I doubt cutting jobs will really ever have a positive effect, well especially in this economy with unemployment so high already etc...

Usually job losses does mean a leaner more efficient company, which is then reflected in profitability. Exposure to the UK mortgage market looks to be the negative weight on this stock, imo.

Comment from Morgan Stanley this morning:
"LLOYDS [U/W; PT 63p]: CFO meeting feedback - profit warning in Feb?
1) it's all about the macro and there's still a lot of uncertainty, esp with the UK spending review coming this week. LLOY continue to use 2% GDP for '11 vs our 1% and it feels like risk is to downside on their assumptions.
2) reining in some of bulls on margin, as they've extrapolated H1 performance. Also downside to '11 margins as they are relying on liability spread expansion and interest rate rises keep getting pushed out.
3) credit demand is low and getting worse - more risk to revenues. Means there could be more capital growth but with still lots of uncertainty over regulation there's no guarantee they'll be able to pay it out.
None of these problems are unique to LLOY, but it is the most crowded long, and almost all the sellside love it. It may be too early to expect any changes to guidance at tdg stmt on 2nd Nov but could be a possibility for FY results in Feb, esp if we have new management by then...stay U/Weight."

Harry pretty one sided opinion, what about all the rationalisation savings,possible sale of assets etc MS must be looking to buy in on the cheap!

Morgan Stanley are usually anti LBG.

Share price is very dissapointing, I thought it would at least retain its price around 70p waiting for the nov 2nd results?

maybe a big effort to "shake out" the many with long positions before the progress report coming shortly.

I don't think Lloyds has underperformed the other banks over the last 6 months.

skinny banks generally out of favour at present because of the uncertainty created by indecision of regulators and politicians. however Cameron & co will want to realise the huge investment in LLOY and RBS asap so unlikely banks will be heavily penalised one way or another.

Halifax - I think Osborne has already said that he is not in a hurry to realise the investment. Both LLOY and RBS have been above the required level (74 &50).

skinny Ossie will want to gradually reduce the peoples shareholding probably in tranches starting after their final results next year, in a similar way the government did with BP. years ago. There is no "required" level only a price based on performance and potential.

Back to 55p maybe? Presumably all down to their exposure to the Eire property market.

if 55p hit, brilliant buying opp for the long term!

How long?

lloyds sacking uk workers and now taking on more spanish managers .this a bank now run for the board only time to move our accounts.

Skinny, yr post 26 Oct2010 - could you put some flesh on the figures you quote.
What surprises me is that near-current levels would stand selling of a large block of stock.
(I looked at the LLOY sp graph, but found little to instruct me)....thanks.

W/e Ft says that LLOY are about to announce a 30% below expectations on profits due to their exposure to EIRE.

and no one but no one will believe their assertion that they have no knowledge of the pres of sudan transferring $9bn to uk a/cs at lloyds

monday looks like sell retailers and lloyds!

Correction to my previous post:
LLOY are set to announce a 50% profit fall based on market expectations due to a 4.3bn impairment charge and other charges from it's Eire book. So Y/E p/tax profits set to be approx 1.5bn instead of the expected c3.2bn.
Full article in the FT, but to summarise sentiment, "analysts were shocked at the speed at which conditions had worsened for LLOY, saying the pace of the deterioration was a surprise. Lloyds has effectively lost 1.2bn in the last month."

freefall to where? ..... almost certainly 60 or even 55, and just possibly, in due course, to challenge the all-time low of 40

only trouble is that it will not only take the other banks with it, but due to the weighting on FTSE, there will be an exaggerated fall there too, with an inevitable knock-on to general sentiment