Member Info for 1pencil

Thanks bud, filter settings remove most of the spam but worthy of a re-post..

Good call whoever spotted this, this story just gets better and better.

Strong vote of confidence ..

(PS, Yen having a bit of a go)

Yep, it is small beanz but I tend to add more credence to the old school investing type v ETF/tracker constant ebb and flow.

We didn't get the Q4 update until 26th Jan, it could be Aberforth added a few more subsequently.

Since Anthropic announcement virtually all of the conversation is now around Ai 'tools', as mentioned earlier I think this is a good thing emphasising human involvement rather than Ai taking our lunch and eating it (metaphorically speaking)..

Also commentary about a rotation out of bitcoin into other sectors..

New one on me, have you got a source link ?

'Crafty, AS Watson was rejected for 50% JV of Beauty at £800m/£900m valuation (i.e. £1.8bn valuation for beauty) because they didn't want to use Ingenuity and Matt wasn't going to let that happen and never will relinquish control so long as he has control of THG.'

Small beans, but hey its quiet..

From 75 > 69

Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust plc – Portfolio

https://www.aberforth.co.uk/trusts-and-funds/aberforth-smaller-companies-trust-plc/portfolio/

The Yen has strengthened a bit today although the media are now saying the opposite with new PM i.e it will weaken as the new gov is dovish.

If the US drops rates and japan increases the carry trade will be less attractive, that can certainly help as can higher Japanese inflation ..

Investors should know the difference but they don't, which is rather concerning.

Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi’s ruling LDP set to secure supermajority in Lower House: NHK

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/08/japans-ruling-ldp-seen-winning-outright-majority-in-snap-poll-nhk.html

Jatw, are you hoping to collate Q's and ask on our behalf during Q & A ?

We are now at or around the same level of unemployment last seen during Covid.

BoE was split last rate set meeting

(5 year chart).

https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peoplenotinwork/unemployment/timeseries/mgsx/lms

Courtesy of Techno (other forum)

NatWest, one of the UK’s largest mortgage lenders and Rightmove, the UK’s largest property platform, have today announced a new three-year strategic partnership.

06 Feb 2026

https://www.natwestgroup.com/news-and-insights/news-room/press-releases/innovation-and-partnerships/2026/feb/natwest-and-rightmove-announce-new-three-year-partnership.html

Spent some time researching L1 Capital Global Long Short Strategy (GLSF), their funds have outperformed the markets by some margin, whats also interesting they hold Zillow (similar to Righmove) in the US..but also

https://www.l1.com.au/investments/l1-capital-global-long-short-strategy/

..have another fund specialising in UK property.

L1 Capital U.K. Residential Property Fund

https://www.l1.com.au/investments/l1-capital-uk-residential-property-fund/

You never know with HCM as far as I can see most if not all of the development announcements have come as a total surprise, Takada being the largest.

I thought the last presentation was really good, well set out although it is heavy going.

Did H2 bounce back some ? as the market is pricing in not much at the moment, as the IC article points out.

ATTC is the wild card here, any developments on that front welcome.-

Aberforth UK Small Companies + 232,000 for Jan 26

Good timing, data centres are in big demand at the moment due to the Ai roll out both here in the UK and overseas, given this I would have thought it fetched fair premium.

Like all THG businesses they sunk a lot of money into new kit, this sale will help Ingenuity's balance sheet similar to THG's own sale of Claremont.

Red Centric sold their data centre business recently.

ESPA nice ad feature in the Mail.

Couple of Q's from me Jtw, thanks..

1. Why do directors never buy shares ?

2. What is the probability of ATTC as a platform being successful based on in-lab trials?

Japan’s Takaichi eyes decisive mandate as polls point to snap election landslide

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/06/japan-election-takaichi-ldp-landslide-polls-ldp-trump-innovation-party-nikkei.html

I would like to think this is the start of a shift towards more traditional asset classes, interesting that the in the US small caps are doing well this year, also indexes like the Russell 2000 tend to outperform during recovery periods.

I like the nuanced wording of 'tools' around Anthropics new suite offering, this to me emphasizes a requirement for a human operator, something that has been mentioned for sometime on this thread.

Currencies - pound weakening against dollar, speculation of new UK leadership.

Japan election on Sunday, with a focus on weak Yen.

BoE today:

The Bank of England has held interest rates but policymakers warned that the spiralling unemployment rate and weak growth was weighing down on price growth.

In its decision on Thursday, the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee voted 5-4 to leave interest rates at 3.75 per cent.

https://www.cityam.com/bank-of-england-raises-alarm-on-unemployment-as-interest-rates-unchanged/

BoE today:

The Bank of England has held interest rates but policymakers warned that the spiralling unemployment rate and weak growth was weighing down on price growth.

In its decision on Thursday, the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee voted 5-4 to leave interest rates at 3.75 per cent.

https://www.cityam.com/bank-of-england-raises-alarm-on-unemployment-as-interest-rates-unchanged/