"MOVE along now, nothing to see." Constable Plod's old refrain looks an apt way to sum up Criterion's performance in the March quarter, with his "buy" calls rising an average 1 per cent in a quarter in which the broader market surged 5 per cent. At least we didn't go backwards.
On the "sell" side, our calls in the opening stanza averaged a 2 per cent loss, which was far more creditable given the rising tide of investor sentiment.
The quarter, truncated by your columnist's traditional January furlough, also saw his hold calls gain an average 3 per cent.
As usual, our salvation on the "buy" side arrived from an unexpected quarter: the newly listed Ecosave Holdings, which provides energy and water-saving products and advice to clients with energy bills of more than $1 million a year.
EcoSave shares have surged 78 per cent since their January 11 debut and 32 per cent since we discovered them on February 20 -- a fine portent for others braving the otherwise unreceptive IPO market. G8 Education, up 27 per cent, continues to prove there's solid profits to be made from the childcare sector, despite attempts by Eddy Groves and co to prove the contrary.
Junior telcos were well represented on the right side of the ledger: TPG Telecom and the serial acquirer M2 Telecoms as well as de facto telco Vita Group, which runs Telstra and Apple retail stores.
Unfortunately for our batting average, our "buy" calls were populated by resources and biotech juniors that are yet to prove the supposed rule that a market tide carries all boats.
Consolidated Tin Mines' 24 per cent decline was especially jarring, although in defence of the speccies BHP Billiton (down 15 per cent) and Whitehaven Coal (11 per cent) weren't that far behind. Our faith in satellite play NewSat remains sadly unrequited despite management's recent fundraising success, while down-but-not out online travel stock Wotif is yet to book the expected share rebound.
During the quarter Criterion recorded an unusually high proportion of "hold" calls, which reflects the common view that the market is fairly valued (if not a tad toppish).
We were also willing to call last drinks on popular blue chips such as CSL, Amcor and Primary Health -- not because they're dud stocks but because their valuations simply look stretched.
On the sell side, we finally lost patience with respiratory drug play Pharmaxis after another regulatory setback and were "rewarded" for the call with a 51 per cent share thumping.
Traffic camera Redflex, down 29 per cent, is in deep trouble in the US after a legal investigation found evidence of corrupt activities in Chicago. Still, every stock has its price and we upgraded Redflex to a speculative buy on the assumption that a new holder, New York hedge fund Coliseum Capital, isn't just along for the ride.
Entering the June quarter, investors are in a far more robust position than they would have envisaged a year ago. Unless the resources sector duly salutes, further gains look as likely as an outbreak of peace on the Korean peninsula.
