Member Info for fleccy

Poker I can't deny Vodafone have made some dubious purchases, but they've done that going all the way back to the Mannesmann purchase in 2000. India hasn't gone well due to the Indian Government/Regulators, rather than Vodafone management. The German Liberty Global assets are a purchase I didn't understand, I believe Liberty sold those assets because they saw the regulatory changes on the horizon and the fact that industry is moving away from DOCSIS/HFC to FTTP; That said I don't have the visibility of the business that Vodafone has, so they may see something I don't.

Vodafone Group is run like a hedge fund holding Telecom assets, over the years they've shown themselves to be ruthless in the way they run their business, dispensing with assets as required. I've seen the way Vodafone works when it comes to deals, since I was working for CWW when Vodafone took us over, which in my opinion they bought at a ridiculously low price aided by the CWW BOD through a Scheme of Arrangement deal. Once they took over CWW, they quickly ended the Final Salary scheme and split some parts of the business into UK and other parts into Group to suit their plan.

It was back then I first invested in Vodafone and did well as a result of the Verizon Wireless deal, at which point I traded out jumping back in around 150p a long time afterward, of course I never imagined that the price would drop this low at the time. I'm quite confident I'll profit from my Vodafone investments at some point, I'll wait until then.

Jax we're still awaiting your assessment of Vodafone's Financials, suggesting they'll go bust?

You seem to go quiet when asked to back up your assertions with facts.

Abject, are you saying you've got tiny balls?

Jax said Vodafone is going bust on more than one occasion, I'd like to ask him what that view is based on? The decline in the share price is irrelevant to the viability of the company, and the interest on the debt is more than manageable at around €1 Billion; As long as they have enough cash to cover bond repayments at maturity, they wouldn't necessarily need to borrow more should they choose not to. The dividend payouts could be stopped or reduced if required, and used to support debt repayments or capex, so come on Jax tell us what evidence do you have that Vodafone will go bust? We're dying to know what we don't already.

Things appear to be moving in Italy.

https://www.lse.co.uk/news/VOD/iliad-wants-to-finalise-jv-proposal-for-vodafone-italy-by-end-january-sources-d5mdle8ob1nw1be.html

Dan I'm no physicist, but I do understand what a metaphor is. I'm not sure why you choose to have a go when I'm pointing out that a paper loss isn't a capital loss, it's just a missed opportunity. When I made my recent £20,000 Vodafone purchase I knew that the price may dip into the 60's, but I decided to take the chance anyway. I don't agonise about the fact I could have got in cheaper, because I was happy with the price I paid and believe that my Vodafone investment will eventually come good. One of the reasons I pick companies like Vodafone is due to the assets held by the company, which are attractive and have real value. I'm as confident as I can be that VOD wont go bust and that any takeover, should it happen, would exceed my average cost per share currently standing at 127p, it was 146p before my last top up; Should I decide to reinvest every single dividend between now and the end of the next Financial Year, into Vodafone, then I'll drop the average down to 109p, I'm not saying I'll definitely do that but it's an option that has crossed my mind. I don't think I'm "away with the fairies", I invest knowing prices could go down so I deal with it by reinvesting the dividends to achieve portfolio growth by other means.

It takes one to know one Gary.

LTI's correct in his view that this is cheap, personally I believe it's subject to market gaming; No balls of steel required to hold a stock that's sure to go up in the future. I would liken holding shares to a phenomenon in Quantum Physics called Superposition, where a particle is in many possible states until observed and its state then becomes fixed, look up Schrodinger's cat. In the case of shares your capital gain, or loss, is unrealised (in superposition) until you sell (observed). Personally I'll hold until I'm in profit, since I view Vodafone as a safe long term investment. No doubt when Rolls Royce dropped to around 39p, investors sitting on losses were harassed by gamers like you Jax, but the ones that held on are now reaping rewards should they choose to sell around the current price, like I said Profit and loss isn't real until you sell.

Haha, maybe I should get a checkup, correction:

"Apparently pathological taunting is a possible symptom of" Vascular Dementia," maybe they should get themselves checked out".

In some respects it's quite funny how these intermittent detractors only pop up when the price is dropping and your see nothing from them when the price goes up.

Apparently pathological taunting is a possible symptom of Pathological taunting, maybe they should get themselves checked out.

"Although there is no scientific literature specifically addressing taunting behavior in dementia, it is likely that it is

common and that it represents a manifestation of the more general behavioral disinhibition seen in patients with frontal or subcortical deficits (e.g., in vascular dementia)."

https://agsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1532-5415.2011.03378.x

We should feel sorry for them.

More Quantum secure products:

"Arqit, BT, and Fortinet Launch Quantum-Safe VPN to Protect Against Evolving Cyberthreats"

"The "store-now, decrypt-later" approach employed by nation-states and cyber adversaries – stockpiling encrypted data to crack it open with the advent of quantum computing – presents a significant risk to today's data and communications infrastructures. As cyberthreats evolve and become increasingly sophisticated, organisations worldwide need to ensure they can defend their data and communications against both existing and upcoming threats.

With the new joint quantum-safe VPN solution, BT customers will be able to benefit from the integration of Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFWs), powered with Arqit's NetworkSecure™ Fortinet adaptors and Arqit’s Symmetric Key Agreement Platform, a breakthrough in cyber defence designed to protect against the looming threats posed by quantum computers.

The solution provides quantum-safe symmetric keys that can be created and rotated on-demand to encrypt and protect sensitive data between point-to-point VPN links. In addition to providing protection against future quantum threats, it also delivers enhanced security against today’s man-in-the-middle attacks. General availability for this joint solution is initially for customers in the UK and EU regions."

https://www.fortinet.com/corporate/about-us/newsroom/press-releases/2023/arqit-bt-fortinet-launch-quantum-safe-vpn-to-protect-against-cyberthreats#:~:text=With%20the%20new%20joint%20quantum,defence%20designed%20to%20protect%20against

"BT Group has been granted a patent for a method of performing Quantum Key Distribution (QKD). The method involves transmitting photons from a quantum transmitter to a quantum receiver in different basis states, with the transmitter and receiver connected by multiple optical channels. This technology could enhance the security of communication networks by enabling the secure exchange of encryption keys."

https://www.verdict.co.uk/bt-group-gets-grant-for-method-of-performing-quantum-key-distribution-using-non-orthogonal-basis-states/

"A photon is an elementary particle that is a quantum of the electromagnetic field, including electromagnetic radiation such as light and radio waves"

I'm guessing this may also be useful for securing Mobile connections as well as Fibre systems, nobody wants their driverless car being taken over, or bad actors targeting/intercepting things like traffic control or other important systems.

Jax, why the constant commentary pointing out what everyone can see, is there something wrong with you? Do we need to call a Doctor?

At the operational level there aren't any national security issues, since teams working on sensitive sites, data and circuits will be vetted to a higher level than the rank and file Engineers. Three can already bid for commercial contracts so I don't think the Government would have an issue there. The only way this merger might have national security implications is if the ex Three directors, on the new BOD, had access to contractual information relating to security related contracts, but sensitive information could be ringfenced to members of the BOD vetted to a higher level. I don't believe a Vodafone/Three merger would have national security implications that aren't easily resolved. Competition concerns are the only real issue that might scupper the deal, national security concerns feel more like an attempt at presenting further obstacles, or distractions.

It wasn't an ordinary trade, it was Off Book at 66.8p. I don't know why some sites show Off-Book/Exchange as ordinary trades.

SIDI, if this is a dead cat bounce for Vodafone you could say the same about B&M. Personally I view retail as more risky than Telecoms, especially when it comes to the bargain basement retailers.

SIDI, you should look up the meaning of a dead cat bounce: Good for traders, not so good for long term investors.

What the Rolls Royce story does highlight is the market's hatred of dividends, since they blackmailed RR to drop the dividends as a condition of supplying loans.

Here are some of the articles around the RR drop to 39p in October 2020:

"Rolls-Royce shares hit 17-year low after it reveals £2bn cash-call"

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/oct/01/troubled-rolls-royce-reveals-2bn-cash-call

"Coronavirus: Rolls-Royce to raise billions in Covid-lifeline"

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-54367717

Then in October 2022 when it was around 70p:

"All in, the leaner organisation has shown signs of strength. Two years ago, the group saw £4bn of cash walk out the door, last year that fell to £1.5bn and at the half year mark it was in touching distance of break even. Barring any significant disruptions, the group is on track to be free cash flow positive this year. This should help debt make its way lower and would go a long way in restoring our faith in Rolls' ability to stand on its own two feet."

"Rolls is also barred from paying dividends until at least 2023 as part of its loan terms. Even without that red tape, the group couldn't pay a dividend because it's sporting a negative equity position - meaning liabilities outweigh assets."

https://www.hl.co.uk/shares/share-research/202211/rolls-royce-on-track-for-full-year

So RR weren't even allowed to pay a dividend until this year, Vodafone hasn't had loan constraints on condition of stopping dividends. I'm not saying RR are a bad company, they are a very good business but they are treated differently to Telecom sector companies and that is reflected in the current P/E. It's all about the narrative, with the market writing the scripts to suit their own vested interests; At some point they'll have to change the narrative around Telecom stocks, since the World is now as dependent on Communications as it is on electricity.

87,329 here Abject.