Member Info for skier1

He is basically taking away £1000, and giving back £300...

Sleight of hand. Like a David Blaine magic trick.

FTSE plunging, lol.

Housing shortage is a myth. 100% of people have a roof over their head. Almost 1 million homes are on sale right now. Plenty of choice. Plenty to go around.

UK house prices go up every year for 3 main reasons:

1. Easy finance
2. Money laundering
3. Nowhere else to make money

"It's a failure of government not to house its people at affordable prices"...

Sounds like hysterical communist propaganda.

Pretty much 99.99999999% of people in the UK have a roof over their head in 2022.

It is important to understand the *psychology* of UK housing.

The UK is not a rich country. For most people, the perceived (not real) wealth in their house is all they have. They are not going to give it up without a fight. After half a century of nonstop growth, they expect their house price to go up, not down. They will do everything they can to achieve that. Sellers will up-price, and sit stubbornly on their hands until they get it.

Also, there is the Internet. Today, everyone knows what is happening to price. Everybody is a "house trader". Everyone is a dealer, an estate agent. They have seen it on TV and know how the house market works.

Finally, the UK population is soaring by 200-600k net new-arrivals every year. The demand remains strong.

Lol.

Raising taxes to record levels to choke an economic recovery, lowering living standards at their fastest rate in recorded history, after 2 years of house arrest, is not conservatism.

It is communism.

As others have said, Ukraine has had 20+ years to find a *peaceful* diplomatic solution to the Black Sea problem on Russia's southern border.

Positioned -- knowingly -- in the middle of the Great Game between US and Russia. East vs. West. Ukraine let a tug-o-war spiral into a local war, and then tried to provoke a global thermonuclear war.

Now, looking at the latest war maps, Ukraine finds itself about to lose a war, thousands dead, cities destroyed, homes wrecked, and will (probably) lose forever the Eastern third of its landmass.

That is (sadly) the actualité of the situation.

No flying abroad, no driving at home, forced onto transport vehicles controlled by the govt, fuel only for the very rich, everyone back under house arrest...

Sounds like the Gr8 R*set ;-)

LLOY profit and dividend in Jan were below expectations.

That is why the share price has cratered 10-15% in just a few weeks.

2010-2022...

* LLOY share price = -20%
* BITCOIN crypto price = +400000000.00%

Germany productivity is just in a whole different league to the UK. Around 20-80% higher per-hour, depending on definitions. Govt, banks, managers, unions, workers are better organised, calm execution discipline, more forward-looking.

Crypto is the digital currency for the digital generation for the digital future. Way cheaper for a globalised world to be lived in the metaverse. Fossil currency (like fossil banks) are the past, not the future.

Interest rate rises + biggest tax rises ever = recession...

Lol.

Western and British delusion at its finest ;-)

Russia is (by far) the world's biggest country and landmass.
Russia is by far the world's biggest nuclear power.
Russia has the world's best hypersonic nuclear missiles.
Russia is the world's no.1 for gas exports, no.2 for oil, no.3 for coal, top 5 for metals and wheat food.

China has soared from being the world's no.10 biggest economy in 1982 to no.2 in 2022 and will be no.1 before 2032.

China has by far the biggest armed forces in the Pacific in 2022 and will be the largest in the world by the 2030s.

Russia is a geographic superpower, a military superpower, a nuclear superpower, and a commodities superpower.

China is the world's no.2 superpower and will soon be no.1 by economy and military.

The number of people who live in the past -- in a world of Western delusion and denial -- is quite staggering!

The future is the East. Not the West.

Nice end-of-day spike and rally in the Dow, today. First bullish sign in weeks.

Surprised more folks are not trading this one. Potential for huge gains if Russia-Ukraine reach a peace deal. Up 10-30% already.

US has been losing control of the world since at least 2010, perhaps since 2007, and arguably as long ago as 2001.

NATO today is 50% of the world economy.
China-Russia corridor is 25%.
The other 25% are hedging their bets.

India, ****stan and Brazil are the swing states.
If they tilt fully to China-Russia, NATO is toast before the end of the century.

Enjoy Western life -- while we still can.

Rumours that a ceasefire or peace deal might be possible by Tues or Weds.

Fingers crossed.

Markets could soar.

Lots of chatter today about diesel being rationed in the UK by summer, due to Russia sanctions.

Surprised folks were still buying or holding this, when one of their biggest shareholders was being treated like a Bond villain!

Watching this very closely now.

If (if) the suspension is lifted, and there are forced mega sales of stock, think it may be possible to pick some up here for perhaps 5-10p.

Lol.

Swallowed the Western tabloid hysteria ;-)

Go read the science.

Happiness is relative, not absolute.

As long as you perceive you have a bit more than some of your local neighbours, and the sun shines from time to time, you will be happy with your lot.

Most people on all of planet Earth have no idea -- or understanding -- of the economic situation in or out their country.

Wales, for random example, is the 2nd poorest country in all of Western Europe, poorer by GDP PC than Poland, about the same level as Romania, not much higher than Russia. But the lovely people of Wales are happy.