As regular readers know I tend to regard securities industry regulators as bordering upon or in fact mad. As an example, about ten years ago a highly experienced and of course regulated stockbroker described to me how he had been warned that he was guilty of market abuse by getting into work early and putting…
I was yesterday discussing current affairs with a client of Daniel Stewart (DAN). The client might consider raising fresh capital but is concerned at the very thin market that they would inevitably encounter. Matters are made worse in that they expect DAN to deliver. But there is no point in asking DAN since the investment…
I covered the tube drivers’ pay about six weeks ago. Actually it is even more pronouncedly ridiculous in hard cash terms – starting pay is clearly well over £50,000 p.a.. The negotiating position of RMT is strong – they can at any time cause widespread chaos. Save that by making the trains driverless there is…
Today’s that glorious day when wise grouse resolve to keep their heads down. It must be the figure 12. For instance, the bill so far for keeping Julian Assange holed up in the Ecuadorean Embassy is a trifling £12m. I bet that those who live in the immediate neighbourhood must be hugely grateful for this…
Over the weekend government minister Amber Rudd announced that HMG would push through fracking projects on the grounds that the nation’s energy security would otherwise be materially compromised. I am surprised that this decision took so long. However, punters should hold back from buying the sector chips willy nilly. For instance, David Lenigas’s UK Oil…
I made good money out of shorting Quindell (QPP). So I am not unsympathetic to the possibility of QPP being overvalued. How would I be? But I am prepared to change my mind. And here is such a moment. The fact is that the average punter has decided that because the SFO are having a…
You got to hand it to Rob Terry. As soon as the SFO announced that they were going to work over Terry he graciously commented that he would of course be doing everything to cooperate – as if he had the choice. Anyway, it looks pretty clear to me: Quob Park (whatever that corporate vehicle…
I had my first bet with William Hill when I was seventeen. It was by post and the envelope had merely been time-stamped by the local Post Office. Cheques were accepted and winnings, if any, came back a few days later in the form of a cheque. I never hounded my fags to work hard…
In 1968 I saw Witchfinder General, which covered some obsessive puritan who went round fingering alleged witches and then killing them off. I took it as a warning as to what can happen when vile regulators are given excessive authority. And I mention this since I reckon that a later generation of this lot have…
The great Corbyn joke goes on. I haven’t tried it myself but it is possible to join the Labour Party several times over as one’s contribution to Conservatives for Corbyn. More reports please. ***** My nephew Thomas stuck his head in yesterday. He lives in California about twenty miles from San Francisco and works for…
