I think it was the Welsh poet George Herbert who once wrote “Thursday comes and the week’s gone”. Perhaps he should have looked at the stock market a bit more, because Thursday is always the busiest day of the week for anyone interested in corporate updates. Three pieces of news flow that particularly interested me today…
Back in February I concluded about Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) that it was an “absolutely fine company to use if you are an investor, but in my opinion you do not need to buy its shares…carry on avoiding…”. The share back then was about 1100p and today it is below 850p, i.e. levels last seen back in 2013. Spot the rationale for this with revenue falling in an investment market that is unsurprisingly more and more competitive. I will have another look after its full year results in early August, but would still avoid the shares at least until then. Meanwhile, how am I feeling about BT Group (BT.A) shares after the publishing of its full year numbers earlier today?…
Whilst we wait for the Bank of England to (sensibly) raise interest rates for the second time since December, the global corporate results season aggressively continues. Whilst I will ignore the volatility in the Meta (aka Facebook) share price dump overnight as I have never invested in the stock, one I do know about is BT Group (BT.A) whose share price is down over 3% today to under a 190p price as I write. So how do I feel about this stock?
I am a bit more concentrated today on the Formula 1 final race of the year (it has been an epic championship in my opinion), but a few share related thoughts. I read in today’s newspapers that the ‘BT chief in summit with ministers over threat of takeover by French raider’. It certainly has been an excitable last few years for BT Group (BT.A) shareholders. But you never ever worry about a takeover.
Consistent with my musings yesterday, life in the markets remains excitable although at least today we are seeing an increase after those big losses on Friday. All good fun which any experienced investor has seen much more than once before. Nevertheless I do find it interesting that Friday was the fourth largest volatility index increase since 1990. No doubt a few of you remember all of the excitements back in February 2007, February 2018 and January last year, even before we mention July 1990 and November 1991. Stuff happens...especially on a day such as ‘Black Friday’. Live with it if you are an investor. So what about ‘Cyber Monday’ then?
Hello, Share Finders. As expected by some city analysts, including my humble self, BT Group (BT.A) is forging ahead. It’s half year report this week shows the company is modernising fast while at the same time slashing costs.
Back in June I observed that BT Group (BT.A) might have been floated in the 1980s but if you have been holding shares since then it has not exactly been a fantastic run. The company is having to change along with the world of telecommunications and I hold some shares because - in my opinion - the CEO Philip Jansen may have a good idea or two. The trouble is evolving a business can take time and cost a lot of money.
Hello, Share Bashers. I can't see how BT Group (BT.A) manages to lose share value. If you examine the fundamentals now, well, they’re not very exciting. But look at the rosy future the telecommunications giant faces. And the p/e is only 11.
I read in today’s press that ‘British Telecom (BT.A) has picked the former chief executive of Royal Mail (RMG) and ITV (ITV) to be its new chairman...Adam Crozier is expected to resign as chairman of the online fashion retailer Asos (ASC) to focus on the role, although he is tipped to stay on as chairman of Whitbread (WTB)’. How exciting!
Hello, Share Bunnies. Shall we have another look at BT Group (BT.A), which I reviewed fairly recently? The shares have been on an upward slope for some months now but I still think the improved share price has further to go.
I believe it was the song ‘Hunter and the Hunted’ from the wonderfully named group Simple Minds which contains the lyrics ‘how do I feel living in the eighties’. I am sure Jim Kerr and the rest of the group had an even better time than me, but on many levels it was a brilliant decade. That it not to say though that stock markets were not sometimes a bit volatile...but such is life. And as discussed before, if you want to make progress as an investor during the overall 2020s, then do not expect the 2010s to be a great guide. Anyhow I thought about the 1980s for a couple of specific reasons today.
Hello, Share Walkers. It’s been a while since I last commended BT Group (BT.A) for another look. I believe I last suggested the share at about 135p. The price moves slowly, but the direction has been right. As I write, BT is about 180p a pop. Is it time to take profits, then?
During the last few months, I have written a few times about BT Group (BT.A). I remain positive on the stock - and it certainly has been pleasant to see the shares rise above the one quid level six or seven months ago - but as I detailed here back in March, a really big call is going to be who is the next chair of the company. Well as you may have read in today’s Times, there is a ‘former minister in line to chair BT’.
Hello, Share Twiddlers. Slowly but surely BT Group (BT.A) has been rising in share price. Not that long ago, it was teetering around £1. Now it’s 150p-ish. I expect it to rise further this week. The fact is that a super fast internet service is in more demand these days with all the folks working from home. And BT is probably perceived by many as having one of the fastest, most far-reaching, around-the-house system in the country.
