The latest Investing Matters Podcast with Jean Roche, Co-Manager of Schroder UK Mid Cap Investment Trust has just been released. Listen here.
No-one should be too surprised about this outcome.
Most penny shares are extremely high risk, for a start. Many penny share companies I have been following have disappeared. I just looked at Beacon Hill. Looks like it too has been delisted, probably ages ago?
Game is not over for BPC - yet. I'd say it has about fifty-fifty chance of surviving this, hence happy to take a small gamble.
I don't expect it to hit big. In fact, I never believed it was likely. Having said that, it was nice to make some money out of it in the early 2010's.
Now it would be relatively easy to double or treble your investment but risks may seem too high for many.
Let's see if it's still around in six months time.
This was greatly tipped by Tom Bulford in a MoneyWeek related newsletter.
I remember another MoneyWeek newsletter tipping a few gold miners (eg Sacre Couer Minerals).
I have come to the conclusion that MoneyWeek never ever gets it right. For the last 20 years or so, they have been going on about how the London property market would crash. Well MoneyWeek, it hasn't happen.
I cancelled my MoneyWeek subscription years ago for this simple reason: they seemed to get it wrong all the time!
Having said that, they are not alone. Fat Prophets seem to be the same. They tipped BP just before it crashed in the early 2010's.
My question is simple: are there any tipsters who are worth a punt?
My guess is that if they could really predict the market they would be trading themselves...
My investment on this one is so small that I can easily afford to lose.
Last summer, I remember many people saying that M&B was expensive @ 180p. I had got in @ 260p. It further fell below 150p at one point. I added up. Someone was even saying that it would soon be 50p.
M&B is trading at above 340p. Those who sold last summer must be kicking themselves now.
Ok, BPC is much, much riskier than a pub company like M&B but at this price I saw a speculative opportunity to add some shares.
I hold just 14,000 shares at an average price of 2.26p.
I just bought another 10,000 shares.
I never sell at a loss and in nine out of 10 cases it has worked.
However, I do realise that this is a highly speculative investment, hence I've only spend a fairly small amount.
I'm a bit concerned that the current valuation is based on speculation [of a potential takeover] rather than sound fundamentals.
It is in my interest for this to rise as much as possible so I wouldn't like to see it well below 250p again.
I'm pleasantly surprised, of course as my remaining shares are over 70% up.
But how high can this realistically go in the current rally?
Last summer when pubs were allowed to open, this was struggling to stay above 180p and, indeed, fell well below 150p at one point. I added more share at that point but it was obvious that far too many were selling and will probably regret it now.
I'm tempted to take more profits but can still see a long-term value so holding on for now.
While I have decided to hold on to my remaining shares, the current valuation is surprising in a sense that a few weeks ago MAB was looking to raise cash in order to survive the current lockdown. Also, Marstons valuation is rather high taking into account the current climate.
Whilst I've always believed that this would substantially increase once things get back to normal, pubs are likely to be closed for months. Does someone know something that we don't?
M&B is too expensive to add now, bearing in mind its historic volatile nature. Long-term (post COVID) it should rise, however.
There are still some opportunities out there. Aviva and Lloyds look cheap to me.
Perhaps consider taking some profits but don't sell them all.
I sold 25% of my holding too early but with a decent profit.
Did someone say that M&B is a takeover target? If so, who is looking to buy them?
Sold 150 of my 600 shares last week with a decent profit. No commission payable on the platform I use so ideal for small trades.
Bought a few more SSP Group shares which have fallen further.
I'm also looking to increase my MAB holding back to 600 or beyond if the price falls below 240p.
There's All Bar One.
I would have thought they have other brands such as Harvester or Browns.
BPC was tipped by one of the newsletters linked to MoneyWeek in 2009 or so.
I did a bit of digging at the time and managed to find out their tip without subscribing to the newsletter.
BPC was trading at a slightly higher level at the time but below 5p. It was to be 'the opportunity of the Millennium'.
I bought some shares and thankfully the share price reached about 18p in around 2011. It was a very decent trade if not a far cry from the newsletter's predictions.
I keep on getting lots of marketing mail from the likes of Motley Fool or Fat Prophets. I once paid for MoneyWeek's gold tips. Again, I managed to make some money on Sacre Coeur Minerals but the company went bust later.
I have decided not to spend any money on a tipping service. Surely, if those guys could predict the market they would be trading themselves rather than selling their 'sound' predictions!
It really depends.
You've made a great return so it might make sense to take some profits.
Taking a short-term view, falling below 200p is possible but falling all the way to the level you paid for your shares less likely - unless there's yet another lockdown in January.
In the long-term, M&B should rise quite a bit post COVID-19.
I paid a bit more for my shares so I'm staying put but if I was you I would consider selling some (but not all) of my shares.
I'd be tempted to top up if this falls below £2. I'd say the same about SSP (Select Service Partner), but only if it falls below £2.40 (currently just over £3).
I've been adding on M&B but took some SSP profits when it rose like crazy when the COVID-19 vaccine was announced.
Quite possible.
Short-term M&B is likely to be volatile.
Post-COVID 19 this should rise quite a bit.
I's give a personal 12 month ptice target of 350p, subject to normali(ish) trading revommencing by August 2021.
Those who panicked a couple of weeks or months ago must now be disappointed.
My personal strategy has always been to hold and take a long-term view. In fact, I don't sell at a loss!
This strategy has worked well over the last 12 years, though I did lose a bit when Yell and Cattles got delisted.
I would rate M&B a weak buy right now. In the short term, the price may well drop but I wouldn't be surprised to see post-COVID 19 levels reaching 350-400p.
M&B has too many well-known brands to fail. All Bar One concept seems to be working particularly well in many city centre locations.
Tried to short this beauty on IG spread betting but the system wouldn't let me due to 'stock borrowing restrictions'. Had difficulties going on short on stocks on IG recently, never used to be a problem. Perhaps I should go somewhere else?
Down nearly 13% in Australia in the wee hours of GMT.
If this drops all the way to 49p I will reopen a long position. Otherwise I will forget this one!
Got kicked out today @ 59.9p. Not too bad as opened @ 43p. Otherwise, trading difficult at the moment. I'm long on Tomco, BPC and Nokia; short on Facebook. Just opened a speculative long position on Petropavlovsk now that people are panicking!