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Natural resource companies – only themselves to blame? And BHP Billiton results.

I believe John Redwood recently said that it was odd that commodity prices have been falling while Chinese demand has been steadily rising as forecast. As their economy turns more to retail consumption, the demand for consumer products and energy which drive the commodity markets has been rising as China is definitely the elephant in the room in terms of its influence on global demand. An article in the Daily Telegraph by Ian McVeigh on Friday (28/8/2015) explains this conundrum, with a ...

An Unpardonable Inequity

There was a great article on the nominee system by John Hughman in FT Money yesterday (see www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7aaee6fe-4ca9-11e5-b558-8a9722977189.html?siteedition=uk#axzz3kHgbWFFq ). Under the heading of "The unpardonable inequity that blights UK equities", John spelled out in simple terms why nominee accounts are indefensible. They deprive shareholders of their rights in the name of convenience and cost which are myths promoted by brokers for their commercial advantage. Here's one pithy quote from the article: "In fact, I'll go further - it is an indefensible embarrassment ...

Dunedin Enterprise and High Discounts

If Alliance Trust shareholders might be concerned about the high discount to NAV their shares trade at, then that's nothing in comparison with the position of investors in Dunedin Enterprise Trust. At the time of writing it is trading on a discount of 38%! On Friday (28/8/2015), they reported results for the half year ending June - and it was another very disappointing set of figures. Net asset value total return was -0.1% for the half year and over three years they ...

The Case of the Disappearing Shares

Another example of the wonders of pooled nominee accounts has come to my attention. When you buy shares through a stockbroker, you expect to receive them. Indeed settlement should now take place in 2 days if traded electronically as most now are. So if you are using a stockbroker's nominee account they should appear in that account in that period. You will see them on your account so they will be there will they not? The answer is not necessarily! Take the ...

Corbyn to tackle the High Pay issue?

You know when a challenge for the leadership of the Labour Party is becoming credible when the person gets profiled in the Financial Times. Yes Jeremy Corbyn is now heavily tipped to win the election irrespective of the allegations of "dirty tricks" by folks of both extreme left and right persuasion registering just to vote for him. But the really interesting aspect to this writer is that he has adopted a policy that might be very popular with a number of ...