Member Info for QBArtist

For shorters that is....

Https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/ai-doesnt-have-to-mean-revenue-hit-for-ad-industry-wpp-tech-chief-says-e627c44d

Yes, shorters and those betting on it going to 250 will need to be prepared for a margin call in the morning.

MW reduced their short a tiny bit. When I was following cbg, I noted MW reduced their short before the others, and before a good uptick in cbg share price. Not saying that this means anything or that the same will happen here. Just throwing this into the mixture of all the other opinions out here.

This is not investible at present, and nobody knows the future.

For short term trading, it's turned into game of poker with the shorters. So here is what Google AI says about shorters :

"There is no mandated limit to how long a short position may be held. Short sellers can keep their positions open for as long as they can meet the required margin calls, pay the associated interest/dividend fees, and as long as the broker lending the shares allows them to be borrowed.

In practice, the duration varies widely, ranging from minutes or hours for day traders to months or even years for others. Factors influencing how long a position is held include:

Margin Requirements: If the stock price rises, the short seller must maintain sufficient equity in their margin account to cover potential losses. A rapid price increase can lead to a margin call, forcing the broker to close the position.

Share Availability: The broker may "call back" the borrowed shares at any time, with minimal notice. This forces the short seller to close their position (buy to cover), regardless of whether they have a gain or loss. This is rare for easily borrowed stocks but more common for "hard-to-borrow" stocks with high short interest.

Costs: Short sellers must pay interest on the borrowed shares and may also be responsible for covering any dividends paid during the time they hold the position. These accumulating costs can make a long-term position unprofitable and incentivize closing the position sooner.

Trading Strategy: Day traders aim for quick profits from short-term price movements and close positions within the same day. Other investors may use short selling as a longer-term speculative bet against a company's fundamentals or as a portfolio hedge, in which case they might hold the position for a longer duration, provided the costs and risks are manageable.

Market Conditions: High market volatility or a "short squeeze" (a rapid price increase forcing a rush of buying activity from short sellers) can pressure investors to cover their positions quickly to limit losses.

Ultimately, while positions can theoretically be held indefinitely, practical considerations and risks often result in short positions being maintained for shorter periods compared to traditional long positions. "

"What a mess, results are shocking"

Well, revenue has been declining for a few quarters, and shorters have taken this share price down from 420 after the half year results. Plus everyone knows of the AI threat and that Publicis has the competitive edge. No apologies for being patronising, anyone suggesting these results are shocking or a mess or this is a surprise has been asleep at the wheel....

300 might be coming but so could 400 , it's up to the shorters and big players.

"Ouch!"

Well, revenue still declining. But what's happening to the operation margin?

q3 release: " we expect 2025 LFL growth in revenue less pass-through costs of -5.5% to -6.0% and headline operating profit margin of around 13%".

Half year release: "Headline operating profit - The lower than expected revenue less pass-through costs, coupled with the severance action at WPP Media, is expected to result in headline operating profit in the range of £400m to £425m for H1, consistent with a headline operating profit margin of 8.0% to 8.5%"

We could equally say "Yippie, operating margin is now on the up".....? no?

Predictably it fell today, when markets up a little, although to be fair the ftse 100 was driven by the commodity stocks.

The good news is WPP held the technical support on the one hour moving averages @361. If that is intentional by traders, WPP should re-test and try to beat the technical resistance at about 367-8. That would then clear the way through to the early mid 370s. Let's see tomorrow.

At the moment I'm trading, although don't always get it right. Although beaten down to multi year lows, yes longer term investing for a big meaningful return does depend on how Cindy performs. I'm of the view that at these levels, if the short term trade goes wrong, there always the wishful hope of corporate activity, or some unexpected positive surprise, to catch the shorters wrong footed...

Broke through 361 resistance. 368 looks like quite a strong resistance on the 4 hour charts. However, I'm not trusting any movement up or down at present as the shorters are clearly driving the price. We need something on the fundamentals, eg credible new strategy without much upfront cost, new contract wins, margin recovery etc for sustainable share price improvement. Until then this is just a speculative hold in the hope of takeover rumours or a positive surprise that leads to a short squeeze.

Down to 342 yesterday and today 356 ...a 4% swing..... As a cynic I would say that someone is trying to play us private investors...

Shorts took this down from 367 on 8-9 October to 345, then 339 on 10 October. Major turn around today, plus Publicis up over 5% today.

Pokerchips

Oh yes, Q3! Thanks, I'm definitely getting old..

Thought the ADR rise yesterday after the London close was a good turning point confirming signal, as WPP was going down even when market up, but yesterday not so. Looking good today, let's hope it keeps going. The hourly charts show technical hurdles to get through in the early 350s then around the 360 mark.

Were up 1% after the London close, short term uptrend could be in place in the run up to the half year report.

Seems to be having a knock on positive effect on WPP share price today..

Yes, you could call in the return of the trade war. Markets have gone up so much a correction was always on the cards. Unfortunately, WPP has only gone down. Hopefully, the opposite is also true, for something that's gone down so much, an upward correction must be on the cards.

There's some aggressive increase by shortest, now over 5%. What do they know that we don't know........

I can add, that a holder could sell out now and buy ex div on Thursday at the ex-div price, subject to transaction costs and risk of market price movement - which could be positive or negative. I suspect there is some technical trading and shorter positioning ahead of the ex-div date.

For Long term investors, the next scheduled piece of news is the half year report due on 30 Oct.

When it goes ex div on Thursday the share price will adjust (drop 7.5p). 0-3% daily movement is within normal parameters for this one.

I'm unable to access the article to find out which agency. Anyone else come across anything?

Kingsbury reduced their short yesterday, explaining the short lived uptick. Down quite strongly today even though Publicis was up. Probably MW still increasing their short. Let's see when we get disclosure. ...