Member Info for RogueRiver

The recent falls are probably because of (as others have commented) fear of a Labour government, continuing Brexit uncertainty and the fact Woodford has a 5% holding in CPI (though not in his suspended fund).

A whopping 78% of Capita shares are currently owned by institutional investors (the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund among them), which makes the price of the remaining shares more volatile for retail investors like us. Shorts are down to 3.9% from a high of 8.3% in May 18. The CPI SP has gone up and down like a yo-yo in the last 18 months, so I'm not particularly concerned. It has just been confirmed as the winning bidder for the Defence Fire Service contract (worth £500 million), which Serco lost and appealed against. The fundamentals of Capita have not changed and its recover plan is still on track.

CStallion

Kier coughed up the penalties, so clearly they acknowledged the delays were their responsibility.

And Kier did blame the wet winter, not the summer. Feel free to check their own press releases on the matter.

I feel sorry for investors here, but making excuses for Kier's incompetence isn't going to help.

Auson

Not sure what you mean, but if you are implying I'm a shorter, I'm not. I'm just someone who, twice a day, had to run the gauntlet of Kier's ineptitude on this particular project. You know, not everyone who speaks ill of a company is a shorter. Sometimes it's just a $hit company.

Auson

Good question. Kier blamed "an unusually wet winter" for the delays. I checked the rainfall stats for the nearby Cardinham Met Office weather station. None of the winters during the project could be described as "unusually wet". It is Bodmin Moor and winters tend to be wet. In other words, the weather conditions were what could reasonably be expected and planned for. The real reason appears to have been poor planning and lack of resources on site. Instead of committing extra resources to the project, Kier appeared to be content with taking their own sweet time and paying the daily penalties for the overrun. I can't imagine they turned much of a profit on the project in the end.

Given the way Kier handled the recent A30 dualling scheme in North Cornwall - 2.5 miles of dual carriageway and three overbridges - which overran by 2 years, I am totally unsurprised by their continuing failure. They deserve to go under.

As usual, a total overreaction this morning to a bit of negativity in the results. Babcock's fundamentals are still very good - and with a yield of 6.24%, I won't be getting rid anytime soon.

Capita shares have a 200-day moving average of 127p. I think, like last year, we may see a surge toward the summer - and it will probably hold this time, provided the HY results in Aug continue the positive outlook. If the bid from Corporate Travel Management for Capita's travel arm (negotiations ongoing) goes ahead (at £150-200 million) in the next few weeks, there will probably be an immediate surge into the 130-140p range.

Shorts in Capita are currently down to 3.5% - from a high of 8.32% in May 2018.

I finally gave up on ALY yesterday and sold out. I think they could recover in the long term, but yesterday's curt trading update, with not even the slightest hint of encouragement for investors, really made me question the way the company is being managed. I'm glad I no longer own this share, as it was acting as a drag anchor on my portfolio. Luckily, I got it pretty cheap in the first place. If you're still invested, good luck (I think you'll need it).

I must have come to the wrong chat room. I could have sworn I clicked on 'Lloyds Share Chat'. Instead, I found something that resembles a Daily Mail comments page.

There is a 'General Chat' forum for extraneous tittle tattle.

The share price has taken a hammering lately. I think the problem is that all those people who bought-in amid the takeover rumours, hoping to make a fast buck, have been getting out over the past few weeks. That, combined with the Debenhams collapse and general gloom on the high street has driven the price down. Almost twice as many shares have been bought as sold today, so let's hope the SP stabilises.

I was quite tempted to invest in Sirius, but it looks too much of a 'jam tomorrow' story for my liking. If the funding fails to materialise it could all end in tears quite soon. Even if the funding is secured, it is still going to take a lot more cash and time to get the mine operational. I have no doubt the mine will be viable, eventually, but Sirius shareholders might not be along for the ride by then. Good luck anyway.

"Chris Wootton, Sports Direct's deputy Chief Financial Officer, has spoken to Radio 4.

He says that while Debenhams' decision to go into pre-pack administration was legal - "morally it is not correct".

Mr Wootton thinks the board "have absolutely not carried out their fiduciary duties" towards shareholders, who were wiped out in the process.

He says Mike Ashley's firm is considering suing Debenhams, and insists this is more than an idle threat."

Hmm, legal action based on something that is legal, but 'morally incorrect'. Good luck with that.

Back in the summer, the SP got a bit ahead of itself (at 266p) at the prospect of a full Tesco recovery. Now that the recovery has arrived let's hope the same SP highs can be achieved. The increased dividend (5.77p for this FY) can't hurt. Tesco is operating in a retail environment with very thin margins but is now very well equipped to maximise these. Aldi and Lidl will, of course, continue to give Tesco a run for its money, but I have a feeling we are close to peak-Lidl/Aldi. After 18 months of doing my main shop at Lidl, I have now returned to Tesco. There's much more choice, it is a more pleasant experience and the price difference is negligible.

I agree that this board is probably the last place SPF wants to be at the moment. No one who has lost to that extent wants to read all the shoulda coulda woulda arguments here. It is clear from SPF's message history that he/she is a genuine DEB shareholder, as all of their posts for the last year have been on the subject of Debenhams. A lot of us were lured by prospect of a MA bid. It is sometimes easy for objectivity to become obscured by the £ signs in our own eyes.

The threat of administration (and shareholders being wiped out) has been hanging over Debenhams for a long time now - and anyone holding shares knew that very well. It's not as though this company has been ticking along nicely for the past year. My sympathy goes to anyone who lost out, but it hardly came like a bolt from the blue. Some people need to let it go, put it down to experience and move on. By all means boycott Debenhams, but I doubt it will make a blind bit of difference.

Too late. People in droves are boycotting high street department stores. That's the problem. Online is the new high street - but without the traffic jams, awkward parking and people dithering in front of you. Debenhams will almost certainly survive - in those places where high street shopping is less of a chore and more of a leisure activity - Browns of Chester and a few others spring to mind. The overseas franchises will probably continue to do well. Debs in its current form is just too big and cumbersome for the current retail market. Even as someone who lost a few quid on this share, I wish Debenhams well.

Over the last year, a lot of us got sucked into the magical mystical Mike Ashley bid. Given that he was a 29.9% shareholder, it wasn't too much of a stretch to believe he would eventually pounce. I lost a few hundred quid, but got out sharpish (twice) with a stop loss. Buying this share at any time in the last 18 months was always a pure gamble and anyone who says otherwise is simply kidding themselves.

To anyone here who bought at 1.5p yesterday and sold at 4p today - congratulations! Fortune favours the brave (sometimes). Ashley's prospective bid is better than I thought it would be. I hope he does make a bid and that it is successful. Debs, in its current form, is unsustainable.

As a result of Lidl fatigue (limited and missing stock), I've now gone back to shopping at Tesco. Price-wise I have not noticed any difference - my bill is about the same. When I want something a bit special I still pop into M&S.

It may be stating the obvious now, but I've been saying for months that these shares are toxic. The magical mystical Mike Ashley bid lured a lot of people in over the last 18 months (including me, twice). Luckily, I got out both times with a modest loss (stop loss is your friend here). Sorry to those who have lost out, but they knew the risks.