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Steve's right though. This share is so easy to dump because it's so easy to pump. Collectively the press, and specifically the Times, have printed much which turned out to be unsubstantiated speculation written as assertion. Until it's confirmed in a share register or by Sparta then it's still just another (possibly baseless) rumour.
Marshall Wace will invariably be right and it'll drop lower again, at some point - the current trend line for the higher lows now sits about 51-52p were it to test that again. But having been right before, they never seem to unwind their short positions when they are. They seem very lazy and unreactive to share movements and ostensibly make very little money out of it all. They didn't unwind any of their position when it dropped to 32p and watched it bounce back to 80p, instead, all the while they were increasing; then didn't close any when it dropped again to 42p and watched it climb back to 75p; then watched it drop to 51p, and still didn't close, but again added. So at what point do they decide to make money? Since holding these significant short positions comes with servicing costs, where are they making any material profit out of this? They could have closed their shorts at lows and added back on every bounce, instead they seem to add when low, hold them when lower and, if ever, close them when high - like during the summer bidding frenzy. I think we perhaps give them too much credit. I think they're just blanket perma-bears, trying to play the macro sector-wide, and not paying enough attention to the composite parts therein.
Well, to be fair to boohoorockets, he's always been close. He said two weeks ago it would test 76p again last week, and it tested 50p, so he was very close. He also said last week it'd be over £1 in the coming weeks, so one must assume that could be next week? So 70p Monday, £1 by Friday?
Between Pearls casually doubling THG revenue with his trusty calculator and Boohoorockets' extensive knowledge of share price movements, holders clearly have nothing to worry about anymore.
"At the end of last year, we launched a single chocolate protein drink across 15,500 FamilyMart Co.,Ltd. stores in Japan via a licensing deal."
This is what Moulding's post was about and what you, correct me if I'm wrong, just called for him to issue an RNS for?
I'm not so sure. I think people bandy the Italians around like some perennial example of a country always on the verge of collapse, but they've been considered such for at least the last 20 years since joining the Euro and have yet to. The reality is, that in this period of uncertainty where all banks are under intense scrutiny, Italian banks have yet to show any material cracks. If they do in the future, it would likely be because of a wider global banking collapse (that is still avoidable) and cross contagion, not any problems unique to Italy or Italian banks. The same conditions that would similarly impact UK banks, but more so, given the larger scale and broader reach of the UK banking sector. It's the UK banks closer to home I'd have more concern about if dominos start falling. Sunak and Bailey having to reiterate how strong and resilient UK banks are is probably enough indication that there's concern in higher places about contagion here. Credit Suisse CEO was saying exactly the same thing about his bank's resilience and liquidity on the Friday before the Sunday they were folded into UBS.
Well, that's still a rumour, not news, and I expect there will be no bids at least until Moulding's veto expires. Why would there be? It's not quite the sword of damocles hanging over them that some seem to think. They can still be wrong and miss the natural recovery of the share price, but I still very much doubt there will be any big short busting RNS. Instead, they will probably have time to unwind it in their own time.
The tide is more likely to have turned once Marshall Wace start reducing their short. They have hitherto maintained and increased a position of significant conviction that there's yet more weakness to exploit, and whatever one might think of them, they haven't been wrong all that many times in their positioning over the duration and depth of this market cycle. I'd of course like for them to be wrong this time, but it's hard to have faith that Moulding and the board won't contrive to disappoint again for Q1 - which I imagine is the source of their conviction, considering how dependable that has become.
"This shares v strong now HH. Tide is turning I think."
Based on what though? Again, call it cynicism, but was the tide also not turning in the 50% rally from 24th of just last month? Or the 150% rally from Oct 22?
Every unexplained rally at this point ought to be treated with the same skepticism as every unexplained fall. It's all meaningless manipulation if there's no news to support it. Various players are pumping these shares, then shorting them back down, repeat ad nauseum. Pump them up, ride them down, week after week. Spontaneous, spineless rallies that get surrendered again so easily are just another symptom of the weakness in this share, not necessarily strength. If it holds a rally this time, it'll be a welcome novelty.