
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…?
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.
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…
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).