any comments, thoughts, on this stock.

i,m surprised there has not been a decent squeeze organised here today

It is quite easy to fix the problem of customers queuing to withdraw there money if you put on extra staff who can write cheques which apparently are guaranteed by the BOE. It appears to me NRK management are either incompetent or are dliberately slowing down withdrawals hoping the queues will go away which of course they wont.

i thought there were some big buys coming through at the end of today, but then saw that something like 270 MILLION were traded here, so those buys were relatively tiny ...... for what it's worth (bugger all), buys outnumbered sales .... mind you, could say much the same at AL (about equal) where sp dropped 300 on the day

You may be right Halifax...by for most savers, my understanding is their money is safe - as safe as the BoE, if not "houses"....it's only those with say 50k+ that might be at a disadvantage if NRK was to fail . . . but it won't fail. The "problem" is only they can't satisfy new loans.

With HIPs having put the brake on home-sales, apart from new-build (are they exempt?)...there may well be fewer Mortgage applications. This run of NRK is a function ( IMHO, DYOR), it was caused by Ministers telling the Media that "...everything was OK..." - and no-one believes the Government, do they?

Maybe foolish, investing now, but who knows...we always invest when we think a sp is low.... and I think NRK is about to be taken-over. I can see this would stop the queues.....but will savers' yields drop? Perhps that won't matter, for once the queues stop then the sp will begin to recover. Looking at the Trades today I can see no reason for the MM's to drop the price 33% - Any Bank wanting to pick up NRK at a good price will want to buy some shares to give them a stronger hand. . . and today's price looks much more attractive than at any time in the last 2-years.
IMHO.

i doubt very much that the deservedly discredited HIPs have had any effect at all on house sales.

Cynic, aren't Estate Agent telling us that HIPs were doing just that?

Prior to HIPs there were bumper houses put up for sale, so a fall-back will be just the consequence.

I note you said "house Sales" - meaning completions, I presume. But sometimes people will "test" the market and then whilst looking something (also speculatively listed) catches their imagination . . . hence two sales where none was essential.
HIPs will cause some slewing of the Market and maybe create a grey market, who knows?

perhaps the lower end of the market is affected, but certainly not the upper echelons

It may be necessary to reduce interest rates but, I cannot understand why credit controls have not been introduced over the past few years. No doubt the current climate will force lenders to restrain themselves but, this is a hopeless way to do business given the greed that exists and the bonus system that rewards the amount of business won even though the quality of such business can be questionable. The current government, especially Brown, who I see is keeping his fat head down, is the epitome of waste, spend and incompetance and certainly no example. It is no wonder people do not trust a word of what any official says, because this has become a norm. If Brown was a financial director of a quality company he would have been given the boot long ago. These people should be made to pay and be more accountable.

I suppose you could replace Brown and Co with a bunch of school boy spivs lead by Blair's double Spiv Cameron. Remember Lamont and his advisors!

I was hoping that Kenneth Clarke was made new conservative leader. He would have made mincemeat of Brown & Co and he was not a bad Chancellor. The Conservatives just keep shooting themselves in the foot. Still I digress.

"Hushpuppy Man"? .... he may have been good in his day as was sans pareil Margaret Thatcher.

"i doubt very much that the deservedly discredited HIPs have had any effect at all on house sales. "

Totally incorrect, house sales have cratered!

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/pdf/p/hpi/HousePriceIndex17thSep2007.pdf

But apparently just a temporary blip due to their introduction.

yes Clarke may be getting on a bit but he speaks with some logic and gets his points over well. You tend know what your getting and he puts opponents on their metal. This is necessary in opposition and seems lacking at present.

And the comment on HIPs only affecting the bottom end of the market .... the bottom end makes up the majority of the market and if that falters it falters all the way up.

If someone can't sell their castle/stately home then no one gives a sh*t and has little if any effect on overall market conditions.

I am always amazed that the same voices who blugeon politicians for their nanny state, suddenly look to blame them for a problem that started 3000 miles away in another country, and for not regulating to stop people buying what they want at the price they want to pay!
The housing market is regulated by simple demand and supply, as it should be. This will always lead to rises and falls.
The US problem, The NRK problem, The housing market problem. They are all the children of that most basic human trait of greed. If that is a truism and you really are unhappy with it, then fine, but please spare me the pleas for a return to the "greed is good" ethos of chancellors like Lamont and Clarke!!
Alan

My local estate agent offers a hip for 330 which can be paid for over a 12 month period for 360, quite a small amount compared with average 180,000 price tag but still a pscyhological barrier

Looks like anyone still short AL. will have been burned this morning....

Strawbs.

there's actually an AL thread running ...... Telegraph still reckoned SELL this morning, but at lest i have clawed back a significant lump and have put quite a tight stop in place in csae this is a very-lived bounce ..... rescued my shirt - lol!

Falco .... it's not so much the cost of a HIP but the actual value of them - and how long are they valid for? - and of course the lack of suitably qualified people, for it is not a job for normal surveyor.

of more use, to my mind, would be the adoption of the Scottish system, whereby if you put in a firm bid, it is legally binding on both parties.