ABB: received refund

Yesterday, my broker credited me with a refund of CHF 0.48 per share on the purchase af ABB (SWX: ABBN). This reduces my cost per share to CHF 29.04 and I change my stop-loss order to CHF 26.14.

The price has gone down since I bought the stock on Friday but yesterday closed for the first the time above the open and today for the first time did not close below the open in the first 30 minutes of trading.

Evaluating ABB

Yesterday, there were a lot more sellers than buyers for ABB (SWX: ABBN) from the outset and throughout the day but after the fiasco with Sonovan (SOON) I dared not risk giving a limit buy order. Today, before the open, sellers again far outnumber buyers and it will interesting to see how the price goes.

ABB has put a statement regarding the arrest of one of its employees on their website:

"ABB statement regarding Libya

Zurich, Switzerland, July 23, 2008 – ABB confirms that a Swiss employee is currently being detained by the Libyan authorities.

The ABB office in Tripoli has been temporarily closed. ABB is working closely with the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs to seek a rapid resolution of the issue. Given the current situation, ABB will not be providing any further information."

According to an article in today's CASHdaily the price dropped not because of Kadhafi's antics but because the net profit for the second quarter was "only" 34% higher than last year. Apparently, the analysts had expected more.

It was a mistake to buy the stock before the earnings report and the usual selling frenzy that followed it.

Bought ABB

With the uncertainty in stock markets I bought nothing for quite a long time but this morning, after seeing that ABB (SWX: ABBN) closed above the trendline yesterday, I placed an order to buy it at market at the open. The order got executed at CHF 29.52

Yesterday's news about the temporary closure of the ABB office in Libya and the arrest of a Swiss employee – in retaliation for the arrest in Switzerland of Hannibal Kadhafi – seems to depress the price at the moment but I expect it to recover within a few days. Just the same, I enter a stop-loss order at CHF 26.58, 10% below my pruchase price.