Subject: Re: euros
I'm all eyes if anyone has comments/critiques, either to stocks on this list or ones that are not but probably should be. Thanks.

Random thoughts

I'm not fond of banks and insurers unless you know them well, and have the SKILL to know them well. (it took me years of study to be able to realize that I don't) I would not own BNP for that reason. Doubly so for insurers, who have the means, opportunity, and motive to under-reserve and in effect legally cook the books for years. You never know if something is going to come back to bite you, unless you really really know and trust management and their skill and incentives. So, I personally don't know AXA to be in that category.

Telecoms providers have similar problems...for businesses whose primary function is moving bits from A to B, they tend to have no control of their pricing, yet a ton of capex and real depreciation expense. Don't ever look at the EBITDA of a firm like that, you'll get sucked in. So I would steer clear of Orange, myself.

So much for the disadvantages of your list. Other more constructive random notes:

I think the sell-off in booze is a bit overdone. Yes, people are drinking less. But no, alcohol is not going away.
See recent post https://www.shrewdm.com/MB?pid...

If you're concentrated in France, it's hard to miss the attractions of the luxury business. LVMH, Richemont. Their prices go up and down with hemlines, so I guess you want to be careful picking your entry point. But I suspect there are some very good businesses in this list https://quartr.com/insights/co...

Ever looked at Investor AB?

I think there is some merit to a "shotgun" portfolio of small positions of all companies in an index that have the highest ROE (if not relying too much on leverage), say the highest 30%. Hold for a year or two, cull those no longer passing the tests (in the index and high ROE), replace with fresh firms with high ROE. I don't know how this would have worked ex-US, but it would have worked very nicely indeed with American firms. For other countries, it's sometimes good to insist on a meaningful (if not high) dividend. Management in many places has a habit of ensuring that the good results of a good business don't reach minority shareholders. France is more like a developing country in this regard; you can be a little more trusting farther north.

Jim