Republic Risk: All Hail Ardmore Shipping!

Ardmore - our top pick of the year - has pushed to a 40% return. Guess who bought it a few weeks ago?

Dear Fellow Expat:

In an interesting development, the Biden Administration (those brilliant Yale lads running around with little real-world experience) raised the floor of oil prices after announcing the U.S. would pay more to refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Remember when $65 was too much? The Energy Department will pay up to $79.99 per barrel - higher than the current price of WTI oil. If no one starts selling, that tells you everything you need to know about future oil price expectations. On the macro side, other nations are cutting their interest rates while the U.S. holds steady. Is something developing? 

What to Do Today: We’re at that 5,200 level for the S&P 500, but this rally feels a bit capped. With liquidity rising, it’s an excellent time to assess your positions in the Model Portfolio - and set stops if you think it’s necessary. 

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Dear Fellow Expat:  

At the start of the year, I wrote about my No. 1 pick for 2024. 

It’s a specialty chemical shipping company. It has one of the youngest fleets in the world—at a time when many rival ships are set to retire. It had all the metrics that we love when targeting great companies with solid valuations, great management, and capital efficiency. 

It was Ardmore Shipping (ASC). 

The stock had done well during the first quarter, beating the S&P 500 and delivering a double-digit return. But just a few weeks ago… something very interesting happened. 

An 80-year-old woman who didn’t live in a house with running water or electricity until she was 14 bought the stock. It isn’t like she’s poor today, earning an annual salary of $174,000. Her husband owned a successful landscaping business. 

But this Octogenarian… she’s special.