Member Info for Bonz1957

And waiting for a ludicrously low buy-in price leaves you always on the outside waiting to get in. If you are so confident of 350p why do you not short this? As ever we will have to agree to disagree on this one. The only reason we are sub 500p is because the FTSE is off 1000 points since early July. IMHO the only way we will see 350p is if we lose another 1000 points, at which point there will be an awful lot more for most to worry about than a cheap entry price for PSN. Also note that you are not any nearer your upside price prediction for TNI, another one we disagree on!! Are there any common holdings we could agree on?? I'm big into the utilities who are holding up quite well at the moment all things considered. As ever ATVB.

I know the feeling re lost posts, i've been on a roll before using up all 3000 characters probably on nothing to do with shares at all only to find through one reason or another that it has disappeared. So have now learnt to copy it before hitting the post button just in case there is a problem. Have found myself logged out in the middle of a post, so would suspect human/computer error before thinking that Admin have removed it - unless you were being controversial of course!!! Think in all my time posting i have only ever had a couple removed when replying to someone who has subsequently been removed by Admin. Totally agree with your comments re market morality and ethics, my big pet hate is short selling. Why would anyone loan out shares to be shoerted in the knowledge that if it all goes to plan they will be worth less when returned?? If you can be bothered you could have a look at a post i put on the MWH board earlier to wag7 where i was ranting about the morals of todays generation and their attitude towards money. I even quoted Dickens!! I've never read the book just remembered a line from a film i once saw!!! The wife once presented to David Blunkett - who was suitably impressed - but that doesn't quite compare to your stalking of the corridors of power!! I look forward to reading your next pearls of wisdom. ATB.

It would appear we have a lot in common. You are correct about my age - i never was very subtle!! - and my long term view on shares. Been in the markets since the mid 70's and always saw my shares as my Pension Pot. Saved enough to enable me to retire in my late 40's with enough to see me through (hopefully) to a ripe old age. The misses is also a recently retired Civil Servant, having been shown the door last year when the COI was effectively dis-banded, but had just under 10 years service so only a pay-off and an early retirement package, which although very nice - as she had planned to quit at the end of the year anyway - was nowhere near what a 40 year veteran would have received!! She's very envious at the thought!! I have a lot of admiration for those that can day trade, pop in and out of a share and make a few £'s each time, but that was never my style as i never had the time to study the markets and do the reseach needed. Now i have the time i don't really want to risk what i have by gambling on the next 1p movement. Just happy to sit on what i have and ride the waves, knowing that even if the FTSE falls back to March '09 levels (sub 4000) i'm still comfortably well off. With the yield on SL. at around 6%, and taking the divs as new shares i see a 6% rise in my investment even if the sp stays the same - which it has for much of the last three years (around £2). And as i said earlier, i now have 1/3rd more shares than i started with just by re-investing divs, even if the sp is roughly similar. Who wouldn't be happy with that sort of return over 5 years?? Not sure which post you are referring to as i can see all of your posts back to your first one on 7/4/10. As we are both long-termers in this one it will be interesting to see where this is in 5-10 years time. Hopefully it will have done both of us proud. ATB.

Also in BP and thought you had bagged a bargain on Fri, today however - with hindsight - you should have waited. Although am sure in months or years to come - if you can wait that long - you will see this as a bargain and forget about the 10p or so you lost in the first few days. Thought it had recovered well when it crawled back over 500p earlier this year, but now looks like getting into bed with the Russians has turned out to be nearly as big a disaster as the oil spill!! Ho Hum!! Time to put them away for a couple of years, take the divs as new shares, and look at the sp in 2013. Hopefully get a pleasant surprise!! ATB.

After todays rather large fall looks like Zak Mear called this wrong!! With the current market turmoil this could just as easily hit £11 as £14. Personally i'll sit on what i have and ride this out, wouldn't have a clue where this could go next. ATB.

If you hold 2500 shares now you will own 2000 after the return of capital, ie 80%. As the 47p cash return is also in the region of 80% of the current sp then the share price should stay the same after the return. There is effectively no difference in this exercise to you selling 20% of your holding and banking the cash. ATB.

I neither day trade or spread, i leave that to people with a lot more knowledge than i have. With the FTSE down 900 points in only a couple of months it's easy to be gloomy, but am in this for the very long term - 2020 and beyond to supplement my pension - and have ridden out many crashes and slumps in the last 35 years so am not unduly worried about the current sp. SL. was at 240p back in Feb with the FTSE around 6000, and IMHO i see no reason why they both won't get back to those levels again. The only question is how long it will take? But in the meantime there will be some healthy dividends to collect, and as i take them as new shares it means they will buy more shares at the lower sp's, so it's a win win in the long term. I already have 33% more shares than my original allocation at no extra cost by doing this. Am happy to sit on what i have and not continually buy and sell making profits for the brokers and MM's with their dealing charges and spreads. For now at least it seems to be holding quite nicely above the level at which you told us to get out!!!ATB.

You can take the 47p dividend as either a capital return or as income. If you take the Capital Option (Alternative 1) then the total received - £1,175 in your case proppa - would form part of your 2011/2012 Gapital Gains allowance (CGT) and as long you do not exceed the £10,680 limit then no additional tax would be paid. If you take the Income Option (Alternative 2) then the total will be received as a normal dividend with an attached 10% tax credit, and you will not be liable to any additional tax unless the total of all of your income - salary, interest and dividends - pushes you into a higher tax bracket. Please note: The Default Option is Alternative 1. So you do NOT return the 'Form Of Election' if you want a return of capital. You only use the 'Form Of Election' to elect for the Income Option which is Alternative 2, or a mixture of the two. So the choice depends on your personal tax situation. If you will easily exceed your CGT allowance for the year then take it as income, but if the extra income will push you up into a higher tax bracket then take it as capital. If neither applies then it doesn't matter which you choose. If both apply then you have the choice of paying the extra 22.5% tax on dividend income (32.5% less the 10% tax credit) if you pay tax at 40%, or the extra 18% tax on exceeding your CGT allowance, so best to opt for the Capital Option. IMHO HMRC make the rules this complicated in the hope of confusing us into making the wrong choices and paying more tax!!! You will need to sit down with a pen a paper to work out how each option will affect you if you are close to either tax threshold. Personally, as i have already used up my CGT allowance for the year, i will be taking the Income Option as being retired my total income (interest and divs) will be nowhere near the £42,475 level at which i would be liable for 40% tax. Hope this helps you to make the right choice, if anyone disagrees with my assumptions or figures please feel free to contribute, i'm always happy to learn. ATB.

Right numbers, wrong order. Close but no cigar lol!! Not really surprised to see the markets at this level given what is going on in the world right now, but was surprised to see such a bouyant first six months of the year. IMHO FTSE will tread water at this level for the rest of the year. Not exactly doom and gloom, just don't expect any good news for a while yet. But if you could do something over on the BP board to get that moving in the right direction i would be most grateful!! ATB.

It sure as heck would surprise me!!! Almost as much as todays rise here!! ATB.

Parker in, Crouch Bentley Jenas Palacious and Hutton out, and Modric staying. Why did Levy turn down £40 mill from Chelsea?? Rednapp must be spitting feathers, think of the size of his brown envelope for that one - enough to heat his swimming pool over the winter!!! Looks like they'll have to rely on an ex-Gooner - Adebayor - to score the goals to lift them off the bottom.

Glad i didn't take your advice!!!

Nice 20% for you this month. Would not be in too much of a hurry to sell as this may have further to go yet. Would not be at all surprised to see 500p again soon, what with all the positive news coming out of the building industry. Abbs3: You may have a long wait for your 350p!! ATB.

...happening soon. Thoughts? ATB.

Nice to see another of the utilities doing well in Aug, and back to the post special div sp seen back in Feb. ATB.

One of the very few shares - along with a couple of the other utilities - to actually show a healthy rise for the month of Aug, while all others seem to be retreating. And now very close to pre RI levels. ATB.

Thanks for that, please pass on my regards when next you speak. Hope the (not so) old girl is well and all of her indicators are blue lol!! Will venture over there one day and try to make contact, but am a bit busy with major outside jobs at the moment - inbetween downpours!! ATB.

http://www.lse.co.uk/share-regulatory-news.asp?shareprice=SGC&ArticleCode=ystbul74&ArticleHeadline=Proposed_return_of_cash_of_approximately_340m

Yes, but the sp will fall by 47p to compensate - as it's a return of cash and not strictly a dividend - so not really a true yield!! And you will receive 4 New shares for every 5 you hold on 10/10, effectively reducing the total value of your holding by 20% - assuming a roughly equal sp both prior and post the consolidation. You would get the same sort of return by selling 20% of your shareholding!! Personally i'll be looking to reinvest the proceeds back into SGC, to retain my investment and give me a bigger share of the company. ATB.

You are correct, hindsight is a wonderful thing. The trick is to spot the same thing happening again, and maybe correct what went wrong the last time. If you knew me you would know i'm not being modest, there was absolutely no skill or discipline in my approach to the markets. I just bought lots of privatisations and IPO's and filed them in bankers boxes. I was so busy running my own business in the 80's and 90's that i honestly didn't have a clue as to what i did or didn't hold. Then came the 50% crash that ended in Jan'03 and i was too scared to look at how much it had sunk. It's no more than 5 years ago since i dug everything out, sorted it all out and was pleasantly surprised at what i had. A few real big gainers, a couple of basket cases and an awful lot of average. With over 50 stocks i'm more interested in the overall total than i am in the movement of individual shares. Although BP and LLOY are doing me no favours at the moment. Not sure what my base cost here is, probably well over a £1, so no hope of me making a profit. And i will be very surprised if the div is not greatly reduced or withdrawn. As for people who have bought in at this price well time will tell, but there may be further to fall yet. ATB.