Our recommendations are designed to help guide members’ investing decisions.
While everything we do is designed to maximise long-term investment returns and minimise losses, occasional losses are a normal part of investing. Please use these recommendations in conjunction with our risk ratings and suggested maximum portfolio weightings.
Recommendation types
Type | Description |
Buy | These are stocks that we think offer a substantial margin of safety in their price, and most members should consider adding them to their portfolios. |
Speculative Buy | These stocks have the potential to produce higher returns, but that comes with higher risk – often much higher – so they're only suitable for investors that are comfortable with that. Typically these recommendations will be accompanied by low maximum recommended portfolio weightings. |
Hold | These stocks offer some value (if there was no value we'd say Sell or Avoid), but there's not enough margin of safety for us to recommend them as a Buy. Most stocks will fall into this category. As they move closer to our Buy price, they could make reasonable investments for some; as they move closer to our Sell price, it might make sense to take some profit (particularly where you're breaching our recommended portfolio weighting). |
Sell | These stocks offer little to no value, and we therefore think that members should consider selling and finding alternative investments – if necessary holding cash in the meantime. |
Avoid | These are stocks that have particular risks or business issues, which mean we think we're unlikely to see a price at which we'd want to Buy or even Hold the stock. As a result, we'd recommend that you steer clear. |
Under Review | This recommendation means a review is pending. It’s used sparingly usually following an important announcement that could impact the stock’s previous recommendation. |
Ceased Coverage | When we cease coverage on a stock it could be for any number of reasons, but it ultimately comes down to the phrase: 'We see better opportunities elsewhere and don't expect this stock to become undervalued anytime soon'. |
Read The meaning of Buy, Hold, Sell for more information.