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I still have a large Ocado shareholding. Sold off a tranche of Ocado shares recently as the war intensified to reduce risk. Have bought a shareholding in WEIR which should continue its upward moves. Am very positive regarding Ocado's current outlook and its new technology.

Billybamboozle, Happy to currently have some cash on the sidelines in these hypervolatile overall market conditions. Am following Ocado, other shares and the overall geopolitical situation closely..

Gio, the big, controlling investors in Ocado are still invested, and have been for years. If you look at the large investors of Ocado shares they have remained the same over the last few years. As chilting says, the macro is driving things currently, burying Ocados positives. That will change. Ocado always attracts a large amount of short positions which means there can always be exaggerated, wild swings in the share price.

It just depends on whether you believe in the technology and management of Ocado. There will be many more big movements to come..

Ocado shares were oversold, good bounce from 1070p.

Ocado have comprehensively defended the court cases successfully against them so far. Every reason to believe they will win any more cases against them from Autostore.

If only investing were as simple as looking at a graph. Sadly it is far more complicated than that. Ocado bounced up 3% in the last hour of LSE trading. It is up a further 2% in current US trading. Of course all this can change, current markets are very wild. Shares fall but eventually they become oversold. Early days but it could be the case here. Online grocery is here to stay. Ocado has the best technology in the sector.

https://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/975983/royal-mail-and-ocado-fuel-hedges-yet-to-offset-investor-worry-975983.html

Seems like Ocados fuel needs have been hedged for a year from Nov 2021. Of course fuel will most probably be a high price beyond that point

SFH, it's a risk reduction move on my part. Ocado being a technology growth share could well fall further as the war further moves the market. If Putin is shelling nuclear power stations it is clear he is all in and will not back down. Huge ramifications for oil and gas prices will most probably send most economies into a nosedive downwards.

OWLS, It is hard to time the markets, absolutely agreed. These current conditions are exceptional though in my view. I can see Putin taking all foreign investments within Russia and Ukraine.

I hope the markets recover. They have done so many times before as war has gone on. This situation is going to be an immense test for private investors. The geopolitical world has already changed beyond imagination in less than 2 weeks. Tough times for us but of course it is nothing compared to those caught up in this conflict.

Sold my recently bought Ocado 1226p stake this morning at 1242p a share. Still have a large Ocado holding but war situation leaves a need to increase my cash holdings.

Best of luck to all. Rocky times....

Unfortunately in the face of an escalating war the market is selling off shares across the board in most sectors.

There are some big opportunities though. I bought into WEIR yesterday. Great results from them yesterday, they are close to being back as a FTSE 100 company. Escalating tensions I believe benefit their business as more countries look to exploit their own mineral resources, rather than buy in Russian resources, in the most environmentally friendly way. One to look over...

Thanks for posting that ClaudiuM,

Totally crazy times as you say. The Ocado share price just seems to going sideways over the last week. Bounces up then bounces down. We are at the mercy of bigger macroeconomic forces currently...

Have bought in today at 1675p. Great results. Weir group in a great position as the Ukraine conflict forces countries outside Russia/Ukraine to maximise their mining resources and cut any reliance on Russian mining. New mining will need to be done as environmentally sensitively as possible, which will puts Weirs technologies in the limelight..

Good to hear you are upbeat regarding your investments OWLS. Personally the great majority of my portfolio contains investment trusts and pension funds with exposure mainly in the UK, USA and Far East. I do like to hold some shares individually if I see particular potential in them. I have been invested in Ocado for 5 years plus. Recently bought in further at 1226p. Ocados latest technology has great potential. Am happy holding. The war may blow Ocados share price off course but I do not see it as overly exposed to the Russia/ Ukraine situation.

A reasonable assumption of the Ukraine crisis is that Russian companies will be frozen out of Western markets and vice versa. Ocado has never voiced any hopes of breaking into the Russian or Ukrainian market so little Ocado impact there. Those countries are not the obvious candidates for the next Ocado Solutions partnership.

On the other side Russian funds have heavily backed the ultra fast grocery delivery model around the globe. Yango deli it is fair to assume will be frozen out of the market now. It has operations in the UK, France and Israel.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/14/russias-yandex-launches-rapid-grocery-delivery-service-in-london.html

Buyk also is Russian funded..

https://nypost.com/2022/02/23/buyk-delivery-app-could-be-threatened-by-russia-sanctions/

There most probably are some significant Russian investments in some of the other non Russian rapid grocery delivery companies.

As the above companies drop out of Western markets this will help Ocados grow a little and shines brighter the spotlight on their solutions as a reliable, efficient choice in Western markets.

The Ukraine invasion has dampened the global outlook for higher interest rates which helps tech firms such as Ocado since they regularly borrow to finance the expansion of their CFC network. Looking like a good day ahead, although this outlook can always change in the blink of an eye...

There was no gloating OWLS. You brought up FXPRO on this board by saying that it was different from Ocado in that "The difference with OCDO is that it is highly profitable and pays excellent dividends." Was just pointing out that these attributes mean very little when the core share price is fundamentally unstable and slides downwards 42% in a day, over 50% in a week. It hasn't gone below it's 200day MA so I guess it's a hold for you. Hope all turns out ok.

Agreed graking. The current price is a great buying opportunity. OWLS was recommending FXPO on this board a week ago highlighting its great profits and dividends, it's down 32% today..

So many shares falling steeply but Ocado has been resilient in recent days. Ocado has many shorters, they could well again propel the Ocado share price upwards as Ocado bounces back on strengthening existing customer orders and the great prospect of a new conveyor belt of partners to come for its latest cutting edge tech that can be installed quicker, is more adaptable, less costly to maintain and is more efficient..

Fair enough SFH. There are many, many other companies who haven't had any director buys, outside those given to directors freely or in share plan schemes, for many years. There will be more Ocado board member buys imo...

Small £10k non executive director share purchase today, see RNS for details. I mentioned last week that this would happen, a small purchase but nice to see. There will be more... Great value currently imo...

There are many other shares with a larger amount of short positions. Ocado does though have a high amount. The percentage of stock on loan gives a good indication of the amount of shorting. Ocado always has attracted shorts throughout its existence. It was once the most shorted share on the FTSE. At that point it had big hedge fund declared shorts. After that the shorts lowered into under the radar smaller ones. They have always been there lurking.

OWLS,

The shorting is being done under the 0.5% declaration radar. Many small shorts adding up to a larger position.

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-10381647/Now-Asos-targeted-short-sellers-bet-1bn-tech-titans.html#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=16454274049693&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thisismoney.co.uk%2Fmoney%2Fmarkets%2Farticle-10381647%2FNow-Asos-targeted-short-sellers-bet-1bn-tech-titans.html

"Other stocks that have been targeted include Ocado – the largest short position by value at £703million, or 6 per cent of its stock – as well as Boohoo, AO World and Made.com."