Hello Share Streamers. While I am not totally dismissive of the chartists, I do have a few reservations about their ability to predict share success.
Christmas is over. On my weekly visit to supermarkets on Saturday both Morrisons (MRW) and Aldi were noticeably less busy. Morrisons in particular- about four weeks ago there were around double the number of shoppers in store. Huddersfield’s ‘nightlife’ was quieter on Saturday too, significantly. Some clubs didn’t even open.
Hello Share Babes. I don't know what I would have done without Tesco (TSCO) this Christmas. Well, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration. But it certainly beat most firms I've dealt with so far this Yuletide for super service.
Whilst part 1 was a romp through a few larger cap stories with cost cutting as a core theme, part 2 is a bit more edgy. Looking at 2015 it seems to me that there are two themes that really make investors nervous. The first is growth and the second is underperformance.
I knew it was going to be bad news when I saw an unexpected Tesco (TSCO) trading update statement on the wires this morning. This close to Christmas if you are a food retailer you keep your fingers crossed that the shoppers are going to eventually flood into your store unless – of course – the news was really, really different from guidance. I guess the £1.4 billion trading profit indication qualifies on that behalf (I believe consensus UK trading profit guidance was nearer £1.8 billion).
Hello Share Shooters. When I said we might have another go at Tesco (TSCO) recently, there was a volley of opposition among the comments which followed. Hardly anybody agreed that it was worth giving the supermarket giant another chance.
Hello Share Punchers: Let me go out on a controversial limb and suggest you look at 95-year-old Tesco (TSCO) once more.
Hello Share Folk. Did you see the blockbuster programme on the telly this week that showed the wealthy getting richer and the poor not so?
The Tesco (TSCO interim results have proved to be such a large dog’s breakfast of awfulness, that it is hard to know where to begin in attempting to describe and understand the situation.
When you make a mistake the right thing to do is either fall on your sword and/or beg for forgiveness. Of course you can try and brazen it out too but I am glad that the Tesco (TSCO) Chairman has maintained a shred of dignity by expressing ‘profound regret’ at the accounting debacle that has enveloped the UK food business of the FTSE 100’s most struggling retailer. Clearing the senior executive and non-executive deck clear looks a radical move but it is the only way to move on.
Moody’s, the famous credit rating agency, predicts that Asda, Tesco (TSCO), Morrisons (MRW) and Sainsbury’s (SBRY) will continue to lose market share to the discounters Aldi and Lidl. The discounters’ share of the market currently stands at 8.3% and could reach 10% in a couple of years. Moody’s is basically predicting that the British market will become more like the European grocery sector, where margins are around 3 to 4% instead of the 5% that they used to be in Britain.
After four weeks of stockmarket falls is it time to buy shares? Yes and No. In his video postcard this week Tom Winnifrith looks at earnings visibility, value investing, long term investing, Tesco (TSCO) and stocks to avoid. The Q word is not mentioned once!
Hello Share Casters. Tesco (TSCO) shares are under a cloud at the mo having toppled miserably on some questions about their figures. Even before that, the shares had fallen a long way, due to some not very successful operations abroad and a nasty supermarket price war here.
In certain circumstances share buybacks make sense. Where a company has surplus capital and cannot think of a way of earning an economic return on that capital it is absolutely right that it is returned to shareholders via buybacks. I prefer them to special dividends because one can elect to sell less or no stock or to stay on board with a bigger percentage of the equity. It is down to the individual investor. And it is right that surplus capital should be returned to the company’s owners (shareholders) not simply be hoarded by management.
It is always the way with corporate scandals, the bad news just keeps bon coming. And so the weekend press makes dire reading for Tesco (TSCO). Prior year accounts may be restated, the Serious Fraud Office is bound to be involved and the useless non-exec chairman looks a worse bet to make it into the New Year than your average factory armed turkey. So what’s your take n Tesco shares. Do you think:
Just when I thought it was safe to get back into the Tesco (TSCO) water, another big whammy hits the supermarket chain. The latest is, of course, a massive set-back.
News that Tesco (TSCO) had overstated its profits, prompting a near 12% collapse in the share price was good reason to caste the valuation measure over the shares at 203p. – last seen. I learnt from my A level English literature that the essence of tragedy – the real Greek kind – is to fall from a great height. That makes Tesco and its shares a real Greek tragedy!
As I am currently on the east coast of the United States it was an especially early ‘silly o’clock’ awakening this morning. It was not the greatest start to the week however with Tesco (TSCO) unveiling the latest in a line of difficult market updates. Here’s the crux of what it had to say:
They say profits warnings come in Threes so is Tesco (TSCO) not a sell now? Chris Bailey reckons that it is a bargain basement buy and has made it the largest holding in his pension as you can see HERE. Clearly there are two points of view.
So supermarkets have been in the news a lot lately, with Tesco (TSCO) slashing its dividend by 75%. All of the supermarket shares took a battering on Friday, with worries that Tesco’s rivals could also cut their dividends. Just on an instinctive feel, I don’t think Sainsbury (SBRY) will cut its but I do feel it may be effected when Tesco start to cut prices- it will probably have to follow suit to an extent.
