Sharemark Auctions Jan 25th

Dairy Farmers of Britain looks set for record highs
There are monthly auctions for a range of stocks on Sharemark tomorrow, notably the Dairy Farmers of Britain loan stocks, Countrywide Farmers, and the weekly auction for Share plc.
There has been an unusual level of bidding in all of the Dairy Farmers stocks and they look likely […]

Fun & games in the markets

This - with a bit of luck - is when the value style pays off
I apologise for the lack of updates recently - particularly given the liveliness of the markets - but I’ve had a lot of other things going on.
I don’t have anything useful to say about the overall market. My general view […]

Prospects for 2008

My thoughts - for what little they are worth
It’s that time of year when every brokerage feels compelled to make its forecast for what the markets will do this year. It’s all a bit of a waste of time. The stockmarket responds to new information that it hasn’t yet priced in and, over a single […]

New Year’s Resolutions

Things I would like to do better in 2008
Happy New Year - I hope everybody had a good holiday (even better if your holiday hasn’t finished yet).
I have a couple of investing resolutions for the New Year, things that I know I do badly, and would like to improve.
(1) Trade better - I make two […]

My portfolio in 2007

Not a vintage year but not too bad
Today is my last day at work (hooray!) so I’m also going to make this my last post of 2007. Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year to you all.
I’ve been trying to estimate my portfolio return for this year, which given my slipshod accounting is […]

Five expensive shares

A quick screen for companies I wouldn’t want to buy

If only cheap shares were as easy to find as expensive ones. I don’t go in for short-selling very often, but if I did, these five would be on my list for further research.

P/BV ex goodwill

Trailing P/E

Estimated forward P/E

Yield

Goals Soccer Centres (GOAL)

8.5x

53.4x

33.9x

0.25%

Indigovision (IND)

12.9x

100.0x

36.7x

-

London Capital Group […]

The dollar effect (HYNS, ARG & CML)

Calculating the US currency damage to London earnings
A lot of London shares are exposed to the dollar and the ongoing slide in the US currency will dampen earnings growth this year and next.
Three smallcaps I have mentioned here - Armorgroup (ARG), Haynes Publishing (HYNS) and CML Microsystems (CML) - all have dollar exposure. These are […]

New LSE index trackers

Just say no to overpaid and underperforming investment managers
I got a message today about the launch of a new set of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) by Deutsche Bank. These include:

Index tracked by db x-trackers

TER*

LSE Code

FTSE/XINHUA CHINA 25

0.60%

XX25

S&P CNX NIFTY (India)

0.85%

XNIF

MSCI KOREA

0.65%

XKS2

MSCI TAIWAN

0.65%**

XMTW

MSCI BRAZIL

0.65%**

XMBR

MSCI EMERGING MARKETS

0.65%**

XMEM

MSCI EM ASIA

0.65%**

XMAS

MSCI EM LATAM (Latin […]

Venturing into the VCTs

How could one turn a profit on these trusts?
I’ve written before about the massive - 40 or 50 per cent - discount to net assets at some UK Venture Capital Trusts. If the assets were sold and the cash returned to shareholders, an investor buying today could make a 100 per cent return.
But I also […]

A preference for value

Are UK preferred securities cheap?
Collins Stewart, the brokers who dominate the niche market of UK prefs, are pushing the sector again today. They note that:
“…some preference shares - Aviva 8.75%, Bristol & West 8.125% (now ex dividend) and the two Standard Chartered issues - have rallied sharply as investors started to move in and supply […]

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