For all you LKH seekers I don’t think Vulcanis was a Sunseeker, but whatever she was I hope she is still out there somewhere with LKH on the Flybridge. The error ii made was thinking they could save money by buying an off the peg discussion board rather than programming an updated version of their old one. Maybe they saw the virtual portfolio page as being something used by people not using ii for investing, which I did for years, and therefore a part of their service which was not making any money. The reality I suspect is that lots of us now have trading accounts and use the virtual portfolio pages as a quick way to see how our investments are doing. I hope they now realize they have damaged a part of their site that many of their clients valued and that they will be working on a bespoke discussion board that get us back to what we had before.
For all you LKH seekers He is probably a major customer too with all that fuel going into his Sunseeker!
For all you LKH seekers @Hydrogen_Economy, I believe the change to the Dutch withholding is much more recent than that. The Shell Transport & Trading shares quoted in London got consolidated so they were 1 for 1 in ‘size’ (shareholder entitlements) with the original Royal Dutch shares but listed as RDSB, primary listing being London, while the Dutch ones got renamed as RDSA, primary listing being Amsterdam. There was no withholding on the Bs but the As did have 15% deducted… then they started a scrip option, all new shares issued as As regardless of whether you held As or Bs but, under Dutch rules, the scrip didn’t count as a cash distribution so no withholding if you took it. LKH was very vocal (and accurate) on the subject - his accounts were with Barclays who did allow him the option of taking the scrip whereas my broker (Selftrade) didn’t permit it; then again he had to pay (£60 p.a. I seem to claw out of the dark recesses of my memory but don’t quote me on that one) for the account. Not sure when the rules changed but is was fairly recent, within the last couple of years I think. Regards, ITDYA
For all you LKH seekers ITDYA “Anyway, apparently the Dutch authorities will drop the 15% withholding tax on the divs so it won’t make much difference to me other than a bit of short-term volatility while the market sorts itself out.†That concession was I believe granted to RDSB when they reorganized in 2005, interestingly the Dutch Green party is on their case (unsurprising as an oil company, albeit 13 years after the event). Who knows if that will impact ULVR, maybe the Company’s green credentials might allow the Goji Berry Faction to apply a different spin. Turkey Telegraph - Breaking News & Headlines from TURKEY Dutch ecologist party asks for investigation of Shell dividend tax payment An investigation of the newspaper Trouw notes that the multinational has paid 45 billion euros to its shareholders across the island of Jersey H2
For all you LKH seekers Could be a different person, you have to be very careful!
For all you LKH seekers @NewBill1703, I hope you are right and it’s the real LKH; I do miss the constructive (even if I don’t agree) comments and the irreverent humour, both in precious short supply these days. The reason I was in doubt was that the Shell restructuring was handled completely differently from the proposals from ULVR - the ULVR ones are much more simple which, let’s face it, is what the Institutions were asking for. Me, I’d have gone for a ‘dual’ listing alone the HSBA lines - one class of share but part of all 3 indexes, LON, NYC and HK. In the FTSE100 it’s clearly counted at 100% but no idea whether it’s fully loaded in the Dow/S&P or the Hang Seng - a bit weird if it’s counted full tilt in all 3 because that makes a mess of a World Index (or maybe not, not something I fully understand). Anyway, apparently the Dutch authorities will drop the 15% withholding tax on the divs so it won’t make much difference to me other than a bit of short-term volatility while the market sorts itself out. At the end of the day it’s still ULVR and, if you like it, you like it, nothing else has changed. The only losers in my eyes will be the trackers and their investors who’ll get forced out at what will almost certainly be the bottom end of any fair value count. Regards, ITDYA hoping it is LKH and that maybe we can tempt him back here. p.s. for those curious, me not having a lot of joy with LSE (London South East) at the moment - it’s OK but nothing to write home about.
For all you LKH seekers Bill, The discussion doesn’t flow on this new format and it seems incredible that they won’t switch back to the old format. The FT doesn’t have a stock specific chat forum, Alphaville, or the market live system doesn’t come close. If as you say LKH is indeed still with us, it might have been sensible for him to say why he was leaving and stop all guessing I suppose. Still, each to their own as they say. This new site is pretty useless and it’s likely to be a loser unless they revert back to the old and much simpler flowing format. games
For all you LKH seekers In_the_dark_yet_again: Me, not sure it’s the same guy - LKH knew what he was talking about, especially w.r.t. big oil, but those contributions missed many key elements that I doubt the LKH we knew would have missed. Obviously I might be completely wrong (not for the 1st time!). ITDYA - I too have checked back at the FT Alphaville chat (which I do follow myself, on and off) from last Thursday - and my clear impression is that it WAS indeed the real LK Hyman! Partly as the focus of discussion - ULVR, Shell and the whole issue of dual listings, etc, was VERY much the LKH sweet-spot, but also because there were a few give-away asides which rang very true to form for the great man… knowledgeable yet pithy, erudite yet indignant. I believe it is pretty convincing evidence he is not only still with us but he still has all the unique LKH marbles - or at least most of them. Maybe we’ll never get to the bottom of his departure from these boards - but given where we are now with the new set-up, maybe it’ll prove to be a case of him being merely ahead of the times… I will try my best to keep going on here, but they’re not making it easy for me or, I suspect, many others like me.
For all you LKH seekers And one of mine. I am so pleased that he appears to be alive!
For all you LKH seekers @Gamesinvestor1, as @72_fastback says, it’s seems to be genuinely live from 11am (ish) for about an hour plus maybe an extra session if there’s an FOMC meeting - FOMC results used to be issued 8:20am NYC time, i.e. 13:20 London. On Friday they were talking Indivior (I had a few when they 1st spun it out of Reckitt but too few, not a business I properly understand and couldn’t see a compelling reason to buy more to get it up to a decent size so simply sold them, price not particularly relevant). Then BTG (which doesn’t work for me) and a bit of Tesco talk (I don’t do retail other than Amazon and Ebay). Anyway Thursday the primary discussion topic was ULVR with the full switch back to Amsterdam. Because of the way they have chosen to do it, it will probably mean it’s no longer a FTSE100 stock, hence all the trackers will drop it - highlights one of the weaknesses of trackers for me: nothing wrong with the ULVR business but suddenly you have to offload. A contributor by the name of LK Hyman was vocal about the comparison with Royal Dutch Shell who are very much part of the FTSE100. Me, not sure it’s the same guy - LKH knew what he was talking about, especially w.r.t. big oil, but those contributions missed many key elements that I doubt the LKH we knew would have missed. Obviously I might be completely wrong (not for the 1st time!). As for the Alphaville Market Live, it was interesting despite none of the topics being my stuff. Some people clearly do know what they are talking about but, on Friday, it just wasn’t relevant to me/my portfolio. Won’t be chasing it but if I’m sat at my desk doing other stuff at 11am I might well tune in again. Regards. ITDYA
For all you LKH seekers Markets Live is only open for comments whilst the chat session is running - 11am (ish) for an hour(ish). It is quite a good general markets & stock specific chat. I see ITDYA made it into yesterday’s session.
For all you LKH seekers I think it is as Shell gets a mention in one of his posts.
For all you LKH seekers Just looked at market live and also am signing up for a new subscription to the FT. I went on chat with them and suggested they should start a stock specific chat room, as the guy on live chat indicated they didn’t have one at the moment. ITDYA - I also couldn’t see a way to chat or add a comment on markets live - perhaps it’s only open for comment during trading hours in the UK. Interesting if the LK is the same one and why he suddenly just stopped posting on ii back in October last year. Games
For all you LKH seekers Brilliant. I’m pleased he’s okay. My two best performing stocks were bought following his analysis.
For all you LKH seekers Tried but no use. Can’t find it - probably me as I’ve never used that bit of the FT site. Registered an account but can’t find the post. Any chance of a link or a ‘guide for dummies’ to help me get there? Regards, ITDYA