A certain calm emerged in Tel Aviv Stock Exchange trading today (Tuesday), which showed stability amid a decline in activity. The Mishtanim index fell 0.06% to 301. 69 points, and the Ma’of index rose 0.01% to 309.21 points. Turnover was $53 million (NIS 155 million).
What’s going on at Mashov?
The talk of the day was of Mashov Computers shares, which leapt 35% in the last three days of trading. During the day, there were deals in Mashov showing a rise of 18%, but as the day wore on, the share calmed down, and it closed 15% up.
Turnover in Mashov shares has also been very high in recent days, reaching NIS 3 million today, and there is no doubt that there are market players who know of substantial business developments that the company is about to report in the next few days.
Rumours were rife on the market about the possibility of an important deal in Magic, an important acquisition Mashov will make, and there was even talk of the possibility of the purchase of a significant parcel of Mashov shares by a group of investors. In any event, Mashov’s management told us that there is no report in the pipeline which should surprise investors.
Another logical scenario spoken of was a possible issue by Paradigm Geophysical, which recently completed the purchase of a company in the US for $20 million, and it may be that it will be ripe for a capital raising exercise in the US in the near future. Mashov hods 12% of Paradigm, and a Paradigm issue would be likely to yield it a capital gain of several million dollars.
Whether this is the case or not, no confirmation could be obtained from Mashov on this matter either, and the rises in Mashov still remain a mystery.
Formula: NIS 6 million turnover, 2% fall
Another computer sector share attracted the days highest volume of trading, namely Formula Systems. Turnover in Formula was NIS 6.5 million, but it fell 2%. The fall in Formula was interpreted on the market as profit taking, and the consensus is that the company’s shares, which have soared 270% since the beginning of the year, still have considerable potential for further rises, largely thanks to the high degree of managerial ability demonstrated by the group’s management.
It will be recalled that the share won a buy recommendation from UBS two weeks ago, and, in addition, Merrill Lynch announced yesterday that it had completed the process of selling the Formula shares it acquired a few months ago for its customers’ portfolios.
On the other hand, Merrill Lynch is having difficulty in marketing the parcel of Bezeq shares it purchased not long ago, because of the uncertainty surrounding the company’s forthcoming issue. Meanwhile, investors prefer to stay out of Bezeq, which continued to fall today, this time 2% to a price of NIS 10.20.
Among the arbitrage shares, Nice stood out today, with a fall of 4%. Nice is about to publish its third quarter financial statements in two weeks time, and analysts are fairly optimistic about the company’s future, and even at the current price, which reflects a historic p/e ratio of 50, they are falling over each other to award the share buy recommendations.
Since expectations of Nice are extremely high, the disappointment investors will express in the company, should one of its reports in the near future indicate a profit only cents lower than the forecast, will be correspondingly deep. For that reason, trading in Nice has been jumpy in recent days, and the share has been moving sharply in both directions.
Trading in other arbitrage shares was fairly dull, and the shares in Tel Aviv closed the gaps opened up last night at the end of trading in New York. Teva fell 0.75%, Koor rose 0.5%, and Super Sol fell by a similar amount.
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Israel business stocks shares TASE quotes quotations
Israel business stocks shares TASE quotes quotations
Israel business stocks shares TASE quotes quotations
Israel business stocks shares TASE quotes quotations
Israel business stocks shares TASE quotes quotations
Israel business stocks shares TASE quotes quotations
Israel business stocks shares TASE quotes quotations
Israel business stocks shares TASE quotes quotations
Israel business stocks shares TASE quotes quotations
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