Quantitative Easing or what!

Caribbean Investment (LON:CIHL) stands at 15p offer. The price declined 5p since it went ex div of 20p a week back. The div is of course a share in Midway whose sole asset is a claim against the Belize Government of 20p per Midway share. As far as I am aware there is a fair chance that BG will pay up. There is no formal market in Midway shares. But I think 15p is pretty good value for the quoted residue.

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Mulberry (LON:MUL), c. £11, is on a forward PE of 112, yields 0.4% and has nav of 143p. Quantitative Easing or what!

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Barclays (LON:BARC) found itself caught up in the financial panic of 2008 and decided it had to raise fresh capital immediately. For it would otherwise be taken over by HMG.

So BARC pondered whether to go to shareholders in terms of their pre-emption rights. Here, underwriting of the issue was quite impossible and the delay in assembling a prospectus (a rights issue is a prospectus issue) and the uncertainty as to the recoverability of advances rendered conventional measures quite impossible. (Do not forget that there has to be an EGM to authorise this sort of increase in issued capital.)

Hence BARC turned to desperate measures. They won. Nine years later the SFO swings into action. And the trial is two years away: are we, as a society, completely mad?

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I have bought back into Victoria Oil and Gas (LON:VOG) – I had sold 300,000 up at about 70p. An investor, Capital Group, decided that they would not be invested in anything capitalised at less than £200m. So 7m shares had to go. Roughly half got placed with established institutions but the other half was dumped in the market. That is why there is loose stock. And that is how the opportunity arises.

I spoke to Kevin Foo yesterday and I think VOG is going okay.