A quick note today as I’m off to the airport for another foreign jaunt – this time India for a few days (!).

In effect, I’ve another small idea’s update, but this time with the emphasis on possible buy ideas.

Last week I highlighted the rather worrying idea that oil prices might head back towards $100 a barrel. I mentioned then that I didn’t think this was likely (though possible) but that we might see rates stay above $70 a barrel. If that is the case I’d keep an eye on a whole host of oil plays – for adventurous types it’ll mean that outfits such as Enquest will be riding high. I think its share price could easily head above 50p again. For the record, I only own retail bonds in the North sea producer. For more conservative investors I’d also watch Riverstone Energy which could nose above £13.50.

Back in funds land, two thoughts. The first is that it’s worth watching the slightly bizarre gyrations in the Schroders European REIT share price. The direct property fund is well managed and seems to be growing NAV and dividends steadily but unfortunately, it seems stuck in a trading range between £1 and £1.20 – which seems to be based on very little actual ‘news’. It’s currently trading at £1.12 and I think it might go higher, perhaps to £1.20. The shares currently trade at a discount of around 45 whereas in my view they should be at a small premium. For the record, I am an investor in Schroders, mostly at around £1.05.

Last but by no means least the Ground rents fund has cropped up on my radar. This is the only listed vehicle that allows investors to access long leaseholds and it once traded at a substantial premium to NAV. It looked safe and boring with a ‘plod-along’ dividend yield of around 3.5%. But then all those scandals about builders stiffing new buyers with obscene leaseholds put the whole sector firmly in the spotlight. This small fund suddenly found itself in the limelight and has had to revise a small proportion of its resi leaseholds. More importantly, the share price has – in relative terms – cratered and is currently at 11p a share, which represents an 11% discount. The yield is now back to closer to just under 4%. I’m not a raging bull at this price but it does seem like it might be fast turning into a fairly interesting safeish bet for the patient long-term investor who wants real asset backing, long income and an inflation hedge. I own no shares currently in Ground Rents.