Member Info for fleccy

"I noticed that one of my savings accounts has gone from 0.60 to 0.80 is that increase 33% or 25% and why "if" so much, does BOE 0.25% equate to 25%"

I'm surprised you have a bank account with a 0.8% interest rate. Disregarding that, an increase from 0.5% to 0.75% equates to a 50% increase in interest, whereas an increase from 0.6% to 0.8% equates to just over 33% in interest.

Jusr to add, Nato will be monitoring every inch of Airspace across the Polish Ukraine border, as well as a significant area of Ukraine. Any missile, or aircraft approcaching Poland, will either be shot down, or be responded to in short order should it make it through Polish Air Defences, imo.

"Reading article 5, a military response is not necessarily the first action, it says take action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force."

I would expect they'll launch a limited attack on the airfield the plane came from, in the case of an isolated attack. They'll probably use missiles for the response. I don't see how Nato would have any choice, but to respond.

"Trump was a solid no nonsense leader, unlike Biden s weak leadership."

I used to like Trump, as he spoke his mind, but some of his recent Putin admiring comments, has changed my view. Ukraine was a progressive country, with a clear path to improving the lives of its population, Putin is reducing it to rubble. How can anyone support a thug and a vandal?

"What do NATO do in that situ?"

The only thing they can do under article 5, respond. An attack on one member is an attack on all members.

What happens when wounded Russian soldiers return to their families, or mothers ask where's my Son? You can only control the narrative for so long before the truth filters through, and the grapevine starts to chatter ever more loudly. I believe Russian state media are already straying from the state narrative, does this signal the end of Putin?

"I think once Kiev has fallen then a cease fire will follow."

What makes you think that?
A capital doesn't make a country, and I suspect Ukraine has plans in place to deal with a defeat of Kyiv. The Russians are fighting a fools war, where Ukraine will just keep fighting from the West as Russia gains territory to the East and centre. Weapons will pour across the border from Poland, etc, and the Russians will find themselves fighting a full on war to the front and a having to deal with a Guerilla insurgency to their rear and flank. Russia will pay a massive price for invading Ukraine, and will do for years to come.
I've no doubt the Ukraine Government have an escape plan, to move Government fron Kyiv to Lviv at some critical point. Russia's only hope is to find a way out of Ukraine, saving face as much as possible. I didn't think Putin would invade Ukraine, because this current situation was obvious, and the Ukraine's are showing a willingness to fight to the death.

It's just Psychological warfare, Putin will say whatever sows confusion, you can't believe anything he says.

" Russian President Putin says there are certain positive shifts in talks with Ukraine - sparking significant risk-on"

Like he said his troops were on a training exercise, and the West were being paranoid about an imminent invasion. Iwouldn't believe a word Putin says, actions speak louder than words.

"I'm no expert so what are others thoughts ?"

None of us are experts on here, especially me, but I do have an opinion. I only ever invest in dividend paying shares, because I still have a good chance of receiving income even if a War breaks out. The dividends can be used as income, or you could top up your holding at lower prices while the downturn continues. By re-investing your dividends, you're actually growing your shareholding, which could be seen as growth, and when the the share price eventually recovers you reap the reward. Daniel said the share price drops by the value of the payout, which it does on ex dividend day, but more often than not the price recovers at some point afterward.

"some will win through..some wont... but I think it would be a mistake to be too generalised on the demise of "growth" sector"

It's no good being innovative, if you don't make a profit. Many of the startups are just a rebadged as Tech, when similar offerings have been about for years. A good example is WeWork, where Billions has been invested into the business, but Regus have been offering similar for over 30 years. I really don't understand how starting up a business, putting it into the "Tech" box, and with sleight of hand presenting it as something new. Fintech is another con, in my opinion, we're lead to believe that their innovation will allow them to overtake the big banking institutions, but that ignores the fact that Big Banks are also investing in new "Fintech" of their own, with legislation and banking regs probably restricting the growth of new starters anyway. I've just thought of these examples off the top of my head, but I'm pretty sure I could find loads of examples if I chose to do the research.

"In fact if the current narrative is definitely value, then I exclusively hunt for growth as there you will find the bargains."

You'd have to look hard, and even then there'd be significant risks. You could go into stocks that might be attractive for takeover by the likes of Facebook, Google, or others. Even the Tech Giants are hurtling toward regulatory brick walls, with regulators Worldwice eyeing their monopoly status. If you want an example of what happens when the regulators decide to full throttle, look at Ofcom's treatment of BT. It's only a matter of time before the regulators break up the Tech Giants imo, maybe in the not too distant future.

I've just posted to Porsche in the BT forum, but re-posting here as relevant.

"Porsche, I see you're actively pushing your buy Growth, over Value Dividend stocks, narrative. Clearly the World is changing, with inflationary pressures leading to interest rate rises, and the "Growth" gravy train is hurtling toward a break in the tracks. Many of the so called growth stocks, with no forward earning potential, will derail and tumble to destruction, while many others will be badly damaged. Of course this my opinion, as your opinion is yours, but it stands to reason that the market whispers are changing, with the ever louder rhetoric indicating a rotation into value."

Porsche, I see you're actively pushing your buy Growth, over Value Dividend stocks, narrative. Clearly the World is changing, with inflationary pressures leading to interest rate rises, and the "Growth" gravy train is hurtling toward a break in the tracks. Many of the so called growth stocks, with no forward earning potential, will derail and tumble to destruction, while many others will be badly damaged. Of course this my opinion, as your opinion is yours, but it stands to reason that the market whispers are changing, with the ever louder rhetoric indicating a rotation into value.

"Every Vod shop I walk past in Europe is empty."

So how many have you walked past? I can smell BS.

It punishes autocracy, no single person should have absolute authority over their people.

"Some (Asian) surveys have ranked North Korean happiness as high as 2nd in the world. Human happiness is relative. If you know little or nothing about the outside world, you will be happy with your lot. If you have just a little bit more than your neighbour (same street), you will be happy."

If everyone's so happy over there, why do they people regularly risk their lives to escape the country?

"Many North Koreans escape their harsh lives in the DPRK, where poverty and famine are widespread and human rights violations by the authorities are routine. About 300,000 North Koreans have escaped and moved to various countries worldwide since the end of the conflict on the Korean peninsula in 1953 and about 30,000 settled in South Korea."

https://theconversation.com/the-north-korean-who-went-home-many-defectors-struggle-against-discrimination-in-the-south-174366#:~:text=About%20300%2C000%20North%20Koreans%20have,30%20in%20the%20past%20decade.

"Countries always find a workaround. They are (very) determined -- whether we like it or not."

skier1, you should move to North Korea then if it's so good over there. Are Horth Korea's general population happier than people in South Korea? Do they have the same standard of living as people in South Korea? Would you like to live in an authoritarian regime? The people of North Korea are extremely deprived compared to South Korea, so I'd say sanctions do work, since the only way power is maintained is through subjugation.

"Hopefully you'll get your head from underwater with BT soon, long loved divis are not making up your paperloss in the meantime, may improve your mood a little when level."

A paper loss doesn't bother me in the slightest, we were down a lot more on paper during covid. I've built a real time dashboard, charting our gains and losses every minute, as well as displaying a historical chart logging gains/losses from the daily closing prices. On the 11th Feb, across all stocks, and accounts, we were up nearly £8000, at yesterdays close we were down £70,130.38 in total, today were down £54,074.80 in total. We're only topping up ISA's these days, with the plan from April to top up the ISA's from savings, and selling the same value of holdings in the share dealing account, when the price climbs above the buy price of the associated ISA trades, a delayed Bed & ISA. I actually want prices to stay low until at least April 6th, so I'm hoping the current recovery loses steam, and prices drop further going into April. A paper loss is just a state of mind, things only become real when a paper loss transforms into a capital loss. I don't dwell on missed opportunities, and I don't mind turning price drops into buying opprtunities. The divi's are currently subsidising the capital top ups, but from next year we are ceasing capital top ups and just taking all dividends as income, with any future trades as part of the Bed & ISA strategy.

If you read the Cityam article, the content is more balanced than the misleading headline suggests. Mergers reducing the number of providers, is good for all players, so I'd argue this enhances Vodafone, rather than adding woes. Vodafone has been receiving the same treatment as BT, there may be some big players building stakes on the quiet.