Member Info for TheMadStork

No probs. To be fair it is slightly confusing when all you get are notifications of Blackrock's holding without any context.

Both the longs and shorts are completely automatic. Blackrock's algorithms are simply balancing their index tracker positions accordingly.

Once again, Blackrock operate ETFs that track the various MSCI indices EUA has recently been admitted to. Index tracker ETF buying is entirely automated; Blackrock have zero discretion over whether or not to buy or sell the shares, it is entirely automatic, which is the whole point of index trackers. Blackrock themselves have *no view either way* over the value of EUA.

How are you getting £577m cash by the end of May? The guidance on the interims suggests they will generate £120-150m by then according to my calcs.

Blackrock trades in EUA are entirely automated. They are holding because EUA was recently added to various MSCI indices and Blackrock operate various ETFs that track those indices. Talk of "Blackrock loading up" is nonsense; they did not make an active decision to buy their shares (or open any shorts; those are also entirely automated).

Precisely.

And the government has had ages to intervene and refused to guarantee the bonds. I fail to see why they would suddenly do so now.

Correct. Capital losses may only be offset against capital gains.

You can however carry forward losses indefinitely against future gains.

The negative trades are how the exchange/platform displays cancelled trades. So fat fingers or incorrect price. Nothing to do with shorting and no effect on the price.

It would be entirely counter-productive for the company to 'make it look like there is a placing' since a lower share price means they are able to raise less money and also makes them look more desperate to any potential farm out partner.

I would argue they have in fact been attempting to do the opposite with the last 2 RNS updates being worded as bullishly as possible in a transparent attempt to get the share price higher prior to the required placing.

It's entirely correct to say that nothing is certain, and if they *do* manage a farmout then clearly I will lose money on my short.

However, they have failed to bring on board a partner despite years of effort. I see absolutely no reason to believe they will suddenly succeed now, simply because they have announced their intention to drill next year come what may.

Just a note that they are extremely unlikely to do a rights issue due to expense/timing/fragmented investor base. It will be a private placing almost guaranteed. There may possibly be an open offer as well but that is far from certain.

I think a farmout is vanishingly unlikely at this stage. They have been seeking a partner for years now with no luck. Why would someone sign up now? The asset and data available hasn't changed.

They have 3 weeks to raise £15m+.

If you have an IG account it is easy enough to verify that it is in fact currently possible to short BPC on that platform.

I'm short £4k/point with IG. Was somewhat surprised to see the borrow available, but you could still get it as of Friday.

As you imply, shorting illiquid small caps is generally a poor idea, however in this case it's basically certain I will make money from a 2.75p avg short, given the company needs to raise £15m+ in just a few weeks, and the only reasonable way of doing so is via a discounted placing.

As I said, I do intend to go long once the funds are raised, and my long position will be much larger than my current short.

Specialist is correct; talk of 6p minimum conversion is total nonsense.

Personally I am short at the moment because I do not see any way the drill is going to be funded other than via a heavily discounted private placing. The amount they need and the type of investors who will be willing to fund what is essentially a wildcat drill mean that the discount is likely to be large. 1.5p could prove optimistic; it will certainly be much lower than current levels.

I plan to either close my short post placing and go long, assuming the drill is definitely happening, as there is likely to be substantial upside from the placing price pre drill. I don't plan to hold any for the result.

Good riddance. He was a disaster as CEO. Looking forward to the update; I have every confidence in the new management.

There are warrants at £1 from the most recent raise. I hold a lot of them. Good news for everyone else is that they were all held (AFAIK) through SVS, and obviously former SVS clients cannot currently access their accounts. There's also a good amount of shares tied up in frozen SVS accounts too, which is reducing the free float here even further.

Oh wait turns out I can't read. Never mind!

Can anyone point me in the direction of the terms of the proposed convertible loan note? Cheers.

Ex Dividend from the special divi announced here: http://www.lse.co.uk/share-regulatory-news.asp?shareprice=BHP&ArticleCode=hrqpgb3s&ArticleHeadline=BHP_buyback_completion_and_special_dividend