The latest Investing Matters Podcast episode featuring financial educator and author Jared Dillian has been released. Listen here.
Ah, I probably should have clarified. I was given the sort of "all clear" 2 years ago. It's 5 years officially, to be classed as all clear. Throat cancer right in the middle of the lockdowns. I was lucky in being treated at all, but it's another long story, which I won't bore people with.
A torrid time, but it gave me an entirely different perspective on life.
I've noticed I actually laugh out loud a lot nowadays, which can never be bad :-)
Oh, I forgot.
£730 for the two of us for two weeks, flights and bags etc included. An absolute steal, even though it's low end and self catering. It's not worth me doing AI now, as there's a lot of stuff I can't eat. Even sausages burn my mouth. Go figure.
62, actually. It's partly a scouting mission.
Having had cancer and radio/chemotherapy, one of the big side effects is constantly feeling cold. Hence anywhere with circa 21C is a minimum nowadays, even though I've previously worked many years outside in the middle of winter.
Such is life and I'm not bitter :-)
I'm trying to make my way to living in the Canaries when I retire.
Hum massively increasing it's SP would go a long way to helping that. Meanwhile I get over there as much as possible.
That plus I have a nice fat contract involving at least 6 months away from home and mostly 7 days, 10 hours a day coming up.
I deserve it. I'd go to Barbados again, but prices are stupid.
You don't get money by spending it, you know, lol :-)
"What are the tea leaves saying lies in wait for 2024?"
I'll go with what I predicted last year and the year before: no sale. What might change my opinion is a proper DFS, let alone PFS3.
Why anyone is expecting an imminent bid when we are still undergoing a ridiculously long strategic review is another reason. What's it going to cost to finish these requirements?
Another £30 mill? So another placing, sooner than we'd like, imo.
Meanwhile, I'm making money buying and selling the massive volatility, just as I should have done since I first got in here. I do keep a core holding, because you never know, but I honestly don't see anything happening for precisely the reasons that we're about to be bought out have offered.
I can't think of a better time to throw a low-ball offer in. Metals massively expected to rise, a big seller and sentiment on it's ar*e. Ok, the ultimate buyout price wouldn't reflect the current SP, but it surely justifies a good time to go.
We need way more certainty than we have at the moment before anyone will be will ing to cough up any serious dough, imo.
So another year of nothing, meaning we're having the same old conversation with an even lower SP because the market is even more bored than it is now, is my prediction.
That apart, Happy new year everybody. It's all a game :-)
I don't need to do a yearly review, as I'm mostly a momentum investor, hence I look at any holdings weekly at most.
I noticed comments about anuities previously. Coincidentally, I'd got a quote just out of interest before I saw those comments.
I just picked £50k as a number, as it's all just a relative thing and I very much doubt I'll be doing it anyway.
I'm 62, have previously smoked for nigh on 50 years and only stopped because I got cancer 3 years ago. So not really typical.
Not that it matters too much, as it was just a comparison.
LGEN offered just over £5200 a year, single life, a 5 year guarantee, no inflation rise.
I was quite surprised for a few reasons.
1) It was way higher than I was offered a year or so back.
2) I'd get my money's worth in around 10 years, although it means they think I'll peg it at the age of 77 or before. Not a nice thought, but it was way shorter than last years quote, where I think I'd have had to live to about 85 to get value.
3) It was way higher than the next quote of £3800 a year from JUST group.
My point here is I hope their actuaries are getting their sums right, because that's a big difference.
I can't remember the numbers now, but even giving my missus a 50% payment on my death was only around £200 a year less than the JUST quote.
I actually found that a bit worrying.
But I was tempted to stick, say half my pot in, as the payments would cover the basic bills and more, guaranteed.
But I prefer the flexibility, I think.
Finley1,
"Maybe Starmer, the socialist will embrace the inclusive Capitalism"
Well, he admires Blair and certainly isn't a socialist, along with today's Labour party, imo. I'm far more left wing than either of them. Actually, that's probably not fair. They probably tend to the left, but have to pander to the centrist ground.
Whatever, I'm sure he'll be better than the carnage that we've had for over a decade.
I've just had a message from AJBell telling me I need to vote on the AGM resolutions.
I wanted to vote for the placing, but against the power to allot shares, because I don't understand why they want that.
Anyway, I'm a lazy sod and couldn't be bothered with filling forms in, so just decided to abstain from all reolutions.
My holding wouldn't affect any vote anyway.
I won't be going to the AGM, as I'm going on to Fuerteventura for a couple of weeks.
If it was being held in the jewelry quarter, I'd have been prety miffed, but I won't miss it if I never set foot in London again in my life. Hate the place.
Totally agree Bill.
It's the volatility that kills people, hence you have make the most of it.
And this is as good as anywhere, imo.
I've built a chunky holding here, so it's no big deal if the trade doesn't quite work out.
Tbh, it's been a bit of a learning experience, because my biggest problem has always been knowing when to sell.
Here, I'm being quite fearless and it's paying in bundles.
Sub 10, I'm back in for more. And if not, bonus!
ADT1, I suspect you're right. They certainly seem keen to move the bid around to pull sells in.
I've just had a little trade, as on the face of it, I'm not seeing why it's 10% up.
I'm still holding the vast majority though.
I don't think for one minute Dan would want this taken over. It's his baby.
Any takeover bid would have to be hostile and I'd say he'll have CIG's backing, unless it's a silly bid, which I just don't see coming. In the short term at least.
AIMO
I think it's a good move. Don't forget 2000 was a big sticking point for a good while and it's a fair way above what was expected, even if most people think gold can only go up way higher. They've locked in above 2000 and it should provide assurance and stability. CIG are confident they're going to get their money back, even at 11.2p or whatever and this guarantees it for a good while.
I'm toying with buying back in at the current 9.975, as after some thought, things don't look as bad as I thought this morning. Sub 10p is still a pretty good price, imo.
Plumbs, I suspect Betts does know what he's doing. It's just that he's not telling the story properly. They must surely have known for a while that they weren't getting the gold as fast as they told us.
It creates lots of trading points for us though, I suppose.
I sold my ISA shares earlier for about a 10% profit and was offered 9.25 to buy 65k earlier. It looks like I should have taken it.
I'm going to wait a while, I think.
This is good news too;
"The Company is implementing a near term revenue protection strategy over a portion of the Company's production for the first three quarters of FY-2024 in the order of 60,000 oz, as the Company materially deleverages its balance sheet in FY-2024, with c.44,500 oz of gold now protected through forward pricing and cost collars, averaging above US$2,000 per oz."
The good;
" 78,220 ounces of gold ("oz") were produced at Yanfolila to 30 November 2023 at an average AISC of c.US$1,340 per oz and the Company is on target to meet FY-2023 production guidance of 80,000 - 90,000 oz and AISC under US$1,500 per oz. "
The p*ss poor;
"3,094 oz have been produced at Kouroussa to 30 November 2023. The processing plant is operating at nameplate capacity on a consistent 24 hour a day basis with ramp up of the mining fleet productivity rates improving."
"The Company anticipates gold production from Kouroussa in H2-2023 of c.5,000 oz of gold, with lower production driven largely by the delays in accessing higher grade ore due to initial lower than contracted mining volumes."
Down we go.
Am I alone in thinking that they should have been posted ASAP?
The lack of communication at SOLG now is really hacking me off.
I know most SH's now haven't put money directly into the company and have bought off the market, but my funds actually helped pay for the exploration and we should get news straightaway. All of us, that is.
It's not bloody good enough!
Hah, another example. I stuck x amount on 10 companies, Xmas 2019, as advised by Shares magazine.
Serious money, for me. Guess what happened shortly after?
From memory, I was about 60% down, so over time, I sold out. Tbf, if I'd have held, I'd have got my money back and more.
That learnt me a big lesson in holding.
It's why I continue to hold what looks like a lost cause here (I'm still 20% down.)
"sometimes it's just luck."
I'd say it's always luck.
In my 13 years of playing this game, I'd say 90% of my investments have immediately fallen by 5-10% or more, which makes it hard work to make a profit. I'm just massively unlucky.
I was working with a bloke who nearly always wins on short term trades.
Typical example. I was about to pull the trigger on RR at 70p, last October, I think it was. He put me off, so I decided against. Look where that is.
I'm not sure I've even made any profit at all in all that time.
I've quite often thought about not bothering anymore, as I'm obviously just not cut out for the game.
Yet a part of me wonders how I could possibly manage to not make anything when we had a good 10 year run????
I've opened a few tracker type funds and they're doing better.
I'd suggest even if you have some skill, you need to be lucky.
I see WHY have had a takeover bid at 13.5p. Damn, that seems low. It'll be interesting to see if there are any other bids. Board posters are doing their fruit.
Not HUM related, I know, but relevant just to see what the market thinks of gold mine prices.