Earlier in April (7/4), you asked how things were going and which stocks I was favouring at the time.
At the time, I commented that I was favouring SLX, DOW and NAB, and had started re-building a position in TEL and in TLS.
I also commented that I had been taking a closer look at Village and the Village Preference Shares, and expected to see VLR spike during May in response to the American (and then, Australian) release of 1st of The Matrix sequels.
Since my posting on 7/4, VRL has risen from $1.20 to $1.46 (+21.7%); VRLPA, from $0.80 to $1.01 (+26.3%).
NAB has fallen from $33.20 to $32.79 (-1.2%), and SLX from $1.19 to $1.14 (-4.2%).
DOW has remained steady at $0.60 vs $0.58, previously (+3.4%)).
TEL has risen from $4.22 to $4.30 (+1.9%), whilst TLS has remained steady at $4.22 (vs $4.21, previously).
Today, 2 of these companies are in pre-open: 1) SLX, concerning an impending announcement concerning the uranium enrichment program involving USEC; and 2) DOW, concerning the acquisition of ABB's electrical and facilities management businesses in Australia and in Hong Kong.
Overseas, VOD has risen from p120 to p126, MOT (+5%), has fallen from $8.50, to $8.01 (-5.8%), Alcatel has risen from E6.95 to E7.22 (+3.9%), Siemens has risen from E42.80 to E44.65 (+1.0%), MATAV has fallen from HUF855 to HUF838 (-2.0%), and Ericsson has risen from SEK6.15, to SEK7.3 (+18.5%).
SBC has risen from $21.91 to $22.12 (+1.0%), and Verizon, from $35.38 to $37.09 (+4.8%).
The overseas performance has been "mixed bag" in nature (mirroring global equities performance) within a tight trading range (ie: +/-5%).
Locally, however, performance has been broadly balanced, to positive, with VRL and VRLPA both being the stand-out performers (each adding >20% in accretive value over the last 3 weeks).
This all tends to support the view that globally, the telco markets are still trying to find traction, with a smattering of improvement starting to now be seen (but with price recovery still to occur). Locally, it also seems that the market is continuing to reflect positive (if not bouyant) economic conditions, and that sentiment is potentially changing in some of the telco related stocks. As for VRL and VRLPA, the current trading performance has much to do with the release of the Matrix sequel (and computer animation game).
Sometimes, it is interesting to look back on some past postings, to see where things may have lined themselves up from time to time.
Anyway, enough of my ramblings for now. Just an interesting exercise for myself.
