As readers know I am a big fan of Simon Thompson of the Investors Chronicle. And, on Friday last, he published his Benjamin Graham-compliant selections for 2023. Top of the list was Logistics Development Group (LDG) about which some will think I have been banging on for far too long. They opened up at 16.4p offer and then retired to 15.4p offer. ST comes up with tnav figure of 21p. So the original bull claim stands and is now even stronger. Family Cawkwell is sitting on 2m.
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I freely concede that when I emphasised the need to stay short of Footsie when that index stood at 6,900 or so I blundered.
Older readers will recall that Alan Greenspan described the Dow some twenty-five years ago as exhibiting “irrational exuberance” since when that index has gone up at least 500%.
The same cannot be said of Footsie which, after adjusting for inflation, is well below its level of twenty-five years ago. As a result I am beginning to wonder whether we might be on the cusp of a sustained bull market in UK-listed stocks.
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Poppy of (DARK)trace still keeps slotting away at DARK stock and, as I mentioned a few days ago is making it difficult for the shorts to emerge with confidence. But they will: trust me that it is only a matter of timing.
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Ed Comins of Webis (WEB) came by last week. He was fairly tight-lipped about prospects. But he did not seem downcast to me. Now 2.5p.
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For readers who like banking stories, I offer the fact that I have had an HSBC Gold Credit Card for 35 years. I have always paid it off in full each month since I am not prepared to pay the extortionate interest that would otherwise accrue. I pay in round sum amounts to the nearest £1,000 since I always keep my cash book in round thousands – it is much more easily remembered in the heat of battle.
However, fifteen months ago, the statement was late (if it ever turned up at all) and I got charged £12 for paying nothing. This irritated me intensely but not quite sufficiently to cause me to take the matter up with HSBC at board level. After all, they are busy fawning to the Chinese government.
My payment “strategy” therefore became always paying to stay in credit at all times. Seemingly as a result, I recently got a letter from HSBC Gold Credit Card pointing out that their terms and conditions precluded my being in credit and as an incentive to my feeling sympathetic to their view (unlikely) they would cream off the credit balance to a (GET THIS) separate account upon which interest would be paid. Say the average balance is £500, the interest I would earn would be of the order of £10 a year and subject to income tax. I would also have the duty to myself of following my account over the internet to switch surplus funds come pay day. A thrill such as this is really too much and therefore I shall have to follow up ditching these barmy oiks without delay. Question: where are these people bred? Not in any normal venue known to me.
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Separately, although I decline to subscribe to Netflix, I have become aware of a Dave Fishwick of Burnley Savings and Loan. He wants to promote this concern but, needless to add, he seeks an economic deposit-taking base. The obvious way is to take deposits over the internet, bidding for funds as and when necessary. But here our Dave hits British regulators whose sole purpose is to get in the way of the people who, albeit indirectly, have to pay the regulators’ salaries. The result is that depositors have to deal with HSBC (see above) and their ilk. Vast yawn.
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Finally, I stayed up into the early hours of this morning to watch Super Bowl. I observe as follows: (i) American football is a misnomer since the game is entirely conducted by hand save perhaps for penalty kicks. (ii) Rihanna, the midgame entertainment slot filler, was incomprehensible. (iii) This game will never catch on here.