Hello Share Fans. Sometimes laziness pays off. Having extolled the opportunities of investing in British banks, I was waiting a respectable period before I began piling into Barclays (BARC). But when I could have done so (and not broken strict Shareprophets writer's rules) I couldn't be bothered.

As an investor, you have to accept that you will get some calls right and some calls wrong. I am glad that thirteen months ago, I exited my shares in Barclays (BARC) at north of two quid (as its latest set of numbers have not been taken well this morning). By contrast, I should have been braver and bought Dunelm (DNLM) after visiting its stores a few times over the last six months. What do I think then of Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) shares after its latest set of numbers earlier today?

I start with the trials of ordering portable loos for ShareStock which I have now done. More than 40% of the seats are now taken so with 7 weeks to go please book yours HERE. Then onto how Barclays (BARC) may strand me in Greece and why the Mrs reckons I am wrong on how gay is your stockbroker. Then it is onto Skinbiotherapeutics (SBTX), Optibiotix (OPTI), Ben's Creek (BEN) and Advanced Oncotherapy (AVO).

In the world of investing, one must know when to quit.  Whilst it is, I hope, many years before I no longer manage my money, one shouldn't expect to own their favourite stock today, forever.  After all, it is not just that the world changes (because obviously, it does), but any share can become fundamentally fully-valued; that is when to move on.

I completely agree that Barclays (BARC) is not an exciting company and I consequently have probably written about it too many times on this website. Anyhow the good news is that this is likely to be the last time I will write about it. It is time for me to sell my Barclays shares.

Hello November! The eleventh month of the year has always been an interesting one for the world’s investors with over the last 70, 20 or 10 years only April – on average – generating a similar return. Of course nothing is guaranteed but the reason why November has on average performed well is a combination of Q3 earnings updates and building hopes towards upcoming end of year brokerage updates towards the following year. It is not guaranteed, but its all good active investment fun and now for a couple of bits of excitement in today’s news.

As a boring large cap-focused investor, I often look at the medium-term. I certainly bought a few Barclays (BARC) shares too early in 2017-18, but it did give me the rationale to double my holding during some dog days last year. But fundamentally it has told me for a while to take my profits and run when the share materially breaks the 2 quid plus level.

I start with one big story, the Stagecoach (SGC) & National Express (NEX) bid talks. The other big story is the word “bird” being dubbed sexist at an insane Barclays (BARC) employment tribunal which I cover HERE. I also look at Versarien (VRS) ahead of its AGM, Chill Brands (CHLL) ahead of its AGM and at regulatory issues for Eurasia (EUA) and Deepverge (DVRG) where the wrongdoing is as plain as day.

Back in April I observed that at the time it was ‘getting closer to my two quid and out share price target on Barclays (BARC)’. Well that was true at the time…and sort of still true today even if the shares today are slightly lower than it was a few months ago. There are a few reasons for that.

It is an interesting Friday at many levels, but less about some of the early results in the various elections around the UK (where folks appear to have taken my advice on how to vote!)…and more about the markets.  

It is the final business day of April and from the perspective of stocks I own, there is some good and some less good news.  Let’s start with a small positive at Headlam (HEAD) the ‘Europe’s leading floorcoverings distributor’ which I have loved up for a while and last month, here, discussed ‘the rationale to get back to a 500p plus share price’.  This morning I noted the company announced ‘it has entered into an agreement to dispose of its wholly-owned Swiss business, Belcolor AG to the management team of Belcolor…As a result of the disposal, Headlam will realise approximately £12.0 million’.  Given the company’s near £400 million market cap, it is not a massive deal but a sensible one, as the key focus for the business is the evolving UK business.  It is also nice to add a little bit more cash too.  In short – along with the two readers who kindly commented on the article above last month – for me it continues to be a good core position. 

Unsurprisingly Barclays (BARC) shares have performed rather well over the last year…although unsurprisingly they are still only about a third of the early 2007 level.  Still – in recent times – I bought a few and, as I discussed here, a couple of months ago ‘I believe the next year will see a closer to 200 pence share price’.

Hello Share Fans. I dread to think how much I’ve lost by putting faith in British banks, both during the big crash of 2008 and afterwards. One of this family’s biggest losers is Barclays (BARC). But are things at last bucking up? The shares are currently a lowly just over 150p. Our last purchase was 200p…

We the start of UK banking sector results with the comments from Barclays (BARC) today. Yes, I have been an owner for a while and my musings here in October look inspired as we have seen a pleasant 40% share price rise over the last four months. Timing matters.

You need to be an optimist to both run a bank or to invest in one.  Today’s third quarter update from Barclays (BARC) was accompanied by a clarion call from the company’s CEO (on a financial TV channel I happened to be watching) that the sector is going to play an ever-increasing role in any recovery and that – this crisis around – financial companies are ‘not the bad guys’.  

I am sure we all think that the bank we bank with is useless. But changing banks is such a pain in the arse. I’ve experienced it firsthand. Direct debits go awry, auto payments on your card bounce, you have to remember a new PIN, and so we don’t bother. But boy, Barclays (BARC) in the Isle of Man is in a class of its own for being useless.

I see Next (NXT) has only gone and done it again. As I observed three months ago, if you want a serious, thorough and grown-up view of how to think about the current range of very clear corporate challenges then I suggest you look at today’s regulatory news disclosure by the leading clothing retailer…

Quelle surprise. The big five banks; Lloyds (LLOY), Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), HSBC (HSBA), Standard Chartered (STAN) and Barclays (BARC) have all done the decent thing and cancelled/postponed dividends and buybacks for the next couple of quarters…

Large cap value appraisal time in UK stocks today for me. First up Barclays (BARC), a share which I last properly wrote on back in August where I opined that it should be trading above 200p. Well it is not too difficult to get a bounce in a share price from the dog days of early August and despite today's 2.5% odd fall as I write, the shares are only just off a one year high. This is though no cause for huge celebration…

I felt a bit of a fool yesterday morning. No doubt there are some who argue that this should be a perpetual state of affairs for me, but the specific reason was that on Friday someone had asked me about Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) shares and in the light of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and shocking CYBG (CYBG) PPI updates, I said something along the lines that 'if Lloyds had something material to say then surely it would have said it by now'…

In today's podcast I start with a couple of reflections on the joys of modern life involving Andrew Monk of VSA, cannabis and the tossers at Barclays Bank (BARC). I look at Burford (BUR), Falanx (FLX), IQE (IQE), Xaar (XAR), Providence Resources (PVR) and Lansdowne Oil & Gas (LOGP). I forgot to mention Restaurant Group (RTN) but Chris "Three Brains" Bailey, again, covers it very well HERE and he is right. It is a slam dunk sell. Lucian Miers reckons it might just be a zero.

Time to confess an unpopular opinion. I do actually believe that some of the large banks are cheap. Obviously that does not include bad boy Metro Bank (MTRO), which is now neither large nor credible as discussed in a bunch of articles by me on this website. No, I was rather thinking about Lloyds (LLOY), whose shares slipped below tangible book value yesterday following PPI claim-influenced results, or Barclays (BARC), which reported earlier today…

Hello the global earnings season. This is a quarterly reality which makes my life periodically very busy...but what could be more interesting than zoning into the latest thoughts of a bunch of corporations around the world? Three in the UK market capture my attention today…

It is all a bit half speed today with the UK (and European markets) closed but there were a couple of stories that caught my attention.  A couple of weeks ago  I told Edward Bramson - who has taken an activist position towards Barclays (BARC) via his Sherborne Investors vehicle, to take a chill pill. 

I have been a medium-term supporter of Barclays (BARC) shares, noting a couple of months ago that I thought the stock - with all the necessary caveats about the banking space - was cheap at around x0.6 tangible book and that the route to a higher share price may be if it 'pays a bit of respect to the activist on its shareholder books who is talking an interesting game about value creation'. It is the activist angle - and not another Barclays story (a judge discharging the jury in the trial of four former executives over the 2008 controversial global financial crisis Qatari fundraising) - that I turn back to today…

I am often asked why I focus on larger cap shares when 'elephants cannot gallop' and 'surely all those brokers covering the stocks out there mean there is pretty efficient pricing'. Obviously the former is a more reasonable point than the latter, although judging by the way the shares of both Centrica (CNA) and Barclays (BARC) have moved around in recent months, there has been a decent amount of galloping too (mostly downhill to a lower share price)...

Ahead of a trip to the zoo and Barclays (BARC) with Joshua I look at Redcentric (RCN), Juridicia (JIL), Veltyco (VLTY), Integumen (SKIN), Urals Energy (UEN) and the shame of the bosses at the AIM Casino - Andalas (ADL), BlueJay (JAY), Chesterfield (CHF) and Mothercare (MTC) which will just NOT be around in five years time.

Number one is Amazon (again). Number two is Barclays Bank (BARC) again! And the third is explained HERE. Elswhere I explain what it means when I am made an insider and how I have to behave. I look at the bitcoin bloodbath and in that vein at Argo Blockchain (ARGO), Vela (VELA) and the Clem'Chambers spoof Online Blockchain (OBC). I cover Falanx (FLX), Photonstar Led (PSL) and AO World (AO).

It was probably a good thing that I had a long standing engagement that soaked up a lot of my time yesterday - albeit that I had to evolve my presentation on global financial market prospects just a tad following the various omnishambles that afflicted the UK markets and political backdrop. So what do we do?

I start with the final part of my story of battles with the bastards at Barclays (BARC). Then I cover Wishbone (WSBN), shares we own, Online Blockchain (OBC), shares I'd rather eat my own toes than own, MySquar (FRAUD), Conroy Gold (CGNR), I3 Energy (I3E), Catenae (CTEA) and Oilex (OEX).

Warning there is plenty of bad language in the podcast - perhaps do not play it in front of the kids. I start with an update on those bastards at Barclays (BARC) who I discussed yesterday. I then look at Victoria (VCP), Jim Mellon's Port Erin (PEBI), two SP Angel dogs MySquar (FRAUD) and BjueJay Mining (JAY) and have new and serious questions for the shamed Nomad to consider. I look at Frontera (FRR) and its looming bailout placing, at Ascent Resources (AST) and at Rainbow Rare Earths (RBW). I also discuss the market sell off commending a reader who notes both my genius and my modesty on this matter.

I have been given a massive run around by Barclays (BARC) today and I hate them with a passion. I have also had domestic issues with flooding. I explain all but am in a foul mood. Phil Hammond is not being straight with us in the Budget. He is a knobhead. I explain a few truths you will not hear from him, or indeed the other lot. At a company level I cover Warpaint London (W7L), I3 Energy (I3E) and Frontera Resources (FRR). Warning this podcast contains very bad language. The only high point of my day was a sweet email from Abbe Aronson - the girl who broke my heart 32 years ago - after this article on the US mid-terms. Abbe, thanks for brightening an otherwise shite day.

A year ago, I wrote a piece comparing and contrasting Lloyds Bank (LLOY) and the challenger financial Metro Bank (MTRO). Well that worked out well from a long-short perspective: Lloyds - with dividends - lost a touch whilst Metro Bank has absolutely bombed, down over £10 to under £25. I was thinking about Metro Bank again today as it came out with another set of numbers which showed more deposits, more lending, more profit...but still the shares are down 10% odd today. Why such further pain?

I start with a rant about Barclays (BARC) banksters and how much I despise and loathe them. I then discuss Anglo African Agriculture (AAAP) a Big Dave Lenigas lobster pot from which I escaped today. I move onto Andalas (ADL) and have a challenge for a sad geek with time on his hands, I nominate Drunken Sailor. I look at Xaar (XAR), Crawshaw (CRAW) and finally at Optibiotix (OPTI). I owe cynical bear a glass of ouzo but drank it myself on his behalf. Warning, this podcast contains bad language throughout.

Hello Share Swingers. Barclays (BARC) has been a miserable share to hold. What progress there has been in recent years has been slow. And set-backs along the way have made things worse. I sold mine about two years ago and, as it's turned out, the money raised has been put to much more profitable use. The latest results do not raise my hopes much higher.

I gave some freebie advice to the Barclays (BARC) board a week or so ago HERE and thankfully today's first half numbers from the banking behemoth did not include an unwise stab at the US retail space. What they did say however was quite sensible stuff and there has been a bit of progress on most fronts including capital generation to support the 3%+ yield, good progress on cost control and even an investment banking unit which did not disappoint for once.

Not much has got me fired up so far this week looking at the various regulatory disclosures but I did notice an article in the newspaper that purports to be America's leading financial journal yesterday with the worrisome headline of 'Barclays Mulls U.S. Push as Activist Looms...Executives debate whether greater exposure to the U.S. retail market could both generate revenues and fund its U.S. operations more efficiently'…

I am being a bit disingenuous with the above title. Any investor with more than a decade's experience is well-primed to tell you various war stories about the evolving value of financial sector stocks particularly in times of strife. Banks are geared to the business and property cycle and any recent efforts to paper over this reality with yet another layer of compliance/regulation will not ultimately work.

Hello Share Ticklers. It’s been some time that I’ve suggested you look again at a British bank. But that doesn’t mean my general enthusiasm for the sector has gone away. In fact, it’s grown stronger - for two reasons.

Hello, Share Miners. The four big British banks are still avoided like rattlesnakes by many share shifters. But there will come a time when everybody finally forgets what happened in 2008 - and most of the other banking shocks, since.

Hello, Share Sippers. My Honkers Bonkers (HSBA) shares are rising nicely. But at much less than 800p, they are still way short of previous bests of 1200p. And that was so long ago that Shakespeare was still a lad.

I am pretty much finished here in Greece as I explain in the podcast. And as such I start the journey home tomorrow to spend time in sun-drenched England with the Mrs, Joshua and - of course - Oakley, my utterly pampered three legged cat who is, I gather, now being given iced water to cope with the heat. In this podcast I look at Barclays (BARC), the SFO and the nature of fraud. I look at Thor Mining (THR) where events disgust me and at Ariana Resources (AAU) where I am dissapointed and less accepting than Nigel Somerville is.

Hello Share Planters. Here I am again, risking a commendation to look at the shares of one of the major British banks. This time Lloyds (LLOY) seems to me a worthwhile proposition. I am heavily over-exposed to this lot, so I personally hope so.

Hello Share Carollers. Despite Wild Rides’ consistent scepticism, I still favour investing in all of the four biggest banks at the mo. The recent rallies of Barclays (BARC) RBS (RBS) Lloyds(LLOY) and the Honkers Bonkers (HSBA) surely support  this view. 

Hello Share Planners. You may have noticed all the UK banks have been rising over the last few days. This has happened even though the rest of the Footsie has been pretty stodgy. The reason, I think, is that Italian banks have become even more unreliable, and by unfair association, the banks of other Eurozone countries.

Hello Share Plungers. As usual, when raising the thorny issue of whether banks are ever going to get back on track after the trauma of 2008, I am attacked by the symptoms of nervousness. But I still think all British banks will see fairly hefty share rises over the next few years. This is partly because outrageous fines issued by interfering busybodies and compensation claims will surely start to dry up.

Hello Share Scrummers. In my humble opinion, British banks are among the biggest bargains in Shareland at the mo. Though I was in two minds about foisting this opinion on you, as banks have a marvellous talent for letting us down. They’ve been doing that steadily since the big crashes of 2007 and 8. But I really do think the shares have been oversold since the result of the Brexit vote. They fell a heck of a lot. Without their failure, the Footsie which eventually rocketed on the decision to leave the EU, would have been near the elusive 7000 level by now.

Hello Share Chippers. I rate my large number of oil stocks in the same bracket I consider banks - a real solid gold let down. As I mainly invested in oil and banks because I once thought the sectors were relatively safe, I am even more disappointed. Banks of course have been a drain on our pockets ever since the big crunch of 2007. Whereas oil has only recently taken a nasty dive.

Hello Share Trundlers. The real reason why Barclay’s (BARC) share price fell so sharply on its results is that the dividend was cut by more than a half. This whammy was compounded by the company’s forecast that this state of affairs would continue for a year or two.

I am meant to have a Premier account with Barclays (BARC) in the Isle of Man. Fear not I declare my net interest ( bugger all) each year as I keep sod all in the account. But this Premier service is dire and has tormented me for 24 hours.

With Santa apparently due to make his big arrival at my local garden centre next Saturday the starting gun has been fired for the rundown to the end of the year. And for the medium-term investor in me this only means one thing: which sectors, themes and stocks are looking interesting for 2016?

Hello Share Sliders.When I chose four shares to recommend to my student son Jack three weeks ago, he did his own research. Then he decided my suggestions were ok and piled in. He had £1,000 to play with, money he’d saved by chamber maid-ing at the holiday flats next door. So that was £250 in each company?

Hello Share Putters. One thing that really stops us making as much as we should - and worse, can put us off buying penny shares altogether - is the obscene size of some of the spreads.

This morning, Barclays (BARC) sacked its Chief Executive Antony Jenkins. In a ruthless move, spearheaded by Deputy Chairman Sir Michael Rake, it seems that Jenkins’ vision for the bank did not match the ambitions of the rest of the board. Jenkins wanted to scale back the company’s global investment banking arm, while the board wants to grow this arm aggressively in the pursuit of “profit improvement”. Barclays shares are up 3%, as of writing, at 259p. The market welcomes this move, but should investors follow suit?

Hello Share Twitchers. There’s not much of an appetite to buy shares at the mo. The Greek vote was a step into the unknown, and that’s for sure.

Hello Share Stalkers. You may have gathered that I favour investing in the big British banks. My main reason is that they were great once, with yummy share values - and that even if we get half way back to the days of glory, our purchases now will be quids in later on.

Hello Share Shakers: The banks have had a hard time of it. Yes, I know that's a kind way of putting it. No sooner do they overcome one set-back than the next one raises an ugly head. At the moment, the big worry is that some overbearing authority will bang in another ludicrously big fine.

Bank results always come as a great compendium of numbers and statistics: too much for the everyday average brain to comprehend in any easily coherent way. They must even provide a great challenge for banking analysts who, poor devils specialise in this sort of copious material which floods out like the contents of Pandora’s famous box into a world of trouble. It is even worse now that readers are asked to consider three different versions of Barclays Bank (BARC); the one called “core”; the one called “non core” and an amalgam of the two. It is mind bending stuff.    

These British banks are a bummer, aren’t they? Why can’t they do something positive for shareholders like us? The price just won’t rise. Even though they seemed to be out of the mire now. The trouble is nobody trusts them. So, though their price to earnings ratios are very low now, the big buyers are staying away.

Hello Share Folks. A week or so ago, we were all considering whether to invest in the TSB (TSB) float. In fact, the sale was a massive 10 times over-subscribed