Stock Watch 10 August 2010

The Share Centre’s top 5 customer buys from the last 7 days

1. BP – BP hail success of ‘static kill’ and boosts share price.
2. Lloyds Banking Group– Buying before and after banking results were released.
3. RBS – Buying before and after banking results were released.
4. Barclays – Buying before and after banking results were released.
5. Connaught – Highly volatile stock last week. However now in real danger of going under.


The Share Centre’s top 5 shares to follow:

1. Reckitt Benckiser Lower Risk – Looking to aggressively expand the company, latest purchase being SSL International.
2. Compass Lower Risk – Trading update in-line worth adding to a portfolio.
3. Fresnillo Medium Risk – Good for those wanting exposure to Silver and Gold.
4. BarclaysMedium Risk – The one bank that we are still recommending as a buy.
5. Pinewood Shepperton Higher Risk – Further stake building, could see offer coming soon.



Ratio of buys to sells = 60:40
Top 5 most searched for companies on www.share.com


1. Opsec securities
2. Taylor Wimpey
3. DSG International
4. Debenhams
5. Legal and General


The Share Centre’s Share of the Week
Company:
Investec PLC    Share price: 478.70p    Sector: General Financial
Recommendation:    Buy
Risk category:    Medium
Investment class:    Balanced
Opinion:
Investec has made a conscious attempt in the financial year ending 31 March 2010 to strengthen the company’s balance sheet, while looking for further opportunities to grow its operations. This was recently highlighted with the completion of the acquisition of investment manager Rensburg Sheppards, which will enable it to build its private wealth and investment businesses.

Income from Investec’s South African and Australian activities improved in the financial year ending March 2010 compared to the year previous; with South Africa representing 49.7% of income up from 41.4% the year previous, Australia representing 9.4% up from 7.8% the year previous. This has therefore resulted in income from UK and European operations slipping significantly to 40.9% of income from 50.7% the year previous. The recent purchase of Rensburg Sheppards may make a significant change to its UK income in the coming year.


Investec had a ‘satisfactory’ opening quarter, with the UK performance doing well but weaker performance within South Africa and Australia. Investec revenue streams from its operations remain dependent on the sustainability of economic recovery.

The firm is confident of increased saving levels within the developing world, with the reliance on the inevitable return in the economic recovery in the long term.

Comments on Investec have been such that it has been “substantially more resilient than all the major U.K. focused banks through the credit crunch”.

For those investors that are keen to re-introduce banking stock into their investment portfolio but remain cautious of buying UK banks Investec looks attractive. In addition, the company does provide some opportunity for gaining exposure indirectly to South African investment opportunities, which may be attractive to investors that think the region has strong growth potential.



THIS DATA IS PROVIDED BY SHERIDAN ADMANS, INVESTMENT ADVISER AT THE SHARE CENTRE. THIS IS NOT INTENDED TO CONSTITUTE AN OFFER OR AGREEMENT TO BUY OR SELL INVESTMENTS.

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2010-08-11 12:34:55 © Moneyextra.com