Kogan.com is a unique Australian business. Founded by Ruslan Kogan in his parents garage in 2006, Kogan is now a publicly-listed sales analytics machine, which may not be immediately obvious until you examine the attitude of the owners. Someone who doesn’t see KGN’s potential might think it just undercuts the retail on grey-market Apple products…
Category: Research
Update
It’s been almost 18 months since my last post. A lot has happened since then, so here’s the portfolio at a high level: Sold all my shares except for AVJ (still grossly undervalued) Set up a SMSF which is now my main investment vehicle Over the last 3 months I have bought shares in the…
Safe as houses – AV Jennings (AVJ)
AV Jennings is an Australian institution, having been in the housing business for over 80 years, back when you bought a new house when you got married, and stayed there until one of you died. Nowadays they are in the business of affordable family homes, mainly on the suburban fringes, as the inside of the Goats…
December 2015 Update
Although I haven’t posted since March, there has been a fair amount of activity since last writing: Sold REF, as I no longer believe Cigar Butts are a good investment strategy to find value Added to BGL at 77c Added to BPF during the recent capital raising at 25c Exited some loss-making positions in…
BigAir HY15 results (BGL)
On the 19th of February, BigAir released their half year results for FY15. Let’s check it out: Revenue $26.2M up 55% EBITDA $8.5M up 28% NPAT $3.5M up 22% At current price of 0.795, BGL is selling for 20 times earnings. At these rates of growth, that’s a pretty good deal. Microequities have…
Berkshire Hathaway’s 2014 Letter
Every year when it comes out, I read Warren Buffett’s annual letter to shareholders. I’ve come to know the key businesses within Berkshire Hathaway, and it inspires me to think long-term as Buffett reflects on the performance of his own investment decisions over many decades. The letter reflecting on 2014 celebrates 50 years of management,…
More thoughts on Greece
Now that Syriza have had the chance to get their feet under the desk, it is inevitable that Greece, and possibly the whole Eurozone, will face an unmitigated economic disaster. Here’s why: Tax collection is down 40% in January, in a country where the head of the tax department faces death threats for chasing unpaid taxes…
Colorpak HY15 results: Disappointing (CKL)
When I originally wrote about Colorpak, I saw it as a better investment than Amcor for several reasons. Now, looking at charts for both companies, Amcor as of today would have been a better investment. The share price fell 22% on Friday, the lowest it’s been since July 2012. So let’s review the numbers against…
Joel Greenblatt on value investing
One of the best quotes I’ve read on value investing, which is applicable across an infinite number of domains, is the below from Joel Greenblatt: “Prices fluctuate more than values—so therein lies opportunity. Why do the prices fluctuate so widely when values can’t possibly? I will tell you the answer I have come up…
The Greek election could be a major inflection point for Europe’s future
Because I’ve been predicting GFC 2.0 for the past 2 years, I have limited myself from investing in public markets for this period, except for a couple of stocks like BGL and CKL, as well as a position in several gold shares as a defensive play which sit outside the value methodologies (so I haven’t written…