re: AHO and Dutch stocks. I've occasionally looked at AHO, and have passed each time. I'm guessing they are very, very smart and strong competitors, with a long term business outlook. They are the world's third-biggest retail and supermarket group by sales, according to a Reuter's report I see. Because there are so many on-going activities in the countries they operate in, I'm not able to grasp possible major inflection points that might affect the stock, so I've just limited my grocery chains to American based for now. (I'm not more competent here, just more comfortable with the fewer variables.)
I figure if the "grocery" sector in the US improves, it will likely be with all these firms' shares moving up (including AHO) to a greater or lesser extent. And even if the American firms' stocks continue to languish or decline, it's not clear to me that AHO will do any better considering the European and North & South Amercian stock market malaise I believe I'm seeing. OTOH, it looks like an investor buying AHO gets a reasonable dividend for being patient. (I've not looked at the dividend policy or history to see if that dividend has been cut before - as some European firms are sometimes quick to do.)
Regarding Dutch stocks, I know you've been buying some. Fwiw, I still own Akzo Nobel (I like its pharmaceutical component), and I recently started a small exploratory position in AEG. (I like its size, geographical diversity and good dividend yield.) So here's wishing us gouda luck with our investments. (-g-)
Paul Senior
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