I was reading the article below:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/42974607

In the article, Jim Cramer is quoted saying that just like in Talent Competitions, winning stocks can have the "X-factor" too. Cramer says "There's something that can't be quantified that makes us want to pick this or that stock no matter what and keep paying up for it," He added that this is over and above good numbers and beating earnings estimates, although these are essential. A lot of Tech shares in the U.S. market have certainly enjoyed this e.g. Google, Apple, Amazon & Intel.

This got me thinking that some shares on the NSE have indeed exhibited some of this in the past while others are still in this zone. It is worth noting these shares can however lose the X-Factor and stagnate or plunge.

For those that have done so in the past, I think a good example is East African Cables.

Others that appear to still be enjoying this X-Factor coolness on the NSE include Scangroup, Athi River Mining, & Equity Bank (& CIC although not yet listed is quickly joing this list). What do you guys think and which would be your picks going forward?

@Iborian. Many a commentator has counted Equity out only to have the smirk wiped off their faces. In 2011, so far, Equity has reported the highest PBT and PAT plus the fastest growth in profits of the listed banks that have reported.

I suspect that BBK is busy making ammendments to their report to just pip Equity. But they can't keep doing it for ever.

If anything, KCB should the biggest on the profits front but KCB is like a recovering punch drunk heavyweight boxer while Equity is like an ultra fit Middleweight that has been fighting in the Heavyweight division for so long that the real heavyweight contenders forgot just how nimble the "small heavyweight" Equity can be. And BTW, I own both, so I should know!

As a consequence the Equity share price always comes back to a superior PE ratio in comparison to the rest. The market just wants to confirm that Equity will repeat this feat in Q2.

What are the basis for your conclusions for these two. Reminds me of lie repeated over and over till people start believing it as true. KCB and equity are almost identical in size (consider results, staff numbers and branch networks), however KCB has more assets due to the time it has been around to accumulate it.

Equity is a good bank, but KCB is a steady and proving to be better as time goes by.

Centum; HFCK

@mwanahisa. My thoughts exactly bout equity and kcb, id me more comfortable to buy equity now at 25.00 than kcb at 25.00. I plan to buy into both at the right price. Kcb id be comfortable with 23-24, if it will ever come back. The other is co-op which at 17.50-16.60, id be happy to hold for a while.

People have always hoped that KCB can perform better than Equity and other banks because of its asset size.I have always wondered what these assets are that give the bank such pitiful returns year in year out.Sometimes I think what they indicate as assets are actually non performing loans/investments which they are afraid to write off lest they get a backlash and given its history as a KANU/Moi's bank this cannot be farfetched....Nevertheless in investments its always better to buy into fact rather than hope hence I will always pick Equity before KCB until such a point when the latter is able to prove itself in hard numbers...the Qtr 1 2011 results were not really encouraging...

I did not mean to imply that Equity is slacking off. In simple English...the premium on Equity shares is not there at the moment. Methinks that could be a signal to buy.

Scangroup is one that certainly lives up to that X-factor billing. It is way beyond the level that most valuation models would have it at.

cfc insurance holdings

True, True my orders are on the queue!