Archive: June, 2020

June 30, 2020

How to minimise risk during recessions and economic crises

By Roger Montgomery

What’s the best way to minimise risk when investing during a recession or economic crisis?  Research by NYU’s Stern School of Business shows that one method could be to allocate funds according to where the company sits in its business lifecycle – which is the approach taken by the Montgomery Small Companies Fund.
June 29, 2020

New investors take note: it may be time to take your profits

By Roger Montgomery

One of the rather surprising trends since the COVID-19 lockdown has been the new wave of first-time share market investors. Many have enjoyed huge gains since the March market rout – often by speculating on highly risky businesses. But the ensuing dislocation between share prices and economic reality tells me that some could get their fingers badly burnt.
June 25, 2020

Nick Scali reports strong sales in May and June

By Roger Montgomery

As you may know, the furniture retailer, Nick Scali, is one of our holdings in the Montgomery Small Companies Fund and CEO Anthony Scali has just updated fund managers through a broker-arranged conference call.
June 24, 2020

Codan goes from strength to strength

If you’re a regular reader, you probably know that one of my favourite Australian companies is Codan Limited (ASX: CDA), which makes communications, metal detection, and mining technology. Its share price has doubled in the past year, and its latest trading update gives me more reasons to be pleased we hold it in our funds.
June 23, 2020

Why we are reducing risk by focusing on quality and size

By Roger Montgomery

Since the COVID-19 induced market low, our fund has put a substantial proportion of our cash to work.   But we’ve been very selective about the companies we bought. We added to our holdings in Macquarie Financial Group, Westpac, Commonwealth Bank, and Scentre Group.  And we are building additional positions in undisclosed stocks.
June 23, 2020

Why I’m not a fan of the Fed buying corporate bonds

By Roger Montgomery

In March, the U. S. Federal Reserve moved to prevent a coronavirus-induced downturn by promising to set up an entity to buy corporate bonds and ETFs, including junk bonds and junk bond ETFs. My concern is that the Fed has simply created another time bomb that future generations will have to defuse.
June 22, 2020

Why it’s so hard to pick the market direction right now

By Roger Montgomery

In a recent interview, Peter Switzer asked me if I was a bull or a bear. It’s a simple question, but one that requires a nuanced response. Because these are complex and unprecedented times for investors. Had Peter asked me that question prior to February, I would have said a bear.
June 19, 2020

A recap of the bids made for Infigen Energy

By Gary Rollo

Our readers know we like the Infigen Energy (ASX:IFN) equity story; IFN is a renewable electricity generator and it offers a way to play the green theme here in Australia. We shared our investment thesis in an article posted in early February, a lot has happened since then. Here’s why we have sold and moved on.
June 17, 2020

One opportunity we found during this crisis – Bapcor

By Dominic Rose

During the recent market rout, the Montgomery Small Companies Fund picked up several high-quality small caps with solid growth potential at bargain prices. One standout is leading auto parts distributor, Bapcor (ASX:BAP), which has since rebounded strongly.
June 15, 2020

Zero forever?

Last Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell issued an unequivocally dovish assessment of the US economy in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
June 12, 2020

Why I’m being fearful during this market euphoria

By Roger Montgomery

Warren Buffett famously said that, to be a successful investor, you should be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful.  I think his advice is especially relevant in today’s ‘risk on’ environment, in which the fear of missing out is usurping the fear of loss.

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