Until now, I’ve been writing random blogs about companies that catch my interest but lack structure or consistent commitment. That’s changing. I have more time now to do what I love, researching companies, tracking sectors, and building proper watchlists.
I invest and trade in a simple, no-nonsense way. I’m not the type to get lost in endless company reports or try to forecast where a stock price will be five years from now by running fancy models, I have done this in the past and found it a massive waste of time. Even the so-called experts who publish those projections often get it wrong.
I rely on a mix of technicals and fundamentals. I want companies performing well, ideally breaking out to 52-week highs regardless of whether they’re in a stage 1 or stage 3 cycle. (See chart below.)
I look for leaders in their sector: businesses with rising sales, growing EPS, and manageable debt. I’m not trying to outsmart the market or discover some hidden gem no one’s talking about. I follow the crowd. I’m a trend trader.
This isn’t about ego or being the first to uncover something. I’m not chasing a story I can boast about on a podcast. I just want to find strong setups, ride the wave, and make consistent gains to live the life I want.
And it works. I’m profitable, I’m happy, and I enjoy the process. It’s never felt like a competition to me it’s just something I love doing. But who knows? Maybe one day I’ll enter the U.S. Trading Championships and turn it into one.
🎳 Hollywood Bowl – A Leisure Stock That’s Striking Back?
Hollywood Bowl, operator of the UK’s and Canada’s largest ten-pin bowling brands, might not be the first name that springs to mind when thinking about solid investments but maybe it should be. I’ve been to their centres a few times with the kids and even with mates on a night out and it’s the same story every time, it’s packed. It’s not cheap when you think about what you’re doing, rolling a ball down a wooden lane but when you see the atmosphere, the laughs, and the smiles from every lane, it’s easy to understand why people keep returning. You get a decent experience for the money, which, especially these days, really counts.
For investors, Hollywood Bowl (LON: BOWL) might be worth more than a casual glance. The company operates the largest chain of bowling centres in both the UK and Canada, and their latest half-year trading update has a few things that caught my eye.
Strong Numbers, Strong Demand
For the six months to 31 March 2025, the Group reported record revenues up 8.4% to £129.2 million. UK revenue was up 4.7%, while Canada stole the show with a 40.8% increase. Not bad in what’s meant to be a challenging consumer environment.
They’re sitting on £22.7 million in net cash and haven’t even touched their £25 million revolving credit facility. This is a strong position, especially when high interest rates and capital isn’t cheap.
Expanding at a Steady Pace
Three new UK centres opened in Swindon, Preston, and Inverness, with two more launching later this year. Two new sites opened in Canada, bringing the total to 15. Refurbishments are ongoing, too, because keeping the venues fresh helps keep footfall strong.
Hollywood Bowl isn’t just growing for the sake of it, either. They’ve got a long-term plan to hit 130 centres by 2035. That’s the sort of clear, measured trajectory I like to see from a business not hype, just execution.
A Buyback That Speaks Volumes
The company recently completed a £10 million share buyback, cancelling over 3.7 million shares. For those less familiar, a share buyback typically signals that management believes the stock is undervalued. It also boosts earnings per share, supporting future share price performance. You don’t do this unless you’re confident in your financials and they are.
So Why’s the Share Price Struggling?
Despite the good news, the share price has been relatively muted lately, tracking broader market concerns. Investors have been cautious because they fear a consumer pullback due to high interest rates, inflation, and general economic malaise. Who has money to throw a ball down a lane if the economy slows?
But from what I’ve seen that slowdown hasn’t hit yet. I was at the Bradford centre three weeks ago and watched walk-ins get turned away, every lane was fully booked. The demand is still there. Families and groups are still prioritising affordable fun.
Risks Still Lurk
Of course, there are challenges. A big one is rising employment costs changes to National Insurance and minimum wages are expected to cost them around £1.2 million a year. However, Hollywood Bowl’s labour-to-revenue ratio is under 20%, and they’ve got a solid cost-control culture, which should help offset that hit.
There’s also a slight question mark over their mini-golf operations, which required a £5 million impairment earlier in the year. But that’s a side venture. The core bowling business remains solid.
So, Is It Investable or tradable?
For me, yes. There’s a lot to like here. It’s a business I understand, with reliable demand, good financial discipline, and a clear expansion plan. It’s not trying to be flashy or overpromise it’s just delivering.
And that kind of consistency might keep Hollywood Bowl rolling in a market full of noise and hype.
As shown in the chart above, I’ve been watching Hollywood Bowl for some time now. They’re a clear leader in UK leisure, and what stands out to me is how well the management team runs the business. They seem grounded, ambitious, and focused on long-term execution rather than chasing short-term hype and that’s exactly what I look for.
What Makes Good Management?
In my experience, good management shows up in consistent performance, measured expansion, and sensible capital allocation. Hollywood Bowl ticks these boxes. They’ve steadily grown their centre count without overextending, continue to invest in refurbishments to keep the offer fresh, and recently completed a share buyback returning capital to shareholders when the stock is undervalued. That shows confidence in their business and discipline in how they deploy cash.
A Setup for a Breakout?
The recent dip could present a good technical trade if we get a clean breakout. I’m watching closely for that move, especially given the company’s growth trajectory. Revenues are forecast to reach £266.2 million by 2026, with EPS at 23.9p.
Using my average PE for Hollywood Bowl of around 13x gives me a rough price target of 310p, which is about 10% upside from where we are now. However, I want to find something with more room to run in this depressed market, so it’s probably one for the watchlist for now.
Hollywood Bowl’s strong operational performance and clear growth plans, there’s a chance the market could re-rate the stock. Back in 2022, it was trading on a PE closer to 17x. If sentiment shifts and the macro-outlook improves, we could see a move back toward those levels bringing the price target closer to 400p.
Watching the Property Tide: Foxtons Moves, But Where’s the Real Growth?
Foxtons just posted a solid Q1, with revenue jumping 24% to £44.1m as the company rode the wave of pre-stamp duty deadline activity at the end of March. Sales revenue shot up a whopping 73% to £16.4m, while lettings ticked along nicely with a 5% rise to £25.2m. It’s a strong start to the year, and it has been their best quarterly sales revenue since before Brexit. First-time buyers were hurrying to get those keys before the stamp duty window slammed shut.
I’m not particularly interested in Foxtons as a stock, with a market cap of £174.8m, its share price has been stuck in the mud since 2017. But I do keep a close eye on the UK property sector. It’s the unfortunate backbone of our economy – no Silicon Valley here, just bricks and mortar.
So, where does the growth come from?
Looking across the sector, recent reports paint a mixed picture:
- Taylor Wimpey is sounding cautiously optimistic. They forecast increased housing volumes in 2025, even with rising build costs. Their order book looks healthier too: £2bn vs £1.77bn last year.
- Vistry Group, on the other hand, has been in the wars. A series of profit warnings (thanks to underestimating build costs) has dented confidence, but completions were still up 7% to 17,225 units. I recently profited from shorting the stock from 576 to 518. The share price is recovering today following the market.
- Crest Nicholson didn’t have a good time either. They swung to a £143.7m pre-tax loss last year, partly due to legacy fire safety costs.
Against that backdrop, Foxtons has managed to shine, at least temporarily. Their acquisitions in Reading and Watford have helped bolster lettings, and they capitalised well on the short-term surge in sales activity. But with stamp duty relief now behind us and economic clouds still lingering, keeping this pace up might be tricky.
I’m still waiting…
I want to see movement – people buying, selling, upgrading, relocating. That’s when you know confidence is back. A more buoyant housing market doesn’t just benefit this estate agent, it lifts the whole retail ecosystem. I’m watching for signs of life that could ripple into names on my watchlist: Grafton, Wickes, Kingfisher (B&Q), and home-related stocks like Dunelm, DFS, and Currys.
A rising tide lifts all ships. Right now, I’m watching the tide closely
“While it is too early for us to gauge the effect that the current volatility in global markets will have on our clients’ budgets, inevitably at this stage there is more downside than upside risk”
System1 – One to Watch in the World of Advertising?
System1 Group plc (LON: SYS1), which you may remember as BrainJuicer,is a small British company that helps big brands determine whether their adverts work. They do this using behavioural science, a fancy way to test how people feel about ads. It’s like when supermarkets run focus groups to see which packaging stands out or which slogans stick.
System1’s primary income comes from this ad testing platform, where they show ads to a panel of viewers, collect emotional feedback, and score them based on how likely they are to influence consumer behaviour.
It’s not a massive firm like WPP (which made over £14 billion in revenue last year), but System1 offers something quite specialist. It’s less like a Swiss Army knife and more like a scalpel, precise but very useful in the right hands.
The Numbers That Jumped Out
In their latest full-year update (for the year ending March 2025), a few things stood out:
- Revenue up 25% to £37.4 million
- Platform income up 39% – now makes up 92% of their total revenue
- Ad testing revenue also up 39%
- US revenue up 49%; UK revenue up 28%
- £4.2 million in free cash flow; £12.9 million in the bank
- Pre-tax profit up 68% to £5.2 million
That’s not bad going for a small firm.
But It’s Not All Plain Sailing
That growth in ad testing? Solid, but it’s mainly down to long-term contracts. Those deals tend to be stable, which is excellent, but not necessarily a sign that companies are rushing to spend more.
Perhaps more telling is that Innovation revenue, the part of their business that helps brands test out new product ideas and packaging, fell 30%. When money’s tight, companies often cut these longer-term projects first because the return isn’t immediate.
Also:
- Revenue in the most recent quarter only grew by 2% year-on-year – suggesting things may be slowing a bit
- Even the company admits it’ll be tough to repeat that 40% platform growth in the current economic climate
So, no red flags just yet, but something to be mindful of. Advertising tends to get trimmed back early when businesses are nervous about the future. In that way, it’s a bit like the canary in the coal mine, an early warning sign of economic wobbles ahead.
👁 What I’ll Be Watching
System1 has now joined my watchlist, alongside WPP and S4 Capital. When results come out in early July, they’re expecting earnings of around 26.9p per share, but I won’t get too hung up on that.
Why? Because headlines, politics, and inflation can all move sentiment quicker than results ever do.
Instead, I’ll be keeping an eye on:
- How traders and investors react
- What competitors are saying and doing
- Broader economic trends
- Chart patterns that might show returning confidence
Final Thought
System1 seems like a good business, with a strong core offering and a bit of a cult following in investor circles. The share price has done well since 2023 but has dipped more recently and now it’s sitting around a support level on the chart.
Could this be a buying opportunity if confidence improves?
Possibly. But no rush. Be patient, keep learning, and watch how things unfold.
Current Trading – Where I’m At
I’m a swing trader, and I am slowly building up my ISA by trading UK companies. I tend to avoid US stocks in the ISA, mainly because of the foreign exchange conversion fees. I’m sure there are ways around that, but to be honest, I’m happy sticking with the UK for now. There are plenty of good opportunities here.
For US stocks, I use my spread betting account. That lets me trade without worrying about FX costs. But with interest rates still high, holding positions overnight gets expensive, so I’ve become a lot pickier. In fact, with all the volatility lately, I haven’t been holding anything overnight at all. So technically, I’ve drifted into day trading for the time being.
And truthfully? I’m finding it hard to lose money at the moment.
Since this recent surge in volatility kicked off (cheers, Donald), I’ve been trading the Magnificent Seven and the Nasdaq 100 both long and short – and doing pretty well. But I know how easily that can change.
🧠 The Psychology Bit (The Most Important Bit)
I honestly believe trading is 90% psychological. And often, I don’t even realise my emotions until it’s too late.
In the past, I’ve gone through phases where I can’t seem to lose. It feels incredible, like I’ve finally cracked the code and mastered trading. But then market conditions shift, and losing days start creeping in. That high, that feeling of being invincible, starts to fade. Doubt kicks in – maybe I’m not as good as I thought?
That’s when the danger starts. I want the feeling back. I increase my risk. I start taking average setups. One by one, they stop me out. And before I know it, all my gains are gone.
Only afterwards do I realise what I’ve just put myself through.
Where I Am Now
These days, I feel much more grounded. I try to stay calm and stress-free. I review my trades regularly and make sure I stick to my rules. I know the market will change again – it always does. And when it does, I’ll need to adapt. If I can’t, I’ll take a step back. Go for a walk. Reset.
Because staying in the game is more important than any single win.
The United States of America been made great again?
Volatility is still front and centre today as we head deeper into earnings season. I’d love to watch, read, and report on everything – but, honestly, there’s only so much one person can cover. So instead, I focus on what the big players are saying.
I’m closely monitoring the Magnificent Seven and any company that gives me a good read on the consumer.
Last night, Tesla reported, and, as always, its famously unpredictable CEO gave us his vision of how Tesla plans to take over the world. Whether you like him or not, it’s always an entertaining (and slightly chaotic) insight.
Lockheed Martin also reported, a key one for me. As a major defence name, it gives me read across to stocks I’m watching here in the UK like BAE Systems, Avon Protection, and Rolls-Royce. With wars and tensions in evry corner the defence sector is booming.
Then there’s Chipotle a restaurant chain, yes, but it tells me something important: Are Americans still spending on discretionary treats? If so, that’s a strong signal.
I also monitor TE Connectivity, it’s not glamorous, but its results often give me clues about Volex, which is on my watchlist.
Tesla – The Cult, The Chaos, and the CEO
Look, I’m no expert — unlike everyone else on YouTube, apparently. Tesla just feels way too complicated for me. I don’t understand robots, EV production rates in China, or what the future holds for Full Self-Driving. The CEO’s absolutely bonkers, the investor cult is mad as a box of frogs, and the share price? It’s all over the place and hasn’t gone anywhere meaningful since 2020.
But hey, it’s all good — because Tesla will take over the world… one day. Or so I’m told.
Elon: Back from the Chaos (Maybe)
Heading into these earnings, the big question wasn’t about margins or delivery numbers — it was whether Elon would actually come back from chilling with his mates and, you know… do his job.
What amazes me is that every other CEO I’ve come across treats the role like it’s the most intense job on the planet — and in many ways, it is. You’re constantly under pressure: managing people, steering the business, solving problems daily, and being held accountable for every slip.
Then you’ve got Elon… who’s off firing rockets, digging tunnels, playing video games, shagging anything that moves, and rubbing shoulders with billionaires and politicians. Must be nice.
Anyway, he’s now said he’ll be “significantly” reducing his involvement in Trump’s new Department for Government Efficiency (DOGE) and will spend more time focusing on Tesla. We’ll see.
The Numbers
- Sales down 20% year-on-year
- Profits dropped more than 70%
- No forward guidance given (never a good sign)
The company blamed the usual: global political chaos, changing consumer sentiment, and the backlash from Elon’s political adventures. There’s plenty online if you want to dig deeper — I won’t bore you here.
💡My View
I’m not touching Tesla for long-term holds, but I’ll happily trade it when the euphoria returns. It’s a stock that loves a breakout — and when sentiment flips, it can spike hard. If that happens, I’ll jump on, ride the trend, and trail it with a tight stop.
Until then, I’ll let the cult believers keep their faith and let Elon do whatever Elon’s doing this week.
I’m out of time, hopefully update on the rest and more tomorrow
