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Archive for June, 2008

Godzilla (ACCC) vs eBay

Posted by Greg on Jun 30th, 2008

While the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission spends a lot of time keeping an eye on the big end of town, every once in a while it takes on an issue of interest to small business. A while ago I wrote an article on the ACCC taking on Google (Godzilla vs Google) where I said [...]

Analyst Earnings Forecasts Still Too Optimistic

Posted by The Fundamental Analyst on Jun 30th, 2008

It is the prediliction of analysts to be overly optimistic in their earnings projections. This becomes even more apparent at turning points in the earnings cycle.
As shown below, even after S&P500 operating earnings fell -9.5% in 3Q07, analysts were predicting positive earnings growth of 2.9% for 4Q07 as late as the middle of November. As [...]

Moving to a more defensive position. Can it work in tough times?

Posted by Scott Keefer on Jun 29th, 2008

Robin Bowerman, Principal and Head of Retail at Vanguard, has written a recent article for Vanguard’s Smart Investing e-newsletter – Playing defence: can it work in tough markets. In the article Bowerman refers to a Vanguard study looking at whether investors would be better off using economic / market signals to move portfolios into [...]

Great to find this forum

Posted by andyfvp on Jun 28th, 2008

Good to see that this site has been launched. As an expat Australian finance blogger at www.financeviewpoint.com, it is great to find others with a similar mindset. Look forward to checking back regularly.

Analysis - PLT - Polartechnic

Posted by ozstock on Jun 25th, 2008

Quick Analysis: This check is done to see if further detailed analysis is ready.
Shares at 9 May 2008: 240,314,531
Cash Left at Dec 2007: 10,401,529
Cash / Share = 4.33 cents
Price at 13 June 2008: 0.125
Price / Cash = 2.88x
The Price / Cash look reasonable enough for further analysis.
Price($) 0.13
NTA ($) [...]

Getting the Right Price for advice

Posted by Scott Keefer on Jun 24th, 2008

In this blog we look at the fee models used by financial planners and suggest some alternatives for people seeking advice to consider.

BNB - analyst recommendations provide no protection

Posted by Scott Keefer on Jun 21st, 2008

Most of the financial press over the last few days has concentrated on the sharp movements in share value of Babcock & Brown Limited (BNB) and its related entities. Much of the commentary has turned to the underlying strategies of the B&B model and the huge levels of debt involved. Some blame has [...]

Citigroup Pays Another Visit to the Confessional

Posted by The Fundamental Analyst on Jun 20th, 2008

On a conference call on Thursday Citigroup CFO Gary Crittenden put to rest the idea that things are getting better at Citigroup anytime soon. From Bloomberg;
Citigroup Shares Fall on Writedown, Loss Forecast

“We will continue to have substantial additional marks on our subprime exposure this quarter,” Crittenden said on the call, which was sponsored by Deutsche [...]

The problem with distributions from actively managed funds

Posted by Scott Keefer on Jun 20th, 2008

The end of the financial year is looming and with it comes income distribution season for managed funds. The end of year will still see many of these funds making significant income distributions to unit holders. You may think that this does not make a great deal of sense given the tough share market [...]

It pays to get good quality financial advice

Posted by Scott Keefer on Jun 19th, 2008

Two pieces of reading came to my attention over the past week that both give some prudent insights into why it pays for investors to get “good quality” financial advice. The first was an article in the Australian’s Wealth supplement that is published every Wednesday. The lead story for this week started with the [...]

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