Good stock pickers are valuable!

Andrew Bolton has historically done well at stock pickking. That's why lots of investors are throwing money at him for his Chinese ventures.

The trust is attracting widespread interest from investors because of Mr Bolton's spectacular investment track record. More than 12,000 private investors have already registered to be sent the prospectus.

Fidelity is confident of raising $US1bn in what would be a record for a new conventional investment trust in Britain. It will take a 1.5 per cent annual management charge, which equates to $US15m.

Communication

It's important to not just have a good strategy, but to be able to communicate it as well. NAB seems to have doubters on both fronts: The Australian

Key graf:

The question now is whether the NAB narrative is understood.
Mr Clyne believes it is, but admits investors are tough critics who are keen for answers.
"We outlined our strategic view and what's critical to us is that we consistently deliver against that," Mr Clyne said.

Remember too that NAB has better resources than most to try and explain its strategy.

Once again, it's hard to beat the market..

..even if you job is to do exactly that. We're talking about fund managers here; the 'league tables' are out.

James Dunn in The Australian:

According to Phillip Gray, editorial and communications manager at Morningstar Australasia, last year 325 of 609 (or 53.6 per cent) actively managed large-capitalisation Australian share funds outperformed the S&P/ASX 200 Accumulation Index (which counts capital gain plus dividends reinvested.)

Over three years, 262 of 502 funds (or 52.2 per cent) beat the index. Over five years, the winning proportion fell to 41.7 per cent (176 of 422 funds), while 45 per cent (64 of 142 funds) came out in front after 10 years. After 15 years, 33 of 55 funds (60 per cent) were ahead.

This is no great surprise.

Apple's profits

Here's the impact of an accounting change for Apple: a new FASB standard allows them to be more aggressive in the recognition of revenue than was previously the case.

As reported in The Australian. Discussion at Gadgetophilia.com

Apple discusses the matter on the website here.

Woolworths' fails to impress

Woolies' results indicate why you need to consider macro, as well as industry and firm-specific information when looking at ratios over time.

The effects of the stimulus package mean that future sales growth may not match recent growth, as per this report in the Herald suggests:

The percentage sales growth was, however, half the gains it recorded last year when, as Mr Luscombe put it, ''we had all the moons aligned'' - lower petrol prices and interest rates, the Federal Government's stimulus package and people choosing to shop for pricier food over eating out at restaurants.

Woolworths' argument is that retail sales grew at unsustainable rates last year thanks to the stimulus package, and that a two-year growth rate comparison is more valid. Its two-year sales growth average was 6.5 per cent.