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Wrighty
I agree, Brexit has been an unmitigated disaster for the country.
But what bothers me most is the inaction to stimulate the economy post Brexit.
Most of this lot aren’t real tories, they’re ukip brexiteers masquerading as Tories. All the decent ones were culled in the last election and replaced by sycophants. There is a total absence of innovation to kickstart the economy. They are redundant of policy and ideology, and most damagingly have no understanding about market dynamics, globalisation or constructive capitalism. There are many obvious measures that could be taken to energise Britain’s economy, but current government is incapable of implementing anything which would bolster the economy. That’s what happens when the electorate elect illiterate, undereducated populists.
Beard
More likely to be a merger than a takeover in my view. As analysts have pointed out Glencore would be the most viable partner, cost cutting and savings from synergies would be considerable. And a merger would be virtually seamless because of common ground and shared objectives.
However the market valuation is low enough to attract predatory attention from private equity/vulture funds/asset strippers. The sum of all AA’s parts are worth between 2/3 times more than current valuation. The undesirable elements that plague beaten down UK stocks (think Morrisons) may find the potential of turning a massive profit irresistible.
A powerhouse company at the forefront of the global economy, such as AA, would never find itself in this position if it were listed in a decent index.
A toxic index that decimates the value of every company it touches.
1999
Ftse - 6970
Dax - 5000
Dow -800
2023
Ftse - 7578
Dax - 16755
Dow -37230
And for the first time in history the CAC will close the weeks out numerically higher than the ftse
The ftse - an unregulated engine of wealth destruction.
An index where every boiler room and rogue hedge fund targets shares with tens of thousands of fake sells daily with a practice known as spoofing, that is outlawed elsewhere.
And the FCA and government sit idly by, terrified of soiling the already sullied reputation of UK markets.
My petition has 20 signatories and waiting approval
Once it is approved I will contact investor relations of every ftse100 company and make it a crusade to stamp out cheating and holding criminal manipulators accountable.
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/653169/sponsors/new?token=tEsepLajN7mQE8SDiw07
Dodgy
Anglo American is the most diversified of all big cap miners. A little research will confirm that.
It should be remembered that mining giants are at the forefront of the global economy, and that isn’t going to change anytime soon. China’s massive economic expansions was built on miners. A factor that will only grow with the transition to green energy.
Dodgy
One would expect the chart patterns of big cap miners to resemble each other as they are in the same sector. Up until recently they have performed in line with one another, but all that changed when hedge foods started mass spoofing Anglo American.
Spoofing is a crime in the US but there is no statute prohibiting it in the UK. It leaves UK shares wide open to indefensible abuse, as we have seen with AA.
If the government is ever going regain confidence in UK markets it needs follow other global markets example and outlaw spoofing, and come down on the perpetrators very very hard.
For those of you who don’t know what spoofing is I’ll explain it in another post. The UK’s dearth of regulation has flung the doors open to every boiler room and rogue hedge fund to practice in the UK what is outlawed in their own countries. All at the expense of shareholders.
Doubling down is the surest way to ruin.
These boards are full of traders who claim to be constantly doubling/averaging down on losing positions.
Vodafone for example - imagine if you’d averaged down multiple times on that - as many have done.
Hit yet another all time low today - 65p
Beware - you will end up all in on a dog of a share and financially ruined. Stick to a sensible sized positions and diversify. Doubling down is the primary cause of stock market losses.
Jeffrey,
I’m pleased to say the petition has received enough signatories to be considered.
When I feel the appropriate time has arrived I will send the petition to AA investor relations and a host of other blue chips that have been unjustifiably battered at the hands of the U.K. market. The misconduct of those responsible for valuing U.K. shares pose an existential threat to our stock market and economy, and must be addressed. Here’s the reply.
“Your petition is nearly ready to go.
***** ********* supported your petition – “Investigate the valuation mechanisations of UK stock markets.”.
5 people have supported your petition so far. We’re checking your petition to make sure it meets the petition standards. If it does, we’ll publish it. We have a very large number of petitions to check at the moment so it may take us longer than usual to check your petition. Thank you for your patience.
Once your petition has 21 signatures it won’t be able to add more until it’s been checked. So, please wait until it’s been checked and published before sharing it with lots more people.“
Doy
I largely agree with your sentiment about the present state of British politics, but I think you are unaware of how these petitions work.
After 10,000 signatures, petitions get a response from the government.
After 100,000 signatures, petitions are considered for debate in Parliament.
The government know full well the issues facing UK equity markets, which are in terminal demise. They must know the country would benefit if they could introduce measures to make London a desirable location for companies to list once more. I have a whole raft of measures in mind to reinvigorate UK markets. Unless radical measures aren’t taken, UK markets will fade into oblivion through lack of regulation and innovation.
Here is the link again for supporters to sign
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/653169/sponsors/new?token=tEsepLajN7mQE8SDiw07
Jeffrey,
These petitions are exclusively for ordinary citizens, not corporations. What makes this petition even more relèvent is the well publicised reluctance for any decent British company to list in the U.K.
U.K. indexes are toxic - engines of wealth destruction. If the government doesn’t address the reasons behind it, Britain will continue haemorrhaging its most dynamic companies to foreign markets, which will in turn, irreparably damage the U.K. economy.
You can sign the petition on the link below.
Click this link to sign the petition:
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/653169/sponsors/new?token=tEsepLajN7mQE8SDiw07
I have set up a government petition, under the issues listed below. I need 5 signatories for the petition to become live. I will need to contact potential signatories by email to request their support.
Please let me know if you are interested. Let’s put an end to UK market abuse!
1. Investigate the valuation mechanisations of UK stock markets.
2. Investigate market makers responsible for trading UK shares. Scrutinise Broker conduct. Investigate Hedge Fund trading activity, with an eye on concerted company targeting and collusive misconduct.
3. UK equities trade at all time historic lows and at huge discounts to international peers. It’s obvious they are not being priced on performance or fundamentals. Catastrophic share price plunges frequently occur on company announcements (trading updates) even when those updates beat market expectations. Share price action is impossible to equate to reality, as there is no justification.
It needs to be done. UK markets are obviously incapable of valuing equities. The historically low valuations and huge discounts to peers need to be addressed. In many cases these are not UK companies at all, they are multinationals that make almost all their money outside the UK, but are subjected to obscenely low UK market valuations. In depth scrutinization of trading patterns, broker recommendations and collusive hedge fund trading activity need to be addressed. Countless examples of catastrophic shareprice plunges on innocuous announcements are available for scrutiny. What were the forces that drove those unlikely falls?
We need 100,000 signatures for the government to debate the issue in parliament. If someone can set the petition up we can circulate it. The government knows of the gross misconduct involved in UK equity activity, but is reluctant to react for fear of reputational damage to Britain’s broken markets. Enough is enough. UK investors have been violated for far too long. Time to bring this issue into the open and wheedle out the perpetrators.
https://www.gov.uk/petition-government#:~:text=Create%20or%20sign%20a%20petition,considered%20for%20debate%20in%20Parliament.
cheat
keep it real mate, the board wouldn’t risk insider trading before an announcement, all of which would be made public.
the problem here isn’t the board, it is the index in which aa is listed.
it’s becoming evermore common place for uk shares to be smashed when making trading updates - even when those updates exceed market expectations.
whereas once you needed a global event (such as the financial crisis or covid) to smash a share, a market beating trading update can smash a uk listed share now. this only happens in the uk. our markets are in the straitjackets of a cartel of hedge fund, broker and market makers who run the market, with the sole object to make it profitable to short.
this is specific to the uk
in 1999 the ftse100 hit 6950
in 1999 the dax was 5000
the dow was 8000
now
ftse 7500 - up about 8 percent
dax 16800 - up over 350 percent
dow 36600 - up over 450 percent
does it really make any sense to trade uk shares based on that performance.?
my view is the uk has some great companies, but instead of treasuring our most valuable companies, like other developed markets, the uk market makers sole objective is to smash the valuation of every uk listed company. and they have succeeded in systematic value destruction and decimation.
that’s why uk listed shares trade at all time historic low valuations, and trade at a huge discount to their peers.
and did anyone notice on monday - the cac closed higher than the ftse for the first time in history.
i propose every uk investor demand an investigation into the way uk markets are run. if someone can set up a poll and enough people reply the government is obligated to debate it in parliament.
it’s just not right that every share should get smashed, quite often on innocuous trading updates, or even on rumours or other such pretexts.
aa has the misfortune of being solely mired to the uk. the manipulation and value destruction the uk market has inflicted on aa over the past 3 days would be much more difficult to do to other miners listed in the index. because bhp has moved its main listing. rio is protected by its australian listing and would relist in au if the uk market smashed it. anto***asta is protected by chile. and glencore are protected by its swiss listing. it’s a sad state of affairs when even a mighty mining giant can have its value decimated by an index which is one hundred percent controlled by shorting forces.
in short the uk market profits from decimating the value of every company that lists here, whereas in other markets the opposite is true.
anglo american has been violated and abused by the uk market. it has fallen 26 percent (so far) on the announcement of a 4 percent production cut, implemented because of excess stock.
in september 23 -its market capital was ÂŁ37 billion
now its ÂŁ22 billion
it still has all the same mines, all the same assets.
it is still about the 5th biggest mining firm in
Midland boy
My advice
Be patient
Wait until 1500
It’s obvious the market makers are working hand in glove with Beremberg and are desperately trying to drive the share price down to comply with their target. Market makers are pricing AA to profit mass hedge fund shorts even though there have been 2 buys for each sell today.
Anything is possible in UK markets
Even a fraction of the true value of one of the world’s biggest mining giants.
This kind of valuation could only happen in a stock mired in the UK index
“jpm also upgrades rio tinto to "overweight" for its aluminium exposure, but notes the metal accounts for only about 2% of its 2024 earnings
* rio tinto should also benefit from rising iron ore demand next year as chinese demand grows, jpm adds
* the broker remains "overweight" on anglo american , citing a "more credible value unlock potential" in its
met coal business
* while jpm expects copper demand from energy transition to grow strongly by 2030, it stays "underweight" on anto***asta “
Watch out for share-price to dive after 4pm
This is when all the many hedge funds that are shorting AA collude to smash the shareprice with loads of small algorithmic sell orders.
Also another new target for the forces that keep uk valuations on their knees - Hargreaves Landsdown - been trashed today - low of 690p
But expect that to be breached in the final minutes of trade after a Bear Raid attack
What once needed to be a singular event to smash a share down 10/20 percent in a day can be done on a rumour these days.
How much longer are the FCA going to allow rogue traders to mint money at the UK’s expense?
Predictions for closing
AA to close at a new low
HL to close below 690
Berenberg slashes target price on Anglo American”
compare their 1500 price targets to other beancounters' PTs issued yesterday
* Anglo American : Barclays cuts target price to 2575p from 2865p
* Anglo American : Jefferies cuts target price to 2,500p from 2,600p
* Anglo American : RBC cuts target price to 2,200p from 2,400p
42 percent lower than Barclays
40 percent lower than Jeffries
32 percent lower than RBC
In what world does one of the world’s biggest miners trade for less than £20 billion?
And yet this is what the ftse100 has become
A graveyard for giant blue chip companies
An index of wealth destruction, in which Britains most valuable companies get systematically trashed under any pretext.
UK markets are broken - to work shareprices have to go UP as well as down. no matter how good you are at stock picking the odds are impossibly stacked against you in an index that never goes up over the long term. The index is for shorting only.
And you can bet your life the market makers will use Berembergs 1500 price target over all others.
Tbere can have 12 different price targets on UK shares but market makers will always comply with the lowest one.
Shorting UK shares must be the easiest money in the history of shorting.
Even though they trade at huge discounts to their peers and are at all time historic low valuations.
JG
“Totally agree , we have become the laughing stock of Global markets.”
That’s why BHP pulled out of the Permabear and changed their main listing to AU.
If they had stayed in the toxic UK index, BHP would be trading at ÂŁ5/6 a share less now.
Unfortunately AA has nowhere to run, it’s condemned to float in the UK cesspit - at least until it gets taken over. And as every company that’s listed in the UK knows, the price is wealth destruction on an unprecedented scale. ARM would be £30 if they had listed on the UK market, rather than $65. ARM knew that when they made the decision to list in the US, despite groveling politicians begging them to list on the Permabear. As does every other British company that chooses to list in the US.
Having a toxic market, incapable of valuing stocks is grievously wounding this country’s economy.
JG
Metaphorically speaking - the beancounters, market makers and hedge funds are doing the same to UK markets as Israel is doing in Gaza.
Despite the fact uk shares are trading at all time historical lows, the beancounters are issuing evermore lower price targets. How does that work?
The two/three fold increase in blue chip profits over the past two decades has not been factored into shareprices.
The Stone Age troglodytes responsible for valuing uk shares have smashed
Barclays
Diageo
Bats
Unilever
And several others recently.
No UK listed blue chip is safe from decimation
And the scary thing is no matter how low valuations fall the troglodytes continue to smash them down.
Other countries’ stock markets don’t trash their most valuable companies. That’s why they trade on valuations 3/4 times higher than those mired in the ftse100 cesspit.
AA’s production cuts were more because of lower demand and excessive stockpiles, than transport infrastructure.
But as usual the obtuse UK market didn’t interpret it like that - in a normal market the shares would have still fallen of course, because it was a profit warning of sorts (predicting lower revenue on decreased demand)
Is it any wonder why no decent company wants to invest in the UK, when market makers and hedge funds constantly trash UK listed companies (especially on trading updates) AAL would have fallen 5/7 percent in other markets. The 19 percent drop was extreme, even by the Permabear standards.
It makes excellent business sense to trim the workforce and production when demand wanes. They addressed know issues and that is positive.
The current dividend (40 percent of profits) is 2.5
covered. It’s affordable. Even if profits fall I cannot see it being cut. The ritual slaughter of UK shares is extremely costly to the nation. No company is going allow itself to have its valuation decimated by Stone Age trogodytes, by listing here. London’s reputation is sullied beyond redemption. It does not know how to value equities fairly.
London shares a have risen by a fraction of a percent in 2023
That compares with 20 percent in the S&P
And 10 percent in Eurostox.
Familiar story in 2022
Be the same story in 2024
That’s why every bear in the world comes to hunt in the UK. My advice to wannabe traders is to buy anywhere except the UK. Your chances of making money will increase a hundred fold.