Proforma: The MHP (Magic Hat Portfolio) on Stockopedia (http://www.stockopedia.com/fan...) is an experiment by me to see if a human can improve on a mechanical Greeblatt Magic Formula screen. I am trying to weed out "mistakes" that I feel the screening commits: unseasoned companies, scams, foreign companies (particularly Chinese), fishy accounting, and statistical quirks. Apart from that, I am agnostic as to the sector the company operates in, although I will try to avoid heavy concentration in any one sector. I will mostly apply "Strategic Ignorance", by which I mean that I wont try to be clever in my stockpicking. My picking will be mostly mechanical. A summary of transactions can be found at https://blippy.github.io/money... As of January 2020, I have adjusted my strategy a little. Instead of selecting stocks from the Greenblatt Screen, I will select them from Stockopedia's Screen Of Screens, and look for a StockRank (TM) in the 90's. I won't rule out selecting something from the Greenblatt Screen, though. With the boilerplate now out the way, let's move on to the actual content ...
Costain (LON:COST) leaves the portfolio by rotation, having lost 63% in value over its holding period. Sylvania Platinum (LON:SLP) enters the portfolio as it passes Stockopedia's Screen Of Screens, and has a StockRank of 98. It has a net cash, and a PE of 3. Sylvania Platinum (LON:SLP) was one of the top picks in Stockopedia's Stock Challenge at the beginning of the year, so I assume everyone has heard of it by now.
I usually rotate the portfolio around the 5th of every month. There was a lot of cash sitting on the portfolio. I think the market is going to go up over the next couple of days, so it is better to invest now than later.
Stockopedia reports that the trailing PE of the FT100 is 15.3. We are in "fair value" territory. Recent falls have knocked a bit of froth off the top. The FT350 is down over a 1-, 2-, 3- and 5- year period. By comparison, the S&P500 is up around 50% over 5 years. It is on a trailing PE of 19.6, which is above-average. It seems that the UK is grinding along getting nowhere fast, whilst the US is doing quite well.…
