Member Info for Stiperstones

Ageos: as well as Doc83’s suggestion, you might try posting with a numbered title e.g. No.1 Explanation of…, No.2 Explanation of…

Just a thought (as I’m sure I’m not the only one eagerly awaiting your continuations).

Kind regards.

Just to be clear, my comment on Tulips has nothing to do with EEE. I am truly committed to this company for the long term. It has already changed my life, in large due to this forum and those of you who have given so freely of your expertise and time.

Back to the tennis now…

Kind regards.

Apologies to the faithful EEE readers while I diversify from the relevant share chat.

I have no interest in Bitcoin as I don’t understand it but have enjoyed reading the comments about it here today. While it may have no similarity (or indeed relevance to Bitcoin) it did remind me of a history lesson many years ago. The following is from ChatGPT (apologies for the laziness as I’m watching Alcaraz vs Sinner in an absolute masterclass of tennis).

Tulip Mania (Historical Context)

What it was:

A period of frenzied speculation and price inflation for tulip bulbs in the Netherlands from around 1634 to 1637.

The bubble:

Prices for rare tulip bulbs reached extremely high levels, with a single bulb costing as much as a luxury Amsterdam house.

The crash:

The bubble burst in February 1637, leading to a sharp decline in prices and financial hardship for many investors.

Significance:

It's considered one of the first recorded speculative bubbles in history and serves as a parable for the dangers of excessive greed and herd mentality

History lesson over. :-)

For those that have filtered Dusty you will have missed his little gem of a comment this morning:

“Sometimes things can leave you lost for words in the most Beautiful kind of way.”

It was because of Dusty that I learned of Empire (on the RR board). I arrived here in June and since then sold all my RR holdings and have fully committed into this share. In just 2 months it has materially changed my life.

Special thanks too go to Manlord, Aegos and Cev. And I would be remiss to thank all other contributors to this forum (YOU) for engaging insights and searching questions (that I wanted asking or hadn’t even thought to ask).

Finally, to the Empire Board of Directors: I have invested in shares for over 40 years and have never experienced such an engaging and confidence-building management team. The way you are conducting yourselves on our behalf should be a template for all other listed businesses. Thank you.

Best wishes everyone.

Yellowstuff: “Born in Wolverhampton a long time ago,”…

Me too, small world isn’t it!

Hi Darbinator,

I’d be interested to know your slicing strategy post MRE if you’d like to share it? I understand why you’d consider such a move as part of any risk mitigation. Like Cev, I sold a bunch of RR yesterday and added more to my EEE holdings. So, I’m looking at strategic buying and selling as and when the SP movement works in favour of each other. I fully intend to keep a chunk as a long term hold. Kind regards and completely understand if you don’t want to share your strategy in an open forum.

Continued:

Assembly Line (early 1900s)

Fear: Deskilled, repetitive work would replace artisans.

Reality: Craftsmanship roles declined, but mass production created millions of stable factory jobs and affordable goods.

Computers (mid-20th century)

Fear: Bookkeepers, clerks, typists would be automated away.

Reality: Those specific jobs fell sharply, but computers generated whole new fields (IT, software, data processing).

Industrial Robots (1970s–1980s)

Fear: Factory workers, especially in auto manufacturing, would be replaced en masse.

Reality: Robots did reduce some assembly-line jobs, but global demand for manufacturing and new engineering roles absorbed much of the shift.

Outsourcing & Automation (1990s–2000s)

Fear: White-collar jobs (call centers, programming, support) would vanish domestically.

Reality: Some middle-class roles did erode, but globalization lowered costs and tech booms created new industries (internet, mobile, finance tech).

AI & Machine Learning (2010s–present)

Fear: Professional jobs (law, medicine, finance, creative work) are at risk of mass automation.

Reality (so far): AI is replacing specific tasks, not wholesale occupations; demand for human-AI collaboration jobs is growing, but long-term effects remain uncertain.

Will the rise in AI deliver job losses? I asked ChatGPt for example s:

Innovation → job loss fears → what actually happened:

Industrial Revolution (late 1700s–1800s)

Fear: Power looms/mechanical weaving would destroy livelihoods of artisans.

Reality: Many craft jobs did vanish, but factory work massively expanded overall employment (though with worse conditions).

Steam Power & Railroads (1800s)

Fear: Canal workers, horse-drawn carriage drivers, and related trades would be wiped out.

Reality: Those jobs did decline, but railroads created huge new employment in engineering, logistics, and construction.

Agricultural Mechanization (1800s–1900s)

Fear: Tractors/harvesters would eliminate farmhands.

Reality: Farm labor shrank dramatically (from ~40% of US workforce in 1900 to

“…fantastic news for the triple lock”

The triple lock for State Pensions in the UK references the inflation figure published each September. Agree, however, that the headline figure announced today means that September’s inflation figure may be very close.

Hi Trickyrich,

Mind sharing the methodology behind the forecast/predictions?

Thanks ChrispTurtle and M1k382: I thought they were reasonable questions and you’ve responded in kind.

Justaguyinashed: I see your point of view but history is peppered with products and commodities that were once in great demand but fell by the wayside due to innovations, lack of foresight, technological improvements and human ingenuity. Natural rubber is but one example I can think of impacted by the rise of synthetic rubber and newer materials. Kodachrome film is another: everyone had a camera that used film but nowadays it’s almost all digital and indeed Kodak filed for bankruptcy in the end.

CrispyTutle,

An interesting read thank you and which immediately raised these thoughts in my mind:

1. Where do we see future customers come from to expand the demand or is the demand already there but the product supply is limited?

2. If what I’ve previously read on this board about the potential size of the site being investigated by Empire, would that not mean a possibility of potential oversupply in the market (and consequently a potential drop in product price)?

I’m invested in this stock so am genuinely interested in the answers to the above. Apologies if these have been asked before.

Kind regards.

Thanks for that Trello. I hadn’t spotted that.

“But, is that correct Striperdude, that the sp drops on div day, as I day trade, so that news is important to me?.”

Hi Badland,

It’s just one more aspect of shares that needs to be considered when trading and something I’m mindful of when considering buying and selling opportunities. Like anything with shares, there seldom appears rhyme or reason. But there are occasions when a share is ex-dividend there are more sellers than buyers in the days following.

Just out of interest, as you’re day-trading (I do a mix of hold, long hold and infrequent day-trading), did you catch the two days in the last week where the RR SP pivoted between (around) £10.95/£11.00 and £10.70/£10.72? Cumulatively, that’s a near 4.75% return (gross of fees)?

Food for thought for new investors on this board looking to buy in time to receive the dividend. Often a share price will drop on or immediately after the ex-dividend date. If you intend to hold then this is less of an issue. If you have a short term tactic then the value of the dividend might actually be less than any immediate decline in share price. Local, National and international events, market commentary and sometimes sentiment play their role too as we all know.

On another note, I hold my shares with HL in ISAs, SIPP and Fund & Share accounts. I selected to have June’s RR declared dividend reinvested which took HL around a month from memory. From recollection, I’d have been better off having it drop into the accounts as cash and immediately buy more shares such was the rise in the SP over that intervening month.

As with everything, it’s personal choice: 40 years or more buying and selling shares and I’m still learning, suffering, moments of great delight, moments of dread when the markets tumble, smiling, laughing (and wincing) privately at forum comments and finally wondering where my day/life has gone spending too much time on my iPad watching the markets (when retrospectively, I might have well have just let my stocks watch over themselves). In this latter respect I’m envious of those disciplined enough to just look at their holdings once a month as some commentators have shared this is what they do.

Good luck to new investors or those considering investing. It is certainly a roller coaster experience!

Hi Peakdread and NTC,

I agree wholeheartedly with your sentiments about various boards but I glean many golden nuggets of such value (from the few) that it’s worth sieving through to find them and I thank those contributors for their insights and experience.

One of my favourite quotes is this:

“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” (Maya Angelou, Civil Rights Activist and Author).

King regards.

@Badland

Well done. I grabbed some in March at $109 and sold last week at $160. Paid for two weeks in the Maldives. :-)

Hi Peakdread,

Re: “ I take what you say Badlands - however RR has had a habit of surprising us over the last couple of years - Maybe they will indeed publish "super stellar results" rather than the stellar results the market is expecting? My logical side of my brain says just be satisfied with long term gains.... my gambling side of my brain is whispering in my ear thatt I should have a flutter....”

Thanks for this. It is exactly the point I was trying to make over the weekend in reply to Svend’s post. I think you said it more eloquently.

…timing…!

I ask, because as with everything in life, it’s all about…