The Domino’s Pizza Mystery
I tried to order pizza from Domino’s Pizza (ASX: DMP) on the weekend – strictly for due diligence purposes, you understand. Eight Meats pizza, gluten free base, barbecue sauce. Price: $18.95. Plus $2.10 Sunday surcharge and a further $2.95 for the gluten free base. Add a second pizza – the Godfather, from the same range …
The Titomic question
There is a Peter Lynch anecdote from the 80s (?) that goes something like “it’s better to buy shares in companies that benefit from the widget, instead of shares in the widget developer.” He gives the example of barcode scanning for supermarkets – while the barcode scanners themselves were a total revolution, the biggest beneficiaries …
Experience Co: Returns on capital
I received a couple of comments on yesterday’s post on Experience Co (ASX:EXP) regarding my estimate of an 8-10% ROIC. I thought I would provide justification as to why I selected the measure I did and also provide some alternative measures of returns on capital employed. How I calculated ROIC and why I selected that …
Purchase #13: Experience Co
I am not a professional investor and this is not a recommendation to buy or sell EXP or other securities. This post reflects my opinion only. Please always do your own research and read the full disclaimer at the bottom. I’ve recently purchased shares in Experience Co Ltd (ASX: EXP), formerly Skydive The Beach. Experience Co …
An Update on the Henry Morgan saga
Following the surprise appearance of an article in AFR this morning about the results of a lawsuit against my web host, Dreamscape, and the law firm that represented me, BTLawyers Brisbane, I thought readers might be interested in a brief timeline of events. Mid-last year I began writing a series of posts about Henry Morgan (ASX:HML), Benjamin Hornigold …
Updater Inc: Saved by the bell?
Updater Inc (ASX: UPD) is an ASX-listed, USA-domiciled company that provides services to people who are moving house. Updater’s “digital tools help people find and reserve trustworthy moving companies, connect TV and internet, forward their mail, transfer utilities, update accounts, and much more – all in one easy-to-use platform.” I believe that there are a …
Quarterly Review: Q4 (June) FY2018
What a quarter that was. The 10foot portfolio was flat until May, when it gained 6% in a week due to moves in Tower, NGE Capital, and a recovery in Just Group. For a while I was up 12% since inception, double the index return – enjoying the warm glow that comes from being a …
Do currency exchange rates impact inbound tourism?
I recently read an article about tourism stocks that said something like “the lower Australian dollar is great for tourism demand.” It was implied that this is a tailwind for tourism companies. That’s the consensus view and intuitively it makes sense. If 10,000 Chinese Yuan buys you A$2000, that’s not cool as if it buys …
Solvency II and Just Group’s discount to NTA
The 10foot portfolio holds shares in Just Group plc (LON: JUST), a UK-based insurer that provides defined benefit de-risking programs, and ‘lifetime mortgages’, which are equity release mortgages (ERMs) with no negative equity guarantee, for retirees. Just has persistently traded at a discount to NTA that has puzzled me for some time and I wrote …
Ethical Investing: Some thoughts on ESG funds
I am suspicious of much modern ESG investing. It’s great that investors want to invest in bona fide ESG funds for the purposes of conscious capitalism, saving the planet and all that. From a “positive use of your wealth” as well as a “making more $$ by not holding miners” perspective, this is sensible. However, …
