Stock Watch 6 July2010

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

1. Barclays – Weakness has attracted new investment.
2. Encore Oil – News of an oil discovery in the North Sea boosts interest in the stock
3. Lloyds Banking Group – Interest in the sector post budget has remained.
4. Falkland Oil & Gas -  Investors continue to speculate on the potential for oil discoveries.
5. BP – Rally after months of weakness, helped by reports that the well to cap the leak is ahead of schedule


The Share Centre’s top 5 shares to follow:

1. Tesco Lower Risk – Long term attractions remain, especially with its international operations.
2. Reckitt Benckiser Lower Risk – Recent weakness could provide a nice entry level for investors.
3. Tui Travel Medium Risk – Recent fall in the share price puts company on attractive rating.
4. Babcock International Medium Risk – Hopes that VT acquisition will be a long term positive
5. Booker Higher Risk – The move into India looks interesting.


Ratio of buys to sells 64:36


Top 5 most searched for companies on www.share.com


1. Xstrata
2. Barclays
3. Royal Bank of Scotland
4. Opsec Security
5. Banco Santander


The Share Centre’s Share of the Week
Company: Aviva    Share price 324.40p    Sector: Life Insurance
Recommendation:    Buy
Risk category:    Medium
Investment class:    Balanced
Opinion:

The group has been expanding globally; in particular, it has been developing a position in Far Eastern and European markets and where the company has focused on long-term savings.

The company remains optimistic that 2010 will deliver another set of good results, as 2009 final results beat expectations. 

Cost cutting has had an encouraging impact on its results, improving market sentiment over the stock. Aviva now employs 9,600 fewer UK workers than two years ago, with the addition of job cuts in its overseas divisions bringing the overall total to 10,700, a fifth of its workforce. Other cost cutting measures have included cutting the final dividend by 25% to 15 pence, taking the total for the year to 24 pence, better than analysts expected.

Aviva released figures in May which showed that for the second successive quarter sales at its life and pensions business in the UK and Europe improved.

The shares have languished in recent times and have not been as volatile as we would have expected, still our preferred play over Prudential and we would suggest buying into for the long-term.


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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2010-07-07 12:12:14 © Moneyextra.com