Member Info for Bonz1957

This share has done very well since the RI but think 350 will need a good few years good results to see that sort of level. Feel more confident of achieving 275 once the dividend is re-instated, and then maybe trading in the range 275-300 for a while.

Beware the MM's and their tricks. Beware the 'Treeshake' where they lower the price hoping to trigger stop losses and panic people into selling their shares. When all they are really doing is buying in cheaply to fill an order or build up a bank of stock that they can then sell on at a profit when the sp starts to rise again. Don't set a stop loss too close to the current sp, if a share is dropping slowly, adjust your stop loss accordingly. Or you find it triggered, you've incurred selling costs, then another set of costs to buy back in, the sp is back to where it was before but you're two sets of costs down. Especially true when dealing in very volatile penny dreadfuls or some oilies. As for BP, if you can hold long term, I'm sure you will see your target sp, and more, by mid to late 2011.

Scary!!!! Just realised you are the recipient of my 666th post, and 2moro is Halloween - Spooky!!!!

Not too sure you will see 690-710 any time soon, unless there is a nasty surprise out there waiting to be revealed. Remember most of the bad news has already been factored into the current sp. If you are able to monitor your shares on a daily or even weekly basis then you will be able to react to any falls, decide if it is right to get out and then sell. Rather than setting a stop loss with your broker which may be trigerred by the MM's just to get hold of your shares when they manipulate the sp downwards in order to fill a large order for someone before allowing the share to rise again. I too was burn't quite badly with Bp but as I bought my first BP shares over 35 years ago it was only a paper loss. One thing I have learnt over the years is that what goes down sometimes eventually comes back up again. It appears that Halliburton? and their concrete have to share some of the blame, so once the fines are sorted and BP starts to pay a div again I think it will soon recover some of its losses.

Nobody is that nice to me, so how much do you want to borrow?? lol!! The Santander account is a good way of buildindg a stake in the company by re-investing dividends, but don't be fooled by the 5% (it used to be 10%). It only applies to the residual cash that is left over after each dividend has bought new shares until the next dividend is paid. So, for example last year I had balances of £5.18, £1.98, £4.98 and £4.91 running for 3 months each and received the grand total of 47p interest!!! But it is still better than most scrip or drip schemes which just sit on the balance for 6 months before the next dividend is paid. By all accounts it looks like the planned London listing has been pulled for the time being at least. There was talk of being able to swap ones holding in the Spanish bank for shares in the UK listing, but it all seems to have gone quiet for the moment. As to when is the best time to invest, well your guess is as good as mine. If you are not sure then invest half now and save the other half for six months down the line. That way unless both prices paid are the same, you will be lowering your average if you buy cheaper later on, or will be feeling smug that you bought half your stake so cheaply in the past. Governments have shown that they are not prepared to let banks fail, well most of them, and Santander appears to be fairly well run with good reserves and they were not hit as heavily as some banks when it all started to unravel. So like the 'Utilities' banks can be a relatively safe, if not spectacular, addition to anyones portfolio. Glad to be of help from time to time. Try to live by the boring but sensible rules, 1) Do not invest money you are not prepared to lose - especially true when buying into highly volatile penny shares, and 2) Always, Always, Always set yourself a stop loss, whereby you get out with say 75% of your capital, lick your wounds, learn from your mistakes, and live to invest for another day. Best of luck.

I'm from the old school and hold all of my shares in paper - certificated - form. I have only ever had a few dealings with brokers so am not the best person to ask. Although I may have to change my strategy as I've recently discovered how much it costs to sell in certificated form!!! You may miss out on the scrip shares but you will still get the cash payment credited to your account. They give you 'rights' which if you don't want, or cannot take up, are sold and the cash paid instead. The next div is payable in Nov and this year it is in the ratio of 1 new share for 78 - last year was 1 for 90 - I'm gutted as I'm 4 short of a multiple of 78 so will only receive 7 new shares and not 8!! As I mentioned in my previous post to Gudgeon below, my holding is in a "Santander Shareholder Account" which automatically reinvests all divs as new shares. I previously held paper Abbey National shares so it was easy for me to open an account. You may find that broker charges to transfer to an "SSA" may wipe out any potential gains, and as it is only 1 share for every 78 you hold, hopefully you won't have lost out too much.

OMG!!! Thankyou for your kind comments. That is exactly what I have always tried to do. I merely bring things to people's attention and try to offer advice during RI's, consolidations, scrips, etc. Therefore I'm not the right person to ask about entry points. Having read their latest report they are suggesting that there is more pain to come from mainland Europe, although their UK operations are doing very well. You need to take a long term look at the banking sector and decide whether you think there is going to be any more bad news before they turn the corner. In June they expected to equal last years profit of Euro8.8bn, but have now said they will miss that target, even so they are still are a very profitable bank for now. As for the next dividend payable in Nov, it is only very marginally down on last year in money terms, but as it is a scrip div and the share price has fallen since last year we are to receive 1 new share for each 78 held, rather than 1 for 91 last year. Also as BNC pays in Euro's converted to £'s we are always at the mercy of the exchange rate. Having said all that they still have a yield well over 6% which is one of the best currently out there. BNC pays quarterly divs closely tied to results, unlike most UK companies div patterns. If you are thinking of buying into BNC and holding for the long term then I would recommend your participation in the "Santander Shareholder Account and Dividend Re-investment Plan", a great way use all of your divs to buy more shares and see your holding grow over time. I hold some shares in which I invested a modest amount back in the mid 70's, and with divs re-invested are now quite substantial holdings. Good luck, and always DYOR.

Well the IPO only came to the market today: AZ Electronic Materials' share price for its initial public offering has been set at 240p which values the company at around £914.2m. The offer comprises 104,723,007 new ordinary shares and 54,786,801 existing shares which together represent about 42% of the 380,913,552 that will be in issue. CEO Geoff Wild said: "We are delighted with the outcome of the IPO which received an excellent response from major institutions and demonstrates investors' confidence in our business. "I welcome our new shareholders and look forward to delivering on AZ's exciting growth prospects." Story provided by StockMarketWire.com

Yep!!

BNC reported a fall in 3rd 1/4 profits and warned it would miss its full year profit forecasts. However, for the first time Santander made more money from its UK operation than it did at home in Spain. It will once again offer a SCRIP alternative for its 2nd interim dividend giving investors a choice of new shares in lieu of cash.

Why dont you just do one a55hole. You've already proved you know feckall about investing from your previous string of useless wrong posts. If the best you can do is insult and ridicule people you know nothing about then I feel sorry for your inadequate existence. For your information I may be 53 but still play rugby at the weekends and am not in need of a mobility scooter. Suggest you take your pocket money and go and buy something to do with your hands rather than wasting everyones time on here. Listen? Can I hear mummy calling in you in for your tea??

Agreed. I did make more out of the NEX RI - that was a 7 new for 3 old offer - and lloyds, but as they were Dec '09 I guess that counts as last year. Lets have some more RI's!!

Agree 600p, and maybe even 620, just around the corner - not bad in a falling market. At that figure we are back to where we were the day before the RI was announced. Round of applause for everyone who took up their RI in full and are now sitting on a nice little profit. If only all RI's performed as well!! Lets hope for a good set of interims on 18/11 and a nice fat dividend on 19/01/11 to push this even higher. GLA.

"I hear choc is good for the male menopause " Perhaps that's why I eat so much!! Guess my menopause must have started about 40 years ago when I was 13 lol!! Oh well, just have to wait to get my divi chq then off down to Thorntons with my vouchers for some free choc - Yummy!!

RNS Number : 0539V Carpetright PLC 27 October 2010. Carpetright plc, Europe's leading specialist carpet and floor coverings retailer, today announces a trading update for the 12 weeks ended 23 October 2010. · Group sales declined by 5.2%, with the year on year effect of closing our operations in Poland accounting for 0.5% of this decline. · The Group's store base decreased by two to 7022 stores at the period end. · UK and Republic of Ireland sales declined by 4.6%, with like-for-like sales3 down 7.3%. A net four stores have closed, decreasing the total to 5842. · In local currency terms, total sales in Rest of Europe (The Netherlands and Belgium) decreased by 0.2% with like-for-like sales down 1.2%. After allowing for the movement in exchange rates, this translates to a total sales decline of 5.5%. Two stores opened in The Netherlands, increasing the total in Europe to 118 stores. Lord Harris of Peckham, Chairman and Chief Executive, said: "The tough trading environment in the UK and Republic of Ireland continued into the second quarter of our financial year. The further reduction in mortgage approvals along with fragile consumer confidence has produced a difficult market. We expect these market conditions to continue into 2011. "In these challenging market conditions, we have progressed the roll out of our bed offer, opening 44 bedding departments within our existing UK estate since the start of the financial year with plans for a further 50 by the end of April 2011. We expect the full year UK margin to increase by around 30-50 basis points through a combination of price and promotional management. The focus on effective cost management has continued. "The Group remains well placed to capitalise on opportunities when economic conditions improve." The Group will report its interim results for the first half of its financial year on 14 December 2010.

I'm the wrong sex to get PMT you WALLY!! Been looking back over some of your comments as you seem to know so much. 5/8: KIBO to go to 5p - WRONG. 5/8: DISL to go to 3p - WRONG actually going the other way. 14/9: SOLG waiting for 8-9p - WRONG missed by a mile. 23/9: SOLG I'll get back in at 25p - WRONG still waiting? 23/9: SOLG 90p tomorrow - WRONG by a mile the other way. 26/9: BAO These will be 15-18p - WRONG. But best of all: 1/9: THT prediction of 120-135 by end Oct - WRONG. My advice to you would be: Don't give up your day job. I would suggest you buy some chocolate to calm yourself down but with your luck you would probably just make a mess!!

And your point is? Sorry we can't all be a super clued up trader like you, talking trends, NAV's and charts all day!!

I received two sheets of vouchers in my recent mailing - I think it's a cunning ploy to increase sales!!

No and Yes!!! The div per share will not be held at previous levels as there are now more shares, so it will drop proportionately - I estimate it will be in the region of 10.5p, paid 19/01/11 to those on the register on 03/12/10. But, if you held before the RI and took up your rights in full, you will still have the same share of the company and your total dividend will be slightly higher than before due to their intention to grow the div at 8%.

Have bought into many shares over the last 30 years and currently have just over 60 in total. Bought into all of the privatisations back in the 80's and 90's, mainly utilities, along with other placings with companies that I knew a bit about - avoiding lots of dealing charges. Have had to sell a few over the years due to take-overs etc, the most recent being Cadburys. Lost out on HBOS and Northern Rock but they were only the free shares I received from holding accounts with them. I'm a holder, not a trader, so have followed them all through highs and lows and now have a sort of personal tracker fund. Have almost always bought into RI's and always take my dividends as new shares if able to, so have seen my holdings grow with time. I've always seen this as my personal pension fund, and over recent years have seen much greater returns than being in a pension. Am now retired so don't have access to funds to buy new shares, and with my luck if I sold A to buy B, A would double in value and B would go down the toilet!!!!