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Although not the most popular, but more the most prolific poster on here, I think LTI looks after his elderly parent(s), of which imo, if so, he is to be commended. No one cares about your parents like you should, and those who choose to farm them out for others to tend, telling themselves and others that " It's the best for them" usually, but not always, mean it is the 'best for us'.
So whilst LTI has many annoying facets, looking after loved ones especially if you can afford others to do so, is to his credit imo.
As for his next most beloved, Lloyds, it is as usual, a small rise pre Christmas, and slow fall to about a week pre full year results, then, if as norm, come results day, some world, newsworthy event will rock the markets that the prior weeks gain, will be wiped out, and then some, to rinse and repeat over the coming year, to end up just as rubbish an investment as it has, and will always be imo.
Watch and see.
When interest rates were low in accounts, not such a concern, but now if a higher b.e then ever more galling to see it get nowhere, and to know that true inflation be it buying a home, or a car, or a bag of buns, would likely, for most, who invested long term NOW not get half the amount of purchasing power that they would have done 15 years ago, AND never likely too if holding Lloyds.
It doesn't catch up, merely sustains it's pitiful share price and mediocre dividends, and will, imo, always find better uses for the undoubted profits it make, rather than give them to shareholders, just a few crumbs to keep them hopeful.
HMG and Lloyds board will never snip the strings which No 10 installed upon 'saving' the bank imo,
..even those with an apparent thieve removing shares from their portfolio, are no longer telling the world that they are 'topping up' as is usual on any hyped aim shares decline.
Alluring phrases like " I wish I had the funds to top up" to insight others who do have spare cash to regain buying pressure or to get others in the same mess as the poster is in, diminishing the isolated feeling that loosing gives if others are in the same predicament.
Trades per day you can count on both hands surely means the entire investing world is not chomping at the bit, nor has it ever been, so either we are all wiser than such, or have blown it.
Time as usual will be the only way of knowing for sure.
Good luck all, feeling more each day we will need it and some.
Adding to the list I suspect this goes even deeper, and although said before, worth repeating.
I think that the Tories know that they have no hope of winning the election, and perhaps, only perhaps, have deliberately created a situation which otherwise they would 'forever' be against a rock and a hard place. That is for them to deliberately ensure they lose the next G.E but not to make it too obvious.
Then and ONLY then can they EVER get what they really wanted, the Brexit result if not 'undone' but to have the laces untied so very much that such becomes as loose as IF undone.
The never wanted us 'out' hence years of project fear, hence May's soft leave, but as they public never bought into either, then they HAD NO CHOICE to go ahead IF they wanted the UK to be seen to the world as a 'True Democracy'.
So what could they then do? Answer, to ensure that the main reasons those people voted for Brexit would NOT be allowed to happen, ie allow in ever more newcomers, limit help for the NHS to the minimum etc, SO THAT it would aid the next stage of recouping what 'they' want, not what the plebs democratically voted for.
That being to lose the G.E , knowing full well that Labour would make the financial state even worse along with encouraging in ever more people to aid our demise.
That way, once the UK is begging the IMF or equivalent, the Tories will get a vote of no confidence in the Labour Gov, ride back to the rescue, BUT clutching new deals, which the then broken British public will readily accept to perhaps not 'rejoin' in name the EU, but a series of deals very closely 'resembling' what we had.
That way they can still spin that 'democracy' has been carried out, they can forever blame Labour for the total fouling up of our economy and migrant numbers, and gain control unblemished. For IF they are voted in, then they can't so easily climb aboard the EU gravy train for MP's, with all the perks and extra jobs for their children, wives, lovers or all.
The public when stood in line to sign on with half the world in that queue, will no longer care if our bananas are straight, or as bent as those Parties which 'pretend' to care for Britain, but only care, as I would, about the few people I love and cherish.
As we seen with Covid, as soon as 'something' seemingly 'threatened' the establishment, THEN all stops are pulled to cure it no matter what cost, yet the daily flotilla only hurts the poor here, as the Gov and it's wealthy supporters of landowners, property owners, top legal lawyers and those who employ a never ending supply of cheap labour, subsidised by the poor via stealth taxes to fund their free rent, c.tax, health care, education SEE it VERY differently. But one flash of the Race card 'ends the truth being spoken by the poor, and any person of not such a Farage hinting at such is soon removed from the public limelight, hence we are where we are, and when high unemployment hits you know we are going down in
... it's AIM!
A slogan for those who have either never invested in aim stock, OR, perhaps have invested and been lucky enough to find the one in the countless no brainers, which has come good, for imo they are the 'exception' rather than the rule.
Hence only invest, or, more precisely, gamble small amounts in early days.
Fomo, (fear of missing out) during early days when a stagnating stock 'suddenly' gains double digit increases each day due to a leaked or announced lab report often highlights punters to a stock, and many are happy to see these huge increases from stock in the tenths of pence hit whole numbers, then ever more pile in expecting that 'as the stock has increased on just finding the 'stuff', Heaven knows what it will be when selling it.
But of course the time difference and massive cost makes a huge gap between finding a commodity to being in a position to 'sell' that commodity and SEE any PROFIT. Until then it is debt, debt and time.
Vultures and greed are not just the privilege of the arm chair investors, telling family and friends how many million penny or less shares they own, and calculating the price of gold, by endless swathes of rock and dirt and looking at Sunseekers online.
Those lending the money will want the best deal, those envious rivals miffed at missing out will do all they can to recoup all they can, if they can. Add all the money from State Governments, H &S, surveyors, and endless people and trades and cash burn is massive, often making those but the very earliest investors PRIOR the lift upwards, poorer for years, as until profit, not income, but profit arrives then all cash is outgoing.
The child simple suggestion that 'one mine' will pay for another, is as basic as saying with BTL 'one rent' will pay the mortgage on the next, implying to the dim, that anyone with a few hundred K could end up owning ALL the housing stock to cover the needs of the demand for housing in the UK, IF that were the 'simple' case.
There is good reason why that doesn't work, but plenty, especially those who only think 'after' investing choice blind faith in positive posters RATHER than looking at their growing losses, and comparing how very much better off they would be IF they had been less greedy and waited to miss the 'spike' highs, which, in most cases soon fall back to 'where' the s.p OUGHT to have been with mass suckers jumping too early.
That, to me, is where we are at now.
Just as well flip a coin, IF you have any left to flip to see if your choice was the right one.
I just hold and hope but no stress as only invested a fraction, as this is AIM still.
Asperger, truly hope you recover soon. Thanks for all you do on this board as it's easy to cut and paste an article or sound off on our own opinions on what we 'think' , but you do so much for the Meerkat Comp, collating all the guesses and sorting out duplicates and posting updates, along with fantasy portfolios etc etc.
Likely the Comp would not have continued if not for your dedication, so hope you have a great N.Y as one true decent and selfless person on here.
Re your post suggesting someone is more positive this year in the comp is a bit rich, (excuse none intended pun) coming from you, who, unless you use a pseudonym, has, to the best of my knowledge, not even bothered to enter such.
I understand fully that the upper classes aren't supposed to show publicly any weakness, failure or dare admit they are ever wrong, and for you to enter a comp, should the unthinkable occur, and you were wrong, then the shame bought upon yourself, would reflect badly on not only your family, but your intelligence and education, so to you, never worth the public humiliation.
Whereas most others don't 'care' about making mistakes, but then our school days, and / or parents wanted us to have normal, if perhaps excepting and more basic life for us all.
Our only problem is ' We have never been 'Rich but miserable', to be able to fully appreciate being 'Poor but happy'
Feel you take it all too seriously, but the Christmas edition of the Good Life, likely sums it up for you, when the Posh Margo says " It's not that I don't want to have 'fun' and be silly, I just don't know how"
Anyway Happy New year, I feel you are not a bad person, just had an unusual life, but many out here have as well in varying forms, hence all so wonderfully different.
So Happy NY to the entire board contributors and lets enjoy our differences.
Intoodeep99
Re my comment "i own a small amount of pm's, but say i took ten grands worth, ground it into dust, spread it over acres and different depths, few would give me £100 if i provided them a licence to extract millions of tons of strata to 'find' the pm.".
You misunderstood my not very well worded point. I wasn't hinting at any fraud by that statement.
What I was saying was it is easy to calculate a mines 'worth' by multiplying the perceived 'productive' area in acres by the amount of Gold etc, from an average of the samples taken, and then shout the spot price of the metals concerned.
There is a vast difference of spot price of refined PM's to having those PM's buried and scattered far and wide, as often the cost of extraction makes many a project uneconomically viable.
I was not suggesting the soil had been seeded, but explaining that the value of a Gold Britannia is around £1600, yet if I ground it into dust or fine particles, then buried it at varying depths over many acres 'then' how much would anyone 'give me' to have permission to find, extract that certain oz of pure gold out there.
Merely suggesting that the 'early bird' ie early investors take max risk with aim, but sadly that does not necessarily mean max profit, as I and likely many others could have bought NOW at much lower levels than we did, and to 'suggest' it is merely because we only need to wait a couple of weeks, is, to me, not convincing, as most of us know that gaining the cash if it comes won't be the end of it, as until money is earnt, then it is just being spent, accruing debt not profit.
Oft times better to get in later but too late for me, and no doubt many others, just that few like to hear or think they may have been wrong.
I would love to be proven just that, but it won't be words that do it, it will be a steadily growing share price, and that, so far, is elusive.
Good luck all, and do think for yourselves, and understand that where easy money can be taken legally from you, then there will be plenty of those who will continue to do so, NOT saying that is the case here but you can never be 100% sure of anything.
always swore i would never 'invest' or perhaps a better choice of word would be 'gamble' on another aim share after having seen so many 'no brainers' eventually collapse.
yet this seems good, and despite my doubts that a mine in the states, which was known about there , if so great, would not have been purchased and run by those in that land, with more knowledge, contacts understanding the laws, h and s etc and likely more money, the directors we have, having what seemed to be a fair sum of skin in the game convinced me to 'gamble again'.
i can only hope that the sum of 'skin' that they donated, is not just a 'sprat to catch a mackerel' and that that sum is chump change if they are drawing huge salaries at shareholders expenses.
aim seems to always have a hard core of very knowledgeable, positive investors, keeping the faith and buyers and current holders holding when times get bad and understandably everyone invested likes positivity so are always well received, until it goes pear shaped.
few doubt tons of pm's are there, but *** packet calcs, rarely account for the massive cost of extraction, h and s in such a land, high wages, etc.
i own a small amount of pm's, but say i took ten grands worth, ground it into dust, spread it over acres and different depths, few would give me £100 if i provided them a licence to extract millions of tons of strata to 'find' the pm.
so luckily only bought a small sum here, and as stated back when i purchased had misgivings as early punters unless very soon informed take on all the risk with no rewards and as each 'stage' is met, the good news spike, is oft brief, as then the next stage comes forward. so sadly investing early is no certainty of gaining 'more', i only say this as i would hate others to invest or gamble too much on slim facts, bolstered by hype and hope. i wish you all well for next year, and feel comfortable not being over exposed, but, those who are, 'may' have the last laugh, but thats not investing but gambling imo.
Perhaps we best turn our central heating up a couple more notches and remove the particulate filter from our diesels and try to raise not cut the worlds temperatures so more of the ice caps melt to help refill the Suez Canal.
I have been freezing for nothing it seems and paying to have my filter cleaned to save a Polar Bear, now my African runner beans will be all soggy time they get here.
Can't win, yet ought to know that being a long term holder of this disgusting lowly share.
Even double digit inflation which has forced EVERYTHING else up, has failed to effect the share price here, as buybacks failed to achieve too.
I KNOW the 'market' places the value on Lloyds Lti, BUT the market places that value on what future it sees in a share, and inflation makes thing dearer not because they are 'better' but because the money any such items are priced in buys less, so as neither has moved this anything like it ought, it is for a good reason that the market knows it's going nowhere fast, and knows the decent profits will be taken, used, long before we receive the lowly sum falling our way.
Whilst careful injections of huge amounts of money may halve your break even, the dim market view on Lloyds and double digit inflation, along with years of normal inflation has very likely created a situation that you still are no better off with the 'buying power' of your investment than you were years ago.
Sadly when Labour get in, this will tank, as will the UK economy, after the initial lift from a squandering party spending more borrowed cash.
Whilst the corks pop for some, lth's unless they have averaged down, eg thrown very much more money into a share they were losing on, this imo, is still a dire share.
Truly lost count of the years, but 15 I guess, and it is still 11p down on my purchased average from all that time ago.
Whilst those choosing not to admit any loss may comfort themselves with ' My div's reduce my average' that is not strictly true, for IF the capital tied up in Lloyds had been in other shares or even good bank account the level of dividends, averaged out over the years for lth's, that it paid nothing, they would not amount to a good yield.
So, I see it differently, and am correct.
Re: " the conflict in Ukraine which now appears to be decidedly in Putins favour", NOW whoever would have thought that some rebels could EVER have won against a superpower?
I said at the time, it would have been 'kinder' instead of wasting billions on aid and weapons etc, to have just sent large white flags, for their was and will not be a chance of beating Russia in a war so close to them.
They may have 'given up' as the USA did in 'nam' but then because the gain was not worth the prolonged war, with Ukraine, Russia has to win and come down hard, or the EU then Nato will otherwise surely follow.
Our newest 'besties' who few had ever heard of, were sadly doomed to failure but has been a way for the West to test out some of it's weaponry if nothing else.
Seems everyone loves the underdog, aided and abetted by our wonderfully biased media.
We are still with Lloyds holding a share, where inflation has eroded much of it's value, so even when you think you are at 'break even' try buying what your thousands WOULD have bought you when you first invested in Lloyds, and see what size house, car, holiday or amount of buns you can now buy instead of then.
I am just like the old game show, 'say what you see'.
I see the longer term shareholders who had the option to buy more shares way back via the generous price then thought to be good, would have been far better off waiting.
I see a small British company discovering a know old mine in the richest, most hi-tech nation on Earth, who apparently have 'ignored' this no brainer themselves for some reason.
But most of all I have seen a handful of eloquent investors talk this up, but I have failed to see EVER a flood of investors piling in as is the norm on aim shares.
That surely is not just a concern to me, or are too many of the masses admiring the Emperor's new clothes, afraid to even contemplate he was naked?
Not overly worried as invested only a small amount, but so far, despite everything pointing to the contrary, the lack of investors in a share listed here and over the pond is to me, a real cause of concern IF this is all about funding and that funding is sooo close.
Can't help wondering if either the terms won't be favourable to early investors, or much will be farmed out to avoid dilution but will supress the share price.
Despite being a safe stable country to mine in, it is also highly health and safety costly, litigation costly, and can't see them doing any favours for a minnow foreign owned consortium
Still only a while to wait for the first of many hurdles to leap, or break at least one leg on.
So, whilst plenty of hopefuls on here, or at least the usual four or five, the world wide investing fraternity have today made 64 trades.
Now with the world desperate for easy money, a no brainer three bagger share, one would have thought more would have jumped in to times their investment by at least a multiple of 3, for a mere two weeks or less wait.
Seems odd to me. Or is that low arm on the radar still only functioning on this bb?
Cont. .... in a home anyway, their children were in education anyway and all were patients of the NHS health and dental services too. But the newcomers replacing their immoral cheap labour, needed all the above, so adding to the costs for the nation.
So it would be far far better, cheaper to allow those on the dole to have the ability to work in seasonal jobs, such a extra staffing in Summer seasons, or Christmas time in pubs, cafe's, etc so long as the work was for no more than three months of any given year, than it would to import a family with one or if lucky two working but then adding to housing woes and all the drains of our infrastructure.
I feel the largest mistake the Tories made was to assume that after being pressed into giving the British public a vote due to the popularity of the then UKIP party, on staying or leaving the EU, that the Tories 'assumed' the British would be voting the way they 'wanted' ie to remain, by using project fear to attain such.
As that clearly failed, now they have to ensure that much of the project fear mantra does actually become reality.
Make no mistake much of the public voted for Brexit as they were sick of the massive amounts of immigrants having a 'right' to come here. So now the Government do little or nothing to prevent the illegals, thus attempting to make such anti immigration EU leave voters stance look impotent.
As we see on here and everywhere, any debate has been all but silenced on such issues unless the word 'illegal' is the prefix. But the massive silent majority will still support Mr Farage if he has any means of ending, slowing or returning those who only benefit landlords, lawyers fighting their cause, and a few farmers bleating on any BBC debate about such that crops need picking.
But these few people who do gain by having cheap labour, forget to add that the rest of us pay dearly for their gains, as a home has to be eventually provided for each family, and at massive cost, both fiscally and environmentally in our overcrowded country.
With the massive and more importantly to remember a 'NEVER ENDING' amount of such people arriving, it is clear that eventually a halt will need to be made or turn our country into what they proport to be escaping from, poverty, crime and overcrowding with a failing infrastructure, which, ironically is made worse by the sheer numbers demanding housing, treatment, maternity care, housing, education, and more demand on energy, water, sewage, land fill, traffic and often our courts and prisons too.
Sure as our population ages, then workers may well be needed, but work visas are needed NOT importing the rest of the third world here. for immigrants will age, then what? import the rest of Africa?
With AI, more machinery less physical workers and higher level jobs will be needed here, and the amount of arrivals and our own people will eventually be able to fill such roles.
It would be better for the nation for the Gov to give interest free loans to businesses to fund buying the latest hi tech equipment to do many jobs in agriculture than allow a farmer to pay min wage, but then have to pay universal credits to his/her family, child allowance for each child, free or cheap rent and council tax, costly education and dental care and NHS treatment for the entire family.
Years my family had connections to a farm whereby the farmer would pay cash in hand to locals to pick veg and fruit. So those on the dole, would earn a bit more, likely spend much in local shops or the pub, and as seasonal say nothing about it to the DHSS. Far cheaper than imms, for our lot were kept and in a h
IMO the Conservatives have no interest in winning the election for they know the massive mess the country, and much of the world is now in.
As they have been in power for so long, they know it is hard to blame anyone else for the issues, and the public won't settle now for 'its due to Covid, or, it because of the Ukrainian or Middle East conflict'
So imo they will allow Labour to ride to victory, knowing that Labour will totally ruin the UK's economy.
The plan, imo, being that as few top Politicians wanted the UK to leave the EU,, nor even the then POTUS, and other leading world heads of state, hence the intense project fear, which failed, they had no choice, despite T.May trying to do a weak leave, but to get the UK out, to keep the illusion of the UK being a fully democratic country
So the ONLY way they can keep on the EU gravy train, is to allow the Labour party to fully ruin the UK economy, then after years of real austerity, and a vote on No Confidence in the Labour party, ride to the rescue BUT with more close ties and deals with the EU, very much resembling how it was, but to keep democracy alive, not actually re-join in name.
So they get what they wanted, and can then blame Labour fully for the dire state of the country, which is impossible for them to do now.
God help Lloyds share price when sadly Labour get in, only thing we can do is invest in the second hand dingy market, selling them back to France as, unlike many problems the UK has faced, time will only ever make this worse, as the arrivals are infinite, breeding faster than countries can ever take them, that is why their homelands are always overcrowded, crime ridden and impoverished, imo it is NOT coincidence since mass arrivals much of those issues have increased here too.
This begs the question, which I already asked, but no one on here could or did answer as to WHY the larger banks can't or won't pay the leading or near leading rate to keep investors cash coming in, or at least, not going elsewhere?
As many smaller banks and B/S pay far more, BUT use the large name high street banks to get the money paid in to these smaller banks, and to pay out money to when the bond, or interest is paid, does the larger banks not 'charge' these otherwise parasitic banks or B/S for this service?
Surely a larger bank can pay as much, if not more, than smaller banks with the expertise in handling money?
As now with interest rates far higher, they could offer just a little less and most would not 'bother' to move their cash for tenths of percents, but when you can get double elsewhere then people will do so, have done so and will continue to do so.
If paying good rates on savings any future mortgage seeker is far more likely to stick with the bank that has given them good service too.
This share is dire, and despite paper percentage returns unless trading, most are getting poorer by long term holding as inflation takes away far more than the div, let along the ever diminishing share price.
Wait until Labour get in and tax isa's, the stock market for the smaller masses won't be worth investing in, so who then will buy the large institutions cast offs when wanting to unload being first to know what new draconian measures for banks are about to hit.
You can be sure that the wise will have got out of LLoyds hence drop, knowing what is going to happen when we 'announce' results later. Yet many 'think' those getting out are fools, and buy in their cast offs, seemingly cheaply, until they aren't on our results day.
Yes I am still fully invested after around 15 years, and have lost a third of that income if I were to sell, and the pitiful dividend yield on the price I paid will never make up for that, so naturally, unlike others more wise, more brave or more lucky who have cleverly traded this, I have rather a low opinion of this share and UK banking generally.
The UK is just a magnet for our own, and now the world's impoverished flotsam to rapidly add to our demise.
As I have stated on here, the world never wanted us to vote for Brexit, and our politicians didn't, hence project fear, which never worked PRE the vote, so now the only thing they can do is to ensure all they stated does occur, and the Tories will 'allow' Labour to get in, fully trash the economy, then ride to 'our' rescue but ONLY with far closer ties to the EU, which the broken British majority will then agree too.
As imo, Brexit is bigger than any politcal party, so the Tories will lose as a 'tactical' move to gain what they wanted in the first place.
Did you think us plebs would 'get' what we wanted, when all else including the then President of the US was against such?
Think again.
Those reading Barc's results as stated on brokers views posted on here, KNOW that margin rates have peaked, and going forwards profits via such will diminish.
As stated Mortgage take up is falling, as is people moving out cash as I and no doubt many have from large banks paying trifling sums to other banks paying double.
Always puzzles me how the large banks cannot compete with smaller banks, who 'use' the larger banks to take payments from and to return the earned capital too.
Do these smaller banks not have to pay a fee for 'using' the larger banks as linked accounts?
Still Meerkats comp going my way. Whoever would have thought so? ME.