Evil Diaries: Coffee in Chelsea Investment Session

A few weeks ago I went through the papers of a longstanding taxation client and reckoned that it was being overcharged by the high street bank that handles its current account a startling and excessive £16,000 every year. I am not retained to give business advice but I do. So I told it of my findings and possible remedies, particularly with regard to credit risk.

When the financial crisis brewed up in 2008 the last thing that Brown wanted was a fair regime since, above all, he wanted to see Britons ripped off right royally to pay for the defects in high street balance sheets caused, as I maintain, by Brown’s fecklessness.

Twelve years on and the clearers’ balance sheets are repaired. But there is no sign of fair play. This means that those who have to deal in forex have to take risks and behave uneconomically (after all, their cash is in the bank). So I alighted upon a possible solution in yesterday’s Mail On Sunday, Argentex (AGFX), currently about 125p. This is four times net asset value and on a PE ratio of the order of 20 and dropping.

It might be worth buying but the risk is that HMG might wake up and do something fair and reasonable. In which event AGFX would be hit amidships. But I wouldn’t hold your breath.

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As some readers may know, my elder daughter Lucy who founded and manages Osborne Cawkwell, London’s leading tutorial agents, is ready to take calls from those who seek to listen to me tutoring on how to develop a portfolio of quoted investments. The session is at my Chelsea home and will formally last an hour and a half – although there will be plenty of subsequent time to answer questions when coffee is served. The fee is £200. Her number is 07977 449 230. Mine remains 020 7835 0868.