5 ASX stocks that jumped sharply yesterday

Spain? Greece? Never mind the euro-jitters for these businesses

Mike King

Mike King is a Fool.com.au Investment Analyst and Writer. He caught the investing bug more than a decade ago, at a time when the U.S. had invaded Iraq and fear reigned in the markets. His initial success as the markets took off encouraged his passion and thirst for knowledge. With 13 years behind him at one of Australia's largest domestic banks, Mike's passion for stocks led him to join a boutique funds management firm, where he stayed for four years. A seven-year stint in equity research at one of the largest investment banks in the world followed that, giving Mike a thirst to pursue his passion further. Mike holds a Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment and a Graduate Certificate in Financial Planning. His passion is to help retail investors invest better, and that passion was one of his primary reasons for joining The Motley Fool Australia in late 2011. Mike has written thousands of articles since joining, including for Fairfax Media, Yahoo!7, Ninemsn and has also appeared on ABC's The Business. You can see all of Mikes' holdings here

Published June 13, 2012 4:48 pm AEST

The S&P / ASX 200 Index (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) rose just 9.2 points to close virtually flat at 4,072.9 yesterday, as investors ignored the latest solution to prop up Spanish banks, and instead looked toward this weekend's Greek elections. Whatever the result, (unless it's unclear), I expect the markets to move significantly up or down early next week, depending of course, on how investors see the outcome.

Despite the flat market, these five stocks managed to thump the market.

Vision Eye Institute (ASX: VEI) jumped 12.7% to close at 31 cents, with more than 339,000 shares changing hands, more than the total number of shares traded last week. With no news from the company, the shares may just as quickly make the return trip down. At the time of writing, the shares had fallen 8% to 28.5 cents.

Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) rebounded 10.8% to close at $1.075 erasing the fall of 8.5% on Friday. Perhaps at these prices, investors can see some value in the stock, despite the company's profit downgrade, losses within its International division and the massive fuel bill of $4.4bn.

ThinkSmart Limited (ASX: TSM) rose 2 cents, or 9.8% to close at 22.5 cents, and is up 6.7% in trading today. The most likely cause for the rise was an article in yesterday's The Australian, where Chief Executive, Ned Montarello suggested that the company's current P/E ratio of less than four is "ridiculous value". Montarello also believes that earnings will soar from next year, partly because of a change in accounting method for revenues. Revenues will be booked over the life of the contract, rather than upfront, as it is now – a move that will hurt earnings this year, but lead to more normalised earnings from 2013.

BlueScope Steel Limited (ASX: BSL) rose 9.6% to 28.5 cents after the company advised the market that it had no plans to raise equity. The stock hit a record low of 26 cents last week after the Australian Tax Office (ATO) said the company could be liable to pay a $201m tax bill. BlueScope has indicated that it will fight the ATO, but the uncertainty of the outcome may well keep the company's share price in the doldrums.

Tamawood Limited (ASX: TWD) rose 14 cents, or 7.4% to close at $2.04, but in trading today, has fallen by 5.6% to $1.92. Since the 9^th May 2012, the company's share price has yo-yoed between $1.90 and $2.06, despite Tamawood upgrading its profit forecast for the 2012 financial year to $8.5m. If the company meets its forecast, the stock is trading on a prospective P/E of 8.9, and a dividend yield around 8.3%, fully franked too. I've written about Tamawood before, and indicated I was sitting on the sidelines at the time. The profit upgrade and lack of price momentum suggests Tamawood could now be worthy of adding to the watchlist.

Some companies took a big hit yesterday, with Ten Network Holdings Limited (ASX: TEN) crashing 18% to close at 52.5 cents as the company raised $161m from institutional investors at a deeply discounted price of 51 cents a share. Freedom Foods Group Limited (ASX: FNP) and Village Roadshow Limited (ASX: VRL) both slumped by more than 6.5%, but both stocks have recovered much of their respective falls in trading so far today.

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Motley Fool contributor Mike King doesn't own shares in any companies mentioned. The Motley Fool's purpose is to help the world invest, better. Take Stock is The Motley Fool's free investing newsletter. Packed with stock ideas and investing advice, it is essential reading for anyone looking to build and grow their wealth in the years ahead. Click here now to request your free subscription, whilst it's still available. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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