Member Info for ValueMB

My views remain more or less the same as before: If you could pitch this company to investors with: "The company has an attractive PE, PEG and yield. The CEO is a major, but not majority shareholder", you'd have people lining up to buy. The problem is that the company is not young enough to get away with unreliable finances. If you're a pessimist, you may wonder why Grewal would ever introduce a decent dividend. He does not need approval of anyone but himself, and if he needs money, he can increase his CEO pay instead. Further torpedoing my confidence in the shares it that other board members barely hold any shares at all. Now, they say one should always set out to disprove one's own views rather than try to confirm them. Some arguments in favour of GDG would be: - It would be irrational for Grewal to sell shares if he thinks the SP is likely to increase in the relatively near future. - The company has resolved some debt issues, and does not look to be at risk of flopping over. - They have managed to get rid of the downstream operations. - Some unreliable dividend may better than nothing. - Grewal keeps saying the company will do great in the near future. Admittedly, he has said that for years and years... Disclaimer: While borderline embarrassing, I am long GDG. Not so much because I think it is a great opportunity, but it is just too tiny to be worth selling. Perhaps the share will eventually go up. As Trump says of middle eastern peace, "stranger things have happened". Best of luck to all, though. Just keep yourself diversified so that you are not hurt too badly if this holding continues to underperform.

I'm not even sure whether the BoD is doing a lot of stuff. What they are not doing (or not doing well) is communicating. As you say, it should be simple, get gas sell gas and use profit sensibly. They should communicate projections better and if they cared about SP, also make clear when this share will actually return anything to shareholders other than red numbers.

Few reasons: 1. Company has been around for a while, people may expect a bit more maturity with return of capital to share holders by now, or at least a more profitable company. 2. China company discount. People are less keen to own China based small to medium sized companies as they have a bad track record on UK stock exchanges. 3. People may simply not see where the company is heading. If I told you that you could invest in GDG or in RDSB, why would you want to pick GDG? On the word from CEO that all will be well and we should be excited (just as he always says)? Not saying GDG will be awful (I'm following it after all) but at present you'd need the patience of a saint.

Just to clarify, can I apply for a HMRC rebate the same way even if the shares are held in an ISA?

I am no accountant, and am hoping someone can shed some light on an issue for me: I hold a small post of Plus500 shares in an ISA. I know that 25% of a little is not much, but can I somehow end up paying less tax (either less to the Israeli government, get a refund from the UK government, or swap it for some of the income tax the UK government takes from me each year)? Many thanks.

I really don't think this company is at such extreme ends of the spectrum as some commentators are suggesting. I don't see the supposed threat of bankruptcy and I don't see the promise of a take-over. Given a few years I think the company will be in a better position.

Only something wrong with lottery, betting on football or spress betting if you don't realise house must win more than it loses. But then again, most humans think of themselves as better than average and the same is probably true for investors.

GumT, IG said it will protect consumers but never said from wgo. I'm sure it's a PR statement and if probed they would say that they're great themselves but other competitors didn't meet similar standards bla bla. Don't know IG well but i think you're over interpreting their statement, they don't admit wrong doing themselves. As for gambling, please explain how everyone can get more money by using spread betting without the betting company going bust. With a share all that's needed is static price and dividend above inflation. Gambling is zero sum, unless they're investing your gambled money, and customers must lose more than they win. The way this is supposed to happen is through the spread or fees (you can't bet on every possible outcome and get your full money back), not through dark arts of manipulation. As for gambling and odds, putting a fiver in your pocket or giving it to a bookie is quite different. But of course if you think buying say an ftse350 tracker is the same as putting your life savings on a horse at the races, all I can do is wish you best of luck with your investments. Apologies for any autocorrect horrors, typed on phone.

If 82% of all who played black jack at a casino long enough lost more than they won, I'd not be surprised at all. The house always has a slim advantage. All betting ventures rely on that the gamblers lose more money than they win. In investing, this is not the case as the market as a whole may improve. Spread bets are more of a zero sum game, and given that most investors are underperformed the market, most investors lusing money if they use spread bets, is hardly surprising. Comparison with everything in life seems a bit far fetched, if I'm deciding between putting a fiver in my coat pocket or trouser pocket, neither is likely to result in them disappearing or magically double. Yes odds are involved but that's it. Now if a betting company manipulates information (for instance, in live betting, severely delay changes to the score) then I'm sure a punter may have a claim. However, if the claim is that many gamblers lose money, then that is just inherent to the business and something people should have known beforehand.

Maybe I was not quite clear. What I tried to highlight was in fact what you stated, spread betting means betting, it is really a form of gambling. It is great for those who can outdo the bookies because they know horses, football, exchange rates or stocks well enough. But it is still a form of gambling and I am a bit surprised that people find it shocking or even unexpected that bookies make money from customers making losing bets.

Am I really the only one who noted the word "bet" in the term "spread bet"? For those who don't like betting, why bet?

Would not trust any broker ratings. There are vastly more buy recommendations than sell recommendations on the market as a whole, clearly there is either bias, intentional rating fiddling or just plain old inaccuracy. Shell being a good company in a good position is far more reassuring.

When is the next piece of corporate information from GMD due?

People are more spooked by China than they should be, and not spooked enough by Brexit.

Although I do not share your view that game is necessarily in a state of perpetual decline, I should caution you that a few people here do not deal well with dissenting views, but I see you've already received an insult or two.

As I have said before, this share had its SP severely depressed by negative sentiment ( the belief that it was in a downward spiral). It priced in a lot of continued bad news. With no actual news of anything changing, and no news that the fundamentals are different, the change appears to be due to a shift in this sentiment. Ie, people are expecting GAME plc to not do as bad as previously expected. There is a degree of a perpetuating cycle involved with the SP; people push SP up because they believe it will perform better, leading to a higher SP, convincing more people it will perform better. Of course, the same was the case when it was being depressed. It is difficult to tell how far this will go on sentiment alone, I'd imagine it has a bit further before requiring actual news/statement to further direct shareholders (due January, I believe).

I'm finding it quite amusing that I'm accused of trying to manipulate the share price (as if that's possible on a board like this), for asking if there is any specific news or if this may really just be easing off of the negative sentiment that has been holding SP below where fundamentals suggest it should be. By someone who is speculating about a takeover of a company of several hundred stores for 40m on no actual basis at all. I suppose this is the downside with these boards, people only want confirmation for their own view, which is psychologically pleasant but very risky for sound decision making. The chap over at Stockopedia wrote an article on this matter, which you may find of interest. To be honest I hope you're completely wrong because rerating based on stronger earnings and esport growth would be far better than any CeX take over. All the SP needs is for people to be shown the company is not in a downward spiral, something I doubt it is but some clearly believe.

People on here have rather peculiar views on the influence of posts on these boards. I could post that game is going to close its Spanish branches and SP would not even budge. With recent cuts to dividend and profit warnings it is simply just not all that likely that they'll go on a shopping spree for cex. If you think anyone who does not share your view is out to manipulate the price, I'd recommend you tread carefully as you're at risk of filtering out valid opinions leading to making decisions on partial information. For the record, game does not need to buy cex of they're doing well. In addition, 40m for hundreds of stores including a number run as a franchise which adds complexity? I'm not seeing it happening without issuing shares or taking on debt. I'm not sure how many would want it either at this point. Best wishes.

There are many companies with competitors, and I'm not sure whether game is financially in a position to make an attractive enough offer. If they did, I would not expect a huge surge in GMD SP, but it would be interesting. So I remain uncertain why the price has shifted so much. Just a change in sentiment causing 40% SP increase?

Not meant to be confrontational, I'm genuinely curious. What are you basing the suggestions of takeover on?