ABB: sold today

My order to sell ABB (Virt-X:ABBN) at market was executed at CHF 17.09, resulting in a profit of 9.3% in 70 days.

Selling ABB

I gave an order just now to sell my shares of ABB (Virt-X:ABBN) at market. The purchase was made on 22 May 2012 at CHF 15.64

ABB: bought today

My order to buy ABB (Virt-X:ABBN) at market was executed at CHF 15.64

Placed buy order for ABB

I placed a buy order for ABB (Virt-X:ABBN) at market just now.

Sold ABB

ABB (SWX: ABBN) stopped out at CHF 26.14 shortly after the open today. Loss 10.0% in 7 days.

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.

Analysing ABB

ABB (ABBN) has come to my attention today. The CEO resigned yesterday because of differences over buyout strategies. The price gapped down today and is trading over 8% below yesterday's close.

On the other hand, figures published yesterday show that ABB had a good result in 2007 according to an article in today's Neue Zuercher Zeitung (in German language): profit up from CHF 1.4 billion to CHF 3.8 billion; EBIT up from 11.1% to 13.1%. For a moment I was tempted to buy ABB today but then decided against it. I have a feeling that the price will go down some more for a while before going up again. My basic question is: will the recession cause a decline in the demand for ABB's products and services? I fear that it will.

Link to company profile.