Hello Share Wallowers. Another development  enhances my list of reasons why the Footsie may soar between now and Yuletide. The oil price is rising again. That will, of course, boost shares like BP (BP.) and Shell (SHEL) as well as some of the minor producers. As the former giants are big components of the big share index we can expect an expanding oil price to whack up most share in the big companies, as a healthier Footsie usually puts general sentiment on an optimistic footing.

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.

Hello Share Speakers. Yes, I know the Footsie has been on a small roll so far this year. But I’m still reluctant to go back into shares. Though this week I did buy Lloyds Group         (LLOY) because I’m not the only one who thinks banks have been forgotten by investors who should have realised that rising interest rates benefit the big four.

Have you ever used Virgin Money UK plc (VMUK)? Personally, I never have but, as the group now “operates under the Clydesdale Bank, Yorkshire Bank and Virgin Money brands”, I guess a bunch of you do (or have). How is it getting on?

I have never admitted this publicly before, but when I was 18 and setting up a university bank account I wanted one at Lloyds Bank (LLOY). However, it never worked out and I ended up with one of its competitors (absolutely nothing to do with the extra ten quid offered as a “joining bonus”). And, funnily enough, I have never owned Lloyds Bank plc shares either during my investment life, as there was always something potentially better or more interesting or something else. Nevertheless, I listened to the group’s conference call earlier today for a bit of light corporate earnings season excitement. What did I make of the “fast evolving and uncertain environment”, where apparently “the group is performing well”?

The tweet below is from Halifax, part of the Lloyds (LLOY) banking group. Those who spoke out were told to take their business elsewhere. And they will. "Go woke, go broke."

Hello Share collectors. Lloyds Bank (LLOY) took a hit yesterday even by the standards of a sad day when war broke out in Europe. The shares had been moving up, albeit very slowly, for some time before full year results came out yesterday. They weren’t so bad, it’s just that the City seemed to have expected something rather better.

Hello, Share Plungers. You know how you get a feeling that a share is going to start a bull run? The value of such a premonition often depends on how long you’ve been pursuing our golden game. As someone who began shifting shares in King Solomon’s reign, perhaps my view, based on a lifetime of subconscious financial considerations, is worth a bit more than most. Or perhaps not. In any event I have a nagging feeling that the big high street banks will start to pile on share value. And I rate Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) higher than the other four.

Hello, Share Slickers. Perhaps it might be an idea to look at a few companies I’ve commended recently to see how they’re doing. Progress has been slow but sure. All ships rise or fall with the tide and as the Footsie has been moribund, any rise might be regarded as encouraging. And as many of us expect many stocks to rise with an accelerating economy, perhaps we should be hanging onto our hats.

Hello, Share Creepers. This old punter rather likes all the high street banks at the moment. But Lloyds (LLOY) may be the best of the bunch if you’re looking for a rising share price. The stock reached a year high a week ago. But that was still only about 50p compared to £3 or so back in the day.

Thursday is always a busy day for investors and this week is certainly no different. It’s all good fun! I was pleased to see a short update from one of my top five pension holdings DS Smith (SMDS) – the packaging-focused business I previously wrote on HERE and which has made me good returns over the last 18 months.

Hello, Share Starers. Banks are responsible for some of my biggest losses over the years. I still have holdings in most of the big British ones and, as I expect something of a resurgence, I will continue to hold them. Why am I optimistic?

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.

Goodness it has been busy over the last couple of days in the corporate earnings world! Yesterday I really wanted to get an opportunity to make more comments about the condom business of Reckitt (RKT), which I positively wrote up here back in February. Anyhow for various reasons or another – absolutely nothing to do with condoms! – I never got around to it. However, despite the positive share price move since February, I still remain a buyer with an over 7500p target.

Hello, Share Mashers. António Horta-Osório, Chief Executive of Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY), is standing down, saying he views the bank with pride. Though he’s presided over a big fall in share price during his reign. Never mind, he’s been a good head honcho and nobody saw the pandemic coming. And the latest trading statement is encouraging, with the share price rising 5% on it, a rare jump for a Footsie giant.

Hello Share Trundlers. Ever since the big crash of 2007-8, it takes a brave bunny to suggest you look at British bank shares. But as a big holder of Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY), I’ve been heartened in the last few days at the jumps this difficult share is making. It’s all to do with the roll-out of the vaccines, of course. But is that optimism justified?

Back in September here, I was a bit sceptical about buying shares in homebuilder Barratt Developments (BDEV), on the basis that I have a lot of concern about initiatives such as Help to Buy, which is due to stop in early 2023.  Whilst I preferred names such as bricks and mortar company Ibstock (IBST) - shares in which have gone up by well over a third in price since then – FTSE-100 giant Barratt Development has also performed pretty similarly.  So what to make of today’s first half update?

By my reckoning, today is the biggest day of the global quarterly corporate earnings results season. Even before we get to a bunch of Silicon Valley’s finest this evening, global investors will already have waded through a bunch of Eastern Time American reporting names, far too many eurozone corporate names and apparently – so I heard this morning – up to 1,000 Chinese companies also putting up their numbers for review. What fun! Naturally, the UK market feels obligated to join in…so forgive me for folding three big FTSE-100 entities in…

I hope that the old renamed Royal Bank of Scotland did not spend too much money on its rebranding, as calling themselves NatWest Group (NWG) did not require that many brain cells.  Sadly, a change of name did not immediately change prospects.  After all, it does not matter if you have a mortgage heavy book or not. In today’s world, you are not going to immediately change your prospects if you are a bank.  NatWest Group trades even more cheaply than Lloyds Bank (LLOY) at x0.4 price:tangible book, but then it does have the disadvantages of higher loan-to-value mortgages and the government on its shareholder register (owning a cool 62%). 

Three months ago here, I discussed how at least Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB) were starting to chomp down on the reality pills being given to them by trading realities. I stand by my assertion after today’s heavily red ink-influenced Shell numbers that this is not one I am excited about. I do not think it is anywhere close in working out how to effectively and efficiently invest in areas that could be attractive to shareholders who have cashed dividends for years and years thrown off by ‘black gold’ (which now is perceived – correctly in my view – as the black sludge it always technically was). It is not that oil demand is disappearing, it is that the costs of playing the game are getting higher…

Monday morning…and changes at the top of a couple of the largest UK financial sector stocks. Well - technically - only one change today and one to come. Let us deal with the latter first...

I start with one of Darren's long reads which offers a post Covid plan for the restaurant sector. The author obviously has not got a clue about what being an entrepreneur means and about how business works. But this sort of nonsense is mainstream. In a similar vein I discuss board room greed and stupidity at Lloyds (LLOY) before moving onto how you deal with serial failures & pigs, reference the main troughers at Iconic (ICON). I start with a row with my neighbout who thinks my Woodlarks training threatens her social distancing and will see her dog kidnapped. I despair. I shall be walking past her house 7 times this afternoon. As you consider that treat please donate to rogue bloggers now as we reach 29% of target. Please give HERE

At the end of last month I wrote an article noting how both Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB) and Lloyds (LLOY) were wisely moving away from the sort of dividend payment seen back in 2019.  For Lloyds there was little choice as the regulators put the kibosh on dividend payments for the time being.  And - as I noted at the above link - 'a bank is a geared play on an economy and hence if you have a recession or worse, it is going to hurt', hence the writedowns the company noted last month and the reality that Lloyds shares currently trade for only a little above x0.5 price to tangible book. 

Whilst there may be no regulatory news items to ponder today, I want to go back a couple of days and look at the latest disclosure from that perma dog Metro Bank (MTRO), an announcement which has led cumulatively to a 7% fall in the company's share price.  Yes, more losses! 

I know some dividend munchers will be crying into their cornflakes this morning, but the first Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB) dividend reduction in the post WW2 period is an overdue and sensible move. You may recall earlier in the week I chastised the new BP (BP.) CEO for seemingly kicking this decision out to a September capital markets day, despite clear evidence that it was required. I was listening to the Shell CEO on a financial TV channel earlier today and his comments around the twin impacts on the company from the coronavirus and the oil sector demand/supply imbalance issues are equally striking and kind of obvious...

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…

Unless you were Warren Buffett with a bunch of cash ready to put in and a billionaire status, that was not fun yesterday. All longer-term investors know that a day like yesterday (or a period like the last few weeks) goes with the territory but each crisis is different and just because you have racked up honing in on twenty-five years kicking around the professional investor game, it does not mean you have seen it all. Naturally, events make my philosophical…

Hello Share Nudgers. When I heard the financial news on Radio Four my heart sank. I hold a lot of shares in Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) and the latest full-year results showed a third drop on last time’s profits. But as so often happens, the share price actually rose – by about 3%...

Too many corporate updates of interest out today, but a review of three which particularly talked to me…

Hello Share Mashers. Please pity poor analysts like me in these peculiar times. I spend more time looking for firms which have exciting potential than actually writing about one each day. I plough through lots of material and nearly always reject a number of companies before choosing one to bring to your attention. So currently finding few new possibilities, allow me to revisit a few shares which I have chosen recently...

If you are a global larger cap investor like me, this time of year is a bit of a gird your loins moment with too many different companies reporting results at the same time. A busy but exciting time...so let us dive straight in and look at some UK-listed names worthy of observation this morning. First up is the oil behemoth Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB)…

Hello, Share Bundlers. Looking at the chart for Lloyds Group (LLOY) is enough to give anyone the heebie jeebies. Mid-August the shares fell to 48p. Only a month later they were 55p. So up by 14%, which is an unusually big jump for a Footsie company. Less than three weeks later they were back down to 50p. And then at the end of last week, they were back to nearly 60p. Or approaching 20% better than on the ninth of this month. My Lloyds holding is one of the biggest in my book, so this up and down performance is pretty stressful. But why is Lloyds so volatile lately?...

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'…

Hello, Share Walkers. Horrified I was when I checked on the price of my Lloyds (LLOY) shares and found a hefty slice of my money gone - on paper. There’s little doubt in my mind that these shares are being cruelly treated by the City. The numbers support this view and the best reason I can think why Lloyds is not more buoyant is the uncertainty of Brexit...

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, Share Jumpers. As the PPI claims August cut-off point nears, I can’t shrug off the uneasy feeling that I must be entitled to cashback. However, as I never borrow money and my last mortgage was taken out before the ark sailed, I must push the thought behind me. Nevertheless, PPI leads me to think of my shareholding in Lloyds Bank (LLOY)...

Hello, Share Twizzlers. This old punter generally finds that if the Footsie is rising in spectacular fashion, as it is now, then we might as well put penny shares on the back burner. That’s because most traders realise you don't have to attach big risk to your money if you can still make dosh from the (usually) safer jumbos...

Hello, Share Hitters. Shares in Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) have been pounded of late. This often happens to our big banks after improving results cause a share jump, though are soon forgotten. The shares are also down on Brexit fears and a falling pound. But they are beginning to look cheap to some. And it’s a hard thing to sell shares which pay a dividend of over 5%...

Hello, Share Polishers. The City was a bit disappointed in Lloyds Bank (LLOY)’s performance in the first three months of the year. The figures don't seem bad to me, but the shares still dipped on the news. Not much, but there should be a bit more optimism about such a big bank now on the road to recovery...

Hello, Share Gatherers. The share price of Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) has been creeping up. At Christmas, it was around 50p and it’s now around 63p. And how has its big rival Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) done in the same period? Its Yule price was 206p and now it’s 263p...

Hello Share Trouncers. Lloyds Bank (LLOY) is doing ok. So maybe I’ll eventually get back some of my heavy loss which harks back to the financial crash of 2008. Sadly, I’ll need a 30% hike in the share price to do that. But it has been known for Footsie giants to double in a year. OK, that’s unlikely with Lloyds, but still it looks on the right track...

I called Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) shares 'boring' and 'worthy' a year ago... but even adding back the dividend I am still down about 10% over the last year from that comment. So far from the greatest call, even if most of the rest of the financial sector has fared worse. As an old boss once said to me 'you can't eat relative performance'…

Hello Share Chewers. Turning on the radio the morning after the big vote, I heard an American say that he was shorting three British banks. I presume they might be Lloyds (LLOY), RBS (RBS) and Barclays (BARC). Though I suppose the Asian-slewed bank Honkers Bonkers (HSBA) might be one of them, too. This was no ordinary investor, as anyone who saw that great film The Big Short will know...

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?

Hello Share Pasters. At the risk of trampling a little bit on my brilliant colleague Nigel Somerville’s territory, it might be useful to highlight the best Footsie shares for dividends. This information becomes even more pertinent in times of a falling stock market. As we can still make good money from our divis, even after the direst of shocks.

Well what a last week with fear - for once in recent years - in ascendancy and lots of 'worst week since February' statistics being quoted.  As Tom Winnifrith noted in a recent bearcast the big honking issue is debt around the world, although tactically you can throw in a supporting cast of world trade angst, a bit of inflation bubbling up and a firm US dollar.  

Hello Share Wishers. What a thundering disappointment banks have been. You would have thought that the huge recovery most Footsie shares have seen since the 2008 crash, would have catapulted banks back where they were pre-disaster. But are they Buckland Abbey!

Last October I talked positively about Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) versus one of its challenger peers, noting:

Hello, Share Soupers. The fear of increasing interest rates here and in the US caused the recent glitch in share values. But it’s not been fully realised that such hikes will help the balance sheets of British banks. So with the year’s results for Lloyds Group (LLOY) expected on Thursday, allow me to make the case for investing in this under-estimated bank.

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.

Putting a portfolio together involves making decisions by comparing and contrasting one company against many others and wrapping it all up in some overriding sector/macro strategy. Simples, right?! For reasons too obvious to state, the financial sector had a shocker during the global financial crisis and which, in due course, led to the creation of a new competitive grouping - the 'challenger banks'. As one traditional name (Lloyds Bank - LLOY) and one new challenger name (Metro Bank - MTRO) have both reported today, let's compare and contrast and see if either pass muster. Prepare the cage...

Hello, Share Mixers. As you may have gathered, I favour investment in all four big British banks at the mo. My main reason is that each time one of them announces new figures, its balance sheet seems to have improved nicely and the share price usually shoots up.

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.

Hello Share Dredgers. Once again I bring to you Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) as a share worth considering. This simple statement will draw flak from my good friend Wildrides, but the case for Lloyds is getting better.

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 Trundlers. It’s only with extreme caution that I commend any British banks to your eagle eye, having lost a stack of my own money on them even since 2007. But I am rather more hopeful about all of the big British ones now.

Hello Share Plodders. For a year or two now I've been saying that British banks are worth a re-look, if only because the number of fines and compensatory payments are bound to diminish soon. Now it looks as though the bank shares I've been suggesting most are set to rattle ahead even faster than the last few weeks. And their recent progress has already been encouraging.

Hello Share Baiters. That awful share to hold, Lloyds Group (LLOY) may be getting less arduous. There is some optimism in the City that the current disappointing share price may rise 20% or so to beat 75p. Presently it’s around 66p.

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 Puddlers. The Honkers Bonkers bank (HSBA) has been doing rather well on the old share front of late. Each day seems to bring another 1% or so. This is encouraging news for me as the family has rather a big holding which is at least 40 years old.

Lloyds Bank (LLOY) boss Antonio Horta-Osorio stands accused of having illicit relations with Dr Wendy Platt, Director General of the Russell Group of Universities, whilst at a conference in Singapore. Moralists howl for his sacking for playing away with Dr Wendy. They have it all wrong.

You can do a lot in 100 days. Back in April I was musing about the large UK banks and puckered up some ‘geek analysis’ on Lloyds (LLOY) which basically suggested a double digit trading opportunity was apparent…and so it came to pass over the next four to six week.  A month or so later Brexit and the shares fell out of favour. Despite the grumblings in Lloyds statement last week I am getting similar feelings about an investing opportunity here again. What did I conclude last time?

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 Screamers. I was going to sell my bulky haul of RBS (RBS) shares - until I saw the latest set of results. Of course, I should have sold them a few years ago when the price was around 500p. Now it’s around 220p. But I dare to think that things may improve now.

Very, very occasionally applying some of the techniques applied by the ‘teenage scribbler’ analysts in the formal and overpaid analyst sector can be useful.  Today’s numbers from Lloyds Bank (LLOY) is a good example.  As I write the shares have dumped today because today’s Q1 trading update contained some profit numbers that did not meet hopes.  Actually to be more precise some complex buying back of bonds has complicated the reported numbers.  The ‘teenage scribblers’ have called it a ‘miss’ and down the shares go.  However - as is the way with analysts – those same scribblers after a bit of reflection will crank out their formal number crunching and conclude the stock is ‘cheap’.  In short the voting machine is cautious whilst the weighing machine gets more optimistic.

Hello Share Scrimpers. Here I go again - recommending a bank for your scrutiny. I sometimes wonder why I bother, as the big British banks have an eight-year-old habit of letting us down.

Last May, shares in Lloyds Group (LLOY) reacted to a better-than-expected set of results by rising to very nearly 90p. It was an improvement that put the other high street banks to shame. But turmoil in Europe and a slowing Chinese economy sent the price dribbling down soon afterwards. 

Hello Share Shufflers. It’s probably time we revisited a share I know is very popular among the astute denizens of this superlative website. I refer to Lloyds Group (LLOY).

Communisis (CMS) is a firm I’ve commended in the past and I’m disappointed that the share price fell by 15% yesterday. 

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 Swipers. You have to admire the sheer cussedness of stock markets. Nobody could accuse most of its movements of following predictable patterns.

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.

Hello Share Scrunchers. The four big British banks are looking like bargains to me. And I know that as soon as I say something like that, the many who take an opposite view will be sharpening their pencils.

This morning, the FCA announced it had discontinued its investigation into Quindell (QPP) with “immediate effect”. Quindell’s shares have rallied slightly on the news to settle at 97p, last seen, but how significant is this move for the company’s embattled shareholders?

Lloyds Bank (LLOY) is a real letdown for private investors, these days. And I wonder why. My view is that the government are, behind closed doors, flooding the market with their own shares. Obviously, if two many buns are knocking about the cafe, the public appetite wains.

Hello Fellow Share Bashers. The other day I told you how I’d picked five companies for my 21- year-old son Jack’s first share portfolio. But I was a bit miffed when he went off on a ten-day holiday to Denmark, without lodging his first £1000 with the broker. So far my fantastic five tips have gone unused.

Hello Share Pals, it's a thrilling time for my 21-year-old son, Jack. He has opened his very first share account with Traders Own. Being a student, he hasn't got much spare cash, but he has interred £1,000 into his golden fund. Now he needs five companies to dive into. I've got some suggestions for him below

Hello Share Sloggers. There’s a lot to be said gang for only investing in Footsie giants. Or at least companies which are big, rock solid and constant cash earners.

Hello Share Scrunchers. Nobody likes getting junk mail. Except me, who rather likes a big dollop of mail every morning and no longer gets it from friends and family. They’re not dead; they’ve just gone onto email. Lazy beggars! But one firm which does junk post - they prefer to call it direct mail - is Communisis (CMS).

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 Splashers. I’ve been trying to de-clutter my over-stuffed home by selling at a car boot sales. After three hours of just sitting on my car seat, I made an easy 60 quid. All very enjoyable in the sunshine.

Hello Share Shooters. While this Greek farrago continues to make investments in the Footsie and mid cap range a bit scary, I’ll continue with my trilogy on how to handle shares, which are not likely to be affected by the Euro crisis. So I make a few more observations about the best way to dabble in penny shares.

Hello Share Shovellers. There will be the usual shouts of horror when I mention shares in the four big British banks.

Hello Share Twirlers. So George of the Treasury Jungle has decreed that its Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) shares are to be sold off, probably at a loss to the tax-payer. You’ll recall that the shares have to go for about £5 each to recoup the money - that’s nearly £1.50p more than the present market price.

The Depression era US President Franklin Roosevelt is probably not often mentioned on this site but his dictum that ‘there is nothing to fear but fear itself’ is inadvertently one of the best pieces of stock market advice you are likely to read. Let’s consider this in respect of some of Britain’s best loved bank shares Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Lloyds (LLOY).

The only story of real interest in UK larger cap shares today is a strategy update by the banking behemoth HSBC (HSBA) which has finally got some focus on what they it wants its business to look like in a few years time.  I noted a little over a month ago that:

Hello Share Plinkers. A share which rises strongly over three days, nearly always drops back. We saw this with Lloyds Group (LLOY) over the last few weeks. It also happened to that darling of the bully boards, Advanced Oncotherapy (AVO) over the last six weeks.

Hello Share Monkeys. I’ve written about RBS (RBS) and Lloyds Group (LLOY) lately. But I’ve neglected the biggest UK bank of all, Honkers Bonkers (HSBA).

Hello Share Sharpers: Uncle Tom is showing his tremendous moral courage on this outstanding website yet again. Let’s all marvel at some of his forthright and detailed posts over the last few days. May I also exhibit a small show of bravery by drawing your attention once again to Lloyds Bank (LLOY). This is perhaps more foolhardy than courageous, though, as the beggars have let me down so often since the big crunch days of 2008.

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.

Hello Share Sifters: Everyone I know – well, about 20 of them, have shares in Lloyds Group (LLOY). They are hopeful that the Government will put its slice of the company up for sale at a quid a share. Also that a dividend will start to come their way.

Hello Share Fans: I'm a great fan of government-led initial public offerings. This is when a Whitehall set-up like the Royal Mail (RMG) decides to sell shares to the public for the first time. Obviously, the Royal Mail offering was a success. They pitched the price of the shares too low. But wouldn't you, if you wanted to grab some money from the man and woman in the street to shore up the Treasury?

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

Hello Share Tweakers: Not too long ago - which could be years, given my failing memory – I commended to you a little share called Communisis (CMS). At the risk of turning down the corners of your mouth by telling you that they include junk mail in their services, I think they are an even better bet these days.

​Hello Share Mates: It's gratifying to find that my view expressed on this magnificent website that it was worth stagging TSB shares turns out to be on the button.

Hello Share Polishers: There are some people who only ever invest in Footsie shares. This is not a sensible approach. Here are a few reasons why shares in the big 100 can be poor value.