We took a gamble that this month's great stock market sell-off may have been overdone on Wednesday morning when we added three new share tips to our investment portfolios.
We accept that there is an unusually high degree of risk at this time following a 7.5 per cent plunge in average share prices over the past fortnight amid fears that at least one major overseas bank may be running into cash problems.
But we are convinced that the indiscriminate nature of the stock market plunge means that a number of good solid UK companies have been unfairly punished and their shares now offer a buying opportunity.
At the top of our buying list are shares in UK paving group Marshalls which were original constituents of the 2016 portfolio but fell foul of our stop loss system and were ejected when the price dropped 10 per cent from an earlier peak.
The share price has since dipped another 10 per cent although the fundamental case for buying remains unchanged and we expect news of strong profits growth and a fatter dividend when results are announced on March 7.
Plant hire group Lavendon is another company due to report strong results in the next couple of weeks with brokers at Peel Hunt and Berenberg among those who believe the shares could rise by 70 per cent or more once the stock market stabilises.
The group specialises in lifting platforms, used in the filming of the Harry Potter series and TV transmission of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and earns more than half its cash in overseas markets which should benefit from the weaker pound.
Safety equipment group Halma, which more than doubled in value when it was in our old 2012 portfolio, has seen its shares slip back following a major US acquisition although most followers believe the deal will enhance earnings and enable the group to continue its phenomenal record of increasing dividends by above the rate of inflation for the past 30 years or more.
We have set our usual stop loss targets, some 10 per cent below current prices, at which we advise followers to consider selling on any major share price fall.
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