Originally Posted by
Stranger_Danger
So as to not be too negative, if you put a gun to my head and made me buy stocks today, what I'd look for would roughly be
(a) Virtually no acquisitions over the last five years.
(b) Decent organic and profitable growth over that period.
(c) Almost no "one offs" in the annual results, and no management guidance towards funny rather than actual numbers.
(d) Some gearing is fine, but debt should be relatively modest.
(e) A sector that is not likely to be disrupted in the next decade, or, better yet, an industry participant likely to benefit from disruption.
(f) An experienced manager that has demonstrated skill, especially in the 2007-2012 period. Track record during this time is very important, check it out.
(g) When you look at what the manager says will happen, then you look at what has happened, it is true at least 80% of the time.
(h) Some evidence that the business is run with shareholders in mind. Look at management ownership, especially when they've invested real cash. Deduct points for "heads I win, tails you lose" remuneration structures, especially ones than give away 2-5% of the company each year.
(i) You know a decent number of staff AND customers and their real world dealings with the company are positive.
(j) The shares can be acquired at a decent, or better yet indecent, price. I won't elaborate further because blanket statements don't help in this area. A forward P/E of 45 may be better value than a P/E of 3 depending on the answers of (a) - (i).
As above, and maybe I ask too much, but I'm not finding a lot
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