The Evil Diaries: Flash! Ah-ahhhh!

I am the custodian of the racing colours and thought I’d let the chairman have a look at his. Here they are modelled by my London-based grandson, Flash. The alternative was for me to model the colours where I am not quite small enough. Flash is a member of Chiswick Rugby Football Club and is unlikely to become a jockey.

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This morning the chairman informs me that he has bought Syngenta in the belief that a takeover is very probable. Readers should know that this is traded on Zurich and New York. I do not know which exchange offers the best value.

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Meanwhile Watchstone (WTG) continues to power ahead. It has traded at 287p this morning. There is no good reason to sell unless one is short of lunch money.

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I yesterday bought Pantheon (PANR) at 148p since the bull case is that their prospect in East Texas is worth 200m barrels of oil or equivalent net to Pantheon. I well remember Andy Brough of Schroders telling me some years ago that with oil shares one can never tell just how much oil is really there – despite (perhaps because of) the explorer in question being insufferably bullish. However, the flow rates for Pantheon will shortly be published and, apparently, the management’s best estimate is that the oil is there and will cost less than $1 to lift. The pressure is so great that pumping will not be required.

Inevitably there will be a fund-raise (of perhaps $20m) around current levels. But Pantheon is capitalised at £285m and is well able to absorb the placing. This should be taken up by institutions, none of whom are yet involved. I do not know who will do the placing: Investec? Cantor?

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I also bought some Redt Energy (RED) at 7.75p. This is because a chum, Bob Catto of Investec, tells me that this is his nap for 2016. I can’t say I understand why but it is something to do with lithium batteries which store power as a complement to solar panels (which do not work at night) and windpower (which does not work on a sultry day). Bob is a brilliant salesman but even so I felt I had to proceed…

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I am short of Wirecard (Frankfurt-quoted WDI), now E46. They will complete some deal later this month and, shortly afterwards, the pigeons should come home to roost. Matthew Earl is the expert. I trust him and you can see his argument concerning Wirecard on Lordshiptradingblogspot.

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Finally, my sister’s husband, Sylvester Stein, died earlier this week. He was 95 and had not had the easiest time of late. He was political editor of the Rand Daily Mail and also editor of Drum, first published in 1951 in response to the emergence of black South Africans with spending power. He knew Nelson Mandela well and strongly supported ANC. By way of journalistic endeavour, he used iodine to black up and go into Soweto for a fortnight. This was not a venture for the faint-hearted. Eventually, he and his family had to leave South Africa since the Bureau of State Security were not to be trifled with. A bullet in the head gives one a fairly severe headache.