Over the weekend government minister Amber Rudd announced that HMG would push through fracking projects on the grounds that the nation’s energy security would otherwise be materially compromised. I am surprised that this decision took so long. However, punters should hold back from buying the sector chips willy nilly. For instance, David Lenigas’s UK Oil & Gas (UKOG) has serious difficulties to overcome. Not merely is it undeniable that the true availability of gas and oil is still very much open to debate; there will be real planning difficulties. These latter will not only emerge from locals who wish their part of the world kept intact but be accompanied by Ministry of Transport objections to the clogging up of the M25. Apparently, the UKOG project, if successful, would involve hundreds of lorries each night. So it just is not going to happen.
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I closed my short in Tern (TERN) on the announcement of the placing of 6m shares at 12p. It was a natural supply moment and constitutes one less thing with which to concern myself. I am not complaining.
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The finance director of IG (IGG) has left for Hargreaves Lansdown. This is a week after IG’s CEO packed it in. I wonder where this all leads. The price is currently 715p.
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My nephew tells me that in the USA cold-callers can be fined $2,000 a time. I do not know how such a scheme would work over here but I wish we had it.
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Stunning scientific moment: Philip Hammond says migrants are coming here for improved economic conditions. High intellect or what.
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Scanning the weekend press to harvest the zeitgeist that readers should learn I came across the term ‘bra-drobe’. This is a wardrobe in which one stores all one’s bras. Not much use for me but ideal for Lord Sewel. I have forwarded the relevant pages.