Editorial Contributor
A zak mir MONTHLY top pick special
a trio of AIM offerings for May I have to confess that I was rather late in becoming a fan of AIM stocks. Rather believing, as with many others, that this arena of the London market was slightly shady, poorly regulated, highly speculative and very risky with poor information flow. In fact, what’s to like about such an insider riven section of the market that has been the graveyard of many a private investor?! However, by the autumn of last year I realised that this negativity towards AIM was actually an opportunity, in the same way that lots of the banking and mining stocks in recent years were thrown out with the bath water only for investors to realise finally that there were bargains to be had once they had been sold down to silly levels. Indeed, so poor is sentiment here that the few good companies are being tarnished by the poor perception of AIM and this could be a cue for us to buy.
For a chartist like myself, AIM also offers up an extra dimension of a challenge and, indeed, not many in my “profession” seem to have the stomach to ‘attempt’ to deliver technical analysis in this area on a regular basis. What I would say is that while making technical calls in this most volatile arena of the stock market is potentially embarrassing, to say the least, the value here is not only to help out those involved in trying to make money, it is also to stress test signals and strategies, all too often via baptisms of fire!
Still, let me preface this piece by stating that when trading AIM you are in fact trading in the equities equivalent of the Wild West! For every ten bagger that AIM serves up, it has to be admitted that the path is strewn with dry wells, sleepy Nomads, half told truths and terminal cash burn. And they’re the good ones...! But, if you are looking on a timeframe somewhat shorter than Warren Buffet would typically go for (i.e. a lifetime) or where PEG values are not always present in the way that Jim Slater might like, then the cut and thrust of AIM may actually be for you.
72 | www.financial-spread-betting.com | May 2013
This month, therefore, I am putting my head on the block in attempting to choose three of my favourite stocks that I think are primed for up moves, so cut me a little slack!