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 …
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 $$ by not holding miners” perspective, this is sensible. However, …
The Oliver’s Turnaround Story
DMX Capital Partners recently held a stock picking competition where you could enter your best stock idea for the next 12 (?) months and win $2000 worth of units in their fund if you made the best pick. A tip of the hat to DMX for coming up with such a cost effective way of …
A Presentation to the Management of Oliver’s Real Foods
Last Friday I sent this presentation to Investor Relations at Oliver’s Real Foods with a request that it be brought to the attention of senior management. I wanted to give Oliver’s some advance warning and give them the opportunity to comment or correct me, if they chose. I did not receive a response from Oliver’s, …
10foot Scuttlebutt: May edition
Dear readers. As with previous months, here are some things I’ve seen or thought recently. The Magic Pudding business model In my recent look at the mineral sands sector, I came across a remarkable business, namely the Mineral Commodities Limited (ASX: MRC) Tormin Sands project. Every year the ocean washes up minerals like zircon, ilmenite (titanium …
EML Payments: A non-cash income story?
I recently looked at EML Payments Ltd (ASX: EML), a prepaid card provider. Shares are down around 30% LTM despite cracking growth in the volumes of $$ using the company’s payment systems. The short version: I think that EML has an aggressive revenue recognition policy, a license to write non-cash income, and the incentives to potentially encourage it. …
#12: Oliver’s Real Foods – The Repurchasening
I’ve re-purchased Oliver’s Real Foods (ASX: OLI) after my prior sale. The primary reason I sold is that I didn’t have confidence that there would be action on what I perceived to be the company’s problems. The then-CEO is a founder and major shareholder and I considered it unlikely that he would step aside, which …
10foot Scuttlebutt: April 2018 edition
Here is my scuttlebutt post for April 2018, with a few things I’ve seen or thought recently. Find the moat (at Afterpay) Rumour has it Afterpay is pretty aggressive when it comes to tackling criticism of its not-credit (actually retail tech) product. That is just a rumour – and no I haven’t heard from them. …
