Roundtable Discussion; The Future of Mineral Sands. Watch the video here.
Lot of denial about DCA here!
However, the odds are quietly stacking up against the banks. Popular folk-hero Martin Lewis is pursuing the DCA case with zeal. The FOS Ombudsman has already ruled in favour of the consumer -- twice. The FCA has opened up an investigation -- something it only does when it thinks it has a very strong case. There is a related precedent for overcharged loans with hidden fees, called PPI. So far, the scores on the doors for DCA are "Consumers 5.... Banks 0"...
As predicted, there's the 1050p 👍 The shareprice curve has turned parabolic. The bulls are in charge. And DEC is still at less than 1 x PE ratio, versus a sector average of 7. Now we know how Charlie felt in the Chocolate Factory 😋
LTI,
Car dealers and third-party brokers were adding hidden commissions on top of bank loans, and not always telling the consumer about it. They were mis-sold. They were overcharged. The practice was finally banned by the FCA in 2021. Two cases referred to the FOS Ombudsman have already found in the consumers' favour (not the banks'). The FCA is set to rule definitively on the subject in Sep 2024.
Imagine if a little old lady bought £10k of LLOY shares for her pension today at 54p... But her broker had quietly popped 2p of commission on top... but didn't tell her about it... while everyone else with a different broker had paid just 52p... and they were laughing at her... She'd be (rightly) miffed at the hidden charges and annoyed that she'd overpaid... That is what has (allegedly) happened with DCA car loans. The pricing was higher / lower than claimed.
Let1tbe,
Many people don't understand the DCA scandal. Many UK banks (allegedly) overcharged UK consumers with colossal hidden fees for car loans in 2007 to 2021. Martin Lewis reckons it could cost the industry in total up to £40 billion in compensation (about the same as PPI). We're talking telephone numbers here.
Mvarawa,
Nailed it. UK (and EU) politicians are quietly replacing democracy with oligarchy since the late-1990s. The will of the UK people is being replaced by the will of the lawyer. And that lawyer is appointed by (or favourable to) a political party. They dress it up in fancy words, like "Supreme" (court). But it's basically using the veneer of "law" to replace democracy.
If Shell quits London, for NY, it really will be a devastating blow for the London stockmarket. Maybe a knockout blow.
Having said that, Shell today is only about -10% undervalued, compared to Exxon and Chevron by PE ratio. The valuation gap for oilies is nowhere near the colossal 10x gaps found in the tech world (such as ARM, etc.).
Great to see DEC focusing on the US, where there is money, growth, and optimism. UK investors have had their chance, and all they ever bring to the table is misery, pessimism, and a weird obsession with dividends. Promote DEC to America, get the word out, they have a growth and buyback story to tell.
No need to get in a tizzy! It's very simple. DEC is buying back 10% of the entire company in 2023-2024. That's huge. Like a partial takeover. To put it in perspective, the average US stock buyback ratio is just 1-6%. The DEC buyback is 2-10 times bigger than average. It's huge.
Yet another strong intraday reversal. Seeing the same uptrend pattern almost every day now. The shareprice has bounced over +20% from its low, making it a bull market. The close today above the psychological £10 line is an important one. It's back in double-digits.
DEC is buying back a huge ~10% of all its shares in 2024, a very positive sign. A colossal buyback. The Russell 2000 listing is coming up in May-Jun 2024, when index trackers will have to start buying in. More buyers, less shares.
DEC sits on a PE ratio of 1, versus a sector average of 7. Matching the sector average would give DEC a shareprice around £70. A DCF calc suggests DEC is worth around £35. Stifel, a broker, sets a price target for DEC of £28. The market loves the CEO'S new growth strategy.
And don't forget the cherry on top -- DEC's impressive ~10% dividend.
The positive signs here are snowballing 👍
And don't just take my word for it. The UK is now independently and officially listed as the world's 2nd most-miserable country on all of planet Earth. This is what London is battling against. Seventy million of the gloomiest people in the world.
Until our culture changes, London will never ever return to being a tier-1 stockmarket. New York talks companies up. London talks companies down. I can barely read the FT newspaper, these days, because it is just page after page of misery and doom scrolling. If you've got a $50b AI company to float, where are you gonna list? Upbeat New York where they think AI is the new Internet and you're worth 10 x sales. Or downbeat London where they think AI is the new 3D and you're worth 1 x sales. New York wins every time.