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US inflation figures much better than expected - good rebound now!!!

This could be the big game changer - takes pressure off the FED to raise interest rates by 0.75% again in December.

Pokerchips
I don't see it as a fake reality, sure things are tough, and prices are rising but the media is painting a far more pessimistic picture than is actually the case and we don't need advertising to enforce that view.

M&S customers are probably tightening their belts are are more cautious about spending, but they still want to have a good Christmas and to be told that austerity is the order of the day is not what they want to hear.

Looking at the John Lewis advert it tells the viewer nothing about John Lewis this Christmas.

The BBC are reporting that retailers have muted down their TV advertising this Christmas because of the cost-of-living crisis.

I am pleased to see that M&S are not following this trend and are concentrating on selling product.

The idea that the viewing public want misery and pathos rammed into them at Christmas seems very wide of the mark.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-63544312
M&S
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2jMCyfnvmA
John Lewis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1z0jfP2gCIs

Ocado Retail is just entering another phase in its development - it's important to realise that what you see now is by far the finished article.

Since it started trading the problem has always been capacity, especially during the pandemic- it takes a long time to build and commission new Customer Fulfillment Centres.

The good news is that capacity has now been ramped up substantially, to the point where there is currently overcapacity.

The new management at Ocado Retail have the job of filling this capacity.
They have a weapon that Ocado Retail haven't needed to use before - competitive pricing.

Their first move will be to launch the M&S Remarksable range on Ocado - it hasn't been listed yet - and to revamp the website.

https://www.marksandspencer.com/c/food-to-order/not-just-any-food/food-news/remarksable

Keep an eye on US inflation figures due out at 13.30 - could make an enormous difference to the market and oil price if they show a dip - FED's medicine may be working???

" the risks are already in the price "

The risks with regard to MKS are mainly economy related rather than specific to MKS.

Therefore, holding or buying the stock is mainly a judgement on when you think the economy will recover, remembering that share prices will probably recover way in advance of the domestic economy.

The best gauge of recovery at the moment is the inflation numbers - hence the interest in the US data on Thursday.

Like the rest of us, M&S is currently in limbo-land.
So, I guess vagueness is the order of the day, however, I think this snippet gives an indication of their intent.

"The Group enters this period of uncertainty with a significantly improved balance sheet position, with very low refinancing requirements following several years of debt reduction. However, given the macro-outlook the board will defer consideration of capital allocation policy and options for reinstating capital returns to shareholders until nearer the year end."

Yes, the Police Officer was injured when two lorries collided on the M25 in Essex - the police were creating a rolling roadblock due to the demonstrators.

I fully agree with romaron - must be a first.
These idiots from Juststopoil are back on the M25 this morning causing even more chaos than the last two days. If I was traveling on the M25 I am not sure, that I wouldn't take the law into my own hands.
They are totally alienating the public and have effectively stopped all rational debate on climate change, whatever your point of view.
There actions are completely unacceptable, and the full force of the law should be used against them, regardless of the right to demonstrate.

I think that the SP will continue to edge up over the coming months, but it doesn't look like we are going to see much reaction today.
All eyes are on the US election and more particularly the US inflation figures due out Thursday lunchtime - any fall in US inflation will be interpreted that the FED's medicine is starting to work and interest rate rises could moderate as a result.

Apart from the dent in profits, all positive, with plenty of scope for growth and a return to full profitability with a dividend for shareholders as soon as the wider economy improves.
MKS remains a firm hold and a strong buy for long term investors.

I think the current volatility is also the shorts, who now seem to be reducing.
There actions should continue to propel the SP up for quite a while, especially if the market in general continues to recover.

Currently the headline shorts - above 0.5% - are recorded at 4.49% on Short Tracker.
Euroclear recorded the total stock out on loan at the end of October at 15.05%.

Problems at John Lewis could be very relevant.

The last set of results from Ocado Retail showed a fall in individual customer spend, but with sales supported by an increase in the number of customers.

If John Lewis is leaching customers, they are most likely to move their loyalty to M&S.

Therefore, we may find the same patten in M&S, although customers are spending less, there are more customers - just how much difference this makes remains to be seen.

Picking up customers is vital for M&S and Ocado Retail - when the economy improves, and customer spend recovers, sales will rise dramatically.

Yes, I think that's very likely.
We may have to wait until the year end, but I think it's likely that we will get confirmation regarding paying out a dividend in 2022-3.

Clearly John Lewis and particularly its supermarket chain Waitrose is a business going backwards - very dangerous for any business big or small.
Waitrose have lost market share this year falling from 5.1% in January to 4.5% in October.
Their problems seem to be caused by poor leadership.
it's painful to watch.

M&S on the other hand is being managed more like a growth company, saving what was good from the past and nurturing it but also cutting out the unprofitable.

Maybe more like 5 or 6x but it's so variable that the figure becomes meaningless unless its averaged out over a period of years and that isn't possible because wind power hasn't been around long enough.

To me it just reinforces the case that we need to produce energy from multiple sources - carbon and renewables - any business that produces energy from the North Sea should be allowed and able to produce energy profitably.

romaron
"Renewables 9X cheaper than fossil fuels"
Certainly, its misleading, because it is being used by fools like Miliband out of context.

The original calculation is correct, but it ONLY refers to generation costs - as can be seen in the original article.
https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-record-low-price-for-uk-offshore-wind-is-four-times-cheaper-than-gas/

I guess it's inevitable in a bear market that the large fund holders will sell their AIM holdings and just concentrate on their core holdings.
Liontrust Equity B Acc for example list Shell, Astra Zenica, Nat West and Unilever as their top four holdings.

https://www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/funds/snapshot/snapshot.aspx?id=F0GBR053Y9&tab=3

Big rises are generally down to a complete change in sentiment - that effect should never be underestimated.