Most-bought AIM shares in October 2018
16th November 2018 11:12
by Lee Wild from interactive investor
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Stockmarkets had a miserable start to the month, but the rout created plenty of bargains. Lee Wild reveals the most-popular small-cap stocks on the interactive investor platform last month.
Last month was a typically horrible October for equity markets, and the anniversary of multiple crashes proved a graveyard for stocks again this year.
A combination of concerns about the ongoing US-China trade dispute, tech sector valuations and Brexit negotiations convinced bulls to stop buying, while bears trousered profits.
It was a classic case of investors preferring to sell more speculative, less liquid, high-growth small-caps than treasured blue-chips.
At its worst, the sell-off had the FTSE All-Share index down 9.2% from its October high before ending with a 5.4% loss. But the AIM All-Share index fell as much as 13% last month from peak to trough, ending with a 10.8% decline.
However, the sell-off gave a second bite of the cherry to investors who feared they'd missed the boat on a host of high-quality companies.
A plunge in value was catnip to investors who'd waited patiently for Fevertree Drinks to trim its lofty rating. A third of the company's value was wiped out at one stage last month, triggering a stampede into stock in a business still packed with potential. There's lots to like about Burford Capital and Blue Prism, too, so no surprise that investors found them too cheap to resist after the sell-off.
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But there's no dislodging 'Gatwick gusher' UK Oil & Gas, which has been superglued to top spot for the past five months. However, news was insufficient to push the share price too far in either direction.
Angus Energy almost doubled in value over the month, rewarding investors who've kept the oil company in or around the top 10 most-bought AIM stocks for months. Buyers were tempted on hearing that Bergen Asset Management has sold its stake in the business down below 3%, just a couple of weeks after results of the flow test at Balcombe-2z, a joint venture between Cuadrilla.
Angus Energy. Source: TradingView (*) Past performance is not a guide to future performance
Versarien was down as much as 45% in October. The graphene firm had tripled in value in 2018, so shareholders were happy to take some money off the table in case wider market sentiment deteriorated further. Cheaper stock and a graphene application collaboration deal with oil and gas industry supplier Advanced Insulation perked the shares up later in the month.
Most-bought AIM stocks by interactive investor's customers in October 2018
| Rank | Company | Previous rank* |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | UK Oil & Gas | 1 |
| 2 | Angus Energy | new entry |
| 3 | Versarien | 6 |
| 4 | Fevertree Drinks | new entry |
| 5 | Hurricane Energy | 5 |
| 6 | Frontera Resources | 2 |
| 7 | Boohoo | 3 |
| 8 | IQE | 4 |
| 9 | Burford Capital | new entry |
| 10 | Blue Prism | 10 |
*September 2018
Source: interactive investor, 16 November.
*Horizontal lines on charts represent levels of previous technical support and resistance
These articles are provided for information purposes only. Occasionally, an opinion about whether to buy or sell a specific investment may be provided by third parties. The content is not intended to be a personal recommendation to buy or sell any financial instrument or product, or to adopt any investment strategy as it is not provided based on an assessment of your investing knowledge and experience, your financial situation or your investment objectives. The value of your investments, and the income derived from them, may go down as well as up. You may not get back all the money that you invest. The investments referred to in this article may not be suitable for all investors, and if in doubt, an investor should seek advice from a qualified investment adviser.
Full performance can be found on the company or index summary page on the interactive investor website. Simply click on the company's or index name highlighted in the article.