Hi Ian,
Two very different questions here although in both cases we must remember MM runs real money portfolios hence as we are basically fully committed to the market, into this historically strong Christmas period, to buy something we also have to sell something i.e. switch. In other words, it’s a 2-sided coin:
Virgin Money UK Plc (VUK) $3.14 – like much of the Banking Sector VUK has traded sideways through most of 2023, its currently down -4.3% year-to-date, without paying the enticing dividends of its peers. Like much of the sector/market VUK has bounced of late but we prefer Macquarie Group (MQG) is a higher beta short-term play.
SmartGroup (SIQ) $8.83 – we continue to like SIQ and as you say it resides in our Hitlist for the MM Active Income Portfolio but from a pure standalone perspective, the ideal entry to the stock is back around $8 support.