Member Info for stagecoach

Leaving aside specific issues surrounding UK banks, the London equity market is fast loosing it's appeal resulting in a huge flight of capital into alternative investment markets. In 2022 alone Fund Managers and retail Investors withdrew a record £75Bn out of UK based equity markets reflecting the gloomy outlook for the UK economy.

Stellar set of Q1 results on the back of high interest rates, on the downside investment banking revenues remain subdued and more money set aside for loan loss provisions on the expectations for a slowing US economy later this year.

CEREUS

This is not only a Government problem, the UK has the lowest rate of business investment of any G7 country, and one reason for that is the private sector has tended to prefer dividend payouts and share buy-backs rather than higher spending on capital investment projects.

" The Black Horse is a shareholders dream to hold "

More a Dark Horse, or Bad Bet ?

Investors still feel they're being taken for a very rough ride with this share !

Mixed messages and another reminder, that economic fundamentals will remain unpredictable and challenging for the financial sector.

" Cancelled Dividends " was a PRA initiative, not Lloyds.

In a statement to UK banking sector CEOs, the BoE warned in no uncertain terms it was ready to use its supervisory powers, if they did not comply with it's recommendations to cancel dividends and bank bonuses.

" extraordinary times called for extraordinary measures "

Bumpy long road lies ahead for the UK economy before inflation is tamed and interest rates return to any thing like pre - pandemic levels, in the meantime businesses will be pummelled the the ravages of high inflation and increased operating costs, and households will continue to see real incomes fall.

A fraction of a penny quarterly dividend, hardly worth the effort and not cost efficient to distribute unless it was the BODs original intention to consolidate the shares at some point in the future.

Trader's and markets start the week in fairly buoyant mood.

Seems Bitcoin has more lives than a cat, topping $30,000 for the first time since June 2022, despite all the gloom and doom surrounding cryptocurrency, it looks like it's here to stay particularly for the younger and new generations of investors.

Hedge Funds also winners.

March was the single most profitable month for short - sellers in the banking sector since the 2008 financial crash.

Mergers and acquisitions at a record low, relentless regulation and competition continues to bear down on the sector, dividend payouts constrained, huge shifts continue to take place that are changing the banking sector as we know it.

Share buybacks are a clear sign the banking sector are in a systematic structural retrenchment mode.

Don't fall in to the dividend trap, nothing is guaranteed in the stockmarket, especially high yielding dividend stocks.

livestock

On the other side of the coin, markets and investors will fret, if banks and insurers are not sufficiently well capitalised and resilient for future climate - related losses which will surely materialise for the sector over the coming years.

Troajan

Rising interest rates, inflation a further cut in OPEC oil production a toxic mix for the global economy, all the hallmarks of a geopolitical move between Saudi Arabia, Russia and Iran.

Suff ( the share count is dropping )

Buybacks are not necessarily silver bullets for raising the share price of a company.

Vodafone one of the top dogs of the FTSE100, despite buying back half its share capital over the past twenty years, and paying a current dividend of 8.49% the shares are languishing at a twenty year low.

Walkersworld

Yes, one of the advantages of living in a semi-rural location, when possible we use farmers markets and family locally run food shops, supermarkets can learn a lot from these people.

LTI

Supermarkets are already using their power and influence to shape and constrain consumer choices forcing them to choose certain items over another one, empty shelves = less choice and more profit, comes to mind.
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Disastrous for the farming industry and UK consumer, Australian and Canadian hormone - injected meat imports alone could jump ten -fold if major UK supermarket chains succumb to Government and CPTPP pressure, and are forced to sell chlorinated and hormone injected meat products.

If you Don't want to loose money....... Don't listen to brokers !

Finally economic reality and interest rates have caught up with UK house prices.

Housing market sentiment now at it's lowest level since 2009, a relatively soft landing for house prices is still possible for this year and beyond.