Member Info for lignumvitae

So, the funding toe, as expected, is now testing the water. Well, Xeros is capitalised at £23m at yesterday's close & wants to raise £10m. I think that they will be lucky if they can raise at 7p - more likely at 5 or 6p.

Today's RNS. One tainted brand ditches another !

So the price has stabilised & crept up today on modest volume. I sense something in the wind.

I find this RNS very comforting. The feldspar & quartz add-ons support mine economics and therefore the investment case. Management are slowly but surely completing the Portuguese jigsaw. Then there are the Oman & Mozambique jigsaws although Portugal is clearly No 1 for investment & deliverability. Management should be supported. The best policy for those who have lost faith is to sell & move on.

This announcement just adds to the positive story here. The ducks are lining up. We just now await the Araguia financing package but the fundamentals are hugely supportive. The company name gets shortened to Horizonte Min. I prefer to think of its future as Horizonte Max.

Aha, have just read today's FT offering. I can agree with most of the content. But it fails to highlight that Intu's malls & properties are at the higher end of the quality spectrum & that refreshing and reimagining the estate has already commenced & that footfall has actually been increasing [ie outperforming the high street in general}. And in fact the term "high street" is misleading for Intu. In addition the long term strugglers, the "walking wounded" , have now departed or done their CVA's, leaving the stronger retailers better able to weather the storm. Time will, of course, tell.

The very bearish FT article that zcc refers to is, i presume, the piece of unadulterated "knocking copy" penned by Neil Collins. As for the refinancing required in 12 months this is sheer supposition. No debt instruments fall due for repayment or renegotiation until first half of Calendar 2019. These i think total some £950m although only some one-half of this relates to bonds with the balance being the revolving credit facility. Any refinancing before this would be due only if a further catastrophic fall in property values occurred. A further 15% from 30 June 2019 values would be manageable & would represent a 33% peak to trough movement. Plus the market seems to totally discount the planned sale of the Spanish interests. Remember that the NAV per share on the lower of the two methodologies at end June was £2.10 leaving today's close at close to an 85% discount. Now i realise that any further falls in values have a disproportionate %age fall in NAV as the debt remains constant. Even so this is an Armageddon pricing. And let us not forget that John Whittaker [Peel Holdings] sits there with 29.99%. He nearly tilted for the company around last October and the market expected a bid of north of £2.00. So, in my opinion "Nil desperandum". Quite possibly if you bought now & went to sleep for a couple of weeks then you may be pleasantly surprised on waking up.

Weak holders should, politely, be pointed towards the exit. This will leave the stage clear for the committed to make serious money

The action against Indivior is an action against the company, both as to when it was a subsidiary of RB & as an independent entity from 2014. Indivior are resolute in their position that the vast majority of any failures took place under the first incarnation. To the extent that the claims are effectively "joint & several" the question is whether RB's "without fault" settlement substantially clears an overall negotiated liability. Directors prepared to put their own money on the table are signalling their confidence in a positive outcome & a profitable future for Indivior.

All of this about Align is true but i have taken the time to study a fair number of their reports. They generally seem to be well researched & bring our the counter arguments in stocks that are in the firing line & consumed by negativity. And at least this is all above board. The stories propounded & planted by the shorts are purely & simply designed to create fear & uncertainty in order to profit. And Align are right, in the sense that they frequently identify the point of maximum overreaction in a share price, more often than they are wrong.

No volume - price moves up - price monitoring extension. Hmm .. something cooking ?

I read Neil Collins piece for the FT. It was so simplistic and shallow that even the Daily Mirror would have hung their head in shame. No, Mr Collins, the property valuations are not done by friendly estate agents. Are you not aware that the valuations as at 30 June showed a significant mark down from the end 1918 values? The comment from Jefferies that the patk values are no greater than agricultural values is utterly risible - no doubt Jefferies either have a short position themselves or are hand in glove with others who do. I imagine also that John Whittaker of Peel Holdings is plotting his move and salivating at the prospect of picking up quality assets on the cheap. A bid of 100 - 120p could secure this company.

Yes Wigwammer - I think that Och-Ziff knows exactly what it is doing. I imagine that it has a decent short position in the ordinary & so the more noise & fear that it can create serves to increase its potential profits. By taking a small short position in a bond instrument & making sure it gets publicised serves its position very well. I suspect that it does not expect to profit materially via the bond short but to extract maximum profit from an ordinary share short.

More directors purchases. If they have confidence then i am more inclined to be confident. And how refreshing to see directors open their wallets rather than simply relying on shed loads of freebie options.

Juliet stood on the balcony; "Matthew, Matthew, wherefore art thou Matthew". Matthew called from below, "I am here my beloved. What is it that you desire. Tell me and i shall provide it". Juliet replied, "Mattthew, my love, i desire not expensive chocolates, a Luis Vuitton bag, gold, diamonds, a yacht, a Lamborghini. None of these things do i crave. But there is one thing that you can do for me to prove your love" Matthew: "Tell me, my beloved, whatever is your wish then if it is within my power i shall grant it". Juliet: "Matthew, i feel that i do not deserve someone as selfless as you. But in your report as CEO of your principality, INTU, a land that i knowest has been sickly of late, you said that there were many levers that you could pull, and PI's, myself included for i have a modest holding, were encouraged. And i note, my heart, that some members of your ruling council have purchased shares in the marketplace. Maybe, dearest, you feel that such action is beneath one as powerful as you but please be reassured, PI's including me would take some hope from such a course. So please, if you value my love and that of others please open your wallet and oblige us" AWAIT THE SECOND THRILLING ACT TO SEE THE RESULT OF JULIET'S ENTREATY.

So Burford will comment once MW's report is issued. Hmmm..? Is this saying "we will comment once we can see what they know & what they don't know". Personally i am steering well clear of this one.

A welcome dollop of good news re Oman. The focus is, of course, on lithium in Portugal & accordingly i think that Oman [copper] should be given its wings & spun out with its own separate management. And, at a suitable juncture the very same treatment for the Mineral Sands project. Not the best background for raising finance at the moment but could be done. Then long-suffering PI's may finally get their rewards.

Excellent results announcement. Another little nudge up in the dividend. Q1 3.4c - Q2 3.5c. Option to receive dividend in £Sterling from Q1, ie the September pay. Does this mean the end of the 15% withholding tax? Now that would be nice.

Totally disagree. This is the kind of innovative thinking that is required. Not only a rent paying business in its own right but a vibrant new business for the centre.

Some nice solid Director's purchases. but where is the Chief Executive? You can run but you can't hide Mr Roberts. Some fine words about there being lots of levers to pull but the one you should pull is the one that opens your wallet. So don't be shy, we won't look inside.