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With many people continuing to work from home, I would imagine the last thing these people would want to do is stay at home and watch the TV. They can't wait to get out the house and have an evening out I would imagine. We could see a boom in the social scene going forwards - especially pubs, restaurants, cinema and nightclubs. People are sick of being house bound.

Apart from the "get ready for a top up at 80p" bit, Chris's post is actually factual. Thanks to the incompetence of this government, cases of the Indian variant (which this government allowed into the country) are now rising fast. On top of that we hear today a new Thai variant has also been discovered in the UK and that cases are on the rise. The further easing of restrictions on June 21st is officially looking in doubt and Johnson's entire "cautious but irreversible roadmap out of lockdown" is increasingly looking like the load of disingenuous ****** we all suspected it was. Texas, on the other hand, declared an official end to the pandemic some time ago: no masks, no requirement to socially distance, life has gone back to 100% normality and guess what, people aren't dropping like flies, covid is barely mentioned any more and Texas is once again booming. There is no reason why we can't be like Texas and call an end to this. Instead we have a government that seems determined to keep project fear going with the threat of further lockdowns and restrictions never too far away. It's this ongoing uncertainty that's causing all the jitters - businesses don't know if they're coming or going - planning ahead is nigh on impossible.

A few really big buys today

Social distancing is expected to be axed June 21st and the Indian variant is no longer considered as problematic as first thought. Vaccine uptake is going extremely well and a recent trial of unmasked party goers at a packed out scientifically monitered venue who were not required to socially distance went extremely well with only a tiny handful (15) testing positive out of the many hundreds who attended. Life should be getting back to (close to) normality soon. With more people out and about, and assuming social distancing does indeed get axed in June, the public transport sector should see a decent boost in passenger numbers and revenue soon. The founders reducing their holdings is not really a concern as its gradual over the next decade. I still think we'll be back over £1 to £1.10+ relatively soon, probably late June or early July would be my guess.

Nigel Farage tweeted today "US inflation figures today tell a story. Governments will inflate their way out of Covid debts, you have been warned!"

It looks like gold and silver prices are going to start moving sharply higher very soon?

Nigel Farage tweeted today "US inflation figures today tell a story. Governments will inflate their way out of Covid debts, you have been warned!"

Rising inflation and interest rates = investors turn to gold & silver = prices rise = gold & silver stocks boom

https://www.providentoksmetals.com/knowledge-center/precious-metals-resources/inflation-precious-metals.htmlP

There was an article, I think it was Thursday last week, it suggested the reason for the recent decline in the public transport sector was George Soros is betting against the sector, specifically his company has taken a £100m short position in Trainline - his argument being he doesn't believe the sector will recover due to working from home arrangements that he suspects will become the new normal. Yes, we could argue his short is against Trainline and NOT sgc, but his wider argument is against public transport recovery in general and this, apparently, is what's spooked shares in the public transport sector. Its anyone's guess if he's called it right - I myself have read big companies including the banks are vowing to put an end to homeworking soon - that they want their people back in the office. Soros doesn't always call it right but unfortunately he's a big enough force to cause ripples across the entire sector and that's apparently what we're seeing. If you Google "Soros trainline" there's various articles about it online.https://www.investorschronicle.co.uk/news/2021/04/26/george-soros-betting-against-trainline/p

On the 5d chart, yesterday's lows of £0.84 @ 08:00 and £0.8590 @ 16:00 may possibly mark the bottom of the recent decline? And the beginning of a reversal/uptrend? The price is currently over 20% down from the recent highs - due entirely to a bit of profit taking (including by the founders). Important to remember SGC is a fundamentally strong and resilient business that's in a great place financially and strategically to really capitalise on Boris's green agenda, as the country continues to progress on a cautious but irreversible roadmap back to normality.

It's worth noting that SGC, NEX and GOG have all followed near identical trading patterns over the last 5 days or so. So the decline isn't unique to SGC, I think the transport sector (amongst others) has just seen a bit of a sell off after weeks of rises. Stages 3 and 4 of the roadmap should both be welcomed by the markets and those milestones aren't far off so really not long to wait before shares more widely begin to move back up again.

A number of big businesses including the banks are saying they won't continue to support home working as restrictions lift, that they want their people back in the office. More and more people will be commuting again soon as normality slowly but surely returns. This, together with the end of social distancing possibly as early as June 21st, I think pretty much guarantees shares in the public transport sector will continue to ramp up as this year wears on.

Many shares started well but ended down today, here's why :

https://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2021/may/04/supply-chains-manufacturers-us-uk-mortgage-approvals-ftse-pound-travel-hospitality-business-live

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2021/05/04/markets-live-latest-coronavirus-news-pound-euro-ftse-100/

I'd question the science behind the 1m+ rule. When you exhale, cough or sneeze, even with a mask on, your breath (micro droplets) is going to linger in the air for maybe 30 seconds or more, extending at least several feet from where you're stood. Even if you're observing the 1m+ rule, in a queue inside a coffee shop for example, you move forward to the next spot on the floor, the person behind you moves forward straight into your cloud of invisible expelled breath droplets. Masks do very little to stop a virus as they can easily pass through the fibres (unless it's hepa grade) - what I'm saying is the damage these restrictions cause businesses are severe and the upside to them being in place is extremely questionable to say the least. The sooner the government gets rid of these ridiculous restrictions the better. If they are axed on June 21st, I think its safe to say share prices will jump strongly on the news. Social distancing in particular is extremely damaging - affecting footfall which in turn affects turnover and profits. Get rid of that and the share price will really begin to motor upwards - back to very near pre pandemic levels.

Times article: "Sir Brian Souter and his sister Dame Ann Gloag, the transport tycoons who founded Stagecoach, have sold nearly 11.6 million of their shares.

The millionaire siblings cut their holdings by the equivalent of a 2.1 per cent stake as part of a plan to reduce the family ownership from 27.1 per cent to 5 per cent over the coming decade".

The 11.6m shares they've just sold will be what's causing the drop. Those shares are being sold into the market - once the overhang clears, the share price willlll begin to shoot back up to where it was, because apart from the founders selling, which they're perfectly entitled to do, nothing has changed about the company. If they're planning to sell more sizeable chunks of shares over the next decade, they obviously anticipate getting a decent price for them or they wouldn't be saying that. The way things are going with Boris and the green revolution, public transport will become ever more in demand over the next decade and companies like Stagecoach will be perfectly positioned to capitalise. The public transport sector could very well be the big winners - over the next decade.

The country is in a mess, as is the case in many countries, but the fact vaccines are now being rolled out to the masses should prevent the share price here and elsewhere from falling back to their pre-vaccine lows.

The intolerant left accuse anyone who doesn't share their views as being far right. Antifa? Far left. BLM? Far left. Extinction rebellion nutters who blocked ambulances getting through during their ridiculous street protests? Far left. Dead people voting for Biden and widespread voter fraud? Far left. Refusal to accept a fair and democratic vote on whether we stay in the EU or leave? Lefties again. Pulling down our historical landmarks and statues without lawful permission to do so? Lefties again.

It appears the much awaited "Biden bounce" has instead been replaced by the Biden belly flop. The man can barely string a coherent sentence together so quite why the market should have confidence in him is beyond me at this point.

A lot of shares are down today,. Must be the infamous "Biden bounce" the loony left have been promising us all

A unifying and stable president who says if you don't vote for him you ain't black. Yes very unifying that is and not in the least bit ****** and offensive. And where's all the money coming from? Does Joe have a magic money tree?p
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2020/may/22/joe-biden-charlamagne-you-aint-black-trump-video

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The head of Germany’s vaccine regulator on Thursday described the success rate of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine as excellent, after some Australian scientists voiced scepticism about its efficacy.

Speaking during an online press briefing, the president of Germany’s Paul Ehrlich Institute (PEI), Klaus Cichutek, said there had been some debate over the best usage pattern for the vaccine.

“Still, the efficacy remains outstanding and excellent,” he said, citing data.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-germany-astrazenec/german-vaccine-institute-praises-efficacy-of-astra-oxford-vaccine-idUSKBN29J1KF

The European regulator has already allowed vaccines by BioNTech-Pfizer and Moderna for the EU-wide use. The Oxford-AstraZeneca jab could be approved by January 29

As part of its strategy to obtain as many different COVID-19 vaccines as possible, the EU said it had concluded early talks with French biotech company Valneva to secure up to 60 million doses of vaccine.

https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-digest-eu-expedites-oxford-astrazeneca-vaccine-approval/a-56199414