For some context on todays announcement from Venture Minerals have a look at this piece by Tom Ellison, published in the Canberra Times two years and two days ago... STOCKS TO WATCH - 17 AUGUST 2012 Venture Minerals (VMS) avoid I suggested a couple of weeks ago that an optimistically worded ASX release from mining hopeful Venture could be a precursor to a capital raising. It seems I was on track - less than 2 weeks after spruiking the results of a single drill hole as a `major new high grade tin discovery, Venture tapped institutional shareholders for $15 million, with small shareholders tossed some crumbs in the form of a $2 million allocation. This practice might not be illegal, but it is immoral, and Im surprised any professional investor would be naive enough to fall for it. More insulting is the sweetener offered to a new entrant to the share register, who in return for risking $6 million of his $500 million fortune will be given 6.5 million free options. This grubby little company is treating shareholders with contempt and is far from investment grade. Boom Logistics (BOL speculative buy Usually, Id run a mile from crane hire company Boom Logistics. For years, the company has failed to deliver, with a spurned takeover bid, some dodgy management decisions and high levels of debt all playing on the mind of investors. So last weeks result came as a surprise - not just the headline earnings numbers, but the bullish forecast for the coming year. Is Boom on the way back? Ive thought so before and been disappointed. But with lower debt and lower interest costs, together with what appears to be a more effective management structure, Boom could well be able to deliver on its promised EBIT of up to $50 million in the 2013 year. If that comes to fruition, Boom will be rerated by analysts, and the share price should rise sharply. Still; once bitten twice shy, and this is still just for punters. Commonwealth Bank (CBA) buy Keen observors of the media might have noticed a less than subtle change in editorial direction in recent weeks. For the first time in what seems like years, sovereign debt issues have slipped off the headlines, to be replaced with Olympic Games coverage. Im glad for that, because if watching fit young athletes run, jump and throw things is more important than the threat of collapsing European economies, perhaps the world isnt in the perilous circumstances weve been lead to believe. Earlier this week, one broker said foreign money, fuelled by a new, optimistic global view, was flowing out of Australian bonds in into equities. Thats a no-brainer in my view. With stocks like CBA yielding more than 6 per cent fully franked, why run the risk of capital losses by investing in bonds for the long haul?. The Commonwealth might not be the most exciting stock out there in investment land, but its made many long-term shareholders quite happy.
Posted on: Tue, 19 Aug 2014 09:25:32 +0000