Populist drivel

There is still no whiff of adverse rumour surrounding Six Hundred Group (LON:SIXH). This makes it a stonking buy at 13p. My reservation is that since it is so obviously cheap there has to be a reason for the share price being down here.

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I used to regard listening to Any Questions on BBC Radio 4 as my obligatory Friday evening ritual – it has so been for many decades. But, just of late, I have been seduced by Channel 4’s Posh Pawn which follows the fortunes, as reported, of a James Constantinou and his Prestige Pawnbrokers. Here Prestige lend money on pawnbroking terms – i.e. extortionate – and take over at option title in the event of the loan not being repaid in full by the due date. In effect Prestige are buying the goods. Here Mr Constantinou advises that Prestige can help the borrower. This strikes me as an improbable claim since although the borrower may feel helped there is no doubt that Prestige helps itself still more – and at the expense of the impoverished one.


That noted, one has to respect Mr Constantinou’s judgement as to title and resale value. After all, our High Street banks have given up lending money since it involves trusting their staff and filling in forms for days on end.

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This morning the great RBS (LON:RBS) fund-raising damages action kicks off with the allegedly disgraced one, Fred Goodwin, giving evidence. Goodwin is not my idea of anything other than a jumped up sock salesman. But what he did was with the detailed assistance and agreement of the non-executives of RBS at the time RBS acquired ABN Amro. Which step proved fatal. There were quite a few nobs on the RBS board. Yet not one has been stripped of his title. Only the fall guy gets it in the neck.

I mention that since Theresa May was yesterday reported to have warned honourands that their gong will be stripped away should they dishonour it. It is hard to see what Goodwin did to merit his honour being stripped. Mrs May is merely engaging in populist drivel.

In any event, why stop at stripping honours? Why not remove GCSE credits? University degrees? Anything to be thought a vengeful and silly government.

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Last week, Henry Marsh’s Admissions featured as Book of the Week on Radio 4. He recounted how he got ticked off, when in sight of retiring, through his wearing a tie and a suit to his work as a neuro-surgeon. (He was arguably the best in the country.) The chief NHS disciplinary cretin told him that his distinguishing himself in this manner was a breach of the need to develop teamwork. One day we will all see that the NHS is a disaster of its own developing aided and abetted by politicians who, in turn, have been elected by all of us. It’ll be costly. In the meantime, Henry has gone to work in Nepal.

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Sometimes one just is not lucky. In May 2017 I have had about ten really large bets. They have all lost. It’s just one of those things. However, I console myself with Hoagy Carmichael’s “Some days there just ain’t no fish” since it is comical and philosophical. There are quite a few renditions to hand on the internet. But I have selected: The Four King Sisters sing “Some Days There Just Ain’t No Fish” (1950)