Member Info for JohnLewis79

That's bloody outrageous! Nil cost options should be banned. The heads I win tails you lose incentives often at shareholders expense are hardly a motivator for top management and what's more are often accompanied by poor performance of the share price. Board members are more than adequately paid imo and should pay the going rate for options based on the share price or at meeting performance goals not some esoteric Co performance nodded through by their cronies on the compensation committee. My preferred method would be writing a cheque not writing options which incidentally are not always treated as an expense so their effect on reported earnings is clear. Greedy execs prefer the stock-option system as these funnily enough are awarded just before good corporate news.....mostly! There is evidence that boards generally speaking announce bad news prior to option grant dates and good news after and I won't go into the repricing of options should their be a dramatic fall in the share price. I'm extremely suspicious of Cos that dole out huge share option awards to top execs who own a small % of the Co stock. That's a def red flag.

3Q results from M.Stanley, J&J, GS & United Health all beat Wall St expectations add that to a bounce back on oversold tech stocks pushed the mrkts higher, the Dow up 548 to close at near the days high but still 700 shy pre recent sell off. The S&P up 59 and Nsdq flew up 215. Among techs Netflix easily beat forecasts (by 2m) with subscriber growth nos way ahead of consensus the shares gaining 11% after hours. Shares up $13 to $346. Tesla had a rare blue day adding c.7%. Others gaining over 3% were Visa, Microsoft, Intel & Nike. However analysts warn that chip makers face a downturn in '19 & '20 because of over supply, inventory building & lead times becoming longer will inevitably impact on earnings growth. Asia trades up at mid session but hardly matching gains seen in N.Y. The Nikkei putting on 358, HK (closed), SH higher by 12 & S.Korea up 23. Earlier London closed better the 100 gained 30 back over 7000, All up 26 & 250 pushed on 346. Ocado shares took the spotlight adding c.6% on broker comment and May smacks bottoms telling the cabinet wets to get in line behind her and Spread Sheet Phil says we will have to give the greedy EU £36bn of our money come what may. Latest: US to open trade talks with the UK ahead of Brexit deal or no deal. The nos: Oil $ 81.46. Gold $ 1225. Vix 17.6. £$ 1.316. £€ 1.139. Coin $ 6525. FF +28. DF -24. Morning all.

Morning Matt. Take your pick of 20 or more reasons postulated by lth of this stock as to the cont poor share price performance. Your tuppence worth as good as anyone else's. Not sure the bod should comment on sp action though it must be a worry to even the most disinterested how G's sp has fallen 24 since the update. Perhaps the mrkt are trying to force the board into action to forestall the decling sp? The board must have discussed moves to halt the decline, some you have mentioned but any panic moves will be seized upon by an unforgiving mrkt to sell some more, so as far as I'm aware its business as usual. If there is nothing material to report, don't report! Underperforming the mrkt? I have to disagree, G is still c.110% up ytd massively better than the 100, All, 350 OG etc...but I kinda know what you mean. We just went up too quickly on the back of little and sellers sold on the news which opportuned profit taking for those in the blue. As frustrating as this is to all holders and the 24% fall from year high looks well overdone imo, it does provide a buying opportunity if your convinced of the long term story and the bright outlook into '19 & '20. On Mr Markets pessimistic days its your chance to thank him for being so generous.

& Eni its Italian partner are planning to start exploratory drilling in Lybia shortly. This sends a strong signal to other oil Cos that the Libyan oil mrkt is open for business. BP withdrew from the country 7 years ago when civil war broke out. Current level of production is c.1.3 mbopd and with new drilling Libya is aiming for 2mbopd. Much needs to be done in repairing the infrastructure, pipelines, storage tanks and above all security from ISIL renegades. Analysts from Energy Aspects consultancy said Libyan production was likely to remain problematic owing to ongoing security problems. A ready made alternative with much reduced security worries, increasing production with gas assets & cheap lifting costs sits around the corner ignored by Big Oil. Never ceases to amaze me.

Bonds Aston hit the skids yesterday. O07s fave motor has been misfiring like a clapped out Ford Consul since the optimistic £19 IPO a few weeks back. Current sp £1487 thats around 22% drop. Though profitable AM rarely if ever turned in blue figs. Management and insiders got their money out so that's fine....job done. Beware IPOs, those investment bankers charged with getting the 'issue' away rarely give new investors an even break.

Sept av OP $78.89 ($56.15). That's $6.36 more than Aug av OP.

The nos: Oil $80.99. Gold $1230. £$ 1.314. £€ 1.135. Coin $6505. Vix 21.30. FF +2. DF +16. Overnight US stocks cont south on choppy trading finishing at the low for the day. The 30 (25251) down 89, Nsdq off 66 on FAANGs being sold down (Apple -c.$5). In Asia TK (+65) is the only mrkt gaining. All mrkts trading warily. HK (-48) & SH off 4. Morning all.

The more representative 250 is off 165 points.

Ftse futures more on the money now calling London lower. Couldn't see the 100 opening UP against all the uncertainties over Brexit impasse bogged down on the Irish question etc.... The Dow looks to start lower (-100) atm.

Asian stocks on the way to erasing Friday's relief rally gains. TK off 351, HK down 260, SH -21 & Kospi down 12. The nos: Oil $81.45 (+ 1%) on 'Kashoggi'. Gold $1225. £$ 1.310. £$ 1.135. Vix 21. Coin.$ 6251. FF +11. DF -55. Brexit talks at an impasse bogged down on the Irish question & domestic troubles on the back benches. A no deal scenario looks the only runner, unless a last minute 'bodge' is cobbled together. Morning all.

The Tories don't need a death wish they have the Maybot the Supply Teacher the fudger incarnate. She said in the Lancaster House speech "we will no longer be members of the single market or customs union" She now proposes a 'deal' whereby we stay in the custom union under the ECJ for ever and cough up £40bn for the privilege. Is the woman mad? Did I not vote for a complete break from the EU? Regretably Boris 'hot air' Johnson hasn't the cahones to do anything & JRM has followed supply teacher like a good little schoolboy in the reform class..."I will support the PM, thank you Missy" get a bloody grip Jacob! Doesn't any of these Parliamentarians realise the EU are a hostile opponent seeking servitude and impoverishment for the British people and protecting their trade surplus, rather than any concerns about the Irish border which is a complete fake. She voted remain and wants us to stay subjugated to the EU for evermore. A coup d'etat and a quick one please.

The ftse was the only major indices to fall on Friday albeit a small 11 loss but significantly the 7th straight decline. In that period the 100 has fallen 514 (7%), the All 7% and 250 off 6.5%. Ytd the 100 is down 9%. For sure it's been no better anywhere else. The Dow was saved by the afternoon crowd piling in at the days low to close 287 (25340) better and above 25000 which it briefly breached earlier. The 30 & 500 off 4% on the wk, the techs bounced back leaving the Nsdq 390 lower down 5% on the wk. 3Q earnings are underway, three of the big banks reported yesterday. JPMC fell (1%) despite topping expectations, Citigroup ahead of forecasts but sales missed, shares up 2%, W.Fargo missed on revs shares up 1% and Apple top of the poppermost up 7%. The 10yr t/Bill slipped to end at 3.125%, the cause of much of the mayhem in world mrkts.... (bond yields rising). The 3Q earnings reports will be the main driver of equities in the coming days. Analysts have priced in a 19% rise in earnings growth and 7% in sales. Asia closed modestly up on Friday but still well down on the wk. The Nikkei off 5%, HK down 3% & SH fell 8% and ytd they are all red. The MSCI World index fell 4%. Ytd the World Index is off 3.6%. Oil closed $80.60 a fall of 5% on wk, ytd +21%. Gold $1222 up 1% but -7% ytd. £$ 1.314. £€ 1.146. & Vix 21. The ftse is called up 27 first thing Monday. Morning all.

....the next bear mrkt which you youngsters should be praying to happen as soon as. For the bounteous rewards that will be bestowed upon you if you hold to some basic tenets..... will be rich and plenty. First a bear mrkt prolonged or otherwise enables you to invest at lower prices by adding savings and re-investing dividends, your avc down or up will improve your eventual returns. You will need nerve and determination not to be swayed by mrkt chatter and short term gyrations in stock prices. It's extremely rare one can do this in a raging bull mrkt where all and sundry supposedly are making fortunes. Don't believe it...they aint. Here's an example after the Lehman debacle, those who held through the '08-'09 recession made a mint which they couldn't do while the bull was charging upwards. Feeding money into stocks even small amounts paid off in spades. If you remember everything went to hell in a hand cart where top quality stocks lay unloved and ignored. Second....High mrkts and prices make investing much riskier as the euphoria of investors become contagious and more and more gullible people get sucked into the gravy train of easy money and volatility throws prices every'wich-where. You.. awaiting the drop in prices will have avoided buying at the 'top'. Third, as we know bull mrkts don't die of old age....they perish of over optimisim and euphoria in the main. I'm not saying you can't make money in bull runs of course you can but at this late stage making money becomes harder and harder as the old bull runs out of puff. This is where the shorter / hedge funds help the pis who seeks undervalued/oversold stocks to squirrel away awaiting the next upturn. Without them price transparency might be unavailable. Bear mrkts aint all bad, there are obvious provisos to that statement (pick the right shares)....so here's to the next one. Just make sure you have some ammo ready to benefit for you surely will.

'They' don't do bear traps here ... do they?

Dow called 450 UP at open....good for London today.

I reckon we could sell our Gas assets (100% owned) for more than the Co is worth or damn near (Not that we would) but shows how cheap G has become even with the 50p drag of doing business in K/Land. I'm assuming the gas value is worth more than a couple of quid cos that's what the mrkt prices it at. I fall between 2 stools here. I want the gas to be monetized as soon as while seeing we need to build up our cash reserves. Which do we focus/prioritise on to increase shareholder value?

Hopes of a rally we're soon dashed as sellers appeared in the afternoon knocking the Dow 400 after being briefly in the plus column earlier in the day. The Dow closed down 546 for a 2 day 1376 loss, the Nsdq off 93 hit by FAANGs being heavily sold down and the S&P fell 57 busting through its 200DMA. All 3 major indices are up between 1-6% ytd. Some pundits are saying this is a great buying opportunity if your horizons are long term but to my way of thinking there are too many headwinds out there and the sidelines or other asset classes are the places to be until the way forward is clearer. Another option is to simply do nothing which I suspect most will do. Buyers could be encouraged this morning as futures look a lot brighter on the ftse & Dow which should give determined sellers another chance to unload higher up. Mixed in Asia TK & SH down, HK up a touch. Recent turmoil in global stocks has knocked the SHCOMP 23% ytd and no Asian mrkts are gaining this year. The nos: Oil $ 80.68. Gold $1225. £$ 1.324. £€ 1.140. Coin $6179. Vix 25. FF +7 & DF +280. Morning all.

Ftse & Dow heading towards lows for the day so not out of the woods by a long walk.... Bayobach I agree that little value has been created by G management for shareholders since the overpriced IPO. But there were valid reasons for that, a) not getting paid, b) ISIS c) the catastrophic (at the time) downgrade to OIP/reserves & all the warring tribes in Kurdistan /Iraq making investment an absolute no no. The present management have dug G out of a big hole, settled $700m+ bond debts put solid accounting / house keeping in place, near settled the gas agreement, so it's little wonder that investors are euphoric at the progress these last 18 months. Of course there's an awful lot to be done and the mrkt does not often price in future potential which G has plenty of....more as i think you infer G will need to raise cash to expand or buy profits now to be re rated. Either way its gonna be costly and will take a toll on future earnings. But no doubt its a stock I would definitely buy if my circumstances were different.

Volatile trading moving +/- 50 points every second....

Dow opens just 60 down...soon in plus territory.