Category: Guest Contributors

It’s been a few years since we last checked in on our favourite active fund manager. With so many hitting the wall (Perpetual, Magellan, Bronte…) it feels like a good time to see what the reliably boring folks at Australian Foundation Investment Company (AFIC) have been up to.  What is AFIC and what in the hell is an LIC, a […]

The Real Winners Emerge When The Boom Goes Bust You may not even be aware, but there is a market shakedown underway. Craft breweries, salvation of alternative types who eschew the 9 to 5 life, are going under. In an alcohol-obsessed country there is a company growing its share of the beer market whilst also being stupid-lucky enough to uncover […]

Charlie Munger, rest his soul, was one of the greatest investors that ever lived. Much of his timeless wisdom was captured in the 2005 book Poor Charlie’s Almanack by Peter D. Kaufman, which Strawman member Solvetheriddle summarised for our members. Do yourself a favour, and read the book. But if you want the tl;dr version, read on! These are a […]

One of the perks of being a Strawman member is that I get access to the CEO interviews they do regularly. I’m pleased to share some key takeaways from the recent acquisition with Codan CEO, Alf Ianniello (with Strawman’s permission.) These notes should be thought of as an addendum to my longer article on Codan published just three months ago […]

I recently finished re-reading Chris Mayer’s ‘100 Baggers’, an updated study in the spirit of Thomas Phelp’s iconic book ‘100 to 1 in the Stock Market’, first published in 1972. Without question, it’s become essential reading for investors and I encourage others to dive into its simple and easy to digest wisdom. It impressed upon me some lessons I had […]

Straker Translations (ASX:STG) is a translation services business based in New Zealand, so this article will refer to NZD unless otherwise specified. In the half to September 2021, Straker made a loss of $5.5m on revenue of $23.3 million. Since then, the company reported its cashflow statement for the quarter to December 202, achieving positive operating cashflow of $34,000 and […]

At the end of last month, AVA Risk Group (ASX:AVA) reported half year revenue down 43% to $20.2 million, but half year profit before tax up a whopping 198%, thanks to its gain on disposal of its services business. That gain put the company in a position to pay over 16 cents per share to shareholders, in the form of […]

The Strawman Index tracks the performance of the most popular stocks across the community.  Since 2017, the index has achieved a 31% compound annual total return compared with a 9% gain for the broader market. In 2021, following a market sell off in late November, the portfolio is down 0.7% year to date. We took a closer look at the […]

A closer look at Technology One’s earnings reveals an interesting divergence…

Understanding where the next opportunities are begins with understanding one’s own strategy and horizon.