiaries. Devro’s sausage… ...more
- The Trader: Why You Should Be Using R 23rd April 2020 - R is a component in trading that we use to define risk. It is a crucial aspect of trading systems and by thinking in terms… ...more
- Prudent 15: Ruffer Investment Company 22nd April 2020 - The Ruffer Investment Company – big bets on a global new normal "There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen"… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 20/04/20 – Depression in a Wall of Money 20th April 2020 - Depression in a Wall of Money The market is caught between an oncoming depression and a wall of money inflating valuations. In this environment the… ...more
- Filtering for financial fortresses 15th April 2020 - The conclusion of my last article on finding companies with strong finances contained two caveats. Companies with seasonal cash flows can look like they have… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 13/04/20 – With Recovery comes Refinance 13th April 2020 - With Recovery comes Refinance It is easy to stress over whether we are in a bear rally or the start of a bull market. But… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: A Covid-19 Special 8th April 2020 - Let me start with a confession.This Covid-19 ‘Special’ may not be all that special. I have just applied a new SharePad screen to seek ‘quality… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 06/04/20 – After Value comes Recovery 6th April 2020 - After Value comes Recovery In a world full of value Jeremy takes a look at what a recovery may look like and picks a couple… ...more
- Dynamic 35: Augmentum 3rd April 2020 - A big bet on Fintech worth taking at this price - Augmentum OK, I’m not going to beat around the bush. l readily concede that… ...more
- Putting safety first 2nd April 2020 - Funny thing (peculiar, not ha! ha!). Search SharePad news for the phrase “strong balance sheet” and there are dozens of companies every day confirming their… ...more
- The Trader: Why the trend is your friend 31st March 2020 - “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” Whether or… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 30/03/20 – Value time 30th March 2020 - Value time With no earnings visibility it is easy to forget there are green shoots over the horizon. This is a time to seek value.… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 23/03/20 – Irrational or True? 23rd March 2020 - Irrational or True? We are now in a market of fear and there are signs of inefficiency and irrational behaviour, which is a time of… ...more
- Prudent 15: BH Global 20th March 2020 - Kicking off with BH Global (BHGG) You can always read more about my views on funds at my blog www.adventurousinvestor.com. I update this most days,… ...more
- Getting more out of return on capital 18th March 2020 - How we measure return on capital depends on what we want to know: whether a company is good at making profit from its operations, or… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 16/03/20 – Timing is everything 16th March 2020 - Timing is everything With the current crisis Jeremy dusts off the recovery stocks folder. Airlines that survive will have huge upside on the back of… ...more
- The Trader: Exit Strategies 13th March 2020 - In April 2017, I had a real nightmare. I had been trading full time on the market for four months and had had enormous success… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: AB Dynamics 11th March 2020 - Recent market ructions have sent many shares tumbling — and perhaps created some buying opportunities. Amid the mayhem, I devised a straightforward screen. I simply… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 09/03/20 – Purging Excess 9th March 2020 - Purging Excess Bear markets cleanse excess. Jeremy takes a look at the growth narratives and accounting adjustments that have been adopted and suspects the bear… ...more
- Going for repeat business 4th March 2020 - Fundsmith Equity probably needs no introduction. Since its launch in November 2010 the fund has racked up class-leading annualised returns of more than 18%, compared… ...more
- Dynamic 35: Syncona 3rd March 2020 - The genomics revolution and the appeal of Syncona It’s easy to get carried away with the short to medium term noise coming out of stock… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 02/03/20 – Correction or Bear Market? 2nd March 2020 - Correction or Bear Market? The question of whether the sudden market correction is a temporary contagion of fear, or the beginning of a bear market… ...more
- The Trader: Optimising Your RNS Feed 26th February 2020 - In this article, I’ll show you how to clean up and manage your RNS feed by adding a filter and removing noise, colour coding your… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 24/02/20 – Barbell Portfolio 24th February 2020 - Barbell Portfolio The tax advantages of technology companies and private equity combined with quantitative easing are shrinking stock markets. Until this changes the shrinkage will… ...more
- Taking back control 19th February 2020 - Richard investigates Dialight, a supplier of industrial LED lighting that flared up ten years ago briefly setting the stock market alight, and subsequently dimmed alarmingly.… ...more
- Dynamic 35: Scottish Mortgage 18th February 2020 - I must say I’m very excited to be writing for SharePad and ShareScope. I’ve been an avid user of both for more than 10 years… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 17/02/20 – Dinosaurs don’t gallop 17th February 2020 - Dinosaurs don’t gallop Jim Slater coined the term “elephants don’t gallop” and in this technology enabled era it may be better termed “dinosaurs don’t gallop”.… ...more
- XP POWER 14th February 2020 - Older readers may recall a distant era when electrical devices used to plug straight into the wall. Nowadays, everything electrical seems to need an annoying… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Boohoo 12th February 2020 - Cash flow movements can often indicate whether or not a business enjoys a powerful operational advantage. A strong business might: Receive customer payments upfront for… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 10/02/20 – Employee Culture 10th February 2020 - Employee Culture With quality as the watchword a review of staff feedback can tell us much about the culture of a company. A review of… ...more
- A market of stocks or a stock market? 7th February 2020 - January was a good month, despite the FTSE 100 closing down nearly 3.5% and the outbreak on coronavirus soon to kill us all. Or is… ...more
- When bad news is good news 5th February 2020 - Richard investigates Vitec, which has reported some bad news in 2019. It could be an opportunity to buy shares in a high quality business at… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 03/02/20 – Acquirers in a low interest world 3rd February 2020 - Acquirers in a low interest world In the continuing world of cheap money the buy and build companies have generally performed well. But its important… ...more
- Taste the Feeling 29th January 2020 - Taste the Feeling is a Coca-Cola slogan from 2016. I think it’s a very good, because Coca-Cola isn’t just a product. It’s a religion. The… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 27/01/20 – Mind the gap 27th January 2020 - Mind the Gap It’s been a good few months. The FTSE small cap is up 14% since October, while the FTSE 100 is up around… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Greggs 24th January 2020 - ‘Run your winners’ is popular stock-market advice. Great companies often remain great investments for a lot longer than most people expect… … and can deliver… ...more
- Death in paradise 22nd January 2020 - The demise of Thomas Cook impacted the whole package tour industry including London listed Online Travel Agent, On The Beach. Whether you trust the accounting… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 20/01/20 – Culture in payments 20th January 2020 - Culture in Payments There were no spare seats when I arrived at Panmure Gordon’s offices last week for the Non-Standard Finance investor day titled “Culture… ...more
- Why mindset is the most important factor 16th January 2020 - "Nature versus nurture" has been a debate that has raged for hundreds of years. Sir Francis Galton (pictured above), who was a Victorian era statistician… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 13/01/20 – Culture 13th January 2020 - Culture Luck plays a part in investing but there is also a theory that you make your luck. Both K3Capital and Dart Group are cyclical… ...more
- Out with the old, in with the new 8th January 2020 - Richard enters 2020 with a cleaned-up SharePad setup primed to help him find companies developing competitive advantages. He expects it to make him a better… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 06/01/20 – The Roaring 20’s 6th January 2020 - The Roaring 20’s Nothing quite starts a new decade as reassuringly as Greggs Vegan Steak Bake causing late night queuing in Newcastle. With Pizza Hut’s… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 30/12/19 – Change Alley 30th December 2019 - Change Alley Suggesting that Scrooge’s drive and self-discipline was something we should aspire to didn’t go down well with my millennial children. I rationalised the… ...more
- The Wright brothers were not capitalists 24th December 2019 - Warren Buffett is famous to have said “If a capitalist had been present at Kitty Hawk back in the early 1900s, he should have shot… ...more
- Alpha FX speaks my language 24th December 2019 - In response to a reader’s suggestion, Richard investigates Alpha FX. It is exactly the kind of people-first business that could be building a long-term competitive… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 23/12/19 – Lessons for 2020 23rd December 2019 - Lessons for 2020 It has been rather enjoyable as the year draws to a close. The Boris Bounce was a pleasant experience for investors. Excitingly… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Mears 18th December 2019 - This article has not turned out as I had expected. I searched on SharePad for magnificent dividend histories, and thought I would be evaluating a… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 16/12/19 – The Golden Era of Small Caps 16th December 2019 - The Golden Era of Small Caps The fear was palpable last Thursday as I sat in a broking office. The millennials queuing at the voting… ...more
- The ultimate competitive advantage 11th December 2019 - Business schools identify the sources of competitive advantage that tie customers to companies and what they produce. Fundamentally though, there is only one true competitive… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 09/12/19 – The Volatility Reduction Trade 9th December 2019 - The Volatility Reduction Trade The gating of M&G’s property fund caused the press to become excitable last week. The Questor column in The Telegraph advised… ...more
- Cups and bowls 6th December 2019 - Cups and handles, and bowls, have been very popular with trend traders. These patterns can be powerful as they show sentiment of the stock gradually… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 02/12/19 – Shrinking Markets 2nd December 2019 - Shrinking Markets The liquidation of Nautilus Minerals caught my eye last week. This was a company which was to be one of the first underwater… ...more
- Skin in the game: Two for the watchlist 27th November 2019 - Richard uses his “Skin in the game” table to find companies whose directors are major shareholders. The experiment starts off badly with Asset Co., but… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 25/11/19 – Superstocks 25th November 2019 - Superstocks I have been living with value stock affliction for some time. It can be irritating particularly when the wind is blowing the wrong way.… ...more
- Is there life on the High Street? 22nd November 2019 - With Debenhams going bang, the demise of Mothercare, and Carpetright finally succumbing to their challenges (Carpetright was taken over – but at a price only… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Dotdigital 19th November 2019 - Today I have returned to the share screen I employed to pinpoint Victrex earlier this year. To quickly recap, this screen applies two ratios favoured… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 18/11/19 – What Goes Around…. 18th November 2019 - What Goes Around…. It is clear the technology growth bubble is now starting to unwind but the difficult question is where to go to next?… ...more
- Investing alongside managers with skin in the game 13th November 2019 - Richard uses SharePad to find companies whose managers are also significant shareholders. They are likely to be building businesses for the long-term, he says. The… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 11/11/19 – The Cult of Equities 11th November 2019 - The Cult of Equities Each week that passes my excitement is building. Value is coming back. I have felt like a fish out of water… ...more
- Support & Resistance 6th November 2019 - Support and resistance are two common concepts when it comes to technical analysis. They are the most basic but also the most important points when… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 04/11/19 – Profiting from Folly and Disaster 4th November 2019 - Profiting from Folly and Disaster Old fashioned companies such as TP ICAP have started putting strong trading statement out which is strange times indeed. This… ...more
- Burberry joins “Future of Fashion” portfolio 29th October 2019 - In his quest for companies that control their own destinies, Richard discovers luxury fashion brand Burberry, a company whose products he is in no danger… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 28/10/19 – Sticking to our guns 28th October 2019 - Sticking to our guns Investing can be lonely. Buying stocks in a downturn can be hard - we don’t know if we are catching a… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Rightmove 23rd October 2019 - Studying free cash conversion is vital when evaluating a set of accounts. The measure compares free cash flow to reported earnings, and can indicate whether… ...more
- Finding companies that control their own destinies 16th October 2019 - Fallout from the demise of Thomas Cook reminds Richard of the virtues of vertical integration. In the month since the demise of Thomas Cook, the… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 21/10/19 – A New Era Dawns 14th October 2019 - A New Era Dawns Often it is easy to be so pre-occupied with the present that we miss the elephant quietly sauntering past the boardroom… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 14/10/19 – Forex 14th October 2019 - Forex There are reasons to be gloomy just now. As I walked past Westminster last week the protester carrying an anti-Brexit placard looked forlorn as… ...more
- Two Technical Analysis Tools You Need: Candlesticks and Volume 9th October 2019 - We briefly touched on technical analysis in my previous article ‘The Four Stages of a Stock’, and in this article I want to introduce some… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 07/10/19 – Special Situations 7th October 2019 - Special Situations At times like this it is easy to make mistakes. I confess to being bored of my stocks. They haven’t done anything exciting… ...more
- KAINOS 4th October 2019 - THE SETTING Kainos (Greek for fresh, innovative) was launched in 1986 when the old British IT champion ICL recognised the quality of computer science graduates… ...more
- What PZ Cussons’ cashflow tells us about its strategy 2nd October 2019 - Having found PZ Cussons through his Keep It Simple, Stupid filter, Richard examines the company through its cash flow statement. To his delight, he finds… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 30/09/19 30th September 2019 - Liquidity Crunch Across the table in the rather tired looking meeting room, the grey haired but immaculately presented fund manager bit his bottom lip as… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Medica 24th September 2019 - Dynamic growth shares are among the market’s most exciting investments. Find a business that has expanded rapidly and offers the prospect of further earnings growth… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 23/09/19 23rd September 2019 - Navigating Change Conservatively Sometimes it can be useful to stand back and take stock so we don’t get those market eyes that can’t see the… ...more
- Filtering out the big spenders 18th September 2019 - Richard invents a new filter that promises to weed out big acquirers in a drive for simplicity he hopes will make investigating his next company… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 16/09/19 16th September 2019 - Inefficient Markets I find myself increasingly bullish. Or maybe I have recently had a holiday and by the end of the week all bullishness will… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 09/09/19 9th September 2019 - Business Models I found myself wondering whether models become outdated over time. In this age of diversity, governance reporting, and gender indexes I question whether… ...more
- The future of holidays portfolio 4th September 2019 - Richard returns from his holiday and wonders whether he can put the experience to use by investing in holiday companies. First step: Create a portfolio… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 02/09/19 2nd September 2019 - It’s a bi-polar world Printing money hoping that will engineer inflation has in the past resulted in inflation, but it hasn’t worked. As central banks… ...more
- Why shorting is good for investors 30th August 2019 - Although I am much more of a trader myself as I rely on trading profits to pay my bills, I do think investors have much… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Hammerson 28th August 2019 - Buying a share at a discount to its book (or net asset) value ought to be the safest way of investing. Indeed, what could go… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 27/08/19 27th August 2019 - The Great British Corporate Sale One of the things the City of London excels at is selling its own to overseas acquirors. Back in the… ...more
- Hidden potential in new division 21st August 2019 - Richard analyses Bloomsbury Publishing’s segmental report to work out where the profit is coming from. The Harry Potter effect is still evident, but the company… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 19/08/19 19th August 2019 - Agricultural Investing The nerves were tested last week. Back in Q4 last year the 17% fall in the FTSE 100 was one of those typical… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 12/08/19 12th August 2019 - The Narrative of Growth I suspect I am not alone in being trained as a value investor in the 1980’s. That was an era when… ...more
- Finding the best companies to analyse 6th August 2019 - A wise man once advised investors to stick to their circle of competence. Richard uses SharePad to keep his eye on the prize, and it… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 05/08/19 5th August 2019 - In need of boredom Equity investors need to be an optimistic bunch - since equity markets outperform over the long run. Academics Dimson Marsh and… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: AG Barr 30th July 2019 - Quality companies undergoing temporary problems can often become attractive investment opportunities. On that basis, perhaps AG Barr is worth closer inspection. The soft-drinks manufacturer famous… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 29/07/19 29th July 2019 - Testing times I find this one of the most uncomfortable investing era’s I can recall. The outperformance of growth stocks continues while markets grind higher… ...more
- The Four Stages of a Stock 26th July 2019 - Technical analysis is either loved or hated. Many people like to claim it as ‘voodoo’ and trying to predict the future, but the fact is… ...more
- The art of the sale 23rd July 2019 - In response to a reader’s request for a sell filter, Richard goes looking for trouble in his portfolio by setting some “curiosity triggers”.... One of… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 22/07/19 22nd July 2019 - The Greening of Fund Management It is still useful to contemplate the state of the world over a good lunch as I did last week… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 15/07/19 15th July 2019 - Where are the Customers’ Yachts? The book “Where are the Customers’ Yachts?” by Fred Schwed was written 75 years ago but as we watch the… ...more
- How to work out whether a firm is good acquirer 10th July 2019 - Richard uses a trick from Judges Scientific’s playbook to assess local hero Scientific Digital Imaging. Both companies acquire scientific instrument manufacturers using a “buy and… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 08/07/19 8th July 2019 - The Bubble has burst Sometimes we spend so long waiting for something to happen we don’t realise it has started. But I think it has… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Imperial Brands 3rd July 2019 - Imagine this. You find a blue-chip company that offers: * 21 years of consecutive dividend increases, with the last ten years showing 10% per annum… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 01/07/19 1st July 2019 - Disruption in the Courts Early for lunch on the 24th floor of Tower 42 in the City I gazed over the tower blocks of the… ...more
- The Future of Retail portfolio 26th June 2019 - Rule number one in investing is to buy what you know, but how does that work when what you know is changing day by day?… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 24/06/19 24th June 2019 - Structural Change in the City It always amazes me how debt can lead to innovation. Humans find ingenious solutions. The Bank of England was founded… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: JD Sports Fashion 18th June 2019 - Today I am revisiting the share screen that pinpointed Games Workshop back in January. The shares of the quirky wargaming retailer have soared more than… ...more
- Weekly commentary: 17/06/19 17th June 2019 - It’s “avoid the warnings” time Last week saw a few profit warnings. Somero, Ted Baker, Quiz, Pendragon warnings were based on revenue disappointments but I… ...more
- Scapa has had a rocky three weeks. Its market capitalisation is down by 50%. Is it a buy? 13th June 2019 - THE SETTING After nine years of impressive revivification under CEO Heejae Chae, the specialist tapes maker Scapa has just delivered three tingling episodes in three… ...more
- Checking the numbers match the story 11th June 2019 - One thing we should always check is that a company’s long-term performance matches the story it tells us. Churchill China says it is “adding value”… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 10/06/19 10th June 2019 - Companies with Culture The noise around Woodford’s humiliation last week was deafening. And it was a bad week for Hargreaves Lansdown (-14%). I don’t recall… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Jupiter Fund Management 5th June 2019 - Today I have revisited a share screen that applies two ratios favoured by ‘quality’ investors — operating margin and return on equity (ROE). The exact… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 03/06/19 3rd June 2019 - The “End of Global Trade” Week Last week the talk moved from politics to trade wars. Consensus seems to be that the trade war between… ...more
- Hidden treasure on your doorstep 30th May 2019 - Finding local businesses listed on the stock market is easy with the help of SharePad and Google Maps. Richard maps the market to find out… ...more
- Weekly commentary: 28/05/19 28th May 2019 - Time to own value? Unicorns The Unicorns stable door has been left wide open. Beyond Meat, a US loss making protein meat brand, listed in… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Domino’s Pizza 22nd May 2019 - This in-depth article covers one of the most impressive UK growth stocks of the last 20 years — Domino’s Pizza. Domino’s appeared on my radar… ...more
- Portmeirion: When confidence crumbles 14th May 2019 - SharePad is not just about discovering new shares, it can help us see shares we are familiar with in a new light. Richard uses it… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Abcam 8th May 2019 - Today I have returned to the share screen I employed to pinpoint Victrex the other week. To quickly recap, this screen applies two ratios favoured… ...more
- Bodycote: A stalwart in cyclical clothing 2nd May 2019 - Richard investigates a company that not only walks the walk, it talks the talk. I am not going to lie, even if it means shattering… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Victrex 25th April 2019 - This week I am tracking down a potential long-term winner by employing two ratios favoured by ‘quality’ investors. The first measure is operating margin, which… ...more
- RM: Will profit endure? 16th April 2019 - Richard considers whether the supplier of educational resources and software services can sustain profitability and reignite growth. There’s a good chance, he thinks, which makes… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Renishaw 8th April 2019 - I am convinced the very best shares to own are often led by executives who truly act in the interests of ordinary shareholders. In particular,… ...more
- RM: Is profit real? 3rd April 2019 - Richard investigates RM, one of the stock market's great survivors, starting with just one question. It takes him on a twisty trail... Before we get… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Craneware 26th March 2019 - Years ago I read Super Stocks, an investment book that claimed to reveal “powerful new ideas” to uncover “opportunities for spectacular profits”. I sadly can’t… ...more
- Moneysupermaaaaaaahhhhhhket 19th March 2019 - The veteran price comparison company is changing, and maybe for the better. Richard investigates one of the companies that easily met the criteria of his… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Accesso Technology 12th March 2019 - This article has not turned out as I had expected. I was hoping to study a quality growth business that had seen its share price… ...more
- Fishing like Fundsmith 5th March 2019 - Richard builds a Fundsmith filter, taking it from concept to conclusion. The aim: To reduce the “junk” in our watchlists so we are fishing in… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Hargreaves Lansdown 27th February 2019 - Quality companies often produce exceptional returns for ordinary investors. Just ask Terry Smith or Nick Train. These ace fund managers have delivered wonderful gains by… ...more
- Performance measurement for pros 20th February 2019 - Investors tend to judge their portfolios by how much they go up or down in value, typically compared to a benchmark index like the FTSE… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Apple 11th February 2019 - Being able to analyse international shares — at no extra cost! — is a wonderful feature of SharePad. And finding overseas shares within SharePad is… ...more
- Putting performance into perspective 5th February 2019 - Richard reads Fundsmith Equity Fund’s annual letter to fundholders and suggests a modest improvement that could change your perception of financial history. He also responds… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Games Workshop 30th January 2019 - Could now be the time to return to dynamic growth shares? Wonder-stocks such as Fever-Tree, Boohoo.com and Keywords Studios are all well below their highs… ...more
- Starting with the big picture 23rd January 2019 - Richard starts his analysis of fast growing online beach holiday retailer On The Beach with new SharePad views designed to give him the big picture… ...more
- Magic Formula stocks for 2019 & 2018 performance 18th January 2019 - Back in 2016 we began testing and tracking three model portfolios based on Joel Greenblatt’s magic formula approach (click here to read more about this)… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Plus500 16th January 2019 - Before I start looking at Plus500 (LSE: PLUS), I have some good news…. …you can now employ my SharePad screening criteria with just a few… ...more
- Assessing whether profit is real 10th January 2019 - On the face of it Ricardo is a great company, but in recent years its earnings have deviated a long way from the cold hard… ...more
- How I build and manage my share portfolio 10th January 2019 - The key thing to stress at the beginning and, as many of you will already be well aware, there are many ways to become a… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Somero Enterprises 2nd January 2019 - How did your portfolio fare during 2018? If you managed to side-step the market falls, very well done. For the rest of us — including… ...more
- A SharePad for every occasion 21st December 2018 - Richard takes a break from company analysis and reveals a new layout for news, and reflects on some of the other tweeks he has used this… ...more
- Two good companies, but which is better? 17th December 2018 - Richard takes a first look at Softcat, and he likes what he sees, even in comparison to rival Computacenter, another fine business. Both companies make… ...more
- A Special SharePad Investigation: Patisserie Valerie 11th December 2018 - Before I go any further, let me just state that I am not here to say “I told you so”. But whenever I have lost… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Mattioli Woods 4th December 2018 - Many years ago, one of my favourite sources for investment ideas was the Financial Times. However, the FT’s articles did not interest me, and nor… ...more
- How to win 79% of the time – the Santa Claus effect 28th November 2018 - How to be a winner 79% of the time and be up an average of 3.5%. Sounds enticing. I was reminded of the Santa Claus… ...more
- Searching SharePad for something special 27th November 2018 - Richard Beddard investigates DotDigital in SharePad. The data indicates it has been very prosperous since it floated on the London Stock Exchange in 2011. A… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Warpaint London 21st November 2018 - I am always looking for shares that can double, triple, quadruple or more during the years ahead. And one good way of finding such great… ...more
- What really makes a great business? 14th November 2018 - To identify great businesses we must go beyond the numbers and understand what causes them. In this article I revisit 4Imprint, an investment I should… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Zytronic 9th November 2018 - Let me start with a confession: 2018 is fast becoming a year to forget for my portfolio. Suffice to say, my shares have suffered a… ...more
- Evaluating a hot tip 2nd November 2018 - Psst, company XYZ is going great guns, it's shooting for the moon, get in before it is too late!!! In today's article, Richard uses SharePad… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: PayPoint 23rd October 2018 - I don’t know about your shares, but my portfolio was thumped during this month’s market sell-off. The drubbing prompted me to consider whether I should… ...more
- When dull businesses come good 16th October 2018 - Stroll into a WH Smith and you might wonder why a shop that sells Sellotape, colouring books and slime (really!) exists today, but the company… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Character 8th October 2018 - My SharePad screening for buying opportunities has short-listed Character (LSE: CCT) as a possible longer-term investment. The attraction here is a quite extraordinary story about… ...more
- Filtering new issues 28th September 2018 - New issues have a reputation for delivering poor investment returns. In this article we filter SharePad for companies that may be more seasoned than they… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: CMC Markets 11th September 2018 - In this article I continue my hunt for shares that could deliver market-beating returns… …and this time my SharePad system has identified CMC Markets (LSE:… ...more
- The old ones are the good ones 11th September 2018 - Exciting news: Aston Martin is readying itself to float on the stock market. Investors should think twice though, before buying the shares. Typically, it is… ...more
- Screening for my next long-term winner: Ramsdens 31st August 2018 - I am always hunting for great shares that could power ahead of the market during the years to come… …and just few days ago, my… ...more
- Building a base filter 30th August 2018 - To demonstrate how to filter in SharePad, we’ll build a base filter that filters out the shares we are least likely to be interested in.… ...more
- The perils of filtering stocks 20th August 2018 - This is the second article in the series “From ideas to investments” in which I look at the process of finding and evaluating investment ideas.… ...more
- How the stock market actually works 27th July 2018 - Today's article is the first in a new series called ‘From ideas to investments’ which takes an in-depth look at how to generate investment ideas… ...more
- Motorpoint: A car dealer that stands out from the crowd 19th July 2018 - Financial statistics from SharePad and non-financial data from the company itself all indicate Motorpoint is no ordinary car dealer. If you’ve bought a vehicle from… ...more
- Next – A closer look at its online business 19th July 2018 - For many years Next has been a very profitable retailer of clothes and homewares. Like most of its peers it has had to face up… ...more
- Stock Watch – Portmeirion 11th July 2018 - Portmeirion Group is based in Stoke on Trent and is a leading maker of homeware products such as tableware, cookware, placemats, candles and fragrances. It… ...more
- Hunting in a sea of pessimism 3rd July 2018 - Buying shares that are out of favour is a favourite strategy amongst contrarian value investors. However, in recent times it is not one that has… ...more
- When bad companies become good: IG Design 2nd July 2018 - IG Design, formerly International Greetings, is one of my biggest investment mistakes—even though I made a few quid on it. Since I sold my shares… ...more
- Stock Watch: Morrisons – Is a bad business turning itself into a reasonable one? 26th June 2018 - Ten years ago, Morrisons was doing reasonably well. Under the leadership of Dutchman Marc Bolland it was wooing customers with a very simple and powerful… ...more
- Electrocomponents: Becoming First Choice 20th June 2018 - You don’t have to look far to discover Electrocomponents’ ambition. “BECOMING FIRST CHOICE” is the title of its annual report this year. But that strapline… ...more
- Avoiding bad shares is just as important as picking good ones 13th June 2018 - If you've been investing in individual shares for a while then you've probably gone through the experience of losing some money on one or more… ...more
- Stock Watch: Hill & Smith Holdings 5th June 2018 - Shares in Hill & Smith Holdings (LSE:HILS) have been a very solid investment in recent years. The company's strategy of focusing on niche infrastructure markets… ...more
- Face-off: Tenpin versus Hollywood Bowl 5th June 2018 - Tenpin bowling chains are like London buses. You wait around for years and then two of them list almost at the same time. Phil Oakley… ...more
- Stock Watch: Superdry 22nd May 2018 - Superdry wants to create a global lifestyle brand by selling premium, high quality and affordable clothing to people. Its brand may not be as recognisable… ...more
- First steps to an inheritance tax-exempt portfolio 21st May 2018 - Investing in AIM-listed shares can help you reduce inheritance tax but you have to be picky. Not all shares qualify, and they must be good… ...more
- Buying quality on its own is no guarantee of success 15th May 2018 - There are many different ways to make money from the stock market. Over the last few years, one of the most popular and discussed strategies… ...more
- Stock Watch: InterContinental Hotels 9th May 2018 - Disclosure: At the time of writing I own shares in InterContinental Hotels. InterContinental Hotels (IHG) can trace its roots back to the Bass brewing company.… ...more
- A new issue that is already a winner 8th May 2018 - Looking through the prisms of profitability, debt, cash flow, strategy and valuation, Strix may be an exception to the rule that new issues make bad… ...more
- Dark days for regulated utility shares 24th April 2018 - Since they were privatised in the mid 1980s and early 1990s, the shares of regulated utility companies have found a place in many private investors'… ...more
- Key questions to ask company management 23rd April 2018 - If you are attending any events which enable you to meet company management face-to-face, take along Phil's handy crib sheet - a list of key… ...more
- AGMs – If in doubt, ask 23rd April 2018 - Most companies will answer questions from shareholders and potential shareholders. At Annual General Meetings shareholders have a right to ask questions and get answers. A… ...more
- Stock Watch: Cranswick 17th April 2018 - Cranswick is a UK-based food producer. It specialises in the production and selling of pork and poultry products. The sales mix of its business is… ...more
- Should investors avoid low margin companies? 10th April 2018 - Highly profitable companies can make outstanding long-term investments. Arguably, the best way to measure a company's profitability is to compare its profits with the amount… ...more
- Putting performance in perspective 9th April 2018 - To get a grip on where a company is going you have to understand where it has come from. Fortunately, that doesn’t mean reading every… ...more
- Stock Watch: Domino’s Pizza 27th March 2018 - Domino's Pizza is a very good business. It has exploited the trend of the growth in take-away pizza superbly and now has a 46% share… ...more
- Working out what could go wrong with a share 26th March 2018 - Investors pin their hopes on what could go right. The great product. The winning strategy. The growing market. The new technology. These may be good… ...more
- Checking out a company’s cash conversion 21st March 2018 - A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the issues investors faced in working out a company’s true profits. In many cases, the ways in… ...more
- Decrypting a company’s business model and strategy 13th March 2018 - While it’s comforting to know a business has enjoyed success, long-term investors must also form an opinion on its prospects if we’re to hold the… ...more
- Stock Watch: Hollywood Bowl 13th March 2018 - Hollywood Bowl is the UK’s largest operator of tenpin bowling centres. It currently has 58 centres across the UK with 43 trading under the Hollywood… ...more
- Can you trust a company’s profits? 7th March 2018 - This article is more suited to experienced investors. Profits are all important when it comes to investing in companies. To make money over the long… ...more
- Stock Watch: Galliford Try 28th February 2018 - Shares in building and construction company Galliford Try have been hammered since it announced its half year results a couple of weeks ago. The results… ...more
- How to read an annual report 27th February 2018 - Rule number one in long-term investing is to understand how the businesses you expect to profit from will make money - otherwise, how can you… ...more
- A smarter way to use analysts’ EPS forecasts 21st February 2018 - Should investors pay much attention to analysts’ profit forecasts? There is a school of thought that suggests that they should not. Detractors say that forecasts… ...more
- Stock Watch: City Pub Group 14th February 2018 - (LSE:CPC 196p, Mkt Cap £96.3m, EMS 1500, Analysts 2) City Pub Group listed on AIM back in November. The company currently owns 38 managed pubs… ...more
- The Terry Smith algorithm 14th February 2018 - In this article I’ve attempted to find Fundsmith-like companies using SharePad. The results are mixed but there’s a lot to be learned from the experiment.… ...more
- A checklist for busy investors 7th February 2018 - There are many full time private investors out there but for others investing is a hobby or something that they fit around their day to… ...more
- Using SharePad’s “Live” tables in your own spreadsheets 30th January 2018 - Maybe you already download tables of data from SharePad by clicking on the sharing button in SharePad's blue Table view, but this data is dead.… ...more
- Stockwatch: Avon Rubber
30th January 2018 - Avon Rubber is a good example of a company that fits into the category of a profitable niche business. It started off as a cloth… ...more - A better way to track changes in company performance 23rd January 2018 - It doesn't take too much time to get a feel for how well a company is doing. Most people do this by looking at percentage… ...more
- Stock Watch: Nichols 16th January 2018 - Soft drinks company Nichols (AIM:NICL) has been a good share to own over the last few years. It has many of the hallmarks of a… ...more
- Buy and build 15th January 2018 - If you take a look at Diploma through the lens of SharePad's summary page (under the green 'Financials' tab), you will find it shares many… ...more
- Magic Formula stocks for 2018 10th January 2018 - For those of you who like the idea of a buy and forget investing strategy then Joel Greenblatt's Magic Formula of buying good companies at… ...more
- Settings for the big picture 3rd January 2018 - Happy New Year! I've started mine by tidying up my many desktops: my physical desk, my laptop's desktop, and SharePad. I did so much experimenting… ...more
- Simple is best – Magic Formula Investing in 2017 19th December 2017 - If you were to ask me to recommend just one book on investing then I would struggle to think of anything better than Joel Greenblatt's… ...more
- Stock Watch: Henry Boot (LSE:Boot) 6th December 2017 - Henry Boot is a Sheffield-based company which makes money from property and construction activities. It has four main sources of income: Buying land, getting planning… ...more
- Two charts to unlock a company’s finances 6th December 2017 - By way of introducing two charts I'm routinely using to suss out how companies are financed - the twin pillars of debt and equity -… ...more
- Searching for companies paying out more of their profits 29th November 2017 - One of the main considerations for people investing in shares these days is the dividend income they will get from owning them. With a world… ...more
- Stock Watch: Fenner 22nd November 2017 - Over a decade ago when I was a smaller companies analyst in the City, UK engineering company Fenner was part of the portfolio of stocks… ...more
- Is the current ratio an outdated measure of company safety? 15th November 2017 - One of the most commonly cited measures of a company's financial strength is something known as the current ratio. It is a measure of liquidity… ...more
- The elusive hire firms you can buy and hold 14th November 2017 - Last week I introduced the listed plant and tool hire companies and mentioned in passing the industry has a bit of a boom bust reputation. Perhaps I… ...more
- Income Opportunities From Dividends 10th November 2017 - In the last of his Investors Chronicle articles, Phil looks at companies reinstating dividends or starting to pay them for the 1st time. Read pdf… ...more
- Homing in on hire firms 7th November 2017 - Homing in on hire firms When business is sluggish at construction sites and factories, tools and equipment are returned and hire companies make less profit.… ...more
- How to steer clear of dividend traps 3rd November 2017 - First published in Investors Chronicle, Phil explains how to avoid the shares that might let you down. Read pdf article ...more
- Finding safe high-yielding shares 27th October 2017 - First published in Investors Chronicle, Phil explains how to identify which high-yielding shares are most likely to maintain or grow their dividends. Read pdf article ...more
- Stock Watch: Abcam – is lower profitability worth paying for? 23rd October 2017 - Abcam shares are more popular than ever. Perhaps they're worth it. Nailed on growth stock There's no doubt Abcam has grown. In performance terms it's… ...more
- When valuations don’t matter and when they do 11th October 2017 - Lots of people will tell you that the price you pay for a share really matters. This is because it has a big say on… ...more
- Stock Watch: Elegant Hotels Group 4th October 2017 - Elegant Hotels is the owner and operator of a number of upmarket hotels on the Caribbean island of Barbados. The company has been in business… ...more
- Finding companies that speak your language 4th October 2017 - Finding companies that speak your language It's a commonly held view that the only bits of financial reports worth paying attention to are the numbers… ...more
- How much is a company worth? A look at different ways to value shares 27th September 2017 - Two weeks ago I wrote about how to try and value companies that aren't making a profit. This week I'm going back to basics for… ...more
- Tech recruiter is statistically attractive, but is it special? 26th September 2017 - There are two questions I ask of all companies I might invest in. Do the statistics indicate the business is highly profitable and, if they… ...more
- 13th September 2017 - How to value loss-making companies One of the questions I am frequently asked is: "How do I value loss-making companies?". The short answer is that… ...more
- How I choose my next share using filters and charts 13th September 2017 - After many years of investment I still feel a sense of anticipation when I examine lists of shares looking for new opportunities. It's like opening… ...more
- Stock Watch: Redrow 13th September 2017 - The state of the housing market - and the direction of house prices in particular - is a key driver of Britain's economy. When house… ...more
- Stock Watch: Scapa Group 5th September 2017 - Scapa Group has transformed itself over the last few years by following a strategy of offering more value to its customers. It has worked well… ...more
- A blueprint for better long term investing 31st August 2017 - Holidays are great for switching off from the stresses and strains of the daily grind and concentrating on what's really important in life. I've just… ...more
- Shares to hold to the grave, and beyond… 31st August 2017 - For my debut SharePad article, I've been invited to introduce my stockpicking strategy. It's a daunting prospect because strategy is everything. Without a strategy, luck… ...more
- Stock Watch: Ashtead Group 10th August 2017 - Ashtead makes its money by renting out equipment to construction and industrial companies - things like aerial platforms, forklift trucks, tools, diggers, cranes, power generators… ...more
- Stock Watch: Castings 25th July 2017 - Castings plc is a foundry business. Foundries are factories which produce metal castings. Castings has two in the UK - in the West Midlands and… ...more
- Hunting in the minefield of cheap shares 18th July 2017 - Most people like a bargain. Bargain hunting on the stock market has long been a popular pastime or even a full time occupation for investors.… ...more
- The case for dividend investing in dangerous markets 4th July 2017 - I am finding investing more than just a little bit frustrating these days. The reason for this is that I am struggling to find shares… ...more
- Stock Watch: RPC 4th July 2017 - RPC (rigid plastic containers) designs and manufacturers plastic products for packaging markets. The company makes thousands of different products such as plastic bottles, food containers,… ...more
- Stock Watch: James Halstead 27th June 2017 - James Halstead has been in business since 1915. It started out dyeing, finishing, waterproofing and rubberising textiles that were used in rainwear and outdoor clothing.… ...more
- Making sense of highly priced shares 21st June 2017 - In my 20 years of investing I am finding the current stock market conditions the most challenging I have ever encountered. My investing career started… ...more
- Stock Watch: Watkins Jones 14th June 2017 - Stock Watch: Watkins Jones Watkins Jones is a property developer, best known for building private student accommodation. It floated on AIM in March 2016. The… ...more
- The case for enterprise valuations 6th June 2017 - A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the subject of PE ratios (click here to read the article) and the ins and outs of… ...more
- Stock Watch: Howden Joinery Group (Howdens) 31st May 2017 - Howden Joinery Group is the parent company for Howdens. Howdens was established in 1995 with 14 depots by its current chief executive Matthew Ingle when… ...more
- PE ratios and how to use them 23rd May 2017 - PE ratios and how to use them Price to earnings (PE) ratios are the most commonly used method of weighing up the value of a… ...more
- Stock Watch: Smart Metering Systems (AIM:SMS) 16th May 2017 - I recently wrote about Smart Metering Systems in my exclusive weekly newsletter for SharePad and ShareScope customers. It's an interesting company so I have decided… ...more
- Stock Watch: FW Thorpe 9th May 2017 - FW Thorpe was founded in 1936 and has been listed on the stock exchange since 1965. The company designs and manufactures professional lighting systems for… ...more
- Looking beyond free cash flow 9th May 2017 - Ask me about the kind of financial characteristics I like to see in a potential investment and the first two I will usually cite are… ...more
- Stock Watch: FW Thorpe 24th April 2017 - FW Thorpe was founded in 1936 and has been listed on the stock exchange since 1965. The company designs and manufactures professional lighting systems for… ...more
- Analysing the stocks in a filter 19th April 2017 - Running filters or screens is a popular way of finding shares to invest in. Whilst screening can be very powerful it is important to recognise… ...more
- UK Dividend aristocrats 30th March 2017 - Phil's Investors Chronicle article on how to be a successful dividend investor. Read the article ...more
- Why depreciation matters and EBITDA doesn’t 30th March 2017 - When it comes to weighing up asset-intensive sectors, depreciation matters. It is a real cost. This does not stop people ignoring it and touting the… ...more
- The end of “hidden debts” 28th March 2017 - Accounting is a dry subject but a very important one. I perfectly understand why private investors' eyes glaze over at the mere mention of the… ...more
- Stock Watch: XP Power 15th March 2017 - XP Power is based is headquartered in Singapore and has manufacturing sites in Vietnam and China. The company makes power control systems which convert power… ...more
- How to avoid value traps 10th March 2017 - In this instalment, Phil explains how to spot value traps and finds some cheap shares that might bounce back. Read the article ...more
- Free cash flow: what it is and how to use it 3rd March 2017 - In this week's Investors Chronicle, Phil explains how to use free cash flow to your advantage. Read the article ...more
- Stock Watch: Treatt plc (LSE:TET) 1st March 2017 - Treatt plc has been in business since 1886. Based in Bury St Edmunds, the company specialises in making and selling products based on essential oils.… ...more
- Kraft-Heinz’s bid for Unilever 22nd February 2017 - Disclosure: Phil Oakley owns shares in Unilever Last week's bid by US food company Kraft-Heinz for Unilever caught many investors by surprise. But in retrospect… ...more
- Weighing up investment trusts 15th February 2017 - Many private investors like to build a portfolio of individual shares in order to grow the value of their savings as well as trying to… ...more
- Riding a retail roll out 8th February 2017 - Note: This in an advanced article best suited to more experienced and confident investors. One of the most profitable investing strategies can be to buy… ...more
- Does Tesco buying Booker make sense? 2nd February 2017 - Mergers and takeovers are part and parcel of the investing world. However, I think it's fair to say that last week's (27th January 2017) announcement… ...more
- Value investing today 26th January 2017 - One of the great things about investing is that there are lots of different ways for people to try and make money. This means that… ...more
- If you want to beat the stock market own fewer shares not more 18th January 2017 - As a private investor managing your own share portfolio you have to achieve two things over the long haul to consider your efforts a success.… ...more
- Sector Watch: Beverages 18th January 2017 - Companies which make and sell branded drinks have long been popular with investors. One of the main reasons for this is that as businesses they… ...more
- Sector Watch: FTSE 100 and AIM 100 Miners 13th January 2017 - Mining companies are very difficult to analyse. Their profits and cash flows are very closely related to trends in commodity prices and sentiment towards the… ...more
- Paying up for quality shares – how much is too much? 10th January 2017 - "It's far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price." - Warren Buffett "The desirability of a… ...more
- A great year for modified magic formula investing 4th January 2017 - A year ago I started a trial of three model portfolios based on Joel Greenblatt's magic formula approach (click here to read more about this). I wanted… ...more
- What is investing? 10th November 2015 - Why do people invest their money rather than just save? It's not just about growing your savings so that you will have more money in… ...more
- A brief guide to tax-efficient saving 9th November 2015 - Tax-efficient savings accounts (ISAs) and self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs) are the best option for most savers and investors. Here's what you need to know. Savings… ...more
- Choosing your first investments 8th November 2015 - For some people the thought of picking their own shares can be a little bit daunting. Rest assured, it doesn't have to be. Whilst it… ...more
- Investing in funds, investment trusts and ETFs 7th November 2015 - Many investors like to build a portfolio of individual shares and even bonds but for some investors, investment funds can be a useful alternative. For… ...more
- Investing your portfolio for retirement income 6th November 2015 - From what I can see we are still firmly in a bull market in shares. Momentum remains a strategy that is paying off handsomely with… ...more
- Chapter 1: Introduction 14th October 2015 - If you are reading this, the chances are that you've decided to take control of your investments. You may have been investing for some time… ...more
- Chapter 2: Balance sheets 13th October 2015 - SharePad is packed full of useful financial data. This data holds the key to understanding the financial health and value of any company you are… ...more
- Chapter 3: Analysing balance sheets 12th October 2015 - In the previous chapter we looked at how a balance sheet was put together and the numbers that go into it. In this chapter, we are going… ...more
- Chapter 4: Income statements 11th October 2015 - Hopefully, you will now understand balance sheets and how important and useful they are. Let's move on to a set a numbers which most people think are… ...more
- Chapter 5: Analysing income statements 10th October 2015 - Now that we've dealt with the basic format of an income statement it's time to move on and show you how SharePad turns those numbers into really… ...more
- Chapter 6: The cash flow statement 9th October 2015 - The last four chapters have been spent looking at the balance sheet and income statement and how to use them. In this chapter, we will… ...more
- Chapter 7: Analysing cash flow statements 8th October 2015 - We did a little bit of cash flow analysis in the last chapter. In this one, we look at the cash flow ratios that SharePad calculates… ...more
- Chapter 8: Is this a good business? 7th October 2015 - How to measure company returns In the previous chapter, we learnt that profits and cash received (cash flow) are rarely the same value. We looked… ...more
- Chapter 9: Share valuations 6th October 2015 - How to tell when shares are cheap or expensive In the previous chapter we looked at how to find out if a company was any good or… ...more
- Chapter 10: Value investing 5th October 2015 - The previous chapters have hopefully shown you how useful SharePad can be when you are sifting through the finances of a company. Information that might… ...more
- Chapter 11: Dividend investing 4th October 2015 - If you are watching or listening to the news at the end of the day you will usually be told what happened to the stock… ...more
- Chapter 12: Growth investing 3rd October 2015 - The last couple of chapters have focused on two particular styles of investing - dividend investing and value investing. Both these approaches to owning shares… ...more
- Chapter 13: Investing in bonds 2nd October 2015 - Despite their names, ShareScope and SharePad are not just all about shares. They can help you with other investments as well. In this article I'm… ...more
- Appendix A: Putting it all together 1st October 2015 - In this chapter, I use the data and tools in SharePad to show you how I analyse shares but it also applies to ShareScope. Even… ...more
- Small-Cap Spotlight Report: Argo Blockchain 24th February 2021 - Let’s start with a wealth warning: This article covers bitcoin miner Argo Blockchain; I am not a bitcoin expert; The bitcoin price is highly unpredictable;… ...more
- The second most important ratio 17th February 2021 - If you look DotDigital, as I did a few years ago, you will find much to like about the business: Source: SharePad financial summary It… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 15/02/21 – Getting high on junk bonds 15th February 2021 - Last week Bloomberg reported that junk bond yields in the US fell below 4% the lowest level ever recorded and down from 11.5% peak yield… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: IG Group 11th February 2021 - For some time now IG Group has been flashing on my SharePad filters. The three screenshots just below show IG offers: High margins; Decent returns… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 08/02/21 – The signs are here 8th February 2021 - Moonpig IPO’ed last week at 350p, valuing the company at £1.2bn, and the shares rose +24% to 430p the following day. Meanwhile the FT reported… ...more
- Roll up! Get yer easy returns here… 3rd February 2021 - Bunzl, a company I investigated last year, is a classic roll up A distributor of everyday items consumed by businesses and organisations, it routinely acquires… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 01/02/21 – Bored Markets Hypothesis 1st February 2021 - Some of the speculative exuberance has spilled over the punch bowl at the cryptocurrency party into a number of glass half empty equities. GameStonk, err… ...more
- Small-Cap Spotlight Report: LoopUp 27th January 2021 - Welcome to a series of occasional articles in which I shine an investigative spotlight on particular small-caps. My aim is to demonstrate how to analyse… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 25/01/21 – Expectation v surprise 25th January 2021 - I was initially unimpressed by the UK’s mass vaccination rollout. However it is important to keep updating your beliefs when data is better than you… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 18/01/21 – Reincarnation as the bond market 18th January 2021 - In the early days of a new Democrat presidency, the President’s campaign manager observed that: “I used to think if there was reincarnation, I wanted… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Avon Rubber 13th January 2021 - Happy 2021! I trust SharePad will help bring you good fortune in what could be another twelve months of financial thrills and spills. As usual… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 11/01/21 – Gatekeepers 11th January 2021 - The FTSE 100 started the year strongly +6% during the week to 6857. Both the S&P 500 +1.3% to 3804 Nasdaq +1.4% to 13068 were… ...more
- Annual reports made simple 6th January 2021 - Happy New year. This year, I have resolved to keep things simple, which is not easy in investing. Aide memoire... Just before Christmas Chris, a… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 04/01/21 – Wait and Hope 4th January 2021 - “Until the day when God shall deign to reveal the future to man, all human wisdom is summed up in these two words... wait and… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 29/12/20 – Amateurs 29th December 2020 - The FTSE 100 closed around 6,487 to 24 December down -15% from the start of the year. From a peak of 7670 in mid-January the… ...more
- Lessons from lockdown and other stories 23rd December 2020 - This year has confirmed that most of the news is at best irrelevant to me as an investor. Worse, the news stressed me out. It… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 21/12/20 – Bidding up Codemasters 21st December 2020 - The FTSE stayed level around 6580, while Nasdaq hit a new high of 12752. Bitcoin rose through $20,000 for the first time. I have a… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 14/12/20 – Taxes steering behaviour? 14th December 2020 - After a strong November and start of December the FTSE 100 was largely unchanged this week at 6566. More broadly, the signs of a cyclical… ...more
- Nichols: More than Vimto 10th December 2020 - Having prospected for investments in the soft drinks industry, I think Nichols is perhaps the most intriguing of quite an interesting group. It has been… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 07/12/20 – Vaccine inoculating risk tolerance 7th December 2020 - The best performing FTSE 100 stock last week was Rolls Royce, up 19%. The worst was Unilever down 6.5%, which suggests expectations of a vaccine… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 30/11/20 – The platform bandwagon rolls on 30th November 2020 - FTSE weakened slightly to 6300 in the second half of last week, but the bounce of former “Covid losers” continued with Rolls Royce, Glencore, Shell… ...more
- Finding the soft drinks companies with the most fizz 25th November 2020 - I know this is going to make me sound like an alcoholic, but I rarely drink soft drinks. When a reader requested an overview of… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 23/11/20 – Expectations rising 23rd November 2020 - We are beginning to see companies operating in the “real” economy announce raised guidance. Somero (exceeding previous revenue guidance by +7%), but also Headlam (materially… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Manolete Partners 20th November 2020 - I am always looking for ‘multi-baggers’ — investments that can double, triple, quadruple or more. And here’s some very good news: I have stumbled on… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 16/11/20 – Reflation trade 16th November 2020 - Banks and other “covid losers” were up strongly at the start of last week as Pfizer announced they believe they have a credible vaccine. US… ...more
- Investing through the pandemic 11th November 2020 - When I told my wife I was researching Hotel Chocolat and my first action would be to buy some chocolate, she reminded me that the… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 09/11/20 – Study silence to learn the music 9th November 2020 - The US Presidential election turned out to be closer than most people expected. Nasdaq up almost +10% over the week to 12078. Tech stocks reacted… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Jarvis Securities 4th November 2020 - Today I have returned to one of my favourite SharePad screens. This screen applies two ratios favoured by ‘quality’ investors — operating margin and return… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 02/11/20 – Insiders selling at the top? 2nd November 2020 - Last week markets sold off into the rising cases of Covid. The FTSE 100 fell 5% last week to 5561. Large UK banks HSBC and… ...more
- Floored 28th October 2020 - James Halstead makes vinyl flooring, the kind we see in hospital corridors, GP surgeries, clinics, schools, offices, laboratories, prisons, factories, shops, trains and boats around… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 26/10/20 – Paying up for quality? 26th October 2020 - Markets recovered slightly towards the end of the week, with the FTSE 100 at 5888. Nasdaq was at 11662. Last week Netflix reported Q3 results,… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 19/10/20 – On network effects and fads 19th October 2020 - “Fad companies are companies with good business models or good products. So, why would we be interested in shorting a company that has a good… ...more
- Don’t waste a good crisis 15th October 2020 - Before I started fishing for a share to investigate for this week’s article, I culled my personal filter library. Many of the filters are derivations,… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 12/10/20 – On content, distribution and kurtosis 12th October 2020 - Last week the FTSE recovered to just over 6000. The (perhaps inappropriately named) Bond film No Time to Die, was postponed until next year by… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 05/10/20 – On uncertainty and confidence 5th October 2020 - Last week Andy Haldane at the Bank of England gave an interesting speech on “Economic Anxiety” noting that pessimism can be as contagious as the… ...more
- What does not kill a business can make it stronger 2nd October 2020 - This article was not supposed to be about paper maker James Cropper. I set out to write about Animalcare, a veterinary pharmaceutical company, but I… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Polar Capital 30th September 2020 - I am not a great fan of the fund-management industry. I cannot think of another sector where the employees collect enormous salaries while the customers… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 28/09/20 – Beginner’s mind and Buy and Build 28th September 2020 - Markets sold off last week as virus case rises rose (FTSE 100 fell to below 5800 before recovering slightly later in the week, Nasdaq down… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 21/09/20 – The long journey to exoneration 21st September 2020 - The FTSE 100 just about held its level above 6000 last week. Last week was Chilean Independence Day. It is a little known footnote in… ...more
- This time is different for Design Group 17th September 2020 - If you watch Design Group’s annual results presentation, you may detect a bashful smile on chief executive Paul Fineman’s face. Paul Fineman, chief executive of… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 14/09/20 – Americans on AIM 14th September 2020 - The oil price fell to a 3 month low in the middle of last week to below $40 a barrel. Oil is in contango (futures… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Fuller, Smith & Turner 9th September 2020 - First, a wealth warning. The last price-to-book ‘bargain’ I looked at for SharePad was Hammerson. Back then the property group’s £5 billion asset base could… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 07/09/20 – Come back on St Leger Day 7th September 2020 - St Leger Day, as in ““Sell in May and go away, don’t come back till St Leger Day”, is approaching. I’ve always wondered who St… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 31/08/20 – Let the future ≠ the past 31st August 2020 - Nasdaq continued to hit new highs, at 11,666 up +30% from the start of the year and up 2.5x in the last 5 years. I… ...more
- A safety first stock 19th August 2020 - I found James Latham a couple of months ago when I was trawling for cheap shares with strong balance sheets. The shares are still cheap,… ...more
- UK banks – in the eye of the storm? 13th August 2020 - Every crisis presents opportunities. A contrarian strategy of buying bank shares during the point of maximum gloom during a recession has often, but not always,… ...more
- Preparing for the worst, capitalising on the best 5th August 2020 - Listening to Porvair’s long-standing chief executive Ben Stocks talk about the challenges ahead, it is clear the company is bracing itself. Phrases like “preparing for… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Fever-Tree Drinks 29th July 2020 - They say mums always know best. Mine has bought Fever-Tree tonic waters for some years now and I recently asked whether she remained a customer.… ...more
- Making a new discoverIE 22nd July 2020 - I discovered discoverIE using a simple and fruitful method of finding new investment ideas: a list of shares sorted in SharePad by previous annual report… ...more
- Volex: Reassuringly above average 9th July 2020 - If you’ve read my recent articles you will know I have been ranking shares using basic financial statistics. I found Bioventix by ranking five criteria.… ...more
- A cheap profitable share with a strong balance sheet 24th June 2020 - Today I have added two more criteria to turn the list of cheap shares with strong balance sheets I made in my last article into… ...more
- Ranking potential bargains 17th June 2020 - A SharePad customer, Chris, reminded me of the power of ranking recently, when he emailed to say (among other things): "I find that I am… ...more
- Getting to grips with software companies 29th May 2020 - First, an admission. The software biz is a bit of a mystery to me. There’s a vast ecosystem of enterprise solutions, software that businesses increasingly… ...more
- The changing shape of QinetiQ 15th May 2020 - I have picked QinetiQ from my “Cash King” filter because it was one of the more reasonably priced companies that passed all the criteria. It’s… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Hikma Pharmaceuticals 13th May 2020 - One way to invest during the pandemic is to consider shares that have climbed higher as the market has dropped. Such companies may well be… ...more
- In search of the cash kings 29th April 2020 - While the stock market and the pandemic may have stabilised, I’m still thinking about financially strong firms. We never know when the next shock will… ...more
- Filtering for financial fortresses 15th April 2020 - The conclusion of my last article on finding companies with strong finances contained two caveats. Companies with seasonal cash flows can look like they have… ...more
- Putting safety first 2nd April 2020 - Funny thing (peculiar, not ha! ha!). Search SharePad news for the phrase “strong balance sheet” and there are dozens of companies every day confirming their… ...more
- Getting more out of return on capital 18th March 2020 - How we measure return on capital depends on what we want to know: whether a company is good at making profit from its operations, or… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: AB Dynamics 11th March 2020 - Recent market ructions have sent many shares tumbling — and perhaps created some buying opportunities. Amid the mayhem, I devised a straightforward screen. I simply… ...more
- Taking back control 19th February 2020 - Richard investigates Dialight, a supplier of industrial LED lighting that flared up ten years ago briefly setting the stock market alight, and subsequently dimmed alarmingly.… ...more
- XP POWER 14th February 2020 - Older readers may recall a distant era when electrical devices used to plug straight into the wall. Nowadays, everything electrical seems to need an annoying… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Boohoo 12th February 2020 - Cash flow movements can often indicate whether or not a business enjoys a powerful operational advantage. A strong business might: Receive customer payments upfront for… ...more
- When bad news is good news 5th February 2020 - Richard investigates Vitec, which has reported some bad news in 2019. It could be an opportunity to buy shares in a high quality business at… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Greggs 24th January 2020 - ‘Run your winners’ is popular stock-market advice. Great companies often remain great investments for a lot longer than most people expect… … and can deliver… ...more
- Out with the old, in with the new 8th January 2020 - Richard enters 2020 with a cleaned-up SharePad setup primed to help him find companies developing competitive advantages. He expects it to make him a better… ...more
- Alpha FX speaks my language 24th December 2019 - In response to a reader’s suggestion, Richard investigates Alpha FX. It is exactly the kind of people-first business that could be building a long-term competitive… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Mears 18th December 2019 - This article has not turned out as I had expected. I searched on SharePad for magnificent dividend histories, and thought I would be evaluating a… ...more
- The ultimate competitive advantage 11th December 2019 - Business schools identify the sources of competitive advantage that tie customers to companies and what they produce. Fundamentally though, there is only one true competitive… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Dotdigital 19th November 2019 - Today I have returned to the share screen I employed to pinpoint Victrex earlier this year. To quickly recap, this screen applies two ratios favoured… ...more
- Burberry joins “Future of Fashion” portfolio 29th October 2019 - In his quest for companies that control their own destinies, Richard discovers luxury fashion brand Burberry, a company whose products he is in no danger… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Rightmove 23rd October 2019 - Studying free cash conversion is vital when evaluating a set of accounts. The measure compares free cash flow to reported earnings, and can indicate whether… ...more
- Finding companies that control their own destinies 16th October 2019 - Fallout from the demise of Thomas Cook reminds Richard of the virtues of vertical integration. In the month since the demise of Thomas Cook, the… ...more
- KAINOS 4th October 2019 - THE SETTING Kainos (Greek for fresh, innovative) was launched in 1986 when the old British IT champion ICL recognised the quality of computer science graduates… ...more
- What PZ Cussons’ cashflow tells us about its strategy 2nd October 2019 - Having found PZ Cussons through his Keep It Simple, Stupid filter, Richard examines the company through its cash flow statement. To his delight, he finds… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Medica 24th September 2019 - Dynamic growth shares are among the market’s most exciting investments. Find a business that has expanded rapidly and offers the prospect of further earnings growth… ...more
- Filtering out the big spenders 18th September 2019 - Richard invents a new filter that promises to weed out big acquirers in a drive for simplicity he hopes will make investigating his next company… ...more
- The future of holidays portfolio 4th September 2019 - Richard returns from his holiday and wonders whether he can put the experience to use by investing in holiday companies. First step: Create a portfolio… ...more
- Why shorting is good for investors 30th August 2019 - Although I am much more of a trader myself as I rely on trading profits to pay my bills, I do think investors have much… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Hammerson 28th August 2019 - Buying a share at a discount to its book (or net asset) value ought to be the safest way of investing. Indeed, what could go… ...more
- Hidden potential in new division 21st August 2019 - Richard analyses Bloomsbury Publishing’s segmental report to work out where the profit is coming from. The Harry Potter effect is still evident, but the company… ...more
- Finding the best companies to analyse 6th August 2019 - A wise man once advised investors to stick to their circle of competence. Richard uses SharePad to keep his eye on the prize, and it… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: AG Barr 30th July 2019 - Quality companies undergoing temporary problems can often become attractive investment opportunities. On that basis, perhaps AG Barr is worth closer inspection. The soft-drinks manufacturer famous… ...more
- How to work out whether a firm is good acquirer 10th July 2019 - Richard uses a trick from Judges Scientific’s playbook to assess local hero Scientific Digital Imaging. Both companies acquire scientific instrument manufacturers using a “buy and… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Imperial Brands 3rd July 2019 - Imagine this. You find a blue-chip company that offers: * 21 years of consecutive dividend increases, with the last ten years showing 10% per annum… ...more
- The Future of Retail portfolio 26th June 2019 - Rule number one in investing is to buy what you know, but how does that work when what you know is changing day by day?… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: JD Sports Fashion 18th June 2019 - Today I am revisiting the share screen that pinpointed Games Workshop back in January. The shares of the quirky wargaming retailer have soared more than… ...more
- Weekly commentary: 17/06/19 17th June 2019 - It’s “avoid the warnings” time Last week saw a few profit warnings. Somero, Ted Baker, Quiz, Pendragon warnings were based on revenue disappointments but I… ...more
- Scapa has had a rocky three weeks. Its market capitalisation is down by 50%. Is it a buy? 13th June 2019 - THE SETTING After nine years of impressive revivification under CEO Heejae Chae, the specialist tapes maker Scapa has just delivered three tingling episodes in three… ...more
- Checking the numbers match the story 11th June 2019 - One thing we should always check is that a company’s long-term performance matches the story it tells us. Churchill China says it is “adding value”… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Jupiter Fund Management 5th June 2019 - Today I have revisited a share screen that applies two ratios favoured by ‘quality’ investors — operating margin and return on equity (ROE). The exact… ...more
- Hidden treasure on your doorstep 30th May 2019 - Finding local businesses listed on the stock market is easy with the help of SharePad and Google Maps. Richard maps the market to find out… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Domino’s Pizza 22nd May 2019 - This in-depth article covers one of the most impressive UK growth stocks of the last 20 years — Domino’s Pizza. Domino’s appeared on my radar… ...more
- Portmeirion: When confidence crumbles 14th May 2019 - SharePad is not just about discovering new shares, it can help us see shares we are familiar with in a new light. Richard uses it… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Abcam 8th May 2019 - Today I have returned to the share screen I employed to pinpoint Victrex the other week. To quickly recap, this screen applies two ratios favoured… ...more
- Bodycote: A stalwart in cyclical clothing 2nd May 2019 - Richard investigates a company that not only walks the walk, it talks the talk. I am not going to lie, even if it means shattering… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Victrex 25th April 2019 - This week I am tracking down a potential long-term winner by employing two ratios favoured by ‘quality’ investors. The first measure is operating margin, which… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Renishaw 8th April 2019 - I am convinced the very best shares to own are often led by executives who truly act in the interests of ordinary shareholders. In particular,… ...more
- RM: Is profit real? 3rd April 2019 - Richard investigates RM, one of the stock market's great survivors, starting with just one question. It takes him on a twisty trail... Before we get… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Craneware 26th March 2019 - Years ago I read Super Stocks, an investment book that claimed to reveal “powerful new ideas” to uncover “opportunities for spectacular profits”. I sadly can’t… ...more
- Moneysupermaaaaaaahhhhhhket 19th March 2019 - The veteran price comparison company is changing, and maybe for the better. Richard investigates one of the companies that easily met the criteria of his… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Accesso Technology 12th March 2019 - This article has not turned out as I had expected. I was hoping to study a quality growth business that had seen its share price… ...more
- Fishing like Fundsmith 5th March 2019 - Richard builds a Fundsmith filter, taking it from concept to conclusion. The aim: To reduce the “junk” in our watchlists so we are fishing in… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Hargreaves Lansdown 27th February 2019 - Quality companies often produce exceptional returns for ordinary investors. Just ask Terry Smith or Nick Train. These ace fund managers have delivered wonderful gains by… ...more
- Performance measurement for pros 20th February 2019 - Investors tend to judge their portfolios by how much they go up or down in value, typically compared to a benchmark index like the FTSE… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Apple 11th February 2019 - Being able to analyse international shares — at no extra cost! — is a wonderful feature of SharePad. And finding overseas shares within SharePad is… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Games Workshop 30th January 2019 - Could now be the time to return to dynamic growth shares? Wonder-stocks such as Fever-Tree, Boohoo.com and Keywords Studios are all well below their highs… ...more
- Starting with the big picture 23rd January 2019 - Richard starts his analysis of fast growing online beach holiday retailer On The Beach with new SharePad views designed to give him the big picture… ...more
- Magic Formula stocks for 2019 & 2018 performance 18th January 2019 - Back in 2016 we began testing and tracking three model portfolios based on Joel Greenblatt’s magic formula approach (click here to read more about this)… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Plus500 16th January 2019 - Before I start looking at Plus500 (LSE: PLUS), I have some good news…. …you can now employ my SharePad screening criteria with just a few… ...more
- Assessing whether profit is real 10th January 2019 - On the face of it Ricardo is a great company, but in recent years its earnings have deviated a long way from the cold hard… ...more
- How I build and manage my share portfolio 10th January 2019 - The key thing to stress at the beginning and, as many of you will already be well aware, there are many ways to become a… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Somero Enterprises 2nd January 2019 - How did your portfolio fare during 2018? If you managed to side-step the market falls, very well done. For the rest of us — including… ...more
- A SharePad for every occasion 21st December 2018 - Richard takes a break from company analysis and reveals a new layout for news, and reflects on some of the other tweeks he has used this… ...more
- Two good companies, but which is better? 17th December 2018 - Richard takes a first look at Softcat, and he likes what he sees, even in comparison to rival Computacenter, another fine business. Both companies make… ...more
- A Special SharePad Investigation: Patisserie Valerie 11th December 2018 - Before I go any further, let me just state that I am not here to say “I told you so”. But whenever I have lost… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Mattioli Woods 4th December 2018 - Many years ago, one of my favourite sources for investment ideas was the Financial Times. However, the FT’s articles did not interest me, and nor… ...more
- Searching SharePad for something special 27th November 2018 - Richard Beddard investigates DotDigital in SharePad. The data indicates it has been very prosperous since it floated on the London Stock Exchange in 2011. A… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Warpaint London 21st November 2018 - I am always looking for shares that can double, triple, quadruple or more during the years ahead. And one good way of finding such great… ...more
- What really makes a great business? 14th November 2018 - To identify great businesses we must go beyond the numbers and understand what causes them. In this article I revisit 4Imprint, an investment I should… ...more
- Filtering new issues 28th September 2018 - New issues have a reputation for delivering poor investment returns. In this article we filter SharePad for companies that may be more seasoned than they… ...more
- The old ones are the good ones 11th September 2018 - Exciting news: Aston Martin is readying itself to float on the stock market. Investors should think twice though, before buying the shares. Typically, it is… ...more
- Building a base filter 30th August 2018 - To demonstrate how to filter in SharePad, we’ll build a base filter that filters out the shares we are least likely to be interested in.… ...more
- The perils of filtering stocks 20th August 2018 - This is the second article in the series “From ideas to investments” in which I look at the process of finding and evaluating investment ideas.… ...more
- How the stock market actually works 27th July 2018 - Today's article is the first in a new series called ‘From ideas to investments’ which takes an in-depth look at how to generate investment ideas… ...more
- Avoiding bad shares is just as important as picking good ones 13th June 2018 - If you've been investing in individual shares for a while then you've probably gone through the experience of losing some money on one or more… ...more
- First steps to an inheritance tax-exempt portfolio 21st May 2018 - Investing in AIM-listed shares can help you reduce inheritance tax but you have to be picky. Not all shares qualify, and they must be good… ...more
- Buying quality on its own is no guarantee of success 15th May 2018 - There are many different ways to make money from the stock market. Over the last few years, one of the most popular and discussed strategies… ...more
- A new issue that is already a winner 8th May 2018 - Looking through the prisms of profitability, debt, cash flow, strategy and valuation, Strix may be an exception to the rule that new issues make bad… ...more
- AGMs – If in doubt, ask 23rd April 2018 - Most companies will answer questions from shareholders and potential shareholders. At Annual General Meetings shareholders have a right to ask questions and get answers. A… ...more
- Should investors avoid low margin companies? 10th April 2018 - Highly profitable companies can make outstanding long-term investments. Arguably, the best way to measure a company's profitability is to compare its profits with the amount… ...more
- Putting performance in perspective 9th April 2018 - To get a grip on where a company is going you have to understand where it has come from. Fortunately, that doesn’t mean reading every… ...more
- Working out what could go wrong with a share 26th March 2018 - Investors pin their hopes on what could go right. The great product. The winning strategy. The growing market. The new technology. These may be good… ...more
- Checking out a company’s cash conversion 21st March 2018 - A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the issues investors faced in working out a company’s true profits. In many cases, the ways in… ...more
- Decrypting a company’s business model and strategy 13th March 2018 - While it’s comforting to know a business has enjoyed success, long-term investors must also form an opinion on its prospects if we’re to hold the… ...more
- Can you trust a company’s profits? 7th March 2018 - This article is more suited to experienced investors. Profits are all important when it comes to investing in companies. To make money over the long… ...more
- How to read an annual report 27th February 2018 - Rule number one in long-term investing is to understand how the businesses you expect to profit from will make money - otherwise, how can you… ...more
- A smarter way to use analysts’ EPS forecasts 21st February 2018 - Should investors pay much attention to analysts’ profit forecasts? There is a school of thought that suggests that they should not. Detractors say that forecasts… ...more
- The Terry Smith algorithm 14th February 2018 - In this article I’ve attempted to find Fundsmith-like companies using SharePad. The results are mixed but there’s a lot to be learned from the experiment.… ...more
- A checklist for busy investors 7th February 2018 - There are many full time private investors out there but for others investing is a hobby or something that they fit around their day to… ...more
- Using SharePad’s “Live” tables in your own spreadsheets 30th January 2018 - Maybe you already download tables of data from SharePad by clicking on the sharing button in SharePad's blue Table view, but this data is dead.… ...more
- A better way to track changes in company performance 23rd January 2018 - It doesn't take too much time to get a feel for how well a company is doing. Most people do this by looking at percentage… ...more
- Buy and build 15th January 2018 - If you take a look at Diploma through the lens of SharePad's summary page (under the green 'Financials' tab), you will find it shares many… ...more
- Settings for the big picture 3rd January 2018 - Happy New Year! I've started mine by tidying up my many desktops: my physical desk, my laptop's desktop, and SharePad. I did so much experimenting… ...more
- Two charts to unlock a company’s finances 6th December 2017 - By way of introducing two charts I'm routinely using to suss out how companies are financed - the twin pillars of debt and equity -… ...more
- Is the current ratio an outdated measure of company safety? 15th November 2017 - One of the most commonly cited measures of a company's financial strength is something known as the current ratio. It is a measure of liquidity… ...more
- Income Opportunities From Dividends 10th November 2017 - In the last of his Investors Chronicle articles, Phil looks at companies reinstating dividends or starting to pay them for the 1st time. Read pdf… ...more
- How to steer clear of dividend traps 3rd November 2017 - First published in Investors Chronicle, Phil explains how to avoid the shares that might let you down. Read pdf article ...more
- Finding safe high-yielding shares 27th October 2017 - First published in Investors Chronicle, Phil explains how to identify which high-yielding shares are most likely to maintain or grow their dividends. Read pdf article ...more
- Finding companies that speak your language 4th October 2017 - Finding companies that speak your language It's a commonly held view that the only bits of financial reports worth paying attention to are the numbers… ...more
- How much is a company worth? A look at different ways to value shares 27th September 2017 - Two weeks ago I wrote about how to try and value companies that aren't making a profit. This week I'm going back to basics for… ...more
- 13th September 2017 - How to value loss-making companies One of the questions I am frequently asked is: "How do I value loss-making companies?". The short answer is that… ...more
- How I choose my next share using filters and charts 13th September 2017 - After many years of investment I still feel a sense of anticipation when I examine lists of shares looking for new opportunities. It's like opening… ...more
- Hunting in the minefield of cheap shares 18th July 2017 - Most people like a bargain. Bargain hunting on the stock market has long been a popular pastime or even a full time occupation for investors.… ...more
- The case for dividend investing in dangerous markets 4th July 2017 - I am finding investing more than just a little bit frustrating these days. The reason for this is that I am struggling to find shares… ...more
- Making sense of highly priced shares 21st June 2017 - In my 20 years of investing I am finding the current stock market conditions the most challenging I have ever encountered. My investing career started… ...more
- The case for enterprise valuations 6th June 2017 - A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the subject of PE ratios (click here to read the article) and the ins and outs of… ...more
- PE ratios and how to use them 23rd May 2017 - PE ratios and how to use them Price to earnings (PE) ratios are the most commonly used method of weighing up the value of a… ...more
- Looking beyond free cash flow 9th May 2017 - Ask me about the kind of financial characteristics I like to see in a potential investment and the first two I will usually cite are… ...more
- Analysing the stocks in a filter 19th April 2017 - Running filters or screens is a popular way of finding shares to invest in. Whilst screening can be very powerful it is important to recognise… ...more
- Why depreciation matters and EBITDA doesn’t 30th March 2017 - When it comes to weighing up asset-intensive sectors, depreciation matters. It is a real cost. This does not stop people ignoring it and touting the… ...more
- The end of “hidden debts” 28th March 2017 - Accounting is a dry subject but a very important one. I perfectly understand why private investors' eyes glaze over at the mere mention of the… ...more
- How to avoid value traps 10th March 2017 - In this instalment, Phil explains how to spot value traps and finds some cheap shares that might bounce back. Read the article ...more
- Free cash flow: what it is and how to use it 3rd March 2017 - In this week's Investors Chronicle, Phil explains how to use free cash flow to your advantage. Read the article ...more
- Weighing up investment trusts 15th February 2017 - Many private investors like to build a portfolio of individual shares in order to grow the value of their savings as well as trying to… ...more
- Riding a retail roll out 8th February 2017 - Note: This in an advanced article best suited to more experienced and confident investors. One of the most profitable investing strategies can be to buy… ...more
- Paying up for quality shares – how much is too much? 10th January 2017 - "It's far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price." - Warren Buffett "The desirability of a… ...more
- The Trader: Results from my filter 2nd February 2021 - My last article detailed my new filter. If you missed it then you can read about it here. As discussed, this filter looks for stocks… ...more
- Lessons from the Trend (Part 2): Moving Averages 29th January 2021 - In this article I will continue focusing on primary and secondary trends but this time I will use moving averages to define market phases. You… ...more
- The Trader: Introducing my new filter 15th January 2021 - I released a new filter several weeks ago. This was a new filter I was testing and mentioned this in my Investors Chronicle column. I’ve… ...more
- Lessons from the Trend (Part 1): Breakouts 16th December 2020 - All the best trends in the market need to start somewhere. I’m going to show you how to define a trend using two methods and… ...more
- The Trader: A look at the pharmaceuticals sector 27th November 2020 - The pharmaceuticals sector is another popular sector with private investors and retail traders. This is because the volatility is high and traders are often attracted… ...more
- The Trader: A look at the commodities sector 13th November 2020 - The commodities sector is popular with private investors and retail traders. Life changing gains (and life changing losses) can be made on this sector. Back… ...more
- Stock selection & staying in lane 16th October 2020 - In this article I'm going to cover some big picture charting and try my best to bring across to the reader three different time frames… ...more
- The Trader: Five rules for new traders 22nd May 2020 - A combination of market volatility and being locked in during lockdown has led to many turning their eye to getting involved in the stock market.… ...more
- The Trader: How to Avoid Blowing Your Account 7th May 2020 - The market is moving with extreme volatility in recent weeks. This offers traders many opportunities to prosper and profit, but volatility is a double-edged sword.… ...more
- The Trader: Why You Should Be Using R 23rd April 2020 - R is a component in trading that we use to define risk. It is a crucial aspect of trading systems and by thinking in terms… ...more
- The Trader: Why the trend is your friend 31st March 2020 - “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” Whether or… ...more
- The Trader: Exit Strategies 13th March 2020 - In April 2017, I had a real nightmare. I had been trading full time on the market for four months and had had enormous success… ...more
- The Trader: Optimising Your RNS Feed 26th February 2020 - In this article, I’ll show you how to clean up and manage your RNS feed by adding a filter and removing noise, colour coding your… ...more
- A market of stocks or a stock market? 7th February 2020 - January was a good month, despite the FTSE 100 closing down nearly 3.5% and the outbreak on coronavirus soon to kill us all. Or is… ...more
- Taste the Feeling 29th January 2020 - Taste the Feeling is a Coca-Cola slogan from 2016. I think it’s a very good, because Coca-Cola isn’t just a product. It’s a religion. The… ...more
- Why mindset is the most important factor 16th January 2020 - "Nature versus nurture" has been a debate that has raged for hundreds of years. Sir Francis Galton (pictured above), who was a Victorian era statistician… ...more
- Cups and bowls 6th December 2019 - Cups and handles, and bowls, have been very popular with trend traders. These patterns can be powerful as they show sentiment of the stock gradually… ...more
- Is there life on the High Street? 22nd November 2019 - With Debenhams going bang, the demise of Mothercare, and Carpetright finally succumbing to their challenges (Carpetright was taken over – but at a price only… ...more
- Support & Resistance 6th November 2019 - Support and resistance are two common concepts when it comes to technical analysis. They are the most basic but also the most important points when… ...more
- Two Technical Analysis Tools You Need: Candlesticks and Volume 9th October 2019 - We briefly touched on technical analysis in my previous article ‘The Four Stages of a Stock’, and in this article I want to introduce some… ...more
- Why shorting is good for investors 30th August 2019 - Although I am much more of a trader myself as I rely on trading profits to pay my bills, I do think investors have much… ...more
- The Four Stages of a Stock 26th July 2019 - Technical analysis is either loved or hated. Many people like to claim it as ‘voodoo’ and trying to predict the future, but the fact is… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: IG Group 11th February 2021 - For some time now IG Group has been flashing on my SharePad filters. The three screenshots just below show IG offers: High margins; Decent returns… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Avon Rubber 13th January 2021 - Happy 2021! I trust SharePad will help bring you good fortune in what could be another twelve months of financial thrills and spills. As usual… ...more
- Lessons from lockdown and other stories 23rd December 2020 - This year has confirmed that most of the news is at best irrelevant to me as an investor. Worse, the news stressed me out. It… ...more
- Finding the soft drinks companies with the most fizz 25th November 2020 - I know this is going to make me sound like an alcoholic, but I rarely drink soft drinks. When a reader requested an overview of… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Manolete Partners 20th November 2020 - I am always looking for ‘multi-baggers’ — investments that can double, triple, quadruple or more. And here’s some very good news: I have stumbled on… ...more
- Alpesh Patel on US Investing: 3 “Strong Buy” looking stocks set to move up 5th November 2020 - There is no shortage of stocks that are delivering triple digit returns. Scholar Rock, Miragen, Zedge, Socket Mobile - even Tupperware is up nearly 1,000%.… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Jarvis Securities 4th November 2020 - Today I have returned to one of my favourite SharePad screens. This screen applies two ratios favoured by ‘quality’ investors — operating margin and return… ...more
- Don’t waste a good crisis 15th October 2020 - Before I started fishing for a share to investigate for this week’s article, I culled my personal filter library. Many of the filters are derivations,… ...more
- What does not kill a business can make it stronger 2nd October 2020 - This article was not supposed to be about paper maker James Cropper. I set out to write about Animalcare, a veterinary pharmaceutical company, but I… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Polar Capital 30th September 2020 - I am not a great fan of the fund-management industry. I cannot think of another sector where the employees collect enormous salaries while the customers… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Fuller, Smith & Turner 9th September 2020 - First, a wealth warning. The last price-to-book ‘bargain’ I looked at for SharePad was Hammerson. Back then the property group’s £5 billion asset base could… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Headlam 15th July 2020 - Let me start by thanking you for clicking on an article with Headlam in the title. Rest assured, not everyone will want to read about… ...more
- Ranking potential bargains 17th June 2020 - A SharePad customer, Chris, reminded me of the power of ranking recently, when he emailed to say (among other things): "I find that I am… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Frontier Developments 10th June 2020 - Has the market become too obsessed with ‘pandemic-proof’ shares? I ask because my SharePad screening has brought Frontier Developments to my attention. The shares of… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Hikma Pharmaceuticals 13th May 2020 - One way to invest during the pandemic is to consider shares that have climbed higher as the market has dropped. Such companies may well be… ...more
- In search of the cash kings 29th April 2020 - While the stock market and the pandemic may have stabilised, I’m still thinking about financially strong firms. We never know when the next shock will… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: A Covid-19 Special 8th April 2020 - Let me start with a confession.This Covid-19 ‘Special’ may not be all that special. I have just applied a new SharePad screen to seek ‘quality… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: AB Dynamics 11th March 2020 - Recent market ructions have sent many shares tumbling — and perhaps created some buying opportunities. Amid the mayhem, I devised a straightforward screen. I simply… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Boohoo 12th February 2020 - Cash flow movements can often indicate whether or not a business enjoys a powerful operational advantage. A strong business might: Receive customer payments upfront for… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Greggs 24th January 2020 - ‘Run your winners’ is popular stock-market advice. Great companies often remain great investments for a lot longer than most people expect… … and can deliver… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Mears 18th December 2019 - This article has not turned out as I had expected. I searched on SharePad for magnificent dividend histories, and thought I would be evaluating a… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Rightmove 23rd October 2019 - Studying free cash conversion is vital when evaluating a set of accounts. The measure compares free cash flow to reported earnings, and can indicate whether… ...more
- Finding companies that control their own destinies 16th October 2019 - Fallout from the demise of Thomas Cook reminds Richard of the virtues of vertical integration. In the month since the demise of Thomas Cook, the… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Medica 24th September 2019 - Dynamic growth shares are among the market’s most exciting investments. Find a business that has expanded rapidly and offers the prospect of further earnings growth… ...more
- Filtering out the big spenders 18th September 2019 - Richard invents a new filter that promises to weed out big acquirers in a drive for simplicity he hopes will make investigating his next company… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Hammerson 28th August 2019 - Buying a share at a discount to its book (or net asset) value ought to be the safest way of investing. Indeed, what could go… ...more
- Finding the best companies to analyse 6th August 2019 - A wise man once advised investors to stick to their circle of competence. Richard uses SharePad to keep his eye on the prize, and it… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: AG Barr 30th July 2019 - Quality companies undergoing temporary problems can often become attractive investment opportunities. On that basis, perhaps AG Barr is worth closer inspection. The soft-drinks manufacturer famous… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Imperial Brands 3rd July 2019 - Imagine this. You find a blue-chip company that offers: * 21 years of consecutive dividend increases, with the last ten years showing 10% per annum… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: JD Sports Fashion 18th June 2019 - Today I am revisiting the share screen that pinpointed Games Workshop back in January. The shares of the quirky wargaming retailer have soared more than… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Jupiter Fund Management 5th June 2019 - Today I have revisited a share screen that applies two ratios favoured by ‘quality’ investors — operating margin and return on equity (ROE). The exact… ...more
- Hidden treasure on your doorstep 30th May 2019 - Finding local businesses listed on the stock market is easy with the help of SharePad and Google Maps. Richard maps the market to find out… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Domino’s Pizza 22nd May 2019 - This in-depth article covers one of the most impressive UK growth stocks of the last 20 years — Domino’s Pizza. Domino’s appeared on my radar… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Abcam 8th May 2019 - Today I have returned to the share screen I employed to pinpoint Victrex the other week. To quickly recap, this screen applies two ratios favoured… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Victrex 25th April 2019 - This week I am tracking down a potential long-term winner by employing two ratios favoured by ‘quality’ investors. The first measure is operating margin, which… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Renishaw 8th April 2019 - I am convinced the very best shares to own are often led by executives who truly act in the interests of ordinary shareholders. In particular,… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Craneware 26th March 2019 - Years ago I read Super Stocks, an investment book that claimed to reveal “powerful new ideas” to uncover “opportunities for spectacular profits”. I sadly can’t… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Accesso Technology 12th March 2019 - This article has not turned out as I had expected. I was hoping to study a quality growth business that had seen its share price… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Hargreaves Lansdown 27th February 2019 - Quality companies often produce exceptional returns for ordinary investors. Just ask Terry Smith or Nick Train. These ace fund managers have delivered wonderful gains by… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Apple 11th February 2019 - Being able to analyse international shares — at no extra cost! — is a wonderful feature of SharePad. And finding overseas shares within SharePad is… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Games Workshop 30th January 2019 - Could now be the time to return to dynamic growth shares? Wonder-stocks such as Fever-Tree, Boohoo.com and Keywords Studios are all well below their highs… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Plus500 16th January 2019 - Before I start looking at Plus500 (LSE: PLUS), I have some good news…. …you can now employ my SharePad screening criteria with just a few… ...more
- How I build and manage my share portfolio 10th January 2019 - The key thing to stress at the beginning and, as many of you will already be well aware, there are many ways to become a… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Somero Enterprises 2nd January 2019 - How did your portfolio fare during 2018? If you managed to side-step the market falls, very well done. For the rest of us — including… ...more
- A Special SharePad Investigation: Patisserie Valerie 11th December 2018 - Before I go any further, let me just state that I am not here to say “I told you so”. But whenever I have lost… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Mattioli Woods 4th December 2018 - Many years ago, one of my favourite sources for investment ideas was the Financial Times. However, the FT’s articles did not interest me, and nor… ...more
- Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Warpaint London 21st November 2018 - I am always looking for shares that can double, triple, quadruple or more during the years ahead. And one good way of finding such great… ...more
- The Trader: Results from my filter 2nd February 2021 - My last article detailed my new filter. If you missed it then you can read about it here. As discussed, this filter looks for stocks… ...more
- The Trader: Introducing my new filter 15th January 2021 - I released a new filter several weeks ago. This was a new filter I was testing and mentioned this in my Investors Chronicle column. I’ve… ...more
- Lessons from the Trend (Part 1): Breakouts 16th December 2020 - All the best trends in the market need to start somewhere. I’m going to show you how to define a trend using two methods and… ...more
- The Trader: A look at the pharmaceuticals sector 27th November 2020 - The pharmaceuticals sector is another popular sector with private investors and retail traders. This is because the volatility is high and traders are often attracted… ...more
- The Trader: A look at the commodities sector 13th November 2020 - The commodities sector is popular with private investors and retail traders. Life changing gains (and life changing losses) can be made on this sector. Back… ...more
- The Trader: A look at the automobile sector 22nd October 2020 - The automobile sector is not one I usually deal in. However, by using the RNS service each morning and sifting through company reports, it’s easy… ...more
- Stock selection & staying in lane 16th October 2020 - In this article I'm going to cover some big picture charting and try my best to bring across to the reader three different time frames… ...more
- The Trader: A look at the hospitality sector 7th October 2020 - The hospitality sector has been smashed in recent months. This is for several reasons. Lower footfall in high streets, offices closed and the work from… ...more
- The Trader: The Impact of Coronavirus on Trading 23rd September 2020 - One of the effects on Coronavirus has been to crash the entire stock market only to see it recover strongly. However, the impact of Coronavirus… ...more
- The Trader: Spread Betting 11th September 2020 - Spread betting is another way of buying and selling shares. Instead of buying the actual stock when we purchase through our broker, in spread betting… ...more
- The Trader: Working Through Rough Periods 26th August 2020 - Unless you’re an Instagram trader, set with a laptop by the pool and a Lamborghini in the background, everybody goes through rough patches in trading.… ...more
- The Trader: A Day In The Life of a Stock Trader 21st August 2020 - One of the questions I’m frequently asked is how I structure my day. Time is a trader’s most important currency because sometimes it can be… ...more
- The Trader: Knowing Your Market 4th August 2020 - We have covered many aspects of trading in previous articles, such as Why You Should Be Using R, Exit Strategies, and How To Avoid Blowing… ...more
- The Trader: Examining Retail Trading Behaviour 25th June 2020 - One of the many oft-repeated quotes around traders is that 90% of traders lose money. However, this depends on how one classifies a ‘trader’. Many… ...more
- The Trader: Taking advantage of SharePad News 7th June 2020 - A few months ago, I wrote about how to optimise your news feed on ShareScope Pro. My suggestions to improve the news feed have been… ...more
- The Trader: Five rules for new traders 22nd May 2020 - A combination of market volatility and being locked in during lockdown has led to many turning their eye to getting involved in the stock market.… ...more
- The Trader: How to Avoid Blowing Your Account 7th May 2020 - The market is moving with extreme volatility in recent weeks. This offers traders many opportunities to prosper and profit, but volatility is a double-edged sword.… ...more
- The Trader: Why You Should Be Using R 23rd April 2020 - R is a component in trading that we use to define risk. It is a crucial aspect of trading systems and by thinking in terms… ...more
- The Trader: Why the trend is your friend 31st March 2020 - “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” Whether or… ...more
- The Trader: Exit Strategies 13th March 2020 - In April 2017, I had a real nightmare. I had been trading full time on the market for four months and had had enormous success… ...more
- The Trader: Optimising Your RNS Feed 26th February 2020 - In this article, I’ll show you how to clean up and manage your RNS feed by adding a filter and removing noise, colour coding your… ...more
- Dynamic 35: Oakley Capital Investments 9th February 2021 - Private equity fund in transition – new addition to Dynamic 35 Listed private equity funds have had a chequered record on the London Stock Exchange.… ...more
- My two ETF Growth Portfolios: January 2021 Update 9th February 2021 - Back in the middle of August I outlined two growth-oriented portfolios, comprising a gaggle of exchange traded funds. The first was a Global Trends portfolio,… ...more
- The Dynamic 35: Manchester and London 14th January 2021 - "While we have this euphoria it's pretty hard to imagine the bubble breaking. But look at the data and you think this thing could go..."… ...more
- The Dynamic 35 : The Schroders Asian Total Return Trust 2nd December 2020 - Traditionally most investors tend to regard the division between developed markets (DM) and emerging markets (EM) as a simple divide. We all put more money… ...more
- Dynamic 35: India Capital Growth fund 13th November 2020 - This week I have a very adventurous addition to my list of 35 Dynamic funds. I admit that it’s not without risk and its recent… ...more
- Dynamic 35: Aurora Investment Trust 23rd October 2020 - A new addition to the Dynamic 35 Aurora Investment trust I wanted to start this article with an immediate declaration. I am a non-executive director… ...more
- Dynamic 35: RTW Venture 1st October 2020 - I have a new addition to my Dynamic 35 list of investment trusts and closed end funds. It is called RTW Venture and it is… ...more
- My two ETF Growth Portfolios 28th August 2020 - This week I am focusing not on my usual subject of investment trusts but switching attention to exchange traded funds or ETFs. These are a… ...more
- Prudent 15: Ecofin Global Utilities and Infrastructure Trust (EGL) 30th July 2020 - I do not think it is unfair to say that over the last decade we have seen a powerful shift in sentiment towards utility stocks,… ...more
- Prudent 15: International Public Partnerships 17th July 2020 - The safe bet on infrastructure: INPP (International Public Partnerships) Over the next couple of articles, we’ll be adding two new funds to our Prudent 15… ...more
- Dynamic 35: Witan Investment Trust 1st July 2020 - Witan – a long term buy and hold globalist fund with a value bias Investing should really be about simplicity. Take global investing. Nearly every… ...more
- Prudent 15: The SDCL Energy Efficiency Income Trust 12th June 2020 - The SDCL Energy Efficiency Income Trust The idea of investing in a fund which will help facilitate the transition towards a more sustainable energy mix… ...more
- Dynamic 35: Hg Capital 27th May 2020 - A smarter way of buying into the right kind of private growth businesses It is an unfortunate truth that more and more high growth businesses… ...more
- Dynamic 35: Edinburgh Worldwide 12th May 2020 - Edinburgh Worldwide – a great long-term home for growth investors Investors in funds such as Scottish Mortgage will have noticed a very peculiar phenomenon over… ...more
- Prudent 15: Ruffer Investment Company 22nd April 2020 - The Ruffer Investment Company – big bets on a global new normal "There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen"… ...more
- Dynamic 35: Augmentum 3rd April 2020 - A big bet on Fintech worth taking at this price - Augmentum OK, I’m not going to beat around the bush. l readily concede that… ...more
- Prudent 15: BH Global 20th March 2020 - Kicking off with BH Global (BHGG) You can always read more about my views on funds at my blog www.adventurousinvestor.com. I update this most days,… ...more
- Putting performance into perspective 5th February 2019 - Richard reads Fundsmith Equity Fund’s annual letter to fundholders and suggests a modest improvement that could change your perception of financial history. He also responds… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 15/02/21 – Getting high on junk bonds 15th February 2021 - Last week Bloomberg reported that junk bond yields in the US fell below 4% the lowest level ever recorded and down from 11.5% peak yield… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 08/02/21 – The signs are here 8th February 2021 - Moonpig IPO’ed last week at 350p, valuing the company at £1.2bn, and the shares rose +24% to 430p the following day. Meanwhile the FT reported… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 01/02/21 – Bored Markets Hypothesis 1st February 2021 - Some of the speculative exuberance has spilled over the punch bowl at the cryptocurrency party into a number of glass half empty equities. GameStonk, err… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 25/01/21 – Expectation v surprise 25th January 2021 - I was initially unimpressed by the UK’s mass vaccination rollout. However it is important to keep updating your beliefs when data is better than you… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 18/01/21 – Reincarnation as the bond market 18th January 2021 - In the early days of a new Democrat presidency, the President’s campaign manager observed that: “I used to think if there was reincarnation, I wanted… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 11/01/21 – Gatekeepers 11th January 2021 - The FTSE 100 started the year strongly +6% during the week to 6857. Both the S&P 500 +1.3% to 3804 Nasdaq +1.4% to 13068 were… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 04/01/21 – Wait and Hope 4th January 2021 - “Until the day when God shall deign to reveal the future to man, all human wisdom is summed up in these two words... wait and… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 29/12/20 – Amateurs 29th December 2020 - The FTSE 100 closed around 6,487 to 24 December down -15% from the start of the year. From a peak of 7670 in mid-January the… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 21/12/20 – Bidding up Codemasters 21st December 2020 - The FTSE stayed level around 6580, while Nasdaq hit a new high of 12752. Bitcoin rose through $20,000 for the first time. I have a… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 14/12/20 – Taxes steering behaviour? 14th December 2020 - After a strong November and start of December the FTSE 100 was largely unchanged this week at 6566. More broadly, the signs of a cyclical… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 07/12/20 – Vaccine inoculating risk tolerance 7th December 2020 - The best performing FTSE 100 stock last week was Rolls Royce, up 19%. The worst was Unilever down 6.5%, which suggests expectations of a vaccine… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 30/11/20 – The platform bandwagon rolls on 30th November 2020 - FTSE weakened slightly to 6300 in the second half of last week, but the bounce of former “Covid losers” continued with Rolls Royce, Glencore, Shell… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 23/11/20 – Expectations rising 23rd November 2020 - We are beginning to see companies operating in the “real” economy announce raised guidance. Somero (exceeding previous revenue guidance by +7%), but also Headlam (materially… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 16/11/20 – Reflation trade 16th November 2020 - Banks and other “covid losers” were up strongly at the start of last week as Pfizer announced they believe they have a credible vaccine. US… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 09/11/20 – Study silence to learn the music 9th November 2020 - The US Presidential election turned out to be closer than most people expected. Nasdaq up almost +10% over the week to 12078. Tech stocks reacted… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 02/11/20 – Insiders selling at the top? 2nd November 2020 - Last week markets sold off into the rising cases of Covid. The FTSE 100 fell 5% last week to 5561. Large UK banks HSBC and… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 26/10/20 – Paying up for quality? 26th October 2020 - Markets recovered slightly towards the end of the week, with the FTSE 100 at 5888. Nasdaq was at 11662. Last week Netflix reported Q3 results,… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 19/10/20 – On network effects and fads 19th October 2020 - “Fad companies are companies with good business models or good products. So, why would we be interested in shorting a company that has a good… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 12/10/20 – On content, distribution and kurtosis 12th October 2020 - Last week the FTSE recovered to just over 6000. The (perhaps inappropriately named) Bond film No Time to Die, was postponed until next year by… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 05/10/20 – On uncertainty and confidence 5th October 2020 - Last week Andy Haldane at the Bank of England gave an interesting speech on “Economic Anxiety” noting that pessimism can be as contagious as the… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 28/09/20 – Beginner’s mind and Buy and Build 28th September 2020 - Markets sold off last week as virus case rises rose (FTSE 100 fell to below 5800 before recovering slightly later in the week, Nasdaq down… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 21/09/20 – The long journey to exoneration 21st September 2020 - The FTSE 100 just about held its level above 6000 last week. Last week was Chilean Independence Day. It is a little known footnote in… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 14/09/20 – Americans on AIM 14th September 2020 - The oil price fell to a 3 month low in the middle of last week to below $40 a barrel. Oil is in contango (futures… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 07/09/20 – Come back on St Leger Day 7th September 2020 - St Leger Day, as in ““Sell in May and go away, don’t come back till St Leger Day”, is approaching. I’ve always wondered who St… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 31/08/20 – Let the future ≠ the past 31st August 2020 - Nasdaq continued to hit new highs, at 11,666 up +30% from the start of the year and up 2.5x in the last 5 years. I… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 24/08/20 – Searching for uncorrelated returns 24th August 2020 - Rightmove released a survey showing that the UK housing agreed sales picked up strongly to a record £37bn. A day later Persimmon reported half year… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 10/08/20 – The last “forever” stock 10th August 2020 - The last “forever” stock For Jeremy’s last weekly note he reviews his value investing mistakes and aims to find the stock that in 10 years'… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 03/08/20 – Lessons 3rd August 2020 - Lessons In the spirit of reflection in a year of uncertainty and extremes, Jeremy analyses some past weekly notes and takes another look at one he wants… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 27/07/20 – The Relative Value Trade 27th July 2020 - The Relative Value Trade With a huge injection of liquidity last week the valuation differential between large US tech stocks and UK small companies is… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 20/07/20 – Clearing up the debris 20th July 2020 - Clearing up the debris The pace of structural change is faster, perhaps, than ever before and there are an increasing number of quoted companies dedicated… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 13/07/20 – Flight to Quality 13th July 2020 - Flight to Quality As the bubble spreads from large tech to healthcare and motor companies in anticipation of a flight to quality Jeremy takes a… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 06/07/20 – Inflation 6th July 2020 - Inflation The growth bubble continues, but eyeing inflationary storm clouds gathering over the horizon Jeremy takes a look at Melrose Industries as a potential hedge… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 29/06/20 – Director Dealing 29th June 2020 - Director Dealing As markets tread water after extreme volatility Jeremy finds that directors have a 77% win rate on their purchasing during the volatility. A… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 22/06/20 – High Conviction from here on 22nd June 2020 - High Conviction from here on With the seamless transition from bear market to bubble Jeremy suspects that now is a time to make sure we… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 15/06/20 – On-line valuations 15th June 2020 - On-line valuations The silly valuation of the latest US IPO causes Jeremy to ponder some of the UK online valuations and finds the spreadbetters to… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 08/06/20 – The Recovery Trade 8th June 2020 - The Recovery Trade In this strong market the pain trade is to buy. There are reasons this could be right and Jeremy suggests the carpet… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 01/06/20 – Dash to Trash 1st June 2020 - Dash to Trash After 14 years of growth out-performance, value is now set to perform in a recovery. Jeremy takes a look at the value… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 25/05/20 – Investing in Intangibles 25th May 2020 - Investing in Intangibles Intangibles take greater precedence today. Both accountants and governments struggle with this while markets are quick to find answers through royalty companies.… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 18/05/20 – Investing in Acquirors 18th May 2020 - Investing in Acquirors Jeremy worries about software valuations and is concerned that returns at Ideagen and Tracsis could turn out to be far less than… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 11/05/20 – The 50-year view 11th May 2020 - The 50-year view As equity markets squeeze up Jeremy suggests equities may have further to go on the back of credit markets. A screen of… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 04/05/20 – The Small Cap Opportunity 4th May 2020 - The Small Cap Opportunity With markets squeezing up, pushed by central banks money printing we are at a moment of opportunity for overlooked small cap… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 27/04/20 – To the Future 27th April 2020 - To the Future With markets trending sideways Jeremy sees inflation ahead and takes at look at the food manufacturers which could be beneficiaries. Devro’s sausage… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 20/04/20 – Depression in a Wall of Money 20th April 2020 - Depression in a Wall of Money The market is caught between an oncoming depression and a wall of money inflating valuations. In this environment the… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 13/04/20 – With Recovery comes Refinance 13th April 2020 - With Recovery comes Refinance It is easy to stress over whether we are in a bear rally or the start of a bull market. But… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 06/04/20 – After Value comes Recovery 6th April 2020 - After Value comes Recovery In a world full of value Jeremy takes a look at what a recovery may look like and picks a couple… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 30/03/20 – Value time 30th March 2020 - Value time With no earnings visibility it is easy to forget there are green shoots over the horizon. This is a time to seek value.… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 23/03/20 – Irrational or True? 23rd March 2020 - Irrational or True? We are now in a market of fear and there are signs of inefficiency and irrational behaviour, which is a time of… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 16/03/20 – Timing is everything 16th March 2020 - Timing is everything With the current crisis Jeremy dusts off the recovery stocks folder. Airlines that survive will have huge upside on the back of… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 09/03/20 – Purging Excess 9th March 2020 - Purging Excess Bear markets cleanse excess. Jeremy takes a look at the growth narratives and accounting adjustments that have been adopted and suspects the bear… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 02/03/20 – Correction or Bear Market? 2nd March 2020 - Correction or Bear Market? The question of whether the sudden market correction is a temporary contagion of fear, or the beginning of a bear market… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 24/02/20 – Barbell Portfolio 24th February 2020 - Barbell Portfolio The tax advantages of technology companies and private equity combined with quantitative easing are shrinking stock markets. Until this changes the shrinkage will… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 17/02/20 – Dinosaurs don’t gallop 17th February 2020 - Dinosaurs don’t gallop Jim Slater coined the term “elephants don’t gallop” and in this technology enabled era it may be better termed “dinosaurs don’t gallop”.… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 10/02/20 – Employee Culture 10th February 2020 - Employee Culture With quality as the watchword a review of staff feedback can tell us much about the culture of a company. A review of… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 27/01/20 – Mind the gap 27th January 2020 - Mind the Gap It’s been a good few months. The FTSE small cap is up 14% since October, while the FTSE 100 is up around… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 20/01/20 – Culture in payments 20th January 2020 - Culture in Payments There were no spare seats when I arrived at Panmure Gordon’s offices last week for the Non-Standard Finance investor day titled “Culture… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 13/01/20 – Culture 13th January 2020 - Culture Luck plays a part in investing but there is also a theory that you make your luck. Both K3Capital and Dart Group are cyclical… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 06/01/20 – The Roaring 20’s 6th January 2020 - The Roaring 20’s Nothing quite starts a new decade as reassuringly as Greggs Vegan Steak Bake causing late night queuing in Newcastle. With Pizza Hut’s… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 30/12/19 – Change Alley 30th December 2019 - Change Alley Suggesting that Scrooge’s drive and self-discipline was something we should aspire to didn’t go down well with my millennial children. I rationalised the… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 23/12/19 – Lessons for 2020 23rd December 2019 - Lessons for 2020 It has been rather enjoyable as the year draws to a close. The Boris Bounce was a pleasant experience for investors. Excitingly… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 16/12/19 – The Golden Era of Small Caps 16th December 2019 - The Golden Era of Small Caps The fear was palpable last Thursday as I sat in a broking office. The millennials queuing at the voting… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 09/12/19 – The Volatility Reduction Trade 9th December 2019 - The Volatility Reduction Trade The gating of M&G’s property fund caused the press to become excitable last week. The Questor column in The Telegraph advised… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 02/12/19 – Shrinking Markets 2nd December 2019 - Shrinking Markets The liquidation of Nautilus Minerals caught my eye last week. This was a company which was to be one of the first underwater… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 25/11/19 – Superstocks 25th November 2019 - Superstocks I have been living with value stock affliction for some time. It can be irritating particularly when the wind is blowing the wrong way.… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 18/11/19 – What Goes Around…. 18th November 2019 - What Goes Around…. It is clear the technology growth bubble is now starting to unwind but the difficult question is where to go to next?… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 11/11/19 – The Cult of Equities 11th November 2019 - The Cult of Equities Each week that passes my excitement is building. Value is coming back. I have felt like a fish out of water… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 04/11/19 – Profiting from Folly and Disaster 4th November 2019 - Profiting from Folly and Disaster Old fashioned companies such as TP ICAP have started putting strong trading statement out which is strange times indeed. This… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 28/10/19 – Sticking to our guns 28th October 2019 - Sticking to our guns Investing can be lonely. Buying stocks in a downturn can be hard - we don’t know if we are catching a… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 21/10/19 – A New Era Dawns 14th October 2019 - A New Era Dawns Often it is easy to be so pre-occupied with the present that we miss the elephant quietly sauntering past the boardroom… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 14/10/19 – Forex 14th October 2019 - Forex There are reasons to be gloomy just now. As I walked past Westminster last week the protester carrying an anti-Brexit placard looked forlorn as… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 07/10/19 – Special Situations 7th October 2019 - Special Situations At times like this it is easy to make mistakes. I confess to being bored of my stocks. They haven’t done anything exciting… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 30/09/19 30th September 2019 - Liquidity Crunch Across the table in the rather tired looking meeting room, the grey haired but immaculately presented fund manager bit his bottom lip as… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 23/09/19 23rd September 2019 - Navigating Change Conservatively Sometimes it can be useful to stand back and take stock so we don’t get those market eyes that can’t see the… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 16/09/19 16th September 2019 - Inefficient Markets I find myself increasingly bullish. Or maybe I have recently had a holiday and by the end of the week all bullishness will… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 09/09/19 9th September 2019 - Business Models I found myself wondering whether models become outdated over time. In this age of diversity, governance reporting, and gender indexes I question whether… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 02/09/19 2nd September 2019 - It’s a bi-polar world Printing money hoping that will engineer inflation has in the past resulted in inflation, but it hasn’t worked. As central banks… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 27/08/19 27th August 2019 - The Great British Corporate Sale One of the things the City of London excels at is selling its own to overseas acquirors. Back in the… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 19/08/19 19th August 2019 - Agricultural Investing The nerves were tested last week. Back in Q4 last year the 17% fall in the FTSE 100 was one of those typical… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 12/08/19 12th August 2019 - The Narrative of Growth I suspect I am not alone in being trained as a value investor in the 1980’s. That was an era when… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 05/08/19 5th August 2019 - In need of boredom Equity investors need to be an optimistic bunch - since equity markets outperform over the long run. Academics Dimson Marsh and… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 29/07/19 29th July 2019 - Testing times I find this one of the most uncomfortable investing era’s I can recall. The outperformance of growth stocks continues while markets grind higher… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 22/07/19 22nd July 2019 - The Greening of Fund Management It is still useful to contemplate the state of the world over a good lunch as I did last week… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 15/07/19 15th July 2019 - Where are the Customers’ Yachts? The book “Where are the Customers’ Yachts?” by Fred Schwed was written 75 years ago but as we watch the… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 08/07/19 8th July 2019 - The Bubble has burst Sometimes we spend so long waiting for something to happen we don’t realise it has started. But I think it has… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 01/07/19 1st July 2019 - Disruption in the Courts Early for lunch on the 24th floor of Tower 42 in the City I gazed over the tower blocks of the… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 24/06/19 24th June 2019 - Structural Change in the City It always amazes me how debt can lead to innovation. Humans find ingenious solutions. The Bank of England was founded… ...more
- Weekly commentary: 17/06/19 17th June 2019 - It’s “avoid the warnings” time Last week saw a few profit warnings. Somero, Ted Baker, Quiz, Pendragon warnings were based on revenue disappointments but I… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 10/06/19 10th June 2019 - Companies with Culture The noise around Woodford’s humiliation last week was deafening. And it was a bad week for Hargreaves Lansdown (-14%). I don’t recall… ...more
- Weekly Commentary: 03/06/19 3rd June 2019 - The “End of Global Trade” Week Last week the talk moved from politics to trade wars. Consensus seems to be that the trade war between… ...more
- Weekly commentary: 28/05/19 28th May 2019 - Time to own value? Unicorns The Unicorns stable door has been left wide open. Beyond Meat, a US loss making protein meat brand, listed in… ...more
