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Share Tipsters Poor Performance in 2016

There was an article published on stock screens in the last edition of the ShareSoc Informer Newsletter which has just been issued. It reviewed a number of published screens and the performance overall was poor, mainly because few of them tipped mining or oil sector stocks. So how did the national newspapers share tipsters perform in comparison? Private Eye just published a report on that subject. It said only one national newspaper, the Sunday Times, beat the index with its collective tips. ...

How Bookmakers Lose Money – William Hill

William Hill (WMH) issued a trading statement yesterday (9/1/2017) which was effectively a profit warning. They said margins were hit by "unfavourable football and horseracing results". It is one of the longest standing myths in the gambling world that bookmakers can lose money when the favourite horses romp home, or the heavily backed but unexpected football teams win. My grammar school maths teacher taught me how to construct a "book" 50 years ago, so that by setting the odds on all horses ...

Losses From Withholding Taxes on Dividends

An issue that has come to the notice of ShareSoc is the problem of the Withholding Tax introduced on dividends in South Africa. Even though Pan African Resources Plc (PAF) is registered in the UK, it is dual listed on AIM and the Johannesburg Exchange (JSE). Because of the way South Africa introduced the tax change, any shareholder is going to get 15% deducted before payment (or 10% for UK residents under a dual tax treaty). To get the lower rate, you ...

ShareSoc’s IT Upgrade Project

I owe our members and followers an update on our IT upgrade project. Thanks to generous donations from our members and other supporters, we were able to get our...

Stamp Duty Review

The Office of Tax Simplification is currently undertaking a review of Stamp Duty. Stamp Duty is paid on share transactions, although there are numerous exceptions and ways to avoid paying it. Although this review seems to be primarily focussed on technical aspects and how to remove paper processes (still needed for off-market transfers for example), ShareSoc argues that the tax should be scrapped altogether. (more…)