Member Info for Bonz1957

Trust me there are quieter boards than this one. There are some where there are only one or two posts a year, and others where my post has been the only one for years!! Probably says a lot about my eclectic share portfolio!! The boards with the penny shares, oilies, biotechs, etc, tend to get the most posts as people chase 0.1p or 0.01p rises, and when they get two in two days they all go BOOM!! Most of my shares are major Blue Chip ones and most are lucky if they get one post a week!! As I said most of my online purchses have been for electrical goods, etc, where you know exactly what you are getting. Not sure I would order furniture or clothes online, unless it was something I had seen and tried in a store and then ordered online from them for a better price. Down in rural Devon I do not always have the choice of visiting a shop unless I fancy a 90 mile round trip to Exeter, so it has to be online at times. If we could put our heads together and come up with a UK wide courier system that would guarantee secure deliveries to suit everyones needs, by this time next year Choppy we could be Millionaires!!! ATB and happy dieting.

What a steaming pile of cr4p this share is. Hope you're not still in here sheikh-a-leg, it doesn't look like getting back to 86p any time soon. If there's no improvement in the new year will take my loss and get out!!

I take your points about the potential perils of ordering online, but to date have not had any problems. Most things I buy are branded, games, dvd's, electricals etc, so don't have a problem with inferior goods. Admittedly I tend to buy mainly from major retailers, as I still have a tendancy not to trust a lot of the little Amazon and Ebay traders unless it's for less than £10. Have noticed recently on some order forms you have a chance to leave a note for the courier, so I always say "Do not leave with neighbours". Recently bought a 50" Plasma and the delivery men were exceptional, insisting it was opened and checked before they left. This is the one area of the whole online thing that needs looking at, Couriers!! Am sure some of the larger co's offer out of hours delivery to suit, but this has to be a cost because staff costs are greater, which can mitigate savings made on a small item. Interesting point about insurance cover for other peoples items, hadn't thought of that. My sister uses Tesco and Sains for her food shopping, and as she doesn't use them regularly is always receiving emails offering free delivery. Saves her time and the cost of getting into town, and as far as I know has never had anything substituted that she didn't like. As for thorntons totally agree with you that they may need to rethink their strategy. Had an absolutely gorgeous Thorntons toffee cake from Asda recently, maybe they need to look at putting more of their products into the big four S'markets. But would they generate enough sales to overcome the extremely tight margins?? Maybe THT will stay as a niche provider and we will have to settle for a reasonable div and some money off vouchers, as there may not be much in the way of capital growth to look forward to. ATB.

The change of name has worked. Now we need a good set of results and the div re-instated to push this up to 125p. GLA

Nice little lift today.

Until after the deal is closed, which is expected to be early 2011. That is all they have said on the matter to date. Keep an eye on the IPR website for the announcement of the record and payment dates.

No worries, no offence taken. Am always a little suspicious of posters who claim to spend all of their time in shops and always find them busy. Let's face it, if they are not busy now then they will be closed for good in Jan!! I have never been a fan of shopping - except for the basics - there are always things I would rather be doing. I just don't get the point of wandering aimlessly through 'malls' looking at the same old shops. And why would anyone - MissusR - spend so much money in HMV when it's cheaper elsewhere?? Buy it online from the comfort of your own home, save having to mingle with the 'Great Unwashed' and all the hassle and cost of getting there on the bus or trying to find somewhere to park, and treat yourself to something extra with all the money you have saved. Yes, I accept the fact that it may be killing the High Street, but that all started when local councils got their hands on gallons of yellow paint and started fining anyone who went shopping. There is so much choice out there now that is impossible for the High Street to stock it all. This Xmas I have bought Bourbon direct from a distillery in the USA, and a rather excellent bottle of Single Malt from Scotland, both online, because I can't get it here. Also, all of the presents I have bought, with one or two exceptions, have been purchased via the internet. I haven't had to trudge through the snow and crowds to get them, have bought at the best prices, sometimes via a cashback site making them even cheaper, and with a credit card that also gives me cashback. So have ended up with more time and money to spend on the family. As for THT not sure what I can say to convince you to stay. Can't remember when I bought these, probably back in the late 80's or early 90's. The div is better than anything you can get in a bank or b' soc, plus the money off vouchers save me an extra £20 a year on something that I would buy anyway. So it's a win win situation for me. Retail is really going through a tough time at the moment, due partly I guess to people like me, so not expecting any real movement in the sp for the foreseeable future. If you can make your money work harder elsewhere then we'll be sorry to lose you, if not then stay a while longer. If you sell you'll only feel guilty everytime you pass a Thorntons, you'll have to shop elsewhere and all of your friends will wonder why you don't buy them nice chocolate any more!!! ATB amd Happy Xmas.

After being sold off when the merger was announced. My bet is that this won't be trading down 92p for very long after the special div is paid. Easy way to make some money. Buy now, watch it rise, take the 92p div, sell once the price starts to creep up again, and end up losing a lot less than 92p on the deal. Easy money!! Anyone who bought sub 420p after the announcement is already quids in. GLA.

Have tried for a couple of years to get some to grow on my apple trees in N Devon, but no success as yet. http://www.woodlands.co.uk/blog/woodland-activities/save-the-mistletoe/

I do hope you're right as at the moment this is languishing in the relegation zone of my portfolio. They are trying to turn the corner with their expansion into regionals and digital platforms but only time will tell how successful their strategy will be. ATB

Belated happy Birthday for Saturday, glad to see you celebrated in style. Choppy, nearly all of our friends seem to have children with birthdays around this time of year, including my own daughter, so it's double presents all round one of which is always a box of Thorntons. All this festive spending and we are still struggling to keep THT above 100p, and in a rising market AARRGGHH!! Not much danger of getting overheated down here in W London, it's freezing - literally!! Can't remember the last time I had to leave the heating on overnight.

Whoopee!!

You may well get your sub 400p price before year end.

Which was 1341p on 09/05/08. I'm certainly doing my bit by having the heating on 24/7 in this weather. It'll need to be a good div next year to pay for all the extra gas I'm using!!

Glad someone is so cheery and festive. Am beginning to think you either work in a Thorntons, or it's the only place you ever shop!! lol Or maybe you're a teacher or dinner lady who is trying to drum up a few festive pressies from the kids. I thought I liked chocolate, but you're a woman obsessed!! Still have quite a few vouchers left so happy to send a few over. Or maybe we could arrange a secret rendezvous in a mutually local branch, I'll bring the vouchers and you can bring the mistletoe!! Merry Xmas.

Despite your 'strong buy' signals this continues to drift lower. The latest ABC circulation figures are not very good. National newspaper ABC figures for November 2010 (November average daily sale followed by percentage change year on year) Daily Mirror 1,177,629 -6.54%, Sunday Mirror 1,070,062 -6.81%. All is not well in the newspaper world!!

60p div to be paid on 18/2/11, goes ex-div on 19/1, record date 21/1. Total div for the year 84.3p +15% on last year.

No mention of re-instating the div, despite good figures in all divisions. Let's hope this trend continues, then we may all get a pleasant surprise when the year end figures are announced.

Be very careful what you say, there are people who frequent this board who get very cross if you say anything that isn't positive about TNI!! lol I agree with you in thinking that the future for this share is bleak. Newspapers were yesterday's medium, circulation figures are falling which means ad revenue will follow. Some rate this as a strong buy with figures above 200p being quoted, personally I think we'll be lucky to hold on to 70p. ATB

At todays general meeting the combination of GDF Suez and IPR was approved. Closing of the 'combination' is expected to occur in early 2011. So we have a little longer to wait for the 92p special dividend.