You will remember Nichols if I tell you they make Vimto. They have other products in both the still and carbonated range. Still operated and owned by the founders, Nichols is not, what we call, a gold company but meets many of our criteria nonetheless.
A recent share drop could provide a buy opportunity. Indications are that the share will climb again. Buy at £10.20 or less. A climb back to £11.50 is a good possibility.
The most consistent company in our gold list for growth over the last ten years.
An IT and consultancy business. Japan, Australia and Singapore are significant investment areas for CTSH. 166,400 employees and working capital of $4,137 million. However, their top ten customers represent nearly a quarter of their income.
We have a buy signal. My concern is that to provide a suitable risk reward return the share price would need to clear the all time high of $54. As we go into April, traditionally shares experience a correction at some point in the month. Also, CTSH climbed very nicely between 2009 and 2011. It then went flat for a while before climbing again over the last year. We could be in a period of flatness for a while.
I might trade the share, however, as an investment consider this an introduction to Cognizant.
A small-loan consumer finance business in twelve USA states and Mexico.
This has been a gold company of ours for a couple of years. On 13th March 2014, it was announced that WRLD was the target of an investigation by the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in connection with the marketing, offering, or extension of credit. Shares fell some 20%.
An overreaction? maybe. It would seem that other companies were also targeted. The chart now shows a buy opportunity for WRLD. But this is on the market thinking the sell-off was an overreaction and not, that I can find, on any resolve of the investigation. Such results may not come to light for a long time.
A cautious buy at $75 to $76.
Booker Group PLC, a food wholesaler, is not one of our gold star companies. However, its chart provides a good buy opportunity. To be considered relatively short term. By this I mean a few weeks. Maybe longer for BOK.
Buy now at £1.70 or below with a sell at about £1.95
This is a trade only, but you might be interested. If you can buy MRCH for £5.00 you will be looking at selling between £5.20 and £5.25. Its a small gain and you have to decide if its viable after costs; and you would need to be sharp with the buy and the sell. I will only accept a trade that has at least twice the potential reward to risk.
This share would have been a good investment if bought several months ago because the highs were climbing. However, as with many shares at the moment, the highs are reducing, or are lower than previous highs. If we see this across many shares – as I am at the moment – then it gives us an early indication that the market is levelling.
As with the last post, IDH are showing a weak buy signal. IDH, however, have performed well over the last year. Anything at or below £5.20 would be good.
Buy a small amount of Globo PLC. The share has averaged 60 pence since November and more recently 50 pence. So not great. It is presently showing a weak buy signal. But worthy of consideration.
The FTSE 100 as a whole is indicating readiness for an upwards turn. We can take advantage of this.
Consider taking some more HL. shares if you are able.
A reminder that although I only look at the company, and not the wider economic picture, it is worth noting that traditionally shares have gone down considerably at some point in many Aprils. This did not happen until May last year. However, last year was very bullish – which of course means the market was climbing. This year, it is considered, is different.
Bovis Holmes Group Plc – BVS
City of London Investment Trust – CTY
Croda International PLC – CRDA
Ansys Inc is an engineering software company. They employ some 2,600 people and have over 75 positions worldwide for sales. They provide software engineering simulation solutions for just about anything, from Ferrari to biomedical.
Price/Earnings is high at 41, which means their share sells at 41 times earnings. For an engineering company this is high but for a software company it is not unusual.
Everything else about the companies numbers looks good, indeed their last report was above expectations.
A slightly early call, but they have a good buy position developing at about $76.
If you didn’t get any Aggreko shares last month you now have a slightly better window to buy. Aggreko plc provides power and temperature control solutions to customers who need them either very quickly, or for a short or indeterminate length of time.
Rupert Soames is to step down as Group Chief Executive of Aggreko, after 11 years, to be CEO of Serco Group plc. This announcement had an effect on the share price sending it unexpectedly, and possibly unreasonably, down a pound in share value.
Aggreko have a strong management team and a capable interim CEO in the Chef Finance Officer until a replacement for Mr Soames is found.
Mr Soames said: “I have loved every minute of my time with Aggreko. Our customers, the essential nature of our services and above all our people make it an outstanding company and I am proud to have played a part in its successful growth over the past 11 years. But there comes a time when all CEOs need to move on and now, with a new five year strategy in place and an exceptionally strong executive team running the business, that time has come. Aggreko is a great company with great people and I wish Angus and the team every success.”
The recent final report for Aggreko was steady and they have made a good start to 2014. They have a probable contract in Libya but, because of volatility in that country, they have not included, for now, any benefit in their order book. Aggreko are taking the view that a libyan contract is ‘icing on the cake’.
We have an early, and tentative, buy signal for Aggreko.
On 24th February I said the market would drop. I was about two weeks too early and, it would seem, the correction down is to be lighter than I first thought.
Many shares have corrected down and are about to bottom out, others are in the process of dropping. Some shares have stayed strong with the occasional one climbing.
You may wonder, if you’re buying for the longer term, why should you be concerned about buying a share at the right price. What does it matter after several years if you bought a few pence higher. And you would be right, over the longer term. A wonderful company is a wonderful company.
However, in the short term, until we get established with the share, a correct buy can be essential for not loosing money. If we get it wrong, but we have bought at the right price (or more importantly at the right phase of the share), then we can more easily limit the damage to our fund. Also, if the market as a whole takes a drop then having bought in the correct phase we again can more easily reduce our potential looses.
This doesn’t always hold true, but at least we will have done our best to minimise our risk. Buying in small chunks (the size of the chunks depends on you and your fund) gives you the chance to get to know the share and possibly leave you with some cash to buy more if and when a share takes an unexpected drop but remains a wonderful company.
Warren Buffett said…..”some things just take time: you can’t produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant”.
This introduces you to Altisource. They are all about real estate and mortgage portfolio management and online property sales through Hubzu. 23,000 homes sold online in 12 months. However, they make more money on homes sold through auction than online.
Warren Buffett wrote in his 1989 letter to Berkshire shareholders:
“It’s far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price. Charlie understood this early; I was a slow learner. But now, when buying companies or common stocks, we look for first-class businesses accompanied by first-class managements.”
Altisource is a solid company with respected management.
The mortgage servicing industry has steady growth. It does not have the regular boom/bust cycles of commodity industries. Or, the risk of a technological shift that can make those industries obsolete. On the other hand, mortgage servicing is a competitive business.
Altisource provides access to an attractive growth business with low risk and, at present, at a reasonable valuation.
A buy signal may take a few days or even weeks yet. The share price has dropped recently which has made it attractive. The share price is climbing again and as I think it is about midway already in this climb I am going to wait until it drops slightly on a profit taking correction. At the bottom of that future correction I plan to buy. Will keep you posted.
Playtech PLC develop software for online gaming. They have 3000 employees in 12 countries. Majority of their business, however, is in Europe with most of the remainder in Asia. They own Bet365 and mobile poker sites. Moved to Isle of Man from British Virgin Islands in 2012. New Chairman appointed in October last year. Casino is half of total sales. They recently sold William Hill online for £424 million, providing over £300 million on original investment. Playtech have signed with Ladbrokes to provide a full product suite and Paddy Power put its live casino with Playtech. Sports betting is Playtech’s key focus for 2014 and beyond.
The share price has been sharply up and down recently. Their recent end of year financial report remains steady with the share price possibly effected by dividend payments, good final report and the sale of William Hill online.
I have a buy signal, albeit early and needs time to move. However, if you’re prepared to risk some down movement then over the next few trading days this could be a good time to buy more Playtech.
Rotork, an actuator manufacturer and flow control company, are in the process of purchasing Young Tech. Co. Limited.
Since our last post this share has performed well, climbing from about £25 to nearly £28. The share with our target value of about £37 is still strong. However, in the near term, from the charts and with the acquisition of Young Tech, I think the share price could drop back to the £25 mark.
You invest for the longer term but consider taking profits on this for the time being.
Slow Trader 