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Telecoms - I hold BT here and T in the US. Both have performed poorly with BT being my worst UK stock during 2022. I came in at 163 so I will not be as badly served as some here, but it still sure hurts. Currently pondering 2023 strategy for this share. My two choices are exiting with losses or thinking about doing several trades to offset my losses. I am not hopeful the management are up to driving this business efficiently.
Did my monthly review on the weekend of all my holdings and spent a bit of time looking at the figures for SQZ - that cash pile, income prospects, chance of a bid. I set up a limit order to double my holdings on Monday. Not what I was expecting to see today!
I can see buying tax offset vouchers cheaply is a significant element of this deal but jeepers it is going to be tough to use them all up, there will be all sorts of hurdles to stop them being used where they were not created.
Complimentary undersea capability - ok if you really can (i) take advantage of it otherwise it is a different business model with a poor balance sheet that means the business is on sale for a very good reason, its management have driven it into a hole and so (ii) you need to upgrade the management or invest in modifications to the model.
The dilution of shares - only a good thing for shareholders if what you are purchasing is under-priced.
So it will take time for this fairly complex deal to play out. SQZ management need to show that they have a real grip of the financials and can use the preserved losses to offset future profits and that what they have bought they can manage to add profit, not reduce it.
Undoubtedly it makes SQZ unattractive to takeover, or at least reduced the value of a bid, so it acts to help preserve the current BOD in employment. And when that is even a partial motive, it is not a good sign.
Today is not the day to liquidate, but this is going to need careful watching. The BOD need to explain exactly how they are going to use those preserved losses and they need to do that before the end of the first week of the New Year.
Well that was another bunch of odd trades today. Eleven of those sales of sells at under £55 of value. Well at least the market makers are no longer selling anything from one to five! Is someone setting this up for a takeover bid? Drive the price down and then offer a 50% premium?
As ever, this is a sound business that will still trade well in a recession.
Well on the 28th we get our near 3p interim dividend. Negligible trading has allowed the market makers to make the market, in this case very cheaply indeed. They have shoved this stock all the way down but that has not stopped the business being a profitable well founded enterprise with a product that will continue to sell in a downturn - ok less new builds - balanced by more refurbs. And with the completion of the set up of the production line in low cost Turkey, the margin per radiator is up. So for any "watchers" there is only one thing to do with a stock that is so undervalued. I added quite a few more. Thank you market makers, I can also take advantage of your game.
Well on a day when absolutely everything else I held was bright red - at least SRAD didn't lose any more!
Keep up the good work!
"Is this a vote of no confidence in the new CEO?" No this is because some teen-age "expert" at RBC Capital who does not understand the business and thinks selling kitekat, chum and a few trinkets is all they do, wrote a dumb and incorrectly timed analysis, (about 6 months out of date even if the message it contained was relevant) that came out on Monday. Key to the business growth is the in store vet business, and the database for pet ownership and breed treatments that it facilitates. That still has plenty of headroom and they are doing a great job with developing it. But quite where the slide in the share price ends up now, given the current nervousness and negativity towards retail, is anyone's guess.
Which 22 year old first appointment newbe got out of bed and drafted the RBC Captial words of wisdom? Like others this is my biggest loser in my portfolio. The company is well run, a good trading sheet and balances and is in a good position looking ahead. Compared to many others on the high street this will do well. I still think of the basics - the car park at my local store, always lots of customers. Like others averaging down is a hard pill but today was just ridiculous. Had I been on hand today I think I would have bought in another 25% at 275- 280 if I had been around today to deal.
The fun continues. 14 trades on a day with 5 of them sales of a single share and the share price driven down by over 4 %. Somebody is laughing big time.
On 1st Jan 2022 gold ws £1,353.70 and this fund was 985.25. On 10/6/22 gold is £1520.90 and this fund is 1006.
In that period gold has risen by 12.35%; this fund has risen by 2.1%
I read articles by two separate financial advisors stating that investing in this fund was equivalent to investing in physical gold. I downloaded the fact sheet and the headline was the same although the small print seemed to be giving Wisdomtree caveats to not follow gold if extreme circumstances applied.
The factual truth is this fund has not followed the price of gold throughout the more than six months I have held it, crisis or not.
I can see no point whatsoever in investing in this fund. If you can, please let me know.
In one week between the 28th May and 4th of June Gold went up from £1,468.01 to £1,483.17, whilst this fund dropped from 18.483 to 18.339. this means that in one week the factual divergence between the price of actual gold and a fund that is promoted as tracking the gold price and equivalent to holding gold, is 1.81%. Nearly two percent per week!
The fall from the beginning of the year is much greater.
This fund is marketed as equivalent to holding physical gold. The facts of the data indicate this is not true and holding this fund long term will only result in a significant loss. Nearly 2% loss in a single week.
So a total of 14 sales of two shares followed by 5 sales of a single share. Very funny.
So someone is quite keen on driving the share price down. Very little activity here and then suddenly 8 sales each of 2 shares at a time. Someone wants to move the price down so they can then buy at a discounted figure. Well let's see how it plays out.
OK, we don't know how long the hysteria will last. I misjudged the irrationality of the market response and made a move yesterday. I will be watching this very closely for then purchase more. Regardless of the populist desires that will drive this feckless Govt over the next few months, the prospects are that energy prices will not come down and then the Govt will need to encourage the supply tap it has discouraged.
I'm with Maverick. The business is the same this afternoon as it was last night, with good prospects and fairly well run. The windfall tax is just a stunt paid for by shareholder value and the Co to extricate a mired Govt. In a few months they will realise how self defeating it is, as energy bills continue to rise. I never thought I would see the share price below 280 again so I jumped at the chance to purchase some more. Annoyed I missed 273 as I signed in through security of my portal but happy at under 280 and although one of the smaller holdings in my portfolio, I was happy to increase by purchasing another 80% more.
Going to disagree here. I get to go past my local Pets and Tesco as I go into town. Pets carpark as normal, Tesco definitely not the rush it can be and quiet on other times - I hold both shares in my portfolio. Of the two I think Tesco offers no scope for growth of its business but is a fair bet for a longer term hold. Those feckless pet owners who hit the news buying an expensive puppy during lock-down and now trying to dump it - well they certainly get the news but the far greater majority love their pets and would rather starve themselves than let their pet go without. Pets is going to hold up very well in this recession and has more room to grow as their on-site vet business model expands further.
This fund is advertised as tracking the price of gold in £. It does not do that. Since Jan this year it has lost value against the gold price in £, in fact it is down 7.97% against the current price of gold in £. Can anyone shed any light on why that is the case.
This fund is advertised as tracking the price of gold in £. It does not do that. Since Jan this year it has lost value against the gold price in £, in fact it is down 7.90% against the current price of gold in £. Can anyone shed any light on why that is the case.
The "perception" of whom? Idiots who use their misconception of the planet and how it works as the basis for financial decisions? Certainly for people who analyse figures, they all look good and stack up. Sales up in a sustainable manner. Profits also up and a competent management team at the helm. And a business model in a market that is not going to be wiped out by technology. In fact one that ever greater intrusion by the internet and AI will enhance. Looks like a good business to me. I am simply left thinking that when will the price bottom out as these people continue to do their thing, following one another based on their bar-chat analysis. Sometime then, I need to have enough put aside to increase this holding in my portfolio.
WHL - yes apart from the very good performance of the management team the other feature I took away was the single threat on the horizon - the departure of the CEO and the later departure of the head of the VET section.
GEC were a major employer where I grew up. Weinstock ran a tight ship and what was it, 30 year of outstanding dividends, a record unmatched by any other FTSE 100 company?
Sometime in the late 90s after dinner, I was looking at the financial pages and the Telegraph had a feature story of how Simpson, the new boss, was changing the company name to Marconi. It headed up the article with the famous sepia picture of Gugliemlo looking at the camera with his radio receiver alongside him. My wife looked across as I put the paper down and saw the source of my frustration straight away - "that's not Marconi!"
"No it is the guy who has taken over at GEC - this is the cover of the latest GEC financial report."
"GEC are headed for trouble then," was her simple but accurate analysis.
She had worked for GEC for a short time at Underwater Systems. Simpson had decided that the very famous picture could be improved by superimposing his own face over the top of that of Marconi.
Lord Simpson, his ego and stupidity might have wrecked a business but sure as heck he will not be poor.
Succession - always a difficult time for a business.