Sharemarket Update

Date: 03/09/2010

The reporting season's throwing up some good investing opportunities - it's time to make decisions about which stocks to keep, and which should go.

It's the reporting season for company results to the end of last financial year, and Tim Lincoln of Lincoln Stock Doctor says its time to review share portfolios and take decisions about what should be retained and what should go. But, he says, that can be complicated if investors don't have a soundly-based exit strategy. If you bought in on a tip or a whim, how do you decide when's the right time to sell and use the money to take advantage of the opportunities now available? Tim Lincoln says powerful tools like Stock Doctor make it simple, otherwise get good advice from a broker. The fundamental issues which decide the financial health of a company - growth prospects, debt and gearing levels, profitability, cash flow, quality of management - should be your guide. If you lack that kind of information, a stop-loss strategy will help protect your investment in the event of bad times. But don't sit on the fence: put the reporting season to good use and seize the opportunity to reshape your portfolio.