Member Info for m007j

What you are saying is that Card Factory because it has such good management and because it has such a robust business model will be able to mitigate the impact of higher national insurance and minimum wage costs. Shoe Zoe and Frasers Group have an inferior business model and also inferior management hence they were unable to deal with these challenges and so had to issue profit warnings last month.

Peachbum1978, are you suggesting that Card Factory will be exempt from the national insurance and minimum wage increases which impacted Fraser Group so harshly last month?

Apologies PJT12, should have kept these concerns to myself...

Why are investors not worried about the impact on Card Factory earnings of the higher national insurance costs and higher minimum wage following the Budget in October. Last month Frasers Group (owns Sports Direct) warned that these two factors would increase its costs by £50m. Frasers Group has 21,00 employees in the UK. Card Factory has 10,300 employees in the UK. If Frasers Group has suffered a £50m increase in costs as a result of the Budget then surely Card Factor will suffer a £25m increase in costs (it has half the employees of Frasers Group in the UK). £25m extra costs will surely cause Card Factory to downgrade its profit forecasts in the years ahead substantially?

On top of that retailers across the UK seem to have had very poor trading this Christmas (which is the all important period for retailers especially Card Factory):

https://www.independent.co.uk/business/christmas-disastrous-for-retailers-as-households-battle-ongoing-cost-pressures-b2668994.html#:~:text=This%20Christmas%20appears%20to%20have,to%20Rendle%20Intelligence%20and%20Insights.

Kalray PLC shares collapsed from EUR 30 to EUR 1. Kalray now has a market cap of EUR 9m. Could the same happen to IQE? It currently has a market cap of £100m. But seems to be in some difficulty.

Knot, what makes you so sure the attempt to push the price down will end on December 23? Surely it will go on until 1-3 April 2025 when the Supreme Court hearing is will take place. Until then those hedge funds who are 4% short the stock can push it lower thereby improving their returns.

JamesOxford - after making a profit trading Capita shares did you go for a spin in your silver birch Aston Martin DB5? Maybe a vodka martini at the bar of Claridges Hotel followed by a night of baccarat at Mayfair's Clermont Club? I want to be you JamesOxford.

JamesOxford - you are an amazing investor. Are you related to Warren Buffett?

AimMaster2018 must be feeling very nervous.

Knot explain to me why would hedge funds add to their short positions down here? Close Brothers trades at 0.2x book value. Even in the worst case scenario with regard to the vehicle loan claims drama the shares will be worth around 210p. Why would hedge funds add to their short positions down here at 240p? In order to make a 30p profit from 240p to 210p hedge funds risk the shares potentially rising 2x or 3x very quickly. Risk reward it is such a stupid bet. So why do they do it? Are these basically algo funds which just run on their own (little human input) and they purely trade off past share price performance (no fundamental analysis)?

Knot makes 2 good points. Big market players can push around a stock and set the price short term as long as they have enough fire power - but long term it is fundamentals that count. Also, they Supreme Court would not take the case on for extensive consideration only to reaffirm the Court of Appeals verdict.

Thanks knot.

Let's see if they can make it close down for the day.

Knot, the Centrica price movement you describe - are you describing price movement during one trading session or over a longer period of time?

The effective date for the FTSE 250 changes in December 2024 is December 23, 2024. This is when the changes announced in the quarterly review will take effect at the start of trading.

Key points about this review:

The review is based on data as of market close on Tuesday, December 3, 2024.

FTSE Russell will announce the confirmed rebalance changes after market close on Wednesday, December 4, 2024.

The changes will be implemented at the start of trading on Monday, December 23, 2024.

Be careful HHH81 - if you continue with this insolent tone towards JOX he will have you horsewhipped.

Good news from the company today:

https://www.capita.com/news/capita-signs-ps30m-contract-renewal-tesco-mobile

Have added to my Capita holding in the wake of yesterday's big purchases by the Noble Lord JamesOxford.

Date: 05-Dec-24

Time: 10:46

Price: 17.48

Volume: 36 Shares

Value: £6.29

Have been a school caretaker for 15 years. But expect to leave the job soon thanks to the money I will make following JO's investment advice. For that I am much obliged to his Grace, JamesOxford, 1st Lord of Investment Strategies.

JO - I have often lost money with my strategy of buying high and selling low. Will now follow your strategy and will buy shares when they are low and sell them when they are high. Thank you Sir!

JO - you are going big! You have great confidence in Capita and are showing us this confidence by investing large amounts of money into the company's shares.