With a few members away at our meeting on October 6, we watched a short video on China’s breakthrough on Thorium Reactors.  Thorium Reactors that will have a huge impact on the world's energy supply if the construction of a full-scale plant is successful. This discovery not only promises to revolutionise sustainable energy, but lower electricity prices and can deliver 24/7 for 100 years. A handout on Australian company Vulcan Energy's (VUL) project in the Black Forrest area of Germany reports that it has progressed to completion of a trial plant that offers a source of heating to local residents, power generation and Lithium production, all self-powered by the super-heated brine extraction.

During September Austal (ASB) has remained steady with NAOS, CADENCE CAPITAL, POWER MINERALS and DRONESHIELD all making significant gains.

A surprise observation by Neville that (BBL)  Brisbane Bronco Limited from Friday 2 pm rose 80% from $1.30 to $2.00. Yet the grand final match didn’t start until Sunday.

On the Long-term sheet Les with 360 is ahead by a mile; on the Monthly sheet John with DRO is 220% ahead of his initial (our) paper $9,980 starting investment. On the real Time Trading sheet Sue and Margaret J are leading.

With September company reports completed, there are limited dividend returns from now until December. WBC and ANZ are a few of the large companies yet to report.  Nanos (NCC), a small investment company are ex-dividend Wednesday 8th October, offering 9.6% dividend 100% franked - several of our group chose Nanos on the Monthly sheet.

If you wish to change your selection on the Monthly or the Real Time Trading sheet, please let me know asap.
​
Our next meeting will be Monday 3rd November 2025 (not 31st October 2025 as noted at our last meeting).

​Malcolm Sanders

A short video interview with Droneshield CEO highlighted that while sales were strong research and development were imperative to stay ahead of other competing technologies.

After the mid break Neena chose Woolworths (WOW) as today's live market had WOW at $28.75.

On our long-term sheet Les with Life 360 and John with ZIP are respectively  $9,356 and $8,667 leading on paper overall, on the 20 member selections we are positive 19%.

On the Real Time Trading sheet again ASB (Austal) was again a good selection last month by Margaret, Jenette, Malcolm & Les. They are unlikely to pay any dividends. Sue with Elders and the two Margarets and Janette are the top 4 leaders. Good selecting  for the next 3 meetings. Currently on this sheet we are 18% positive for the year. Our U3A Bendigo Watchlist is 11% positive since February.
​
On the short term monthly sheet John leads by a mile with Droneshield (DRO) and Wende with Silver bullion is second and 20th is Sue with Wisetech (WTC).

If you wish to change your selection on the Monthly or the Real Time Trading sheet, please let me know asap.

Our next meeting will be Monday 6th October 2025.


Malcolm Sanders

​At our August meeting we had a good attendance of members. It was good to see Colin back. Peter is still wandering somewhere in Europe. Jan is enjoying 24 C weather at the Sunshine Coast, John is still having trouble with his ankles but keeps in touch and he has hard copies of the sheets dropped off at his house which keeps him up to date.

We looked at KOV (Korvest) that has just announced a 50c dividend and the share price is still rising; COB yesterday $13.35  that has been a good selection for Garth. He intends to trade them after the ex dividend date of 14 August that way he will accumulate the dividend and hopefully some capital gain.

Neena confirmed she will sell TLS after 26 August and buy WOW  in September as the ex dividend dates follow about 10 days apart.

Our handouts were BHP, WAM, WLE; WAM & WLE are ex dividend mid-October. Previous returns for WAM & WLE have been very good.

On the Long-term Les leads with his Life 360 some $6,221 on paper profit. On the Real time sheet Sue leads with her selection of Elders now $16,443 gross paper value. On the Short-term  John leads with his Droneshield being $17,465 in paper profit.

There were some selection changes ASB (Austal ), WAM, & KOV (Kovest) were popular additions. Good luck to all. The stock market is positive across all sectors but US Trump Tariff’s could still cause issues.

Our session finished with 8 minutes of power point photos of my flying trip in 2 days to Birdsville, over Lake Eyre, William Creek and back to Shepparton last week on a 10 seater Piper twin. Lake Eyre is full but Lake Eyre South is still dry. South of Birdsville the green floodplain is 35 miles wide and receding as all the flood waters have passed.

If you wish to change your short term monthly or trade on the real time sheet, please let me know asap.

Our next meeting will be 2pm Monday 1 September 2025.
                                                                                                                                
​Malcolm Sanders

At our August meeting was well attended by members. It was good to see Colin back. Peter is still wandering somewhere in Europe. Jan is enjoying 24 C weather at the Sunshine Coast, John is still having trouble with his ankles, but keeps in touch and he has hard copies of the sheets dropped off at his house which keeps him up to date.

We looked at KOV (Korvest) that has just announced a 50c dividend and the share price is still rising; COB yesterday $13.35 - that has been a good selection for Garth. He intends to trade them after the ex dividend date of 14 August, that way he will accumulate the dividend and hopefully some capital gain. Neena confirmed she will sell TLS after 26 August and buy WOW  in September as the ex dividend dates follow about 10 days apart. Our handouts were BHP, WAM, WLE; WAM & WLE are ex dividend mid-October. Previous returns for WAM & WLE have been very good.

On the Long-term sheet, Les leads with his Life 360 some $6,221 on paper profit. On the Real time sheet Sue leads with her selection of Elders now $16,443 gross paper value. On the Short-term John leads with his Droneshield being $17,465 in paper profit.

There were some selection changes ASB (Austal ), WAM, & KOV (Kovest) were popular additions. Good luck to all. The stock market is positive across all sectors but US Trump Tariff’s could still cause issues.

Our session finished with 8 minutes of power point photos of my flying trip in 2 days last week to Birdsville, over Lake Eyre, William Creek and back to Shepparton on a 10 seater Piper twin. Lake Eyre is full, but Lake Eyre South is still dry. South of Birdsville the green floodplain is 35 miles wide and receding as all the flood waters have passed.

If you wish to change your short term monthly or trade on the real time sheet, please let me know asap.

Our next meeting will be 2pm Monday 1 September 2025.

Malcolm Sanders

​At our Monday 7th July meeting we welcomed new member Ken, to our group. We covered some basic online information sources such as Market Index and Commsec web sites. Click on the link below to view market index;
https://www.marketindex.com.au/

On this site you can find lists of upcoming dividend dates, unit prices of iron ore, gold, silver etc and a full listing of stocks that make up the ASX  grouped in ASX 20, ASX 50, ASX 100, ASX 200 , ASX 300 and the All Ord’s AXO. The latest news on local and world stock markets showing live prices. Handouts today covered Pro Medics, Santana Minerals, Lynas Rare Earth and an update on Gold Hydrogen (ASX code GHY).

Nothing to do with the Shares, Les presented a comprehensive slide coverage on smart door locks that unlock with facial recognition on both the outside and on the inside of your house door. Cost of these start at approx. $700 without installation. If you are considering a new door lock and want hands free unlatching door contact Les.

On the Long -Term sheet Les leads with his choice of Life 360 stock some $3,788 positive for the year followed by Neville with EVN $3,767 positive. Our whole group is 10% positive for the year to date.

On the Real Time Trading sheet Sue leads with her selection of Elders after selling in June her  NAB and buying Elders. Elders had an ex-dividend date of 3 June hence she collected a dividend on today’s 7th July sheet.  Both Margaret W with TLS and Colin with BXB are going really well being No 2 & 3 respectively. Neena has decided to sell WOW today and  buy TLS  and then in September buy back WOW as the ex-dividend dates follow about 10 days apart.

At our extended afternoon tea break we enjoyed assorted sausage rolls, party pies and snack bites from our a 1970’s fry pan oven. The result was very few were left over to take home. If you were away today, I am sorry to say this was a celebration of the 30th June financial 24-25 year being positive and financially good for all investors and super fund balances. I hope your end year statements that are due now are rewardingly positive.

On the monthly sheet John is miles ahead with DRO  followed by Wende with silver base metal. Five members have chosen a new stock today for review at our August meeting. If you were away, please drop me an email on your new selection choice asap.

Overall, on all sheets our stock nett total values are up since June, so let’s hope July also is positive.

Our next meeting is Monday 4th August 2025.
​

Malcolm Sanders

​At our Monday 2nd June meeting we had a good attendance again and welcomed a new member Garth to our group. On the market news that day was the announcement that Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Brickworks had agreed to transformative $14b merger. Shares in Sol Patterson rose 16%, likewise Brickworks by 27%, a rise likely to fall back a little in subsequent days..

Les ran a very informative presentation on buying in the dip. This power point slide show of 24 slides will be emailed to all our group and can be accessed in the link below.

Suggesting for Buying in the Dip

• Don’t be a day trader
• Be careful with selection of target shares
• Need an adequate reserve of cash
• Timing of purchase

In one hand out today the ASX 200 listing had been reduced by all the stocks in the ASX 100, leaving 100 stocks that were data sorted to the largest rise in the last 12 months. This listing while interesting, cannot be a guide to the next 12 months, Stocks such as Ora Banda Mining, Spartan Resources, Regis Resources, Austal, and Gold Road Resources were in the top six.

A note that with the 30th June approaching, any portfolio that has made substantial capital gains during the financial year could consider selling stocks that have made a capital loss.  
​
On the Long term sheet Neville leads with his selection of EVN with a paper profit of $5,597, followed by Les and Jan. Garth has selected Brickworks BKW to be his long term stock with the hope they will continue to rise.

On the Real Time Trading sheet Margaret W leads with her WBC choice followed by Sue and Colin. With reporting season about to commence in August and September Sue , Colin, Margaret W, Nola and Malcolm have all chosen to trade to a new stock.

On the Monthly sheet, overall stock values have improved  with only 3 members in the red. The ASX index of 8,660 on Friday 30 May is nearing the highs of February 2025. Let's hope we see some stabilization across the market now some of Trump's “TACO“* affect is being ignored.

Our next meeting is Monday 7th July 2025.


Malcolm Sanders
Convenor Australian Shares and Stock Market

*In May 2025, weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump announced and hit pause on his Liberation Day Tariffs, a Financial Times columnist came up with a name for how the market has been behaving ever since Trump came into office. He called it 'TACO', or the 'Trump Always Chickens Out' theory.  

During April the share market improved some 7% but not back to February 2025 levels. As we began our stock selections in February our review listing of 2nd May shares prices on the sheet are still below the February levels generally. Most people on Real Time trading sheet are doing ok because of added dividends.

We again spoke about the impact of the Trump Tariff issue on world trade and shares and superannuation and that his 90 days hold on implication might still cause issues in July. There was a four-page handout on US-Australia Trading that gave some insight into two Australian companies in the US. The full document is 48 pages long and is available by email if you wish to have it sent out. The largest is Pratt Industries recycling paper into corrugated boxes with some 8000 employees. Second is Lendlease property developer and high-rise builder with 13,000 employee/subcontractors. Thanks, Jeanette, for your research and some facts that some medicines will be exempt from tariffs and export/import shipping around the world is currently disrupted because of uncertainty of the tariffs.

We also noted Westpac bank (WBC) came out with a 76cent dividend today and their shares fell roughly $1. Both ANZ and NAB  banks will announce dividends later this week. As all three banks have only 3 trading days between announcement and the ex-dividend date that makes it almost impossible to purchase any of these shares on the announced date and collect the dividend. There needs to be at least 3 business days between purchase and your transaction is confirmed on the company share register. Some share brokers or direct online trading accounts may be able to have the share purchased registered in time, but it has not been my experience. If you purchase several days before the announcement date you are much more likely to be added to the company share register before the record date and so collect the dividend.

On the Monthly sheet Wende leads with “Silver” metal. On the Long-term sheet Neville leads with his selection of “EVN”. On the Real Time Trading sheet Margaret W has shot to the lead with her WBC choice last month. There were only 2 changes on the Monthly selection sheet for the June review.

A one-page handout on Meeka Gold (MEK) vs Gold bullion prices over 11 months indicated the shares gained 350% and Gold only 38%. Risk on shares in small companies is very high, beware! A table of 14 small Rare Earth miners share prices over 4 months ranged from -35% to +268%. Again, the risk is very high if investing in any of these is companies. 

Please let me know if you wish to change your monthly selections or trade on the Real Time sheet. As several members were away you can let me know of any change after you review the email that I will send out.

Our next meeting is Monday 2nd June 2025.

​
Malcolm Sanders
Convenor Australian Shares and Stock Market

We had 15 members attend our Monday 7th April meeting. The topic we discussed around the room was what will happen with the Trump Tariffs to our shares and superannuation balances. The Australian shares fell 4% Friday and are in a hold pattern today however, tomorrow anything can happen. The XAO (All Ordinaries Index) is down 7% for the March period, and 10% since early February.

The main handout was on gold miners in Australia (330 listed companies on the ASX ) with some small miners with incredible share price rises of​ 400%; while gold bullion rose some 30% over the last six months. There were 14 small gold miners on the handout page 6, all worth watching today and over the next 4 months. All 14 have gained 23% to 150% in the January- February period.

Thanks to Les for his resume of Opthea (OPT) research into retinal diseases and trials that showed early improvement, but under phase 3 trials were disappointing and the company value has now fallen and are in a trading halt.

Wende your “Silver” choice in the Monthly sheet performed very well. Winner for the month! Gold did ok for Neville.

On the monthly selection sheet nine members have chosen a new stock for April—May period. Sue on the Real time trading you lead with MPL (Medibank Private) which held up very well Friday when I did sheets; - but today it fell 6.7% to $4.32. Four members have traded on the Real Time Trading sheet with the three banks (ANZ, WBC & NAB) yet to announce their dividend that will be known by our next May meeting.

It’s worth noting Woolworths WOW and Challenger CGF both rose Friday and today are still in positive territory.

Our next meeting will be Monday 5 May at 2pm.
​
 
Malcolm Sanders
Convenor Australian Shares and Stock Market

​On Monday 3 March, guest speaker Declan Cassidy from Fixed Income Solutions BGC presented for 45 minutes, explaining bonds. Typically, bonds are bought at $100 with a fixed interest rate, and the principal is returned at maturity. Interest is paid semi-annually.

Bond types include:

1. Fixed-rate bonds (semi-annual coupon payments)
2. Floating-rate notes (quarterly coupon payments)
3. Inflation-linked bonds (capital indexed and annuity bonds)

Issuers: State/Federal Governments, Banks, ASX 200 companies, international corporates, supranationals (e.g., World Bank), PPPs, and smaller institutions.

Investors: Sovereign funds, industry super funds, family offices, councils, credit unions, NFPs, aged care providers, and individuals (SMSFs).

Corporate Bonds/Hybrids: Companies like Woolworths, Coles, Ampol, and Ausnet offer corporate bonds. These provide higher yields (5.0–7.5%) than major bank Tier 2 bonds but are less liquid.

Declan was thanked and presented with a U3A pen. A video of the session was recorded by Rene Martens for review and is currently available on YouTube at:

We welcomed Jeanette for her first meeting and thank all our members who phoned in their selections before the meeting. We now have 20 members of our group for 2025.

We began with excerpts from a Commsec video on the outlook for 2025 that gave a mildly positive out look that would not see any huge variations. That said AI could still create some surprises along with Donald Trump executive orders that no one can foresee what  MAGA (Make America Great Again) will cause to global economies and markets.

We had a quick review of a Watchlist of 2024 noting stocks such as EVN, GNG, QAN, RRL and SIG (Sigma) all had capital gains of more than 50% with Sigma gaining 160%. I will start a new listing for 2025 from member selections handed out and returned on our meeting day. A  listing awaits members who were absent at our first meeting to complete a selection of 2 stocks so we have a full coverage across the 11 sectors of the ASX.
​
Don’t forget we will have a guest speaker - Declan Cassidy from BGC - Fixed Income Solutions for our 3rd March meeting to present information on all types of “Bonds” as a form of invest and retirement income. The presentation will include handouts and on-screen information and time for questions starting at 2pm. This will likely run for 60 minutes. After 3pm we will review our selections on the Long Term, Monthly and Real Time Trading lists
 
Malcolm Sanders
Convenor Australian Shares and Stock Market

Following enrolment day on 15th January 2025 we have 17 members currently listed for our first meeting on Monday 3rd February at Room 1 at 2pm. Welcome to the three new members and also to our other members from 2024.

At our first meeting you will need to nominate three selections for the spreadsheets. We can view  any of the 2000 plus listed stocks on the ASX before you chose your selection.

I will email out a reminder note on 30th January with a listing of the top 200 stocks to help you select your stock you may wish to follow. The full listing of the 2000+ stocks document is too large for easy viewing.

With Donald Trump now President in the US the Australian stock market rose 100pts soon after opening on Tuesday 21 January but finished the day only 53 pts ahead. The Australian exchange rate against the US dollar rose 1cent to 62.4 cents. 

I look forward to another interesting year for the share market in 2025.
 
Malcolm Sanders
Convenor Australian Shares and Stock Market

​Our meeting on Monday, 2nd December 2024, was attended by 19 members. We began by thanking Bev Lee for her work behind the scenes, which helped me run the program and keep our website updated with meeting notes and the newsletter. She was presented with a jar of jam. A group photo taken by Bev last month, inscribed with the words “U3A Australian Shares 2024,” was distributed to all members.

We discussed scams and fraud, which are particularly concerning over the Christmas period. It is essential to be extremely careful and avoid clicking on links such as “Enter here” or similar wording. The MyGov website is being upgraded, and you should not access it through any links in emails. Instead, go to your stored login page and enter the site in the usual way. Email notifications from MyGov may be scams. Scammers can also raid letterboxes, obtaining full names from correspondence with companies like Link Marketing or Computer Share, and use your Holder Identification Number (HIN) to open bank accounts elsewhere. Most HIN numbers now display only the last four digits as a precaution. To protect against this, ensure you clear your mailbox daily after each postal delivery.

We reviewed the Bendigo Watch List, which I created based on your selections in February across 11 sectors. The list showed a 2% increase in total holding value. Handouts were provided with values as of last Friday. I returned original selection sheets to about six members where names were included. Some selections were unnamed, so those sheets could not be returned.

Margaret J was the winner for “Long Term” selections, with PME showing a $13,162 increase. She received a jar of jam. Les received the wooden spoon for his AGE selection. For the “Real Time Trading” sheet, Les was the winner with a final holding of $14,819 for PME and was also awarded a jar of jam. Peter M will receive his wooden spoon in due course.

​During the mid-afternoon break, we enjoyed shop-bought fruit cake. Although it tasted good and was moist, it fell apart easily.

Graeme had the best performance on the “Short Term Monthly” sheet, finishing with $21,386 for SLC, earning him a jar of jam. Margaret W’s selection of DRO performed poorly over the last four months, earning her the wooden spoon.

Thanks to Wende for taking photos of the awards throughout the meeting.

Registration for 2025 courses will begin at 9:30 am on Wednesday, 15th January 2025.

Our first meeting of the year will be at 2:00 pm on Monday, 3rd February 2025. Please prepare three selections for review so I can update the spreadsheets. A reminder email will be sent out the Thursday before the meeting, including a list of the top ASX 200 stocks to help guide your selections.

The meeting closed early at 3:15 pm. I hope to have a guest speaker in March to discuss bonds as a form of investing.

Have happy and safe Christmas, and may the new year bring much joy.

​
Malcolm Sanders
Convenor, Australian Shares and Stock Market
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: 0408 194 469

We commenced with reviews from the Commsec website on the eleven sectors in the ASX. In particular, the Materials Index (XMJ) up 16% for the month and Real Estate (XRE) up 3% for the month, with the All Ords. (XAO) now at 8416 up 8%  for the year to date.

One of the sheets handed out today covered the current World Oil Export listing in which Iran is 16th in the world, so any impact of hostilities in the Middle East should not affect world oil supply to any great extent. Other handouts were on Select Harvest, Telix, Droneshield and Firetail Resources.

On the Long-Term sheet John still leads with DRO, followed by Margaret W with TLX and 3rd Margaret J with PME. During our meeting checking Wende’s stock pick WC8 (Wildcat Resources) rose from 26 cents on Friday to a peak of 33cents - almost a 26% rise.  It will be interesting if this price rise holds, as there were no significant announcements on the website.

On our Real Time Trading Les leads with PME, followed by Neville and Colin. Most of our members have received a dividend on this sheet.  Only a couple of stocks have not advised their ex-dividend date or dividend as of today, one being ANZ and the other WBC. You can still trade any time before our next meeting to get another dividend if it’s a financial advantage to do so.

​Our 2024 group photo was taken but we will, at our next meeting on 4th November, have Bev Lee retake another photo so we can include you in our archive photo lists.

On the monthly sheet Graeme still leads by large margin with SLC, followed by Malcolm with FTL and then Wende with JBH. There were 7 new monthly selection changes being Neville (FLX) Nola (BHP) Colin (FBU) John (BHP) Les (GOR) Jill (CIA) to report on at the November meeting.

Please let me know of you wish to sell and buy on the Real Time sheet or change to a new stock on the Monthly sheet.

Our next meeting will be Monday 4th November 2024.


Malcolm Sanders

Twelve members attended our meeting on Monday 2 September. We welcomed back Peter from his extended trip to UK and beyond, then commenced with several videos from the Commsec website, being updates on the reporting season for Wesfarmers, Woolworths, and BHP.  All were positive but subdued in their outlook. We had a quick look at a listing of ex-dividend dates from today until 30 September. There were a couple stocks which, if purchased today or tomorrow, would provide a dividend in the next six weeks. A couple of stocks that have performed well - such as BSE, MWY, SEQ and CUE -have had huge gains and should be viewed as highly speculative.

Handouts related to Pilbara Minerals; the Tiwi-Santos gas project including a map of the Barossa gas pipeline route to Darwin, and an updated sheet to 29 August on four stocks (CBA, WES, BHP, and RIO) respective sectors, ASX 20 to ASX 300 and the performance of the eleven sector codes; all were positive in the two months since 30 June 2024.

On the Long-Term sheet, John still leads with DRO followed by Margaret J with TLX and 3rd Margaret W with PME.

On our “Real Time Trading Dividend” listing, Colin leads with Brambles (BXB) with $12,474, closely followed Neville, Brent, and Wende. Dividends have been added for six of our members since the 5 August meeting. Les missed having his dividend added today as it will be due on 4th September - it will be added to the sheet by our next meeting. Jan had her dividend added today one day early by exception. In reality, there is no pay date included on this 2024 sheet for simplicity. Dividend is added after the ex-dividend date. Neville chose to hold RIO after a successful trade of WHC last month to gain the RIO dividend. You have one more trade available before you will reach the maximum of four for 2024.  John chose to sell YAL and buy WDS, likewise Malcolm chose to sell EBO and purchase BWF. If you wish to trade before our October meeting, please email or phone me.

On our Short-Term monthly selections Graeme leads with SCL with a profit value of $21,871, followed by Peter, TPC  with $3,096 profit, followed by Wende with JBH. There were four new monthly selection changes being Susan (CBA), Neville (HMC), John (DRO), Malcolm (LYL) to report on at the October meeting.

Our next meeting will be Monday 7th October 2024 at 2pm. 


Malcolm Sanders

Thirteen members attended our meeting on Monday 5th August.  We commenced with a 4-minute video from Commsec on the world-wide fall of markets last Friday and today, basically saying it was an overreaction to some US data and Japan rising interest rates from zero. It is likely markets will slowly recover from this sell off as both US and Australia begin their reporting season during the August -September period.

Handouts were - an All Ords graph, a Consensus Sell listing, Whitehaven Coal update, Liontown update, CSR scheme update, Albemarie (ALB) announcement that they will stop production of Lithium hydroxide in WA, and a 3 boxed listing comparison tables over the last 12 months compiled by Margaret.

On our long-term sheet John still leads with DRO, followed by Margaret W with TLX and Margaret J with PME. There are 14 members in positive territory and the next 4 months will no doubt bring a few more changes.

On our “Real Time Trading Dividend” listing, John leads with Yancoal (YAL) with $11,833, closely followed by Bill, Jill, and Neville. Dividends will start to be added to the sheet by our next meeting and added only after the Ex-dividend date. In reality, there is a pay date that I have not included on this 2024 sheet.  Neville chose to trade WHC and purchase RIO before the September meeting at an optional high price of WHC and a low price of RIO before the ex-dividend date. Likewise, Malcolm chose to sell NHC and purchase EBO. Les chose to hold his PME now he is back in the black. If you wish to trade before our September meeting, please email or phone me.

Margaret gave a presentation comparison of three sectors and 4 large companies as in the tables below:

Comparison of four shares in three sectors

We had 15 members attend our July meeting and welcomed back 2023 member Jill for Semester 2. All your selections will appear on the August sheets, Jill--good luck.
 
We reviewed our Bendigo Watchlist of February 2024 on which there are some 40 stocks across all 11 sectors. We are negative 5%, a reflection that many shares peaked in price during February and March when this listing was set up.
 
Handouts included a page on ANZ, DeGrey, Lynas & SCL plus Don’s ‘What to  look for 1st July’ sheet.  We all wanted to know from Graeme what facts or trends he used when he chose SCL in February, as they have risen 104%--just over doubled in price--during June.
 
On our long-term sheet John still leads with DRO followed by Margaret W with TLX and Margaret J with PME. As John would say, nothing is ever certain in the share market and DRO could fall as fast as it has risen between now and December.
 
On our “Real Time Dividend” listing Neville leads with BLD (Boral) with $11,468, closely followed by Wende, John & Bill. Between now and late August there will be few announcements on dividend returns. If you want a September or October dividend, now is the time to trade if you think another stock might pay a higher dividend than your current holding. All the current stock held should pay in September and October. Bill opted to sell COL (Coles) and buy NTD (NTAW Holdings). As soon as ex dividend dates are known I will include them into the spreadsheet.
 
After the break Don gave us some tips on how he analyses share buy and sell data and this short summary:
 
A couple of important things to consider when looking for a Stock to buy. Check the 12- month High (for the Share Price) and the 12- month Low. Look for a Stock that is above the Low, and now rising in price. Look for a Stock that has good liquidity, ie., many shares changing hands on any trading day and pay attention to the PE ratio. Avoid Stocks with a PE above 40 and be careful of Stocks with PE below 10. The sweet spot is a PE between 15 and 25.
 
Thanks Don.   Hopefully at our August meeting we will have a presentation on other market factors to incorporate into our planning/selection/and trading.
 
On our short term our monthly selections Graeme leads with SCL with a value of $20,378 followed by Peter TPC with $3,215 profit, followed by Les with PME and Malcolm with EMR. There were 2 new monthly selection changes Neville (WHC) & Les (life360) to report on at the August meeting

Our next meeting will be Monday 5th August 2024 at 2pm.
​
Malcolm Sanders       

We had 17 members attend our meeting on Monday 3rd June, a very good number considering a cold winter's day. We had a look at the Market Index web site. Of all the 11 sectors “Tech Stocks” or Information Technology ^XIJ has risen 27% for the last 12 months and 2.7% for the month of May. his sector far exceeds all the other sectors, some of which had negative growth. All dividend payments are finished now until September, except for NAB & ANZ, which payout in early July.

Handouts included the latest news on BHP/Anglo American takeover, CSR and Gold Hydrogen and a list of 5 red flags when investing.

When investing, a few simple rules should guide your selection, i.e. maybe from the top 200 companies (S&P ASX200/ XJO).  It is a mentally stimulating exercise trying to predict if the stock is a long-term or short term buy or sell, profitable and that P/E and D/E fall within your limits.

On our long-term selection sheet John leads with an incredible profit of $8,890 with his Drownshield DRO. If you keep this up until November, John, you will be the yearly winner. Margaret W is also well ahead with her selection TLX.

On our “Real Time Dividend” Listing Neville leads with his selection of Boral, followed by Brent with Qantas and John with Yancoal. Interestingly, Neville is one of only  12 members who have not traded their original selection. Let's see how it all pans out with the share market July to November. I acknowledge I need to correct one of Anne’s selection to NRW back in the April and MND on the current  sheet. Les has decided to buy PME before the July meeting.

After the break Bill gave us look into his trip to Sweden during May and with 9 photos that I projected onto the screen but were too small to fully appreciate. I have since separately emailed nine full sized images to all members. Thanks Bill, as only a few of us have been to Sweden.

Finally, on our short-term monthly selections Peter leads with his selection TPC with $3,155 profit, followed by Graeme, Susan and Malcolm. There were four new monthly selections for June to report on at the July meeting.

We will have time next month for Don to present some tips on investing.

Our next meeting will be Monday 1st July 2024 at 2pm.

Malcolm Sanders

Our meeting on 6th May again commenced with a 6-minute recorded podcast video by Chalis Mining (CHN) about their progress to produce a range of minerals across some seven sites in Western Australia. A handout was also included that was a further update on financial position and progress.

News about BHP on a bid to purchase Anglo American mine in South America for $52billion. The world copper price has risen 18% the last 12 months now at $4.44 per pound; and BHP has increased its copper output by 49% at the Olympic Dam site in South Australia. More than half the world's copper is used in electrical motors, wiring or anything that requires electricity. 

Our long-term stock selections remain positive overall for April with John leading with DRO with paper profit of $3,042.

After our tea break Don presented some insights on facts you should consider as an investor when buying or selling shares. The Financial Review has a lot of data across all stock sectors. The Earnings per share (EPS ),  Price to Earnings ratio (P/E ratio) and debit to equity (D/E ) are all very important. Remember the asset value includes the debit on infrastructure listed as assets. Whilst dividends may at first sight be attractive, companies often only pay out 70% of the profit. If they announce a buy-back of shares you need to realise this is funded by profits but is designed to hold or lift the share price by the reduction in the total number of shares on issue. The three banks NAB, ANZ & WBC have all announced about a 2% buyback in 2024.

Our “Real Time with Dividend” handout has been made bigger to a full A3 sheet with allowance for everyone to add /sell on a clear line. All figures are to 3 decimal places but rounded to whole numbers in most columns, so if you are checking bear this in mind. Neville is on top with BLD and Don with ANZ. Both Don and Wende have not received any dividend as the ex-dividend date is yet to tick over. Over the next 4 weeks, with no dividends being added other than for ANZ and MQG and a Federal budget due shortly, our results will be clearer.

Finally, our monthly short-term selections were positive for most of our 20 members.
There were 4 requests for new stocks being for SFR, FFM & RMI.

Our next meeting will be Monday 3rd June 2024 at 2pm.


Malcolm Sanders     

Another good rollup to our second meeting on Monday 4th March, with one visitor.  Welcome Brian G, good to see you again.

We had a look at the Top dividends & Upcoming dividends on the Market Index web site. During the month of February and March most ASX stocks reported their six-month financial returns and dividends. The whole market has been positive during February, however Lithium in 2024 is no longer sought after due to oversupply, hence spot prices are down 50% on 2023. Energy companies appear to gaining most with a handout of BOS energy.

Our Long-term selections are again a little mixed, however Wende was a clear winner with a $7,841 gain with her selection of WC8. Colin, Barbara, John, & Bill also had gains of over 20%.

On our Monthly selections, there was a mixed result overall. Four people selected a new stock for March. The best result for February was achieved by Nola, with a gain of $5,228 with AGY.

Our Bendigo Watchlist was in positive territory, with Graeme providing his selection for next meeting’s review.

Our Real Time selections report needs careful row review, with the adding of capital gains and dividends making for more discussion. A good example on this sheet was the selection by Jan in February of CBA that paid a dividend, then sold all the nett value less $40 to purchase WOW that paid a late dividend on 28th February. This was cited as trying to gain on capital gain with dividend cumulative sum. Only four transactions per year per person can be allowed for as the report sheet will become too deep. You can sell or buy at our meeting and this can be nominated by noting week one sell (S1) week two (S2) etc on the sheet, so you can sell or buy (B1), (B2) during the weeks between meetings. This can mean gaining a dividend or selling when the stock hits a high. One stock CUE was noted with a dividend of 2 cents with stock price of 6 cents on 22nd February. With an ex-dividend date of 21 March, they are now trading at around 11 cents. We still have several big companies and ANZ & NAB banks to report over the next 8 weeks, which will allow you to sell or buy on this work sheet.

Our next meeting will be Friday 5th April at 2 pm as Easter Monday is a Public Holiday.


Malcolm Sanders 

At our first meeting on February 5, 2024, we had 16 members (six new to the group), four apologies and one guest.  Our new Power Point welcome listed all members, the sector size of the Australian Market and a recent list of best performing stocks.  Our around the table short introduction by all present took up 15 minutes.

The structure of our meeting will continue similarly to last year. A sheet was handed out to be returned at the end of the meeting with a listing of companies in one of the 11 sectors, each member to circle two companies. This listing will go into a Bendigo Watchlist that automatically updates without further input and visually on the screen can be compared with the All Ord’s. Four members who were absent have been sent a sheet to nominate their selections. 

Our long-term selections covered a range of stocks that I will enter for our March meeting review on how they performed. For our short term/monthly listing we again had a great cross section, but only one person selected any of the 4 big banks.

Our third spread sheet, “Real Time Investing with Dividend”, gave members the option to choose a stock that will be ex-dividend in March, hence gain the dividend early; to add to their initial $9980 outlay.  A couple of members had done some research that reflected in their selection which was good to see. The March update will reflect as many ex-dividend dates as known. If the date has not been announced, I will add 6 months to the last 2023 known date. You may sell or buy at any time with a limit of three new buys for the year to keep the sheet reporting size manageable.  If this new sheet becomes too difficult, we may not continue. Franking credits will not be added to this listing.

Thank you everyone for your contribution.  At our March meeting we should have time to look at more of the stocks you may be interested in. Thanks to Margaret J for the stock record checking on all the selections.

Our next meeting will be Monday 4th March 2024 at 2pm at U3A Room 1.

Malcolm Sanders 
Convenor .

​Les received a jar of Vegemite for his assistance during the year and today’s presentation.

Our long-term stock winner was Margaret J with her XRF selection that gained 28% for the year and the customary home-made jar of jam was handed out. Margaret W came a close second with her selection of NXT that gained 26%. Well done.

Afternoon tea was a long break and we enjoyed a slice of fruit cake from the local supermarket.
 
After the break –  We looked at the implication of the dramatic fall in Lithium prices and the importance of the cost of production. Investors who take note of the Short Sellers list were forewarned of the downturn in lithium companies.  We then viewed the eight companies who gained over 50% in the ASX200 and the two companies who lost 50%.

The volatility of the market of the past 12 months was evident in the charts of CBA and BHP.

The final results of our selection charts demonstrated a difficult year for stock pickers.
 
Our short term stock winner was Neville with his selection of IND (INDUSTRIAL MINERALS LTD ) that rose with profit of $9,105. Neville also received a jar of jam. 

On a final note, thank you to all for your participation in 2023 and our best wishes for a safe and happy Christmas and New Year. A short reminder that Registration for U3A Enrolment in 2024 is Wednesday 10 January 9.30am and our first meeting of “Australian Shares and Stock Market” will be Monday 5th February 2024.


​John Hanlon & Malcolm Sanders

At our November meeting we noted Liontown (LTR) is still bouncing around as the share take over/purchase saga continues. We could not overlook how Neville’s pick last month of Industrial Minerals (IND) has risen 97% so he wins the pick of the month. Whether it was good judgement or luck it was a great increase. Also mentioned - Elders share price remains low, possibly from problems of poor foresight and possible debits. They have concentrated on Queensland, upgrading stores and merchandise and leaving and closing their bread-and-butter stores/farmers in Victoria and New South Wales.

Reports for both Cooper Energy (COE) and Calix Limited (CLX) by some analysts are predicted to have a 100% share price increase over the next 12 months. Neither pay dividends and both are small cap shares.

Our long-term selections also lost 1% in value during October. Leading on this portfolio is Margaret W with selection of NXT in positive territory. Our Bendigo 11 sector Watch list is still 12% down on the February purchase prices.

After the break – Liontown (LTR) was reviewed as last meeting we predicted Gina Rinehart would upset the offer of $3.00 per share by American Co. Abermarle, which proved correct.  Gina acquired 19% of LTR shares which gave her a seat on the board.  Abermarle withdrew their bid which caused the LTR share price to fall from $3.00 to $1.60.  Bell Potter came forward in with an underwriting to cover a $400m debt, so LTR can now complete their project with the input of Gina and her Hancock Resources.

Azure Minerals, AZS – up 45% since October 23rd and 1,200% for the year as SQM from Chile mounted a take-over offer.  Gina Rinehart stepped in and purchased 19% of shares.  Will SQM abandon their offer? Gina has displayed her faith in Lithium production.
The subject changed to world events and safe investments, taking into account the $250,000. Government guarantee on Bank investments.

We finished this section by viewing Westpac and the $7.2b profit and 70c dividend announced on the day.

Our Short-term selections also lost 1% for the month. Three members changed selections hoping for a turnaround in the next 4 weeks. Good Luck. Two shares; Wildcat Resources (WC8) and Deep Yellow Limited (DYL) have had gains of approx. 80%  in the last 4 months.

​The next and final meeting of Investment for 2023 will be on Monday 4th December at 2.00pm in our U3A Classroom 1.


John Hanlon and Malcolm Sanders

At our October meeting we welcomed a new member, Charles.  We reviewed the Costa Group take over by an American firm Paine Schwartz Partners. Current value of the Costa Group is $A 1.49 billion. Frank Costa started in Werribee and Bacchus Marsh as a grower and wholesaler with their own trucks, and later ventured into fruit in Queensland. Frank Costa was a longtime supporter of Geelong Football Club.

Lithium again is still centre stage of many companies including Liontown Resources trying to complete their infrastructure plants and have refined lithium for sale. With a late bid by Gina Rinehart for Liontown Resource competing with the last bid of $3.00 by Albemarle, the outcome is still uncertain as to who will have control. Gina held 16.4 % of the shares on 4th October.

Our long-term sections overall have lost value by 3.2% for the month. Leading is Margaret W with NXT. We had a short look at two videos one of Bega Cheese, and BOE (Boss Energy) a uranium supplier as world supply is low and there are low inventories. The world is looking for a stable country for supply and Boss Energy in Australia may meet some of this demand.

After the break – Prompted by the publicity given to Qantas CEO Alan Joyce, the matter of excessive payments was bought up.

While the $20 to $24million payment to Joyce was condemned by the public and press, it is of interest to compare with other CEO payments of $59m, $37m, $32m and even one executive paid $32 m which was $9m more than CEO.

Core Lithium CXO was viewed as it rose by 19% after the release of the annual report.

September is a big payment month for dividends with BHP and CBA paying out $96 billion fully franked.

Performance of the top 20 revealed only two companies in the red for the 12-month period. 

We finished this segment with a comparison of 12 month fixed term deposits between major banks and LaTrobe Financial.

Our Short Term selections also lost 3% for the month. Five members changed selections hoping for a turnaround in the next period. Good Luck. 

The next meeting of Investment will be on Monday 6th November at 2.00pm in our U3A room No.1.

John Hanlon and Malcolm Sanders.