Quiet Contrarian. Ep55: Trades for May 2024

Buys

Reckon Ltd – RKN.ASX – Xero raised their prices again. Reckon One is the cheapest accounting software in that space. But, it’s very much hated by accountants (though I can’t tell how much of this is legacy from old versions of the software), however, the software gets very good reviews from it’s customers. The company still makes good money and is often overlooked because of this. It was worth adding more to the position, just for the dividend, and then hopefully they add some user growth and get rerated. Quality company and well managed beyond that.

Nick Scali Ltd – NCK.ASX – Participated in the SPP, though I am unsure of whether this is a good or bad idea. Australian companies have had a mixed record of success and failure in the UK market. After looking at a few of these stories I can come up with reasons for why NCK would fail AND why they would succeed. However, I only have a small holding, and in my experience they have been one of the highest quality companies in my portfolio. So will hold for a bit to see how this plays out.

Global X Copper Miners – WIRE.ASX – The long term trend in copper (supply running low, new mines are difficult to set up, demand maintaining/increasing), seems the most valid story I see in commodities at the moment. However, I have been unable to find many companies I like on the ASX. Marginal profitabilities. A long way from production. So have started to build a position in the WIRE etf instead.

Sells

Neometals Ltd – NMT.ASX – Another one I sold based on the Li forecasts. This was my biggest loser of the year. I think long term they are in a good position, as sustainability and recycling become bigger parts of the industry. But at the moment, with the Li price so badly hit, and a number of their JVs failing to get traction. There won’t be much of interest for a while. Will keep an eye on them, as I do like what they’re offering… if they survive…