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How has your January been (as an investor)?

The weather has apparently been a bit cooler, versus the recent norms for a December or a January, over the last few weeks. I tell you somewhere that has not been cool: the global stock market…

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Prospects for investment (and travel) remain good…but the scope for a saga at Saga continues

I read in the Sunday press that Saga (SAGA) - the holiday, insurance and more company focused on serving the needs of those aged 50 and over - is allegedly “sounding out buyers for its in-house insurance business in the hope of raising up to £90 million to pay down debt”. It definitely needs to be considering some options there as the last time I looked, its net debt to EBITDA ratio was a mere x8.5 times.

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Halfords Group and a bit of fun for me (and my pension fund) next week

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I see there was another whoopsie from Rank Group on Friday

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Forget a flash (Christmas) lunch and go active!

The really good news is that December 2022 will be my tenth lack of a Christmas lunch with any institutional brokers. Thank goodness for that, as they have become even more pointless recently…

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Don’t panic, sensible corporate names such as Tesco’s have all the answers

A couple of months or so ago, I observed that “Tesco (TSCO) is a solid place to do your food shopping – and the same is now true of shares in the company”. The stock was about two quid a share then and it is over 10% above that level, which is alright (and we have not even noted again the 5% dividend yield). Whilst Tesco remains a very solid portfolio holding - and very boring pension fund investors, so much better than holding a government bond - I was intrigued to hear the company’s CEO observe on a BBC report that “households are switching from buying fresh food to cheaper frozen goods as the cost-of-living bites into budgets”...

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Will I be smart enough to listen to my own views on shares in Halfords Group this time?!

About five months ago HERE  I concluded that I was a buyer of Halfords Group (HFD), the “largest retailer of motoring and cycling products in the United Kingdom”. That would have been very wise, as the then c.140p share is today more than 210p.  However - as I have plenty of capability to be an idiot - I did not follow my own advice!  So, how do I feel about its interim results out a few days ago…?

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How is Haleon - the spin-off from GSK plc - doing, punk?

As per analytical data from my personal pension fund account, I have made money from my choice to retain a holding in Haleon (HLN) - “a global leader 100% focused on consumer healthcare with a competitive advantage to combine deep human understanding with trusted science” - after its spin-off from GSK plc (GSK) in July.  I am not sure that is technically correct given the company’s c. 276.53p share price at the close of business on Friday.  Anyhow, the bigger question is what should I do now?  After all, other GSK shareholders - including Tom - decided to exit stage left kicking around a 300 pence share price immediately after the spin-off and invest elsewhere.

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Are you going to book an International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (aka British Airways) flight over the next year or not?

International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (IAG) aka the stock you and I used to call British Airways, saved my backside a few months ago.  To be precise, I am sure the Gibraltar tourist board and/or a Spanish train company would have preferred me to be stuck thankis to Easyjet (EZJ) - with my eldest daughter - in the British Overseas Territory and a city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, but IAG / BA stepped up in a timely (although slightly expensive) manner.  So, I have become a bit more of a fan (albeit that I do not currently own any shares in the company), which brings me to its third quarter numbers published earlier today…

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Me, my two visits to a casino and the Rank Group share price shocker

I appear pretty useless over the last few years when voting for the next Conservative Party leader (and Prime Minister).  After all a few years back, I voted for Jeremy Hunt (whatever happened to him?!) rather than Boris Johnson and - a couple of months ago - Rishi Sunak got my vote and not Liz Truss (where an even smaller number of members agreed with me).  My big issue with the latter started on day one of the campaigning when she loved up the performance and tactics of the Bank of Japan. Unbelievable…and no wonder the mini-budget of a few weeks ago was such a shocker.  More on politics and the economy and markets over the next few days…but today I want to talk (again) about Rank Group (RNK).