Dogs of the Year

You might have thought nothing could be worse for a stock than a government inquiry throwing up new scandals on a daily basis '” and it has been bad for AWB over the last quarter (down 37.5%) '” but the surprise struggler of the last three months is Healthscope. The health care company's shock earnings downgrade in January has been costly (down 41.5%). It looks like unfortunate timing for former Telstra boss Ziggy Switkowski, who just joined the board.
The oil company Tap Oil (down 21.4%) has also dropped sharply, tracking a volatile pattern in crude oil prices; while tough times in retail have been particularly severe on Colorado (down 26.9%) and Pacific Brands (down 23.8%).

The other surprise “dog” is MYOB, the diversified accountancy software group. The Melbourne-based IT company plunged after co-founder and managing director Craig Winkler announced he had bought out his two original business partners '” a move that traders clearly read as a backward step for the group (down 16.8%).

In our view these are all worth a look.