Member Info for bobbins2

"Nobody goes to that s**t place". I know that was only intended as a joke, but it does make me laugh about the "disincentive" of the Rwanda plan.

I have been there, and it has beautiful countryside, friendly people, and (extremely) affordable housing. So if you don't want to spend 20 hours a week on the M25, and 60 hours a week in a horrible, depressing office dealing with cretins, and get stabbed trying to get home on the tube, just to pay rent on on some shi*hole in Staines, or Reading, or Crawley (wherever) it is actually a good option.

Staines or Rwanda? I've been to both, and I know which I would prefer. No offence to anyone who lives in Staines.

... to see how much the ex-divi effect is; plus I think there are job figures due from USA on Friday - so where we end this week could be quite instructive. Given recent (new found) resilience, I am actually feeling quite positive, which - if am being honest - is not my usual default position.

Close of play predictions for Friday? Don't really care, because I will be holding for now - got enough in the piggybank to see me through the next few months.

This time next year, Rodney....

Thriller - agreed.. It doesn't seem so ready to give up any hard-fought gains recently, whereas in the last couple of years, any gain has dissipated very easily. Like a victim of playground bullying, we have finally turned around and punched the bully in the face, rather than cave in and turn over our dinner money.

Hope that doesn't instigate £1.50 by Friday.

Don't post much here (more on IAG) despite the fact that that this is now my biggest holding, and has been for a while. Like others here, I regret not getting out at 580/590 a few months back, but the drop between then and now is truly hard to fathom. The numbers just don't make sense, although I accept that macro issues create uncertainty, which reflects in the share price.

Anyway, as my thread title indicates, I am less concerned about my investment here than any other of my investments. £6 still seems cheap to me - it's more a matter of when, not if. At that price, it still gives a market cap. less than it was 5 years ago, without the debt pile that holds IAG back, and not taking any heed of the new holiday business.

I will sell a few at 550/560, just to limit my exposure, but will be holding the remainder, and I won't be losing any sleep over it.

As it's the 1st of September tomorrow, let me be the first to wish you all a very merry Xmas.

Ha ha ha.

Up over 3p this week, which actually beats the FTSE (encouraging). Be interested to see where we end next week, as we go ex-dividend, Normally expect a drop of (roughly) the divi amount - 2pence in this instance), so if we finish the week at anything over 182, that will be a net gain.

The anticipation is killing me.

PS - big up to IAG for the rapid divi payment, which normally takes weeks.

... small, incremental rise. This is becoming a (rather nice) habit. Same again tomorrow, please.

Nice to see that the price here held up well today - down a fraction, but nothing to worry about. In recent times, after a substantial rise like we have seen over the last month or so, there has often also been a substantial retrace. Seems a lot more stable lately.

Given the headlines in the news on Sunday morning about The Middle East, I expected a drop here today - so to finish at 183'ish is a major result. Rather than big jumps which almost immediately reverse, the steady rise here over the last few weeks ( despite macro headwinds) is very encouraging. IF the situation in The Middle East stays (relatively) benign, and IF the Fed comes through with a rate reduction, and IF aliens don't invade earth, we may (finally) get close to the mythical £2 barrier.

If that doesn't jinx it, nothing will.

T9Rat - agreed. While their people die, the "leaders" are probably sat by the pool, placing short bets on travel stocks , then reinvesting their gains in defence/energy stocks.

".... if there are no major setbacks...". Whatever was I thinking?

Casio - good post (again), The Middle East is the (potentially mushroom) cloud on the horizon - but we have seen a nice, consistent, incremental rise lately, which, if there are no major setbacks (ha ha ha) bodes well for the future.

Unfortunately, over the last few years, every time it seems that things may be improving, something comes along to trigger a setback. Hence - like many here - I am somewhat sceptical.

I recall, back in the depths of covid, that I sold some shares here at about 170 (early '21 I think), only for them to rise to about 220, despite the fact there were almost no planes in the sky (that was post the R.I.). So here we are (albeit with higher debt, and complicated macro events) at a lower price, despite record numbers/profits. I must be slightly simple, but it doesn't seem right to me.

Anyway, hanging in for £1.90 plus, at which point I will probably start to unload in small tranches. To be honest, the last few years has been so exhausting here, that I can't wait to get out, and make a new start somewhere else.

All the best / Bobbins.

PS - it would appear that when I cut down on the booze, I can actually be quite coherent/lucid. Who would have known?

Sund - agree with your 16.57 post. It is, however, all about timing, which is not easy. I think it was Buffet (it normally is) who said "you'll never get poor taking a profit". It is easy to look at something you have just sold, when it continues to rise, and think "I could have made x amount" - but that is wrong thinking (mea culpa). I have actually ( miraculously) made some money on PRU lately by employing jut that philosophy, but "greed" is a terrible thing. Patience can also be required - and that's not easy either. If it was that straightforward, we would all be rich.

Anyway, a good week here overall, let's just hope that some of the long-term investors here start being less pompous, boring, narrow-minded and smug, and open their minds to issues beyond IAG.

Yes, the dividend payment will be a momentous moment - the first divi since Dec. 2019. Only about 2.06 pence I think (after Spanish tax, and dependent on exchange rate), but better than nothing. Back in 2019, the Dec payment was just over 10 pence, and that was after one in July of almost 12pence - so 22p in dividends in 5 months - nice.

Don't know where the last 5 years have gone - quite scary. If anyone back then had told me there would be no dividend for 5 years, and that the whole industry would be shut down for a pandemic, plus all the other stuff that has gone on (political upheaval, wars around the world etc. etc.) I would have thought they were nuts.

Wonder what surprises the next 5 years (assuming that I make it that far) will bring? Probably best not to dwell on that - que sera sera.

Sure I'm not the only one here who uses googlefinance, but they have been all over the pace lately (very disconcerting), but I am quietly confident that we have not just dropped 41 pence. Actually done OK over the last couple of weeks (albeit from a low base), and sone good news from The Middle East could push us back into the giddy heights of the 180's. Then again, bad news could push us back into the 160's. Unfortunately "Good news from The Middle East" is the ultimate oxymoron, and about as likely a headline as "Bobbins Wins lottery - marries Kylie Minogue".

Here's hoping I'm wrong about both.

I know I have promised to reduce my post-pub rants, but really...

The WHO/ BBC just can't help themselves, can they? Apparently, 450 people have died from monkeypox in the DCR this year. So what? Does that make me heartless? NO.

Look at it this way - in the same period, how many people there have died of malaria? How many have died from malnutrition, or the lack of clean drinking water? Or 20 other things that we in the West don't have to worry about? But someone in Sweden contracts it (and gets slightly ill) and suddenly it's an issue?

Pathetic.

PS -I was in the Congo about 33 years ago, and not long after, millions of people were killed in the civil war there (mostly hacked to death with machetes), and it barely made the news in the Western world.. The hypocrisy/ double standards is astonishing.

Sorry for (yet another) non IAG related post. Must try harder.

Yes - very positive article in The Mail today, basically saying what most of us here know - that this share is is undervalued by a not inconsiderable amount.

This time next year, Rodney....

... one of my favourite TV characters of all time. You seem to have missed the irony/sarcasm on my post, but that's fine. Not wishing to be a pedant, but it's naive. not nieve. Just saying.

Your post last night was the kind of ill-conceived , rambling drivel that I normally spew out late in the evening, so it's nice to have a competitor. Respect.

Anyway, hoping for no unexpected surprises over the weekend (that said, unexpected surprises have become expected here over the last couple of years, so not sure how that works).

Anyway, if the Ukraine/Russia conflict doesn't blow up, and the Israel/Gaza/Iran conflict doesn't blow up, and China doesn't attack Taiwan, and oil prices don't go up, and there are no strikes, or ATC issues, or weather issues, or IT issues, or economy-driven demand issues, or climate issues, then I can see this rapidly climbing to 170.8 / 170.9.

I guess I'm just a dreamer.

Vey scary - hence I have donned my (Gimp) mask, and have just smeared my whole body with sanitizer.

Just an average evening in the Bobbins household. ha ha ha.

Over the last few weeks, I feel like I have let myself down, by posting nonsensical drivel after I return from the pub, so I have resolved to try and do better. On that note - despite having been to the pub - I would like to relate a short story.

Is anyone familiar with the name Susan Wojcicki? She was a young, highly qualified employee at Intel about 30 years ago, who (to help cover her mortgage costs) rented out he garage to some students from her local university (Stanford). Turns out they were Larry Page and Sergey Brin - aka the founders of Google. Of course, she had no idea at the time - she just wanted help paying the rent. After being sold on their vision, she quit her job and became (I think it was) their 16th employee. Anyway, it took off, and she wound being head of YouTube, after she had negotiated the purchase of that company (at a price considered bonkers at the time, but later turned out to be a bargain).

Anyway, fast forward 25/30 years, and she had this brilliant career, as well as having a marriage and 4 children, and a personal wealth of $800,000,000.

She just died at 56, having battled cancer for the last 2 years. So she was lucky (obvs) to have the founders of Google move into her garage, although she no doubt would have had a brilliant career anyway. But now, prematurely, dead. Tragic.

So what is the point of my mini diatribe? Not really sure - but if it's anything, it's that while we may strive for more (nothing wrong with that) we should really spend more time enjoying/appreciating what have in the here and now, because who knows when it will end.

Carpe Diem.

Down about 25% in 3 months or so, after excellent results. I know there are macro events in play here, but seriously? I don't post much here (mostly on IAG), but there is no real relationship here between the value of the company, and the current share price. At some point that will be corrected.