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Quality Cranswick has a meaty valuation

This well-run producer of fine meats should prove a resilient business but is already fairly priced.

How to understand a company's working capital position

The term working capital may make your eyes glaze over, but time taken to understand this important subject is usually time well spent

Halma: a great business but not cheap

In the first part of my round-up this week I look at Halma, the manufacturer of safety products, which is one of my favourite companies.

Book Club: The red flags of failure

Tom Dines read a selection of ‘downfall’ books and found that big business collapses have more things in common than you might expect

Diageo – is it as good a business as people think it is?

Diageo is cited by many as a great business. But is it really as good as some people say it is? Phil Oakley has a good look under the bonnet of this spirits giant

The challenge assessing FirstGroup's profits

Continuing the theme of my column in the magazine, this week I delve into how provisions for bad contracts have fed into profit numbers at FirstGroup.

How to work out a company's real profitability

When a company makes lots of adjustments to its profits you need to have a way of working out whether to believe them or not – a way to work out a company's real underlying profits

M&S faces tough task returning to growth

Marks & Spencer is still too reliant on the custom of wealthy older people but if it can adapt, the shares might interest contrarian investors now.

The problem with profits

A company's profits should be easy for people to understand. Phil looks at how companies try to pull the wool over investors' eyes and how they can spot the tricks they employ

Does Facebook deserve thumbs up from investors?

Phil Oakley is a big fan of fund manager Terry Smith's style of investing but has reservations about his large holding in the social media giant.