Member Info for JohnLewis79

Just think Gareth Bale is said to command £135m
should he go and count his Yuans. That makes him worth c.25% of Gs value. Crazy or not?

I have bght a few shares in REA a palm oil plantation Co. The price of palm oil has been falling steadily since mid 2016 and cratered the shares of producers, REA down from 300+ to 90 and bigger brother MP Evans c.800 to 667.
Having worked on a palm / rubber plantation in another life, I understand the metrics and did v.well when NBPO was taken over by Sime c.6 years ago.

I shall be adding the Palm price in the Nos: report.

Whatever one uses to help you make the right call on stocks be it technical analysis, momentum trading or finger in the air type stuff...use it. It seems to work well for boyo and his low G avc.

I like...psssst 'i heard it from one of the stable lads.. this one is laid out to win' as did my I heard it on the "Grapevine" a winner at 25/1 which won me the Sat Racing pub comp last wk.
Pity it wasn't the G 'take over' grapevine but you can't have everything!

US indexes rose on Monday ahead of a busy week of Q2 reports which include one Chipotle Mexican Grill, must be the one in 'Better Call Saul' that was always busy, heh,heh,heh. Other big names reporting are Coca Cola, United Tech & Snap.
The Dow edged ahead 18 to (27172) on a 140 range & 270m traded. The 500 up 8 (2985) and the techs gained 58 (8204).

In Asia stocks are rising mostly on back of encouraging trade talk rumours. After the stellar rise of the STAR mrkt debut in Shanghai, many shares doubled on the day, one rising over 500% shares eased back on Tuesday. Rules for listing are less onerous than the SHCOMP taking just 3 months and loss makers are allowed. TK is up 250, HK 51 better and SH u/c.

The nos: Oil $63.37 (+16c)
Gold $1417. Coin $ 10169.
Vix 13. £$ 1.245. £€ 1.112.
MSCI 527. FF +28. DF +38.

Morning all.

Take your point about explaining the 'budget concept'. Some might see the 'budget' element as cheap and shoddy, I don't know but in this day of the internet and immediate
knowledge of the hotel of your intended stay I'd say that wouldn't apply.

If the EZHs of this world are your thing you must know what's what. EZH must ensure they are the best in VF£ the rest will take care of itself.

Well done Lowry a thoroughly deserved win!
The other piece of good news was weasel Hammond jacking it in before Boris booted the schemer out.
I hope his constituents de-select him asap. Several others are rumoured to be 'walking the plank' good riddance I say.
Going to be tough for the new PM with a wafer thin majority to get a 'no deal' through Parliament. Several rabbits will have to pulled out of the hat to get an acceptable deal from Europe. Not much time left now.

G has authority to buy back up to 27.9m shares.
To date the Co has hardly made any inroads in reducing outstanding having bought back just 1.2m, from memory.
As we know the av was c.194 so that's a loss of 5 per share atm. Too early to tell how things will pan out
until they have (if ever) reached their target.

Can't see much point in commentary at this stage of the strategy. I'm a fan of buybacks. Whether the sp goes up or down is secondary to reducing shares in issue and boosting eps.
We shall have to wait and see.

Asia is lower across the region following US mrkts falls on Friday. Top of invstrs concerns is c.80% rate worries and 20% trade and US Q2 nos.TK is off 65, HK -229 & SH 17 lower in pm trading.

The new Nsdq-style 'STAR' mrkt of 25 tech stocks is up in volatile trading due to oversubscription in IPOs & until supply and demand work themselves out trading will be very volatile.

The nos: Oil $63.22 (+36c)
Gold $1428. Coin $10545
Vix 14. £$ 1.250. £€ 1.114
MSCI 527. FF -1. DF -16.

Morning all.

At c.145 I see reasonable value to around 160. Thereafter its toppy to me up to180 considering current growth of 8%+ and 30x adj earnings.
They will have to grow at a much higher % rate and this will cost. The next acquisition will most likely be in the c.£100m range
funded by a mix of borrowings, placing or a rights which could give holders indigestion not to mention dilution.

If the Co is going to achieve the bods aim of doubling mrkt cap they will have to think bigger, inherently a risky strategy
(Buying for growth/look what happened at Microfocus) than via organic rate, safe and steady.
If your happy to stay aboard great but I see Idea as more a trading chip than risk joining in the dash for more growth at 160 upwards.
For a Co valued at £320m top line of under £50m is no great shakes and that must be addressed asap.
No doubt the bod have this as priority numero uno.

Didn't think much of the Consumer Assoc rating of EZH as jnt 4th worst in their customer satisfaction survey. Mind you i dont hold with these type surveys and when approached in the past have given bull**** answers. Have any of you expierience of other budget hotels to compare? If as EZH say they are outperforming the sector, customers must like the
EZH expierience. So who the f did the CA canvass?

End 54 holes and still have 6/10 under par with place chances. The leader may have flown, I sure didn't expect Lowry to shoot a course record 63!

Brilliant effort. I remember he blew a 4 shot lead at Oakmont (US Open) a few years back so a very slim chance those 4-5 back can catch him.
Best I can hope for is 3 places which will put me nicely in profit if it's Fleetwood, Spieth or Rahm (7s,7 & 6). Copcar at 11 won't return much at 2s a place. Van Rooyen at 22 would be a great result but too far back (16 ahead for 8th place).

I paid for my bet, well 80% by winning the pub Sat racing comp with a 25/1 (35 points) winner much to everyone's annoyance (heh heh heh).

Morning all.

At the half way I still have 6/10 under par. Woodland & Matsuyama fell by the way side and Open Champ Molinari scraped in on +1,
Pepperrel at 0.
Realistically Fleetwood -7
Copcar & Spieth -5 & Rahm -4 are my best chances with Van Rooyen -4 an unknown at this stage.

We had brilliant Spieth thru 12 then the crazy Spieth......hardly saw the short stuff for the next 5 holes. Miracle scrambling from the jungle & bunkers kept him at -5 just 3 behind leader. Today is moving day so hope the weather stays calm.

Late selling took the shine
off US mrkts on Friday the Dow closing just off session low (27145) down 69 to (27154). The S&P fell 18, Nsdq lost 61 and the small caps -8. Vol was 271m.
On the wk the 4 indexes posted losses of 0.65%(DJ), the 500 fell 1.22%, techs off 1.20% and small caps -1.40%
Next wk some 133 S&P 500 companies are due to report numbers.

In Asia over the wk the Nikkei lost 219, HK gained 274 and SH down 7.

The nos: Oil $62.83.
Gold $ 1426. Coin $ 10632
Vix 14. £$ 1.250. £€ 1.10.
MSCI 527.

G -14
Gkp -8
Dno-10
BP -27
RDSB -47
Brent -$4.06
WTI -$4.45

Morning all.

Well done dodge. Hope your golf bets are doin as well.

Bunks main object of buybacks is to reduce outstanding which boosts eps as long as it's intrinsically valuable to do so.
Tbh doubt it has anything to do with propping up the sp, even the bod knows nothing achieves that!
They should resume buybacks asap! Spend that C.£6-7m left in the kitty.

7/10 of my picks are under par I'm very happy with that. Can't win it on day 1 but you sure can lose it....Rory! Never fancied him, too much pressure on him. Doubt anyone is going to go mad and shoot a 63 so expect a very crowded leaderboard. Only 3 of my picks have late tee off times so the weather may favour the early runners.

Nice one(s). I'm sure we are being held back by bloody Brexit and the likely 'no deal' departure. Sensibly investors are sitting on their hands awaiting their fate...if that's not too dramatic! We do seem to have suffered an over exaggerated drop given the cont expansion of the Co which gives you a great re-entry price. I'm keeping a few quid in reserve to add come Oct 31st.

A quiet day on US mrkts the Dow trading in a 200 point range on vol of 273m
closed up 3 at (27230). The S&P up 11 (2995) and tech put on 22 (8207).

Philadelphia Fed Chair reported manufacturing had rebounded strongly this month and NY Fed President J.Williams said "rates should be cut at the first sign of trouble".
Around 50% of traders think a half point cut is on the cards.
Investor interest cont on the earnings season which has been mixed but towards the upside. To date more than 7% of the 500 have reported 2Q nos and c.85% have topped Wall St forecasts. This has been better than most expected though the bulk of the Fortune 500 have yet to report.

A decent bounce in Asia and Pan Pacifics led higher by tech stocks. TK has put on 345, HK 333 & SH up 30. Probable rate cuts in the US is helping sentiment in Asia.
Interest rates in Japan remain at -0.1% (record low) and the 10yr Gov Bond yield 0%.
Since 1973 rates have averaged 2.7% hitting a high of 9% in '73.
In contrast rates in China are 4.5%, HK 2.5%, the US 2.25%, UK 0.75% Brazil 6.5% and Argentina 62%!

The nos: Oil $ 63.15.
Gold $ 1444. Coin $ 10577
Vix 13. £$ 1.254..£€ 1.113
MSCI 528. FF+ 32 DF+104.

Morning all.

Well as you probably guessed the buybacks while the right move on the fundamentals (boost to eps) has now cost us money, some 6 below the avc.
So, in the short term that did not work. As the payment of dividends didn't work either, not that I expected it to outside of possibly attracting income seekers.
I ask you wtf does work here? There has to be better opportunities elsewhere than being hog'tied to an unloved, unappreciated Kurd o..lie.

I shall def be looking to put all my money into Co's with massive debts, zero revs and profits, dont waste money on dividends or buybacks but milk invstrs by continual cash raises, that's def the way forward. I'll make a fortune.
How come nobody thought of this....oops they have those pis are the ones making money!

If your avc is in the low 100s your probably feeling a bit twitchy having seen a recent 270+ but anyone over 225 will be considering (if not already) cutting losses. Sticking through thick and thin with G has been very costly if your entry point was in the 200s+. I can't remember my avc but if I had still been holding i'd be something like £30k+ down the khazi.
At least I saved myself something. I have clawed some back since but you could say I sold too late, but better late than....
I don't envy those with serious money in here who are sitting on big losses. Gluck!

My Open runners and riders:
Stenson 30
Molinari 25
Woodlnd 70
Matsuyma 50
Van Rooyen 110
Fltwood 30
Koepka 11
Spieth 35
Rahm 16
Pepperell 75

Split £200 throughout the 10 above (main bet on Spieth to come good) all ew bets.
Allocated £100 for top ups / top 10s, top US / UK / World... etc & other silly get out of trouble bets.