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 and BP all up 8% in the last 5 days. Nasdaq continued to rise to 12152 and Tesla’s value exceeded half a trillion dollars. airbnb IPO Last week airbnb filed […]
Month: November 2020
The Trader: A look at the pharmaceuticals sector
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 to the blue-sky lottery ticket type stocks. The road for a junior pharmaceutical company is long and hard. First of all, drugs need to go through three phases of testing […]
Finding the soft drinks companies with the most fizz
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 the soft drinks sector, I was not, therefore, particularly enthusiastic. For me, liking the product, or at least seeing its value, is a prerequisite for investment, and, on health grounds, […]
Weekly Commentary: 23/11/20 – Expectations rising
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 ahead), Acesso (comfortably ahead). Saga share price was also up +57% during the week. The FTSE 100 is currently 6378, which is the same level as early March this year. […]
Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Manolete Partners
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 a company that can find them for me. Not just the occasional five-bagger or ten-bagger mind, but 20-baggers. It’s incredible stuff, especially as the track record of success extends for […]
Alpesh Patel on US Investing: The Stocks that “Have It All”
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 possible. Are they the brands people love the most? Some research by MBLM suggests so. See these images: Wow, great performing companies, and they outgrow their peers. Plus, they are […]
Weekly Commentary: 16/11/20 – Reflation trade
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 Treasuries 10 year yield jumped up to 0.98% (the red dot on the chart below) from the 0.79% last week. This is a significant move, the yield curve seems to […]
The Trader: A look at the commodities sector
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 the right minor and you can see stocks appreciate in value several-fold, although the vast majority never amount to anything other than value destruction through endless placings. In this article […]
Dynamic 35: India Capital Growth fund
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 track record hasn’t been fab if I’m honest but I think the seeds for a rapid turnaround are being laid and if nothing else a future redemption opportunity might provide […]
Investing through the pandemic
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 most important thing about research is to include lots of participants. Scuttlebutting chocolate 70% dark chocolate promised to be our optimal pleasure point, and so it was. When I brought […]
Weekly Commentary: 09/11/20 – Study silence to learn the music
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 well to the uncertainty, but so did 10 year US Bond yields, which initially jumped to 0.9% before falling back to 0.78%. I’m not sure if you’d predicted the result, […]
Alpesh Patel on US Investing: 3 “Strong Buy” looking stocks set to move up
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%. Source: ShareScope – Alpesh Patel Special Edition (click on image to enlarge) The problem is hindsight is great, but each of these and the other climbers have huge problems in […]
Screening For My Next Long-Term Winner: Jarvis Securities
Today I have returned to one of my favourite SharePad screens. This screen applies two ratios favoured by ‘quality’ investors — operating margin and return on equity (ROE). The main filter criteria are: 1) An operating margin (latest and 10-year average) of 20% or more, and; 2) An ROE (latest and 10-year average) of 20% […]
Weekly Commentary: 02/11/20 – Insiders selling at the top?
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 NatWest reported encouraging results, although the sector remained unloved. Directors selling Given the strength of the market’s rally over the last 6 months, and then last week’s sell off, I […]