Member Info for Grayling

You could be right but equally you could be plain wrong. POO tends to do the opposite of what is expected of it and the only thing that is certain is uncertainty. I hope you do not miss the income and compounding.

Is this now the "homes in the Sun board"? WTF has this got to do with RBS? Surely there are more pressing matters to discuss with regard to this shambles of a bank than where one might retire to in the sun!

I would echo Martin21's comments here both about the HFX dealing platform, which is excellent value for money and the benefits of compounding.

Broker upgrade apparently. The worst possible reason for a rise IMHO.

Seems to be heading back to the august highs at the moment on not much news.

The new revelations about GRG provided by a whistleblower just reveal the depths of venal depravity involved in this rotten operation. They systematically asset stripped SME's in hock to RBS. The vast majority of these, often family run firms, never recovered at great personal and financial cost. One of the prime motivations seemed to be to maintain their own personal bonus payments. I would close the whole bloody thing down and write off the loss to the taxpayer. I am glad I got rid of these shares back in 2010 and took the loss. I will now be switching my current account out of NatWest and hope others will too.

Advice is one thing as it costs nowt and you don't have to follow it! I agree £2K in 3 wks is not a bad return. My main problem at the mo is finding the cash to take up the PHNX rights issue. The star of my portfolio and at the strike price (508p) just too good to miss. I bought back my Rolls stake at just under 715p so back fully invested there and they might yet pop back over 800p in the near future.

Ya know best and as for "as you know",no I have no idea how much you have invested, over what timescale and how much you have really made so such statements are fairly pointless in the context of these boards. No idea either what you mean by "a certain investment fund". I do not invest in funds, never have and never will. Most are a free ride for the industry and the charges are outrageous. Of course the trustees of my so called gold-plated final salary pension fund do invest in these vehicles, but I have no control over that.

Don't worry you will get your chance as markets are still relatively skittish and any drop of bad news could trigger a sell off affecting the whole market. It is the income that makes this so attractive and do you really think that either Dudders or Big Ben want to be the first to blink and threaten either maintaining (or growing) the dividend? Never sell Shell and same goes for BP, at least for the next few years.

Barclays analyst "It’s hard to argue with the data: BP’s share price has rallied almost 30pc since April, outpacing the oil and gas sector by 10pc. Its shares trade at around 450p a share, up from around 400p one month ago". Barclays predicts that the price is poised to return to a pre-Macondo levels of 600p within 18 months. Jefferies’ Jason Gammel, a veteran analyst of the company, agrees. He says BP’s upstream business has “by necessity” become a much leaner, more focused organisation post-Macondo. “We believe that BP is re-emerging as a competitive super-major."

Peanuts in comparison to the gains I have made on this since Macondo. The dividends alone have increased my holding by almost 25% and the capital gain has been equally good. I won't be selling RDSB or BP anytime soon and I think calling the demise of big oil (as many have) is way premature. You only have to see the way this has spiked up on relatively meagre gains in the POO to see where this could go if OPEC get their act together.

In answer to my own question I will also be taking this up having seen how the SP reacted to the news and the significant discount to the current price that this issue now represents. It will unbalance my portfolio a bit with me holding a slightly higher % of the total in this one share, but Hey Ho with a dividend yield that is set to increase, the capital gain I have already seen on my holding and no real prospect of an upset that could knock the latter, I can live with this.

PHNX to pay for Abbey Life purchase by way of a rights issue at 7 new shares for every 12 currently held at a price of 508p per new share. Not an insignificant new investment for holders of this stock. Any takers?

The caveats are many and varied so I do not think I will be holding my breath on this one. The fact that the Aussi govt just blocked the sale of their National Grid to China indicates that the state believes that this conventional energy delivery system will be a core strategic asset for many years to come.

China has launched its first aircraft-engine manufacturer in an attempt to wean itself off Western suppliers. The state-owned Aero-Engine Group of China was created by combining a group of existing aircraft-engine companies, according to local media reports. It has about 50bn yuan ($7.5bn) in registered capital and will develop both military and commercial engines. China does not seem to buy RR engines anyhow sourcing instead from GE and Pratt & Whitney, so maybe this will hit them and not RR if it actually goes anywhere.

Halifax are usually prompt to credit dividend cash around noon on the payment day and often reinvest that same day or within 24h. The only exceptions are where the payment day is Friday and reinvestment may not happen until the following Monday and US shares where payments lag by 10 days or so. They also do cheap dealing days once a month (£3.95 a pop) and have an annual charge of only £12.50 irrespective of the amount you have invested. I have found them to be helpful, courteous and efficient whenever I have had any direct interactions with them.

Aviva and Phoenix both tipped as undervalued and cash generative in Sunday Times column where experts are asked for advice on investing £10K. Focus was on insurance and banking sectors.

Broker upgrade apparently. Rolls-Royce Holdings shares were up over 4% in afternoon trading after the stock was upgraded by Morgan Stanley to Equal Weight from Under Weight. Wish it were something "real" mself.

According to the Sunday Times RR is engaged in intensive lobbying to either reach a final settlement with the SFO over the ongoing corruption allegations or to end them. Company is desperate to draw a line under any past wrongdoing and move on.

Mailman. I have no regrets at selling out back in 2013. The money went straight into Astra Zeneca at just over £30 a pop and this has done very nicely thanks (with a little trading in and out around the Pfizer bid) and also pays a regular and generous dividend. RBS gave me nothing but grief, pays no dividend and I had simply had enough of it at the time. A lesson learned for me at least.