Top Ten Retail Investor Buys & Sells for week ending 27 July 2007
Angus Rigby, Chief Executive Officer, TD Waterhouse, commented: The London Stock market has this week suffered its biggest percentage drop in four years as investors worried about the weak US economy and the impact of tightening credit markets on takeover activity. The Footsie is now on course for its worst week since 2002.As the ABN Amro saga trudged on, this week we saw another twist to developments. The consortium led by Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) revised its offer for ABN Amro as well as boosting the cash part of its deal after conceding it would not be able to stop the sale of LaSalle Bank. As a result the consortium has crept ahead once more in analyst expectations of who will emerge triumphant in the deal. RBS' share price has been on the decline since the bidding war for ABN Amro first began, but TD Waterhouse customers have recognised this as an opportunity to increase exposure to the bank and RBS comes out once more on top of this week's Top 10 buys.
Meanwhile, the dismal British summer weather dragged on for another week and thousands more Brits were left either homeless or with worries of becoming so, leaving consumer spending and the retail sector at large feeling the pinch. One Company who has been hit hard is Sports Direct International who released a profit warning on Tuesday for its year to end - April 2008, blaming poor sales at the start of the year on dismal weather in May, June and July. The stock has slumped 37 per cent since its flotation at 300 pence in February. However, TD Waterhouse customers continue to see potential in the company and Sports Direct INTL makes the Top Ten buys this week. Long term investors are evidently hoping that the Company will turn things around with the hire of a replacement for non-executive chairman David Richardson who leaves the Company in June.
Elsewhere, trading activity in the energy sector has been strong - Empyrean Energy PLC left investor confidence divided with near equal buys and sells in the stock this week. The AIM-listed energy explorer has seen its share price climb in recent months after news that gas flow testing will begin at its Texas site in August. Also in the sector, oil and gas explorer Ascent Resources was sold strongly by TD Waterhouse customers this week after hitting an annual high of 31p per share in recent weeks. The share price in the Company is up over 165 per cent year on year and investors have been happy to take their profits after such a good run.
TD Waterhouse Top Ten Retail Investor Buys & Sells for week ending 27 July 2007
Top 10 Buys
1 Royal Bank of Scotland
2 Empyrean Energy
3 Tanfield Group
4 Partygaming
5 Northern Rock
6 GlaxoSmithKline
7 Voadfone
8 Autonomy Corp
9 Carter & Carter
10 Sports Direct INTL
Top 10 Sells
1 Empyrean Energy
2 Tanfield Group
3 Barclays
4 GlaxoSmithKline
5 Partygaming
6 Vodafone
7 Ascent Resources
8 BP
9 Carter & Carter
10 BHP Billiton PLC
The Top Ten buys and sells are measured as the number of trades carried out in each stock over the previous 7 days.