Plumbing the depths with Wolseley
I’ve caught a big fish in my net, and I’m not altogether happy about it. Wolseley (WOS) is the world’s largest distributor of plumbing, heating, and building supplies, Unless you’ve come across it as an investor you might never have heard of it.
The company owns an army of businesses that go by their own [...]
Casting around for value
In practice:
The contrarian’s sector
As contrarian ideas go, the auto industry is hard-core, yet, despite having added engineering consultancy Ricardo to the Thrifty 30 model portfolio last week I haven’t finished with the sector.
While some manufacturers have maintained their research and development efforts to design leaner, cleaner vehicles, shielding Ricardo from the worst of the [...]
Ricardo engineers value in awful auto sector
In practice:
Diversification: good, diworseification bad
I fell in love with Ricardo (RCDO) when I saw the artwork on the front cover of its annual report:
The bold, calm design oozes technology, quality and environmental concern, which represent a big danger for investors in the automotive engineering consultancy.
It’s easy to get carried away by the promise of fuel [...]
Thrifty Anite tests resolve
In practice:
A little patience, a lot of profit
Anite (AIE) presents something of a dilemma. The figures are very enticing. For financial strength, the company scores a perfect nine. It’s cheap too, the share price is just eight times its average profits over the last ten years. Beneath lies a more complicated story, though.
The company [...]
Dart still flying
In practice:
A bump in the night
Not one, but two charts grace today’s blog on Dart (DTG). The short-term price line describes a curious hump this summer. A 20% run-up in price coincided with the announcement of the company’s full year results on 30 July, and an announcement from a different company, Ryanair, sent the [...]
The not-so Thrifty
In practice:
Not like the good old days
Sadly my plan to create a model portfolio of good companies at cheap prices, the Thrifty 30, by going back through the companies I’d profiled in the last year-or-so and including those that still fit the template, is snagged on the rusty nail of exuberance.
Since investors have enjoyed [...]
In a Solid State
In practice:
Running fast into a headwind
Perhaps it’s the remarkably chipper state of the market that’s forcing me to look for bargains amongst the smallest of companies.
Solid State’s market value is £3m and it employs just 14 people manufacturing rugged and industrial computers and batteries and 25 people selling them and other manufacturers’ electronic components.
Most of [...]
Eeny, meeny, miny, moe
In practice:
Catch a share near its low
Starting off where I finished last week, clicking through the companies I’ve profiled over the last year to determine which are suitable for the Thrifty 30 portfolio, I’m rejecting Business Post (BPG) again.
Although most of my junk mail and a lot of actually quite useful mail seems to [...]
Total Systems is a value conundrum
In practice:
Full fat spread
As if producing ‘total systems’ weren’t enough, Total Systems’ (TTS) main product is called, Ultima (brochure - pdf). It’s software that administers polices for insurers and brokers so they can issue quotations, manage renewals, and settle claims.
From the case studies on its website, customers like Dixons, which uses Ultima for [...]
Step forward… The real Thrifty 30
In practice:
I name this portfolio…
Regular readers will be familiar with my Thrifty 30 portfolios. They are portfolios of thirty shares in financially strong companies at cheap prices. I first tried it on this blog, then I had a go for Money Observer [pdf]. Up to now, though, I have not maintained a Thrifty 30 portfolio. [...]
