What investment book would you recommend?
Welcome to taking stock on.... Friday 17th August 2023
Taking Stock: Is a look at today's top business news & investment views plus we cover the winners, losers, the most read company news & the most followed. Today this includes:
So what investment book would you recommend to other investors?
Some book recommendations:
Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits and Other Writings by Philip A. Fisher
How to Make Money in Stocks: A Winning System In Good Times And Bad, Fourth Edition by William Oneil
Market Wizards: Interviews with Top Traders by Jack D. Schwager
The Art of Execution: How the world's best investors get it wrong and still make millions in the markets by Lee Freeman-Sho
The Naked Trader: How anyone can make money trading shares, 5th edition Paperback by Robbie Burns
The Psychology of Money: Timeless lessons on wealth, greed, and happiness by Morgan Housel
MOST READ RNS
- Schwarzbach-2(2.) Well Update
Summary:
· The SCHB-2(2.) well has encountered good quality oil-bearing reservoirs in the Meletta-Schichten ("Meletta") sandstones and the Pechelbronner-Schichten ("PBS") sandstones within the Stockstadt Mitte segment of the Erfelden field.
· Initial evaluation of the logs over the PBS indicates a 34-metre gross interval containing 28 metres of oil-bearing net reservoir, with porosities averaging 18% and up to 28%, all of which significantly exceed pre-drill estimates.
· These oil-bearing reservoirs were encountered approximately 25 metres higher than prognosis with oil observed on the shale shakers and in the mud pit whilst drilling these intervals.
· No water-bearing sands were encountered in the Meletta or the PBS intervals.
- Notice to cancel Tranche 2 Funding
Alien Metals is pleased to announce that following the successful raising and placing of £2 million, it has issued notice to the Lender of its short-term funding facility that it will not be drawing on the Tranche 2 (US$500,000) of the Convertible Securities.
Accordingly, the Lender holds in total US$500,000 of Convertible Securities in respect of Tranche 1 along with 10,000,000 Warrants (the terms of which are outlined in the RNS of 3 July 2023).
- Brunei Collaboration Update
Brunei Collaboration Update
Upland Resources Limited (LSE: UPL) is pleased to announce that, through its collaborative discussions with the Petroleum Authority of Brunei Darussalam, the Company has recently been advised that gas was discovered in two previously unknown reservoirs in the neighbouring block in Brunei, which is located close to, and has a similar geological context to prospective areas in Block SK334.
High pressure, material gas discovery where gas flared at surface level with further additional formations yet to be tested.
This is a significant derisk to future exploration and significantly enhances prospectivity in Block SK334. Upland is actively evaluating all available data from these wells to help constrain technical risk in Block SK334.
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RNS WORTH READING
- Correction re Mail Online article of 15/08/23
The article of 15th August 2023 was headlined: "Wetherspoons delivers a major blow to punters wanting a cheap bite to eat as it hikes food prices by 13% - how much has YOUR favourite meal gone up by?"
The article went on to review the pricing of a number meals at the Company's Oxted Inn pub in Oxted, Surrey.
The review contained a number of factual mistakes.
The price of a Ham and Cheddar Cheese Panini was stated correctly as £5.53 but failed to notify readers that this price also included a free soft drink.
The price of an All Day Brunch with an alcoholic drink was stated as £11.11 when the correct price is £10.82.
Reference was also made to "pint prices at the chain's airport and certain city pubs were revealed to have rocketed to an eye watering £7".
While one draught pint product (Leffe Blonde) has increased in price to over £7 at one pub in London (The Moon under Water, Leicester Square), no other draught product has and it is misleading and inaccurate to state that Wetherspoon "pint prices" are now £7.00 in city pubs.
The article also contains the following statement from Martyn James who is described as "an independent consumer champion":
'People go to Wetherspoons because it's cheap. It remains to be seen if it will retain its customers now it's the same price as everywhere else'.
This statement is incorrect- Wetherspoon is not "the same price as everywhere else"
While the Company's prices do vary from location to location, a price survey carried out by the Company's pubs into pricing at their nearest competitors in April 2023 showed that the competitors' drinks prices were, on average, 43% more expensive than Wetherspoon and competitors' food prices were, on average, 33% more expensive than Wetherspoon.
- Trading Update and Notice of Results
Key highlights
· Group Revenue of £38.3m (2022: £40.7m) against a strong H1 2022 comparator. The majority of key 2023 releases fall in H2 2023, leading to a second half weighting to annual financial performance.
· Group EBITDA of £5.8m (2022: £7.5m), with the prior period benefitting from the reduced rate of VAT in the first quarter of last year worth £0.9m in EBITDA, and popular film releases.
· Three new venues opened at the end of H1, taking the Group estate to a total of 41 venues.
Post period and outlook
· Barbie and Oppenheimer released in the final week of July, delivered record admissions and enabled the Group to achieve an exceptional month of trading:
o Group Revenue of £10.6m (July 2022: £7.1m)
o Group EBITDA of £2.6m (July 2022: £1.3m)
TOP BUSINESS STORIES
Energy bills predicted to drop in autumn
Annual energy bills for a typical household are expected to fall slightly to £1,926 from October, according to a new forecast.
Consultancy firm Cornwall Insight predicts bills could drop by £148 under a new official price cap set to be announced by Ofgem next week.
The energy price cap limits how much suppliers can charge households for each unit of energy they use.
But bills still remain far higher than before Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Retail sales drop in July as rain dampens demand
Retail sales volumes fell by 1.2% in July after the wet weather hit summer clothing sales and the cost of living weighed on food shoppers.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said it was a particularly bad month for supermarkets.
"The summer washout combined with the increased cost of living meant sluggish sales for both clothing and food," it said.
Department stores also reported falling demand for household goods.
Illustrating how much prices have risen, the ONS said that compared to February 2020 - the last full month before Covid struck - total retail sales were 16.4% higher by value but 1.8% lower in the volume of goods people bought.
Profits at UK firms yet to fully recover from pandemic despite growth
Profit at UK companies has grown slightly, the latest official figures show, suggesting widespread price hikes were not solely to increase profits.
There have been concerns this year about so-called "greedflation" - with companies accused of driving up inflation by increasing prices for profit.
However, new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show profit has yet to fully recover from the pandemic.
The rate of profitability for firms hasn't gone back to 2019 levels, except for one quarter in 2020.
Company net returns grew to 9.9% from January to March this year, up by 0.1 percentage points from the 9.8% rate in the three months before, the final quarter of 2022.
Elon Musk's SpaceX News Sends Bitcoin Tumbling
Bitcoin plunged Thursday night on news that Elon Musk's SpaceX has sold all its holdings of the cryptocurrency.
SpaceX documents viewed by The Wall Street Journal show that the private space company has sold all its Bitcoin, after writing down the value of its holdings in 2021 and 2022.
Tesla (TSLA) sold 75% of its Bitcoin holdings last year.
Evergrande: China property giant files for US bankruptcy protection
Property giant Evergrande has filed for bankruptcy protection in the US as the real estate crisis in China deepens.
It will allow the heavily-indebted company to protect its assets in the US as it works on a multi-billion dollar deal with creditors.
Evergrande defaulted on its huge debts in 2021, which sent shockwaves through global financial markets.
The move comes as problems in China's property market add to concerns about the world's second largest economy.
China Evergrande Group made the Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection filing in a New York court on Thursday.
Chapter 15 protects the US assets of a foreign company while it works on restructuring its debts.
Disclaimer & Declaration of Interest
The information, investment views and recommendations in this article are provided for general information purposes only. Nothing in this article should be construed as a solicitation to buy or sell any financial product relating to any companies under discussion or to engage in or refrain from doing so or engaging in any other transaction. Any opinions or comments are made to the best of the knowledge and belief of the writer but no responsibility is accepted for actions based on such opinions or comments. Vox Markets may receive payment from companies mentioned for enhanced profiling or publication presence. The writer may or may not hold investments in the companies under discussion.