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NASDAQ down 3.29%

Maybe a bit of sector rotation going on, long live the rabbit..

I can see why the share price started its upward move as the presentation finished, packed with info with some very good questions during Q & A, City in particular.

Need to listen again over weekend, one or two salient points (not verbatim):

- 2024 guidance reaffirmed due to good order book visibility in H2

- £58m of ONT assets now with customers, exploring financing options for both existing and future customers

- Opportunity is not limited to current business model

Overall, very impressed.

LONDON — Burberry is making swift changes under the direction of new chief executive officer Joshua Schulman as on Tuesday it appointed Jonathan Kiman chief marketing officer, succeeding Rod Manley, whose planned departure was announced earlier this year.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/burberry-names-jonathan-kiman-chief-163023859.html

Could be good news for BMW, less competition and lower rates (hopefully) ..?

Several good indicators things are going our way, i.e lower borrowing costs, oil down over 4% today, car market has stalled, wheels (literally) coming off Volkswagon Group.

Germany has a lot of influence EU wise, expecting reduction in rates on both sides of the pond to accelerate.

Several good indicators things are going our way, i.e lower borrowing costs, oil down over 4% today, car market has stalled, wheels (literally) coming off Volkswagon Group.

Germany has a lot of influence EU wise, expecting reduction in rates on both sides of the ponds to accelerate.

For those following progress of Standard listed companies (now in the transition category), ONT have this morning commented:

'Application to the ESCC segment

The Board is encouraged by the FCA's recent changes to the Listing Rules that have combined the existing premium and standard London listing segments into one single segment for Equity Shares in Commercial Companies (the 'ESCC'). The Group is in discussion with the FCA and will formally apply for admission to the ESCC segment by the end of 2024, subject to meeting the required eligibility criteria. The step up to the ESCC segment would make Oxford Nanopore eligible for FTSE indexation.'

Lot to unpack but no untoward surprises, steady as she goes.

Still around half market cap in cash which is reassuring, need to follow progress on expansion but sense from past news flow the board will act judiciously executing their strategy.

Good to see firm commitment on ESCC segment.

Looking forward to this mornings web cast presentation.

City stalwart finds value in strong firms that have fallen out of favour

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/investing/article-13799297/THE-MERCHANTS-TRUST-City-stalwart-finds-value-strong-firms-fallen-favour.html

Suggest you spend some time reading the thread link 'FCA progress' to get things into perspective, many of the points you make have already been posted.

Consultation feedback needs to be considered against FCA objectives, this is important as it provides context to some of the decisions and/or terminology.

The main objective was to merge the Standard and Premium categories into one, that's the ultimate goal but cannot be achieved fully while companies still reside in transition phase, i.e there is not a single category as desired.

THG for example are waiting for the new rules to be confirmed at which point they will move across, the transition category is really there to help companies meet the new requirements or give time to qualify, its not meant be a category in which you can remain listed as it is closed.

There are quite a few law firms publishing their view, this one has some good info on the merits of being included in FTSE indexes.

https://www.morganlewis.com/pubs/2024/07/ftse-russell-confirms-changes-to-ftse-indices-criteria-to-reflect-new-uk-listing-regime

..ahh yes, that was the same day thread started, thought maybe the topic had come up before.

FCA, nothing too onerous, general questions on how long companies are expected to stay in the transition category, after all it is 'transitional' by name.

In my view, the benefits of being a FTSE250 far outweigh the admin as most of it they should be doing already, on one of the links below there is a summary of criteria.

I am sure there are regular UK funds that would like to buy but are currently;y prevented from doing so by their mandates.

Is this something that has been discussed before Corryvreckan1, your reply is quite detailed..

I have been pinging emails back and forth with the FCA but replies are mostly generic, Tuesday's results and commentary may offer more insight.

The reported figures for last two years for all registered hedge funds is.. 1.05%

YTD a little better at 6.93%, but bear in mind the S & P is up staggering 16% according to CNBC.

Its rare to see the media publicising these numbers but something to be mindful of when looking short positions.

Ironically it could actually be a good sign given the woeful returns above ..'guaranteed future buyer'

..and another thing (lol)

Hedge funds, most retail investors are convinced by the glamour automatically assuming they are always right making substantial gains.

Weekend trivia question (without Googling)

For the years 2022 ans 2023 (combined) how do you think worlds top hedge funds performed?

a) 5%

b) 9.77%

c) 18.42%

A while back there were quite a few posts related to the issuing of shares and share dilution, here's the actual numbers for past 12 months:

12 months ago there were 1,299,480,320 shares in issue, today there are 1,330,940,515 representing a difference of 31,460,195

There were a number of posts commenting on the huge dilution but this equates to a smidge over 2.4%, its also worth noting these figures are for options which were granted way back and have now vested, options granted this year will not vest for another three years so are non dilutive at least for the moment.

'The Awards will vest on the third anniversary of grant, subject to the rules of the Plan and the achievement of stretching performance targets.'

Is also worth noting recent options for Damien and John Saunders are directly linked to shareholders interest, if investors do not do well these options will not be triggered.

Relative TSR vs FTSE 250 Index (80% weighting)

https://www.lse.co.uk/rns/THG/grant-of-share-options-6hn9c8tn641hpxe.html

I think its hard for anyone to put an exact value on these approvals or rejections, plus the rabbit has already dropped way back from recent highs so maybe some anticipated rejection, or at least thought it was a possibility.

Management should be aligned with shareholders through the LTIP with price hurdles that match share price performance, need to check AR to see where we are on that unless others have a more up to date overview.

Cheers

Https://www.zyn.com/gb/

The prime minister said ministers are looking at banning smoking in various places, including pub gardens, outdoor restaurants and outside sports venues, hospitals, nightclubs and in small parks

https://news.sky.com/video/smoking-ban-in-pub-gardens-and-outdoor-venues-being-considered-due-to-huge-burden-on-nhs-13205339

Its also about timing of the tech itself, can it be scaled quickly , these are all factors which larger companies would consider when viewing a potential acquisition.

The video link below highlights this to some degree and also areas where Oxford may differentiate itself from the competition, this would also be attractive to a larger business operating in a similar sector which can apply economies of scale, leveraging the IP.

Oxford have a wide range of patents which maybe hinder competitors expansion, another asset which could provide a catalyst for consolidation.

HUTCHMED (China) Limited (HCM): A Cheap Pharmaceutical Stock to Buy According to Short Sellers

Ramish Cheema

Wed, Aug 28, 2024, 5:24 PM GMT+17 min read

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/hutchmed-china-limited-hcm-cheap-162427433.html