The Official Stocks and Shares Thread

out of interest, what is everyone invested in here?

I got into 2 companies on friday;

talvivaara at 181.3p and randgold at 5585p

also in aminex at 4.26p and sig at 91p

GKP annoys me lol. An SP of 400p on pretty much only speculation, but when a decent RNS comes out like this morning, it only moves about 5% -_-.

GKP has always had zero impact, share price wise, from a positive RNS. Most analysts have said the SP is currently at a bottom, I highly doubt it's going to drop to £2/share. Not that I care if it does, the SP is largely irrelevant since I don't plan on selling.

Exactly, none of the holders are thinking of selling either...why would they? At one point, they had doubled their money, now they have lost it all. Loss aversion. It also seems strange to doubt a fall of another 35p when it has already dropped over 150p. The market tends to move to where it will cause the most pain and 200p will cause a lot of pain. Just speculating though.

first, if you call the above analysis "in-depth" you have a problem.

second, the problem is that asos is trading over 100x last year earnings and about 40x the forward estimate. what this means is that you getting a poor yield on your investment, if the company does meet expectations (it may not) then your still getting a paltry 2.5%. I would estimate, very roughly, that to make a decent return the top line needs to get to just over £3bn. Then there is the question of how soon this will happen, at the current rate of growth it won't happen soon. i am sure you could more growth for a lower price as well.

third, even if it meets these rather ambitious expectations the share price won't change if the growth expectations fall. again, the big multiple is a serious problem.

fourth, everyone knows it is a "cracking" company, that is why it is priced at a very ambitous multiple. you have to know something other people don't. again, there are probablly less "trendy" companies that will grow faster with lower multiples.

fifth, the underlying business model isn't particularly strong, websites don't really have big economies of scale (you can operate without any inventory) and there are no barriers to entry, apart from any distribution agreements ASOS has with deisgners (unfortunately, fashion changes quickly and any decent brands don't give exclusivity).

sixth, therefore the only reason to buy is because you think there is someone who will pay more than what you paid. very hard to predict what other people will do. something isn't cheap because the price is lower than it was at x time, it is cheaper but no nesscessairly cheap.

i only meant more in depth in the sense my research was done months ago, and i have not looked into it recently, so any new information is more in depth than i currently possess.
thank you for that reply though, you certainly schooled me.
you mind explaining what you meant by your second point, and the yield etc.
i personally thought they did have a very good business model. they were, i believe pioneering in online clothes retailing. free delivery, and more importantly, free returns meant they attracted a hell of a lot of customers. i agree with you about the barriers to entry, there is certainly a lot of competition, but i think they have managed well.

What companies do you recommend crcr?

RBS look like a good long term punt. They are paying off the last of their emergency bailout loan this week and report an operating profit of £1.2bn.
Went up 2% today and look to carry on that way.
I'm thinking of putting in £300.

What are your thoughts?