Please help, no network & no job in London!

EURCHF parity:

Could you post here, in three paragraphs of about 10 lines each (one per idea), 3 FTSE 100/250 ideas that you have written up over the past 3 months?

Here are three stocks I have been interested in since moving over (one of them admittedly is not overly original). I'd be interested to know what you think, I did just do them for my own practice and are very basic, so they could be rather rubbish.

Halma (HLMA) Halma is an electronic and electrical equipment producer, which has subsidiaries that are separated into three distinct divisions, which include health and analysis, infrastructure sensors and industrial safety. The company’s position in developing markets is of particular interest and ensures it’s less affected by the economic drama’s occurring across the UK, US and Europe. Revenue from outside these regions has doubled since 2008 and now represents 25% of total revenue, with a target of 30% set for 2015. The company has a number of expansion projects in Brazil and China and with the health and safety regulations of the construction and mining industry steadily improving in these countries it provides a foundation for future growth. Halma’s ROE has been steadily increasing to 21% and with a ROCE of 76.26% which has been also been steadily increasing for the past 4 years, suggests the company is highly efficient. Overall the company’s long term prospects look promising and although this has been reflected in the price rise over the past 12 months if they continue to seek growth in developing countries then the long term outlook for the share price should be positive.

UK Mail (I jotted these notes down in late Sept, not FTSE 250 but quite interesting) (UKM) UK Mail fits the classic value investor’s criteria of being a market leading company that has a long history of profits and consistent dividend payments to shareholders. UK Mail is the leading alternative to Royal Mail for any business mail requirements; this also fits the value investor’s criteria in that it the business is easy to understand. UK Mail had a dividend yield of 7.4% in March and despite the recent increase in price is still yielding above 5%, although it has traded on low volumes. This along with the company’s low levels of debt and stable earnings means the stock is ideal for investors who may be looking for some additional yield to compensate for the low interest rate environment; this in turn should drive the price higher. Even if the price doesn’t continue to increase the attractive yield and secure financial position of the company suggest UKM is a solid investment.

Unilever (ULVR) Unilever being one of the world’s largest companies is a mature and stable stock which although unlikely to break out and provide outrageous returns should continue to offer dividend growth and a relatively stable capital return. Although possibly a ‘boring’ stock; in this environment it is a stable investment which is held by many pension funds and money managers which will should assist in preventing any steep falls in price. This along with Unilever’s huge investment and growth in developing countries ensures the company is on target to continue sales growth of 11-13% which is has achieved over the past 3 years. ULVR has had a 5 year average dividend growth rate of 7.4% and EPS growth of 15.7% and is in a secure financial position to weather any potential storms they may face.

Cheers