Did you see today’s UK house price index update from Halifax? Whilst I am sure some people will focus on an average house price of £292,598 following an annual change of 8.3%, the game is obviously changing. After all, whilst house prices, apparently, over the last quarter are up 0.4%, the last month has seen a 0.4% fall. Are you surprised? Of course not! And, as Lloyds Bank (LLOY) banged on about at its last set of quarterly numbers the other week, the average house price is going to fall somewhat more over the next year.

The title is self explanatory on all counts. I discuss Purplebricks (PURP), the housebuilders where comrade Malcolm Stacey is very wrong, Mothercare (MTC) maternity bras and a 0p endgame, Deepverge (DVRG) and finally Argo Blockchain (ARB) which needs to come clean NOW.

The latest RICS survey is utterly downbeat. Read its outcomes and you do not need to use complex spreadsheets to work out that a) Purplebricks (PURP) must be a zero as housing transaction volumes collapse and b) that shares in the housebuilders are heading only one way and that is due South. The survey is shockingly bad:

Congratulations to those remembering Steve Holdsworth with a pint at 10 AM today. That is more than I could manage. Staying with the booze theme I discuss why Naked Wines (WINE) may run out of cash and how bad it is and could be. Then it is onto the housebuilders: is the bad news priced in with sub double figure PEs?  Sharestock is now 14 days away. To get your seat book HERE 

Tomorrow's training walk really will start at 4.30 AM. I promise. If you are among the naughty 95% yet to donate, please do so HERE. After that, there is more work on the Ha-Ha, ahead of a new idea which I will announce next week. I start with how NOT to get a job, when I was the one who got you an interview! I end with why this year, it will be I, not Malcolm, who calls the housebuilders right. In between, I discuss a share my SIPP bought yesterday; the fund and games with Vin Murria at M&C Saatchi (SAA); Cellular Goods (CBX); and THG (THG)

The last time I moved was about fifteen years ago and I bought that without a mortgage in any case. In other words, I am of no interest for mortgage names and housebuilders. Nevertheless, even I have become a bit more interested in the sector over the last eighteen months as noted most recently a couple of months ago. One name I have commented on a few times is Barratt Developments (BDEV), which has published full year numbers this morning.

Hello, Share Plumpers. Shares in housebuilders are bowling ahead. One of those at the forefront of the advance is Barratt Developments (BDEV). It completed nearly 4,500 homes in the first quarter of this year. That’s up by nearly a third on this time last year. And 5.7% better than before the pandemic first struck. Plus, the group has been able to boost its cash pile to £1 billion.

Hello, Share Followers. It seems optimism towards housebuilders has won another example of vindication. Barratt Developments (BDEV) has just announced a record half-year with 9,077 home completions. And that’s up by 9.2% on last time. My more brilliant colleague Chris Bailey likes those figures but allow me to proffer even more encouragement…

Hello, Share Shapers. So the UK economy shrunk by 2.6% in November. As England was put into lockdown for the second time and Wales and Scotland were also restricted, I believe most of us expected a bigger drop than that. The effect on most shares should be an upward thrust if that’s the best the Covid response can do to our GDP. 

Hello, Share Markers. You may be aware of my support for housebuilders in these odd times. Some pessimists warn that house prices will fall in a general recession. That would cause builders’ shares to slide, but I’m fairly confident, for reasons given in previous articles, that the opposite will be the case as the virus falls away…

Hello, Share Trudgers. Continuing my support for housebuilders, may I bring to your attention Vistry Group (VTY). Now if this is a builder unknown to you, let me remind you that it was formed when Bovis bought the Linden Homes arm of Galliford Try. So no lack of experience, then…

I have mentioned the sale of leasehold properties by housebuilders such as Barratt Developments (BDEV) before and regard their actions as utterly wrong. I am an ethical capitalist, they are profiteering. So I welcome the news that the Competition & Markets Authority is now investigating. It is not why I would not own shares in this sector but it is good news anyway. I also cover Kefi (KEFI), Vela (VELA) and the scoundrels at con Supply@ME Capital (SYME), its latest “news” and past lies.

Hello, Share Swappers. You may recall that I generally support the chances of housebuilders continuing their resurgence as reasonable investments. And I rather think that companies which make swathes of new houses in the middle price range are the way forward...

There are no guests in this week's show which is sponsored by Open Orphan PLC (ORPH). It is just me and I start with the idea of it's too good to be true at Intu (INTU) and that leads me on to look in some detail at the compelling bear case against all the housebuilders and what that means for other sectors and for you and me. Then I look at the 3 most overpromoted stocks on AIM, Bidstack (BIDS), Versarien (VRS) and AFC Energy (AFC), the common themes and why shares in all three will eventually collapse. But there is a warning for the bears too. Then it is onto the up to £15 million Appbox Media, One True View scandal I exposed this week HERE. If you like this and can't wait seven days for more of the same and are tired of being a cheapskate you should listen to my Bearcast every day.

Hello Share Trouncers. Housebuilders continue to stay high on my list. That’s despite government plans to end the ‘Help to Buy’ scheme by 2023. Persimmon (PSN) is worth your further consideration in my view, not least because of a prospective dividend yield of 10.3%...

Hello, Share Twisters. With three offspring who may buy their own homes in the next few years, I keenly appreciate the current shortage of houses. This gap between supply and demand will benefit all builders. But probably more so those companies whose homes are at the more reasonable end of the market. Earlier this month Barratt Developments (BDEV) reported encouraging figures...

Hello, Share Campers. When supply falls short of demand, or even likely demand, the happy supplier should be able to keep prices high and still make a tasty profit. That should go without saying. But those who criticise my current support for housebuilders rarely take into consideration this basic rule of o-level economics...

You know I have had a bit of a downer on housebuilders for a good little while now. More recently - back in April – I noted on Persimmon (PSN) that:

Hello Share Rattlers. Despite the fact that I’ve written in recent times in support of housebuilders, I hold few building shares in my portfolio. That’s because of laziness, rather than caution. But one of the few companies I’ve invested in is Berkeley Group (BKG). Many house builders have reported disappointing figures recently, as fears about Brexit, founded or not, have bit into the sector...

Hello, Share Swipers. Home builders have performed well for me over recent years. Not because they are necessarily blisteringly good firms, but boosted by the government’s help to buy schemes which have put a lot of dosh their way. However, this family’s investment in Galliford Try (GFRD) has not done well of late...

It has not been a good day. Firstly the Mrs left a door not fully closed and two cats have become one, Quincey has gone AWOL. Then I had to watch a crazy cat woman Carole Cadwalladr video for the sake of Woodlarks. Finally we have suffered a DOS attack. Someone does not like our exposes of fraud and malpractice. We will not be silenced. As you consider my Cadwalladr suffering please donate to Rogue Bloggers for Woodlarks HERE. In the podcast I cover Neil Woodford, Xeros (XSG), Eight Peaks (8PG), Alien Metals (UFO), African Battery Metals (ABM), Countrywide (CWD), Purplebricks (PURP) and the quoted housebuilders.

Hello, Share Snatchers. Now might be a good time to buy shares in Taylor Wimpey (TW.). The homebuilder took a big hit this week when it warned that increasing costs of building materials would knock profits in 2019. At one stage the shares were off by 7.6%...

Since I broke up the leaderboard into stories and Bearcasts—as a way of shoehorning in more stories—readers don't really get to see the domination of Bearcasts on the leaderboard, much to Tom's irritation.

Hello, Share Turners. Time was when comedians told jokes about Barratt houses. No longer. There is perky customer satisfaction. And though I have my detractors on this stupendous website, I still think Barratt Developments (BDEV) continues to go places fast. And so I fancy will the share price.

It’s been an eventful few days for UK house builders, with numerous earnings announcements over the last week coinciding with speculation about the future of the Government’s flagship ‘Help to Buy’ subsidy scheme. As a result, we’ve seen daily returns and sentiment levels in the sector fluctuate more than usual over the course of the week. This week’s chart shows abnormal tipster and broker sentiment levels (above/below the 6-week average) towards a portfolio of eleven house builders over the last few days. It also shows returns for the same companies over the same period.

I see the housebuilders got another share price stuffing yesterday on fears that the Help to Buy policy (which I have lampooned on this website recently here) might come to an end. I see the updates today from Barratt Developments (BDEV) and Berkeley Group (BKG) have hardly reignited the shares despite all sorts of 'record results' comments from the former. Well when the average house price is around six times income (and a way higher multiple in London) then value there is not. However...

Hello, Share Finders. Housebuilders attract a few warning signs on this splendid website. But there are still some strong signals to keep buying. The most important, perhaps, is the all-important demand versus supply issue. And though house prices are flat or falling, depending where you live, the shortage of affordable homes gets no better.

I start on the matter of our latest Winnileaks shocker on the fraud African Potash (AFPO). Then it is onto why Malcolm Stacey is just so wrong on the housebuilders HERE. Then I look at Touchstar (TST), Strat Aero (AERO) and Andalas (ADL).

In this short end of week podcast I look at the issue of sub critical mass companies on the AIM casino starting with Hunter Resources but en passant looking again at the POS enterprises that are Tern and Touchstone Gold. I look at housebuilders, Qihang Equiment and the three remaining Fuijian Norfolks: Camkids, China Chaintek and Jiasen