Professor Glen Arnold

Today I want to tackle some important investment principles expressed in a very succinct form by Warren Buffett. Determine value apart from price…progress apart from activity…wealth apart from size. Warren Buffett Value apart from price How often have you heard news broadcasters say that so-many billions have been wiped of the value of shares today? […]

Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. Never interrupt it unnecessarily. (Charles Munger) One of the most valuable principles for investors to follow is to leave the power of compound interest to do its work, without interruption from withdrawal of money from the pot (even temporarily), without incurring high transaction charges and without […]

I’m going to start the analysis of Lamprell soon (LSE:LAM), but this will take a few days. In the meantime, here are some thoughts on one of the reasons why small investors can have an edge. “Between the chance of making an unusually large profit on an unknown company and the assurance of losing only […]

Yesterday’s Newsletter gave the sorry history of my investment in Havelock Europa (LSE:HVE), in which I blame myself for not properly investigating the quality of the managers. This posting reproduces many of the bulletin board comments made by people who come into contact with the managers on a regular basis, mostly current or ex-employees. After […]

I’m sorry I haven’t posted a Newsletter for a few days – I was completing the manuscript of a book (on Warren Buffett), but I’m back to my investments now. I’ll start with some upsetting news. A large percentage loss has been made on my Havelock Europa (LSE:HVE) shares, having sold at 9.15p. These were […]

Share price 193p – 197p (market cap £36m after share buy-back) Net current asset value: £32.7m – £34.5m Cash £32m As we’ve seen in the last two Newsletters Avingtrans has an interesting collection of businesses left over after selling its Aerospace division for £52m of cash (more than its current market capitalisation). But these low-profit […]

Share price 193p – 197p (market cap £36m after share buy-back) Net current asset value: £32.7m – £34.5m Cash £32m As well as the Metalcraft businesses with their growing range (see previous Newsletter), Avingtrans (LSE:AVG) has two other strategic business units, Crown International and the Composites business, either of which could be separated from the […]

Share price 193p – 197p (market cap £36m after share buy-back) Net current asset value: £32.7m – £34.5m Cash £32m Vessels – based in Charterris, Cambridgeshire For 100 years at the heart of Metalcraft has been precision engineered vessels. These can be pressure, vacuum or cryogenic vessels, e.g. helium containment vessels which operate at 4 […]

Share price 193p – 197p (market cap £36m after share buy-back) Net current asset value: £32.7m – £34.5m. (See last Friday’s Newsletter for a net current asset value analysis of Avingtrans) Avingtrans (LSE:AVG) is controlled by a long-standing team of directors who see themselves as assemblers and nurturers of businesses which can eventually be sold. […]

The directors could not have been more welcoming to the handful of shareholders who were able to make the Sparkford-based AGM. They went out of their way to inform us about Haynes’ (LSE:HYNS) products, strategy and progress. All, except one, of the Executive Managerial Team (I think there were 14) were present and each was […]