Now, this one was just awarded the Aim company of the year. Its a bit likeMears but it has a large GAS SERVICE section and the profits from this outfit would appear to be less healthy than from its Public Service arm. Does anyone have any knowledge of this company which is not cheap BUT could be on its way to making a lot more mazuma.

very altruistic of you

Well banks are making billions again so they wont miss the money they
lost, all that matters is the jobs, shareholders should have realised what
was coming and cut their losses and ran, hats off to the co-op, they seem
to be on the ball in more ways than one.

sorry to be (no i'm not at all sorry!) so attached to mammon, but CNT's sp valued a ZERO suited me very well indeed .....

however, i hear through the ether than some s/b company (NOT IG) closed everyone's position at the last traded price (about 16p) ..... totally unbelievable if true, as of course those who were long are splitting their sides with laughter and those who were short are spitting nails

But why do s/b Co's not close out all positions where a company has gone into administration &/or it's shares have been suspended? Like the equity holders who may be sitting on worthless stock, cfd/sb traders are also open to the same risk?

because the positions cannot be physically closed ..... for example, the sp in CNT is now NIL, but the short position cannot be officially closed until such a time as the administrator has made a formal announcement (or similar) that there is nothing left for unsecured creditors .... at that point, i can physically bank my gain, or in the case of a long holder, his loss is then crystalised

Ah, I see. In that case there is presumably a risk for the shorters that the sp may open considerably higher if there is a favourable takeover or bailout?

in theory you are absolutely right, though in practice that is pretty much inconceivable

to support my post 179 ...... totally immoral! .....

from Tom Winnifrith .....

I am told that SB clients of CMC who were/are short of Connaught are to be settled at the close of business today at 16.65p. Apparently, there is a rule in their terms of business which declares that settlement is not to be at the eventual make up price but the suspension figure.

I cannot argue with their rules on behalf of those who accepted them. But this rule is absurd and it means that investors should steer well clear of CMC. After all, if one shorts, one takes the risk of losing on the upside and one does so to collect the downside. If the downside is denied at the crucial moment, there is no point in opening the short.

It depends where you open the short :-)

front fly opening! ...... that weasel clause of CMC's is totally disgusting and i'm amazed they are allowed to get away with it ..... i wonder if any of the por bastards who were caught out will challenge it under "unfair contract" or similar

lol.

My gut reaction would be that if it's in clearly documented rules, then the punter has no legal path to claim. However, that won't do CMC's reputation much good & they may realise that is more important.

my guess is that CMC will make a killing out of it

cynic have you seen their book?

nope, but whether they do or not, it's a downright scurrilous and unprofessional way to act

always read the small print.

as always, you're right, but it's probably tucked into the agreement somewhere and in very small type ...... i believe the City in general is pretty appalled, though whether or not the poor buggers who got hit have any recourse is another matter ...... that said, those with long positions will be very happy indeed - unless there's another weasel clause that will stop those guys encashing same at 16.25p

Social housing contractor Connaught collapsed this week. But an email has emerged showing the arrogance that existed at the company in the run-up to its failure.

Five months ago the company's then boss bragged in an email to staff that Connaught would soon be one of the best employers in the country. [Read the full story]

Here, we publish that email, written by former chief executive Mark Tincknell, in full below. Here are some of the highlights:


Dear Everyone

You may have noticed more press speculation and a further reduction in the share price this week. This is as a result of a fundamentally flawed and very mediocre analysts note which simply repeated unfounded rumours and nonsense from the past, whilst getting the numbers wrong at the same time. A masterful feat of incompetence.

However, the City is sensitive at the moment due to a potential change of Government and the tightening of the public purse. As a result there has been an over-reaction which has seen the share price fall.

It is also possible that the analysts note was influenced by those who are short in Connaught. By this I mean certain hedge funds have bet that our share price will reduce and therefore it is in their interest to influence third parties to take a negative view towards us. Doesn't seem right does it?

I think we all have to remember that this manipulation of our share price is therefore not a true representation of the underlying value of our business. Connaught is in good shape and we are well supported by the vast majority of our major shareholders and the analyst community. In this respect l attach a short note from KBC which was issued this morning supporting us.

We had a meeting of the management board yesterday which was upbeat and confident and whilst we realise there are things to fix we are "on to it". We are taking advantage of all the opportunities the market presents us with whilst improving the business wherever we can.

We continue to invest heavily in our future. We have approval for a new 10 million financial and operational system and we are putting together a brand new 25 person big tickets sales team to take advantage of new public sector markets opportunities. This will include bid writers, transformational consultants, strategic business developers and proposition development mangers; all aimed at taking Connaught to the next level.

In addition we have also brought in a one Group and 3 Divisional HR Directors. They are targeted on having Connaught included in the Sunday Times best companies to work for list by at least 2014.


On a personal note, I would also like to add that in the 28 years since Connaught started I've never been so confident about our future prospects. We have never had the calibre of management that we have in the business today and they will be making a tremendous impact in the forthcoming months. I believe the public sector market provides us with a once in a generation opportunity.

Any talk about Connaught being bought also remains complete nonsense - you can tell I like the word nonsense - the share price would have to halve from its current level for this to become even a remote possibility and therefore is very doubtful indeed. We have never been approached by anybody in this respect.

I hope you and your families have a great Easter, rest assured that regardless of what is convenient for certain elements in the City to think, we are in good shape and have a very interesting and positive future ahead of us.

Please feel free to pass this e-mail on to family and friends who may have an interest in Connaught and to colleagues who may not be connected to the network.

Kind regards,
Mark Tincknell

Cynic.

I dont spread bet thesedays, i find them as borderline crooks and myself had
a bad experience (show me somebody that has not).

This company you mention if i'm not wrong is failing to pay out on shorts on
a stock that is worthless then ?

That means you could search for a company they offer prices that is on the
brink of going bust, you go long and by miracles they pull through and you make
a real killing or it gets suspended and you get your money back, is that right ?

Sounds really bad to me but i have 0 respect for spread betting firms and their
unique "suits them" rules !

i use IG (for CFDs) and have never had cause to complain ..... indeed, i find them very helpful indeed