eBay bounces at last

Ah that's better... Finally eBay gets re-rated and I don't have to stare at a big loss in my portfolio any more. By most metrics eBay have returned to 40% growth and that is what has excited investors again. What I like about eBay is that they get 54% of their revenues from the US, meaning that they still have enormous scope for growth around the world.

My eBay shares still show a 2% loss but I will be holding them of course. Google gave me a great H1. Maybe eBay will give me a great H2?

Google slightly missed their EPS estimate last night, vindicating my decision to sell a few weeks ago. I will not consider buying back in unless they fall a long way.

Microsoft had strong earnings figures last night but it looks like the market expected the results to be strong and the share price will probably fall slightly today. I have always looked on my Microsoft investment as a "near cash" holding, available to be sold if a more exciting prospect comes up. As I have found a new prospect and the MSFT shares are showing a small profit I may sell Microsoft today.

The new prospect? Finally I have found a UK company that I love! Arm Holdings PLC design processors used in mobile phones, PDAs, iPods and many more devices. The processor is of course the legendary ARM processor, which ships something like 5 times as many units a year as Intel. ARM do not actually manufacture the chips but license their Intellectual Property to their partners such as Texas Instruments. ARM get royalties for every chip sold, and the figures are approaching 1 billion a year. A nice business model!

ARM are on a forward P/E of 25 - not bad for a company with a 20% growth rate.

With eBay bouncing so well yesterday over 80% of my portfolio is not in US companies so now may be a good time to bring some money over the pond into the UK.

My portfolio is now up 30% for the year to date. Not bad for an amateur!