Despegar: Too Hard
I’ve sold my 10 shares in Despegar. I wrote about the company here and here and wanted to like it but couldn’t get comfortable. There were a few key issues: High margins and commission rate relative to mature global peers Among the most aggressive revenue recognition in the industry Terrible working capital 3a) Growth likely driven …
BYND: Beyond Multiples
I have been thinking about Beyond Meat, a recent US IPO that basically tripled from its $25 IPO price to $66 in a short period of time. It is possible that the new era business model of delaying profitability in favour of maximising growth proves me wrong, and I want to get down some thoughts …
Change of plans
Just a quick note to disclose that I’ve sold (almost) all of my stocks in the past few days to make an investment outside the stock market. (I won’t be writing about that one). I don’t think I’ve not had almost all my money in stocks since I was 17, so I feel a bit …
Quarterly Review: Q3 (March) FY 2019
The end of March marks two years of the 10foot portfolio. It has not gone as expected and I have been doing a lot of thinking in the past few months. There are also some big changes to the portfolio, most notably converting it to a unit basis (measuring value per fictional “unit” instead of …
Private Markets Hide All Manner Of Sins
A number of notable companies and investors today appear largely unaware of the relationship, and potential disconnect, between growth and financial sustainability. It is all well and good to own part of a technology firm that is growing revenue and users rapidly and burning cash. It is also fine to systematically bet on small tech co’s …
Down 95%: Oliver’s Real Foods
There’s been some water (mostly radioactive) pass under the bridge since I last wrote about Oliver’s Real Foods (ASX:OLI). I’m sitting on I believe my first ever position that is down 95%. It’s worth a brief recap of how things got to this point. After my earlier presentation, I felt that the company was on the …
Getswift Comes Full Circle
Well well. In a pleasing dose of regulatory aggressiveness, The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) has filed a Federal Court lawsuit against Bane Hunter and Joel MacDonald of the infamous Getswift (ASX: GSW) – reporting in well under their usual 3 year lead time, I might add. And they would be silly not to, because the …
Four shipping investment ideas
I recently read a presentation on Scorpio Tankers (NYSE:STNG) pitching the company as a potentially undervalued stock. Following research I have come across several other ideas that may be worth looking into. I pass them along for readers’ potential benefit. The original pitch for Scorpio went like this: Shipping industry is at bottom of cycle and …
Quarterly Review: Q2 (December) FY 2019
It’s been a while since my last quarterly report, and in fact I was late recording the data for this one – but what’s a 99 day quarter between friends. The 10foot portfolio is down 4% since inception at 30 March 2017. This compares to its main comparison index, the XNT, which is up 5% …
10foot reading list
I was recently flattered to receive an email asking if I had a reading list that would help somebody who wanted to learn about investing. I thought that I would tidy my emailed response up further and publish it for the benefit of all. With the caveat that I am not a professional investor and …
