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Today's RNS looks very positive, both current and future, To quote the song "War, what is it good for...." sadly it is good for companies that provide offensive or defensive products of which CHG is one. I don't expect a huge bounce today as most of the news is already in the price, but I do foresee a steady rise from here over the next few years, the end of the conflict in Ukraine and Gaza would be an entirely good thing but it has awakened the world to the continuing risks. Holders here will benefit.

Tich ...a couple of points :

LGEn and all insurers will hold a mix of Index-linked bonds and conventional shorts, mediums and longs.

The linkers automatically generate a higher return when Interest rates rise. The shorts can be "rolled over" and replaced with Higher coupon bonds as they mature. As in time will apply to mediums if Higher interest rates persist. The longs will have lost a good deal of capital value BUT will continue to pay the rate obtaining when they were bought , so LGEN can if they choose, hold or sell at a capital loss and replace with newer bonds paying higher rates.

I have stressed on this board several times that for insurers the last ten years or so were a nightmare of low returns on the gilts that are forced to hold to assuage the PRA's anxieties. Current higher rates will be taken advantage of to lock in higher rates for years, maybe decades to come.

Your point on annuities is valid BUT annuity rates are set in such a way as to ensure a profit, in the future that may mean higher annuity rates BUT ONLY if offerors can make them pay, the losers are pensioners with annuities fixed at low returns and lasting until deceased or surrendered. All existing annuities with rates defined in the low-interest rate era will make massive profits now that funding can be had at higher returns.

I can say with a degree of certainty that the last year or two of high IR's and higher bond returns is an unequivocally good thing for LGEN and other insurers, which is why I have been increasing my holdings lately.

Ed...I repeat what I've said many times before, Blackrock are LONG about 5 % of OCDO stock, they use the short position as a hedge, ie when the SP falls they make a profit on the short to cushion the loss on the long. This is their standard modus Operandi, used on many of their positions in volatile stocks.

IP3.... click on the "Broker Ratings" icon at the top of the page.

Shewtd for those with access the FT has rubbished the info contained in your post, the level of shorting was miscalculated by the authors of the paper by a factor of 100 times.

To repeat for the umpteenth time - there will be NO TAKEOVER, BT's position in managing a large part of the UK's data network means that no sane government, and I must include both the current one and an incoming Labour gov. would dream of sanctioning a handover of that crucial infrastructure to any organisation not based in the UK.

I hold BT on the basis that its fibre rollout, the collapse of several altnets, and the eventual reduction of the UK's data network to a number of suppliers not exceeding three(and maybe less!), creates a near monopoly situation, which even this BT board can take advantage of.

It really is no big deal. MNG has sold 10% of their holding in SCS for about £1mill, cashing in on the recent rise. As the shares went Ex div on nov16th they will get the divi on the shares sold . I have no doubt they plan to deploy their cash elsewhere and earn more than they might by waiting for the deal to complete, which if all goes well is scheduled for ist quarter 2024. the reason why MNG has Rns'd the sale is that when a takeover is in play ALL holders are required to declare their dealings. See this

https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/SCS/scs-group-plc/analysis

The good news is that the music magpie stuff was a smokescreen. The real initiatives include this:

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/dec/06/ee-tv-apple-tv-box-uk-bt

So maybe the BT hierarchy does have some intelligence. I shall watch and hold.

This is largely due to the news that the premier league has signed a deal with Sky and TNT for rights for the four seasons of TV football at a cost of £6.7 bill . That sum is About the same as the current deal , so no mega inflation-based rise in costs to the buyer, which is very good news for SKY/TNT . As you all know (don't you? ) that TNT is a 50:50 joint deal between Warner Bros and BT and so there is a reasonable view that it will be earnings accretive. The benefits of Football rights are perceived as being the prospects of cross-selling a package of services and the fact that Amazon hasn't acquired any rights is aalso a positive here. My guess might be a further SP rise in the coming days and a long slow climb from here.

See

https://uk.investing.com/news/economy/uk-grocery-inflation-slows-again-kantar-3258596

OCDO at 12.1 % growth second only to LIDL among the major UK grocers.

Following on from the music magpie nonsense, this seems to me to be thrashing about looking for a gimmick to support the SP, when execution of the fibre rollout and running the current business effectively just might be a better option?

Sorry to put a damper on the speculation here by putting the Telegraph deal into context. A sum of ~£1.2 billion is actually minimal when you note that LLOYs " interest earning assets" in the last quarter were £453 billion. Whatever the outcome of the Telegraph fiasco the only thing the markets will take from it is that LLOY allowed a debt of over £1 billion to fester unrecovered for far longer than was prudent and if by luck they recover all of that it is a stroke of good fortune, not good management.

Reposted with corrections and ending !.

For those interested in gilts but unsure about which to choose can I suggest you look at iShares etf's, there are hundreds of them but the title normally gives a good clue as to their contents eg in this list from today's regulatory notices

https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news?tab=news-explorer&period=daily&page=11&headlinestypes=1,2

you can find "treasury bonds" (ie UK GOV.) ETFs for short 1/2 yr, medium 3/5 7/10yrs, or long bonds 20+yrs

a bit of background reading can help you find your optimum position in the market and maybe the appropriate investment.

GLA

For those interested in gilts but unsure about which to choose can I suggest you look at Ishares etf's, there are hundreds of them but the tilt normally gives a good clue as to their contents eg in this list from today's regulatory notices

https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news?tab=news-explorer&period=daily&page=11&headlinestypes=1,2

you can find "treasury bonds" (ie UK GOV.) ETFs for short 1/2 yr, medium 3/5 7/10, or long bonds 20+

a bit of backgorund reading can help you find ytyour optimum postion in the market

It should (I hope) be clear to everyone that Tufan's attitude in the recent CMD was that he intends to divest RR of a number of initiatives that will not make money during his tenure (ie maybe 5 years). He is an accountant NOT an engineer and everything described in the CMD was aimed at making the numbers look better in the medium term

(to the year 2027 ). He will aim to sell all or part of SMR, making it a customer of RR not an integral part. He will squeeze cash out by reducing costs, running down inventory, trimming back-office functions, and scrimping on R&D (flat over four years). I have no doubt that RR's accounts will look better in the medium term, whether it is a better or more effective company is less clear.

For those who doubt the above, I suggest you go back and watch the CMD presentation.

For those who watched the webinar and took notes, there are some heroic assumptions built into TE 's projections .

Operating profits to double in the four years to 27, free cash flow to treble in that period. That's despite £1.5 bill of disposals, Including activities that will not produce returns in the short to medium term (SMR'S?) and joint ventures to reduce development costs(and of course subsequent profits), an increase in capex of £300 mill, and NO increase in R&D.

It also reveals what has been clear for some years, that RR got themselves into a terrible tangle with their dollar hedges which will take several years to extricate themselves from.

It was also revealed that a substantial following wind is expected from the utilisation of deferred tax reliefs.

It was interesting that many of the analyst's questions were expressing doubts about the viability of TE's ambitious plans. I said some time ago that TE is an accountant, not an engineer and this package is very clear evidence that this is a slash and burn approach to RR's recovery.

A reminder, I don't hold but I am still watching with interest and would happily reinvest but only at prices below

£2.

Assuming $1.36 to pound?????

At the risk of boring the rest of the board, I'll add one or two more comments.

Interest on gilts is normally paid 6 monthly, so as you will almost definitely buy between those dates the price you pay includes that portion of interest already earned for the current period.ie if you buy exactly halfway between two payment dates you would pay the quoted price plus a sum equal to half the 6-month return, and the seller not unreasonably gets the interest he has already earned,as you say pro rata for any other dates. The other factor to consider is whether you intend to hold to maturity or not. depending on the issue date and the coupon the gilt may trade above or below the issue price (which is always £100)eg some long-dated bonds issued years ago have coupons of 1/2% and trade at a significant discount , with these you can hold to maturity and get a capital return as well as the coupon, others, as you note, include a guaranteed capital loss at maturity.

The good news is that there is a sufficient range of gilts in issue to tailor your buying to your own needs, high returns for a short time, or guaranteed steady returns for decades.....

I'll stop now, I can sense the other on the board dozing off...

good luck.

HI tambo... quite a few of the major brokers offer gilt purchase, I use II but I'm sure Hargreaves, Andy Bell, and others offer. Gilts are pretty much the largest traded assets in the market, prices are pretty good, ie you can trade very near the published price, they are easy to sell and you are right, profits are tax-free even outside an ISA. So long as you understand the basic principles(when IR's rise Gilts fall) and recognise that despite all the furore they are much less volatile than shares , they can be a useful part of a folio, particularly if like me, you are moving from asset building to asset preservation. I have been investing for many years and am now at the stage where I am more concerned with wealth preservation and income generation than cap app. There is also IMV a high probability that IR's will fall at some point maybe months away maybe a year or so, but when they do gilt prices will appreciate.

GL