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Sorry if this seems an unbelievably naive question, but I've been wondering why anyone would be buying these shares when the momentum seems to be downward. Now I've suddenly thought: when people here are talking about being long or short, are they meaning a spread-bet? I've given that up for a few years, but I can understand betting in and out of a roller-coaster ride like the current situation with NMC.
If you guys are not spread-betting, but actually buying the shares, then I don't understand.
LM
I always know things are depressing when there are more posts here than trades.
At the time of writing, 79 lousy trades, and 115 posts. But I haven't read them yet, so I don't know what adjective to put there.
Oh well. Patience is a marvelous thing, and I have loads of it. Also, fortunately or unfortunately, I have loads of UKOG shares.
Hey ho, on we go.
LM
Thanks, Modsto. Looks like a great share to invest in, in the medium to long term. I bought some yesterday, but kept some of my powder dry in case it went down further today. So now I'm looking for another lowest point today, if I can find it, and I'll add some.
LM
Am I to understand that the bondholders cannot exchange their investment for shares until the SP reaches 17.93? Surely not, since wouldn't that imply that the SP will DEFINITELY get to 17.93? Sorry if I'm asking stupid questions, but it is very difficult for me to fully understand the RNS. I've read it several times, and also the news reports summarising the RNS. I've also read the posts on this board, but I'm still not really any the wiser. Can anyone help by explaining it either so that a five year-old would understand, or even someone 105 years old?
Thanks for your help,
LM
You don't charge for postage? I do!
I sell books which cost £30.00, and with tracking the customer pays £23.00 postage if it is to a Rest of the World address. Those books are heavy.
A lighter one, which sells for £14.00, has postage added of £4.00 to the EU, £6.00 and £9.00 outside the EU.
I give options for Tracked or International Standard for customers in non-dodgy territories, and offer only Tracked for the unreliable destinations.
I thought people buying online expect to pay for postage!
But I have little experience of eBay...
Anyway, interesting to hear. I'm sure I could triple my sales if I took the hits for the postage. Given that you can claim the postage off tax, do you think it works out much the same in the end, but with the added volume of sales?
LM
According to QuoteStream ITV goes ex-div on 23rd.
Well, whatever the case, I've sold my little holding just now. I'd rather buy back in after the ex-div-dip - maybe - than take the meager 2.6p per share.
It's all a gamble, but I've taken a profit so that's all that counts.
LM
I wonder if the share buyback is making the difference. At the very least, I would imagine it shines a positive light on the company in general. And also attracts attention to it.
I wish I didn't already have a lot tied up in RCN, otherwise I'd want to add at this point.
LM
A reminder to all, never to take any notice of whether a trade is tagged as a buy or a sell.
It's not just on AIM that it is often meaningless. I just bought some shares in a 250 company and they showed on Level 2 (Quotestream) as a sell.
NEVER take any notice of those colours. There are plenty of other things to look out for.
LM
Here's a guess: s/he already had 2308768 in a trading account. They wanted to swap them into an ISA. They bought another 2308768 as soon as the market opened, in fear that the price was quickly going to rise. So that needed to be first. They had thought that later in the day they'd sell the original 2308768 (since they couldn't afford to keep both lots), but then panicked that the rise was not going to happen, and quickly sold their original holding.
Now, sure, they're regretting selling too soon, but still they're happy that now when the sp goes to £5.00 (I'M KIDDING!) their profit will be protected.
But if my guess is right, I'm sure we've all regretted a sell from time to time! Can't mock the poor investor for that.
If my guess is wrong, maybe they just like losing money. Some people self-harm to let off emotional steam - maybe some people deliberately mess up their portfolio for the same reason!
No, that last idea is definitely nonsense! I'll stick to the first one.
LM
Nice of him to spend around 65k on Centrica shares. Either it means he has confidence in this investment, or else he's fleeced so much money off the company he doesn't even care if the investment wins or loses.
But I suppose one shouldn't be cynical. It's presumably certainly better than if he were on a selling spree.
LM
Dear UKOG community,
Some here have been talking about UKOG reaching 9p, or even 11p or higher, in the near future.
Really? Nothing would make me happier if it did, since for two years I have been stuck with a major share purchase of UKOG at 9p and have not been able to sell since then because of the twenty or so purchases in the stock I made before that one, all (naturally) bought at far lower prices. There's nothing I would like more than to sell the lot, but only when all are in profit.
But as of June UKOG had 6,083,289,907 shares in issue. At 11p per share this would mean a market cap of nearly 670 million. Really? I would guess 'no way', or 'only in my wildest dreams', or 'It might be easier if I just buy a lottery ticket or two'.
There is also the point that there are far more shares in issue today than when it did touch 11p all that time ago.
And by the way - and please correct me if my memory is incorrect - but I recall that it did touch 11p, but for only about ten minutes before going down, down, down to 9p on the same day. Over the next few days it went down to 7p. Then it took two years to gradually descend back down to the lowly levels of today. So I would suggest that it is very misleading to think about 11p anyway, never mind the increase in issue since then.
What is your reaction to that, if you are one of the optimistic people talking about 11p?
LM
Was it Warren Buffet who said that in the beginning the stock market is a voting machine, but in the end it is a weighing machine? So at the moment sentiment is against CNA, and the voting machine marks the shares down and down again. But were there (as a fantasy example, not a silly prediction or hope) a hostile takeover bid, the market would instantly 'weigh' the true values of the shares, and mark them up accordingly.
Of course it can work the other way, as happened woefully in the dot.com boom, when companies were marked up ridiculously because everybody was on a high about tech stocks; but when the true numbers were required, most of them crashed to smithereens.
I don't know the nitty-gritty of Centrica's figures - they are all beyond my understanding. But what is easy for me to understand is that they are now saving - what? - about 400 million quid a year through cutting the absurdly high dividend. Surely 400m must make a difference somewhere, somehow.
By the way, please don't think I am pleased about the divi cut, though I will be if it contributes towards a recovery of the sp. I hold only 10,000 Centrica shares, yet received a very healthy £630.00 last payment date. Very nice, thank you very much. On the other hand, my average share price is...132!!! So on paper things are very bad. I hope they can turn it around!
LM
The one thing in the full year results 30 April 2019 that raised my eyebrows was a comparison between market share in the USA in 2010 and 2019.
In 2010 United Rentals had 5% of the market, Sunbelt had 4%. In 2019 United Rentals has 14% and Sunbelt 9%.
So despite sterling accounts from Ashtead, in fact their major competitor seems to be doing rather better, at least in terms of market share.
I haven't looked into the nitty-gritty of their accounts, as I have just done with Ashtead. Perhaps if I did I would find that they are stretching themselves too thin.
Whatever the case, Ashtead are doing very well, and everything seems strong and secure. I wonder if the brokers' forecast of £28.00 will happen anytime soon, though. May have to continue waiting for some time yet.
LM