The How and Why of value investing
In practice:
It’s not science, and it’s not about rockets
As a youngster, the “How and Why” books inspired me and I’ve just experienced overwhelming nostalgia browsing this website. I’m not alone. Definitely not alone!
How and Why books explained things, and to a boy who’s previous main source of wisdom had been the Valiant Annual, How [...]
Bubble rekindled
In theory:
Don’t investors ever learn?
Where was the great revulsion? The feeling of utter despondency at the bottom of bear markets, when just about everybody capitulates and a consensus forms that things can only get worse.
For a week or two, back in March, the collective mood was very gloomy but then something happened. Markets around the [...]
Investing against the tide
In practice:
Huveaux (again)
Rupert Levy, Huveaux’s financial director, returned my call this morning. I rang him yesterday primarily to ask about some of the notes in the accounts.
A quick recap: Yesterday I said this publishing and events company was cheap, but I was doubtful about its financial strength…
Note 15 confirms the company believes the “value in [...]
The dash to trash
In practice:
Speculation is in the air
What a great Spring. The sun is out, the skies are blue, and unless you’ve been locked away in a bunker somewhere, investors and speculators have produced a remarkable turnaround in the stock market.
Here’s my plot:
The chart shows how we’re prepared to pay for UK shares (main market and [...]
OPD (again)
In practice:
Signs of overconfidence warn me off
Sorry about the absence of a post yesterday. OPD (OPD) waylaid me. It’s funny how it’s the shares you decide against that take the longest to appraise.
I wrote about the recruiter last week. It fits my pattern. The shares are dirt cheap. The 10 year price earnings ratio is [...]
Investing like Anthony Bolton
In practice:
Anthony Bolton, step-by-step
I remember being impressed by a chapter in a book by Jonathan Davis called Investing with Anthony Bolton, first published five years ago.
Anthony Bolton is an investment great, particularly in the UK, and a rarity. A fund manager who beat the average over decades, not years.
Davis provided a clear description of his [...]
OPD: A classic boom and bust share
In practice:
Another cheap recruitment company
The fortunes of recruitment companies depend on the fortunes of the economy, but OPD (OPD) looks like a boom and bust share par excellence. Founded by its current chairman and biggest shareholder, Peter Hearn, in the teeth of recession in the early 1990’s, its share price chart booms and crashes with the [...]
Churchill China still pottering
In practice:
Don’t bet on the Jamie Oliver effect…
Compared to other potteries, Churchill China (CHH) has coped admirably with globalisation, and put itself in a good position during a recession.Waterford Wedgwood went bust in January and Portmeirion’s bought the rights to Royal Worcester and Spode after Royal Worcester entered administration last November.
Although Churchill’s shares had halved [...]
ASOS makes me look like an ass…
‘A’ is for acronym, and anomaly
Here’s a rarity these days, a couple of charts that go from bottom left to top right:
Yesterday, ASOS (ASC) announced it had doubled sales and and almost doubled of pre-tax profit and is looking ahead to another year of strong growth.
I cringe whenever I look at charts like ASOS, and [...]
Agonising about Aga again
In practice:
Trust no-one
First, a quick recap. Aga (AGA). Cult product. Cheap price. Strong finances. BIG pension.
Since I concluded that wild swings in the value of Aga Rangemaster’s pension fund relative to the present value of its obligations made an otherwise sound company too speculative for a safety-first portfolio, it’s published an annual report for the [...]
