3 Shares the FTSE 100 Should Beat Today
LONDON -- The FTSE 100 fell back below the 6,300 mark in early trading, but has since perked up to hit a fresh 52-week high of 6,313 as of 10:10 a.m. EST. We've had three consecutive trading days above 6,200, 13 days above 6,100, and 19 days above 6,000 since the start of the year -- largely due to generally optimistic sentiment surrounding world economies.
But every day there are shares moving down. We take a quick look at three that are falling back today.
PZ Cussons
Shares in PZ Cussons, the consumer products manufacturer, had risen more than 30% over the past 12 months before falling 4.6% to 376 pence today upon the release of interim results for the half-year to Nov. 30.
What is a bit surprising is that, though the price fell, the results were pretty good, showing exceptional pre-tax profit up 9.7% to 44 million pounds, with earnings per share up 7.5% to 7.03 pence. There will be an interim dividend of 2.35 pence per share, which is up 5.4% on the previous first half. But what almost undoubtedly lies behind the price fall is the firm's flat revenue, which is up a mere 0.2% for the period.
Scancell
Scancell Holdings shares dropped 4.3% after the developer of therapeutic cancer vaccines released an update on its current SCIB1 clinical trial. The first part of the study, with results released in December, showed an immune response that might be useful in treating malignant melanoma, and recruitment of patients for the second stage, with a higher 8-milligram dose of SCIB1, is under way. Results from part two are expected by the end of 2013.
And that 3.5% fall today? To put it into perspective, Scancell shares are still up about sevenfold over the past 12 months.
Bellzone
Bellzone Mining shares have had a bad year, dropping more than 50% at one point, though they have been recovering a little of late. But the price is spiralling again today, down 15.3% to 15.6 pence after the company released resource news from its Forecariah iron ore venture in the Republic of Guinea in West Africa.
The firm believes there are about 3.2 million tonnes of direct shipping ore with a grade of about 56% Fe, with an additional estimated 71.1 million tonnes of surface oxide at 35% Fe and 162 million tonnes of hematite schist at 24% Fe. Bellzone also estimates that there are 15 years' worth of resources at the mine.
Finally, how does Britain's ace investor Neil Woodford avoid share price falls? He goes for a strategy of buying solid blue-chip shares paying dependable long-term dividends. And in doing so, he has built a record of beating the FTSE for nine straight years. If you want to see how Woodford manages to beat the market, the free Motley Fool report "8 Shares Held By Britain's Super Investor" takes a look at some of his key holdings. To get your copy, click here while it's still available.
The article 3 Shares the FTSE 100 Should Beat Today originally appeared on Fool.com.
Alan does not own any shares mentioned in this article. The Motley Fool owns shares in PZ Cussons. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days.
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