If you’d invested in: Zotefoams and Debenhams

Speciality foam-maker Zotefoams is growing nicely, while high-street retailer Debenhams continues to battle the competition.

If only...

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Zotefoams (LSE: ZTF) makes cellular foams for markets including aerospace, automotive, packaging and sports and leisure. It has its headquarters and manufacturing base in Croydon, with facilities in the US and China. The business is growing nicely and is spending £31m on expanding its Kentucky plant to increase its global capacity by 20%. It recently announced a strategic partnership with Nike, which boosted the share price by 14% to hit a record high.

Be glad you didn't

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High-street retailer Debenhams (LSE: DEB) has been struggling for a while as it battles competition from online sellers. A turnaround strategy announced in April 2017 was aimed at "simplifying and focusing operations". But 2017 profits fell 44%, despite a 2.1% rise in like-for-like sales. Shareholders have had a tough year it is the second-most shorted stock on the London market and the price is down by more than 40% in the last year.

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Ben Judge

Ben studied modern languages at London University's Queen Mary College. After dabbling unhappily in local government finance for a while, he went to work for The Scotsman newspaper in Edinburgh. The launch of the paper's website, scotsman.com, in the early years of the dotcom craze, saw Ben move online to manage the Business and Motors channels before becoming deputy editor with responsibility for all aspects of online production for The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday and the Edinburgh Evening News websites, along with the papers' Edinburgh Festivals website.

Ben joined MoneyWeek as website editor in 2008, just as the Great Financial Crisis was brewing. He has written extensively for the website and magazine, with a particular emphasis on alternative finance and fintech, including blockchain and bitcoin. 

As an early adopter of bitcoin, Ben bought when the price was under $200, but went on to spend it all on foolish fripperies.