I fully retract my earlier criticism of Grant O'Brien. His...

I fully retract my earlier criticism of Grant O'Brien. His inaugrual speech several weeks ago was full of cliches and did not impress. I then read a 4 paragraph journos summary of tuesday's presentation and came away thinking here we go again, spend,spend,spend. But have no gone throught the 99page release and am feeling much more confident. Woolworths goals are fairly modest but they are large enough to sustain EPS growth at 3-5% for next few years. massive cashflow will ensure div payout maintained at 70%. Hence an annual rise in divs of about 5% is my expectation. Hence, SP growth at say 5% and divs at same should ensure we get annual return well above a fixed bank deposit.

I wish i had read the report yesterday. I am in CT and the 9hr tie difference precludes me from being totally uptodate. But fortune fell my way when an old buy-order at 23.25 was triggered yesterday. I had intended to move it to 23.00 but didn;tget around to doing so. The new purchase is not massive but certainly helps reduce av buy-in price. If we do hit/go-below 23.00 I'll certainly get more.

The overiding theme for me from the 99page report was the powerful dominance WOW have in Australian retail. Only a brave company with deep pockets and 20year outlook would pose any threat to WOW. As no companies (apart from WES) are of that ilk... I can't see Woolworths being toppled. As many others have posted. WOW at these prices is an ideal cornerstone foundation stk for an investor with med-long term view.

PS. Seems mkt also liked the report and SP reacted accordingly after a slow start.