Thought Id start this one going because its rather dead on this board at the moment and I suppose all my usual muckers are either at the Stella tennis event watching Dim Tim (lose again) or at Henly Regatta eating cucumber sandwiches (they wish,...NOT).

Anyway please feel free to just talk to yourself blast away and let it go on any company or subject you wish. Just wish Id thought of this one before.

cheers GF.

And why in 2010 the Nats got in.

Wee Eck promised free prescriptions and to freeze council tax for five years. (To date he has kept his promise.).

telegraph.co.uk

French bank warns: Stay away from these 20 stocks ahead of Scotland vote
Societe Generale has warned investors to avoid 18 UK companies and two French firms ahead of a vote on Scottish independence

by Peter Spence Sept. 15, 2014

Edinburgh is home to dozens of popular investment trusts - but most of their shareholders live in England.

A 'Yes' vote this Thursday “would trigger another phase of underperformance” in Scotland exposed stocks, said Roland Kaloyan, of Societe Generale Photo: AP
France’s second biggest bank has warned investors to stay away from UK equities ahead of the Scottish referendum, singling out 20 European stocks to avoid.

Societe Generale’s basket of Scotland-exposed stocks has already underperformed the FTSE 100 by 8pc in the year-to-date, suggesting that “a risk premium is already emerging”.

18 of the 20 companies identified are based in the UK, while two are French.

A 'Yes' vote this Thursday “would trigger another phase of underperformance”, said Roland Kaloyan, of Societe Generale, while “some companies could benefit from a weaker currency in the long run”.

The list includes a number of grocers and other retailers which see a considerable proportion of their sales come from Scotland, along with banks Lloyds and RBS, both of which have Scottish brands, and are incorporated north of the border.

“A Scottish exit would probably trigger a major political crisis with the shakeup of the UK’s political landscape”, said Mr Kaloyan.

Other companies that could lose out include property, media, oil, software, telecoms, and insurance firms.

Societe Generale identified 13 stocks that could benefit from a weaker pound, as analysts suggested that a Yes vote would see the value of sterling fall further.

The stocks in this basket have all shown a 90pc correlation with sterling’s strength against the dollar.

BAE Systems featured in both lists. The company does £1.7bn of sales in Scotland, and has 3,500 employees in the country, many of which work on naval shipbuilding at Rosyth.

20 stocks investors were warned to avoid:

BAE Systems

Lloyds Banking Group

Royal Bank of Scotland

Diageo

Pernod Ricard

J Sainsbury

Tesco

WM Morrison

Standard Life

British Sky

BG Group

Technip

Hammerson

Intu Properties

Marks & Spencer

Next

Sage Group

BT Group

Centrica

SSE

13 stocks that could benefit from a weaker pound:

BAE Systems

Barclays

HSBC

Standard Chartered

SABMiller

Smiths Group

Unilever

Reckitt Benckiser

Burberry Group

WPP

ARM Holdings

British American Tobacco

Experian

Max,

I blame Brown for encouraging the USA housing market an borrowing facilities to be profligate.

Europe to spend more than their earnings on bloody social projects.

For encouraging the UK "financial" industry for encouraging s.bs. for borrowing and chasing borrowing in order for themselves to get fatter and greedier.

I blame Brown for encouraging the public to think that money grew on trees and by swapping property around they were getting "richer".

I blame G Brown for encouraging greedy B---s to think they can get fatter and ignore social responsibility and when they get they fingers burnt to turn round and blame anybody and everybody else for their own stupidity.

I blame Brown for everybody else's mistakes.

Compared with the brilliant lot currently in power he is a right idiot, as you can see, by the UK debt going down and the present deficit.


Mind the bloke Farage is a bloody genius, he knows where the blame lies and who should be held responsible.

He would make a bloody good Dalek.

Can't remember their mantra.

=============


PS,

I do blame GB for endorsing and continuing PFI contracts and the concept bequested him by Maggie Thatcher brigade!

Exec,

Are the French concerned about Taxable profits and how legislation "MAY" change ?

So, let me get this right.

SocGen, who are domiciled in a country which is referred to as 'The sick man of Europe', owing to its abysmal GDP resulting from a bone idle workforce, have decided to downgrade a bunch of UK stocks based upon some unfounded fears?

Really?

France is such a lovely country, but it would be so much nicer without the French.

Without some of the French! They are still the best wine producers in the world and the quality of food they serve takes some beating. :-)

"Bone idle".

Is that the same as lying on one's back and earning a living?

Or, perhaps, sitting one one assets and screwing the market?

From a post on the other side.

Devo max is lunacy. Handing Salmond a blank cheque as well as the ability "to borrow" off England/Wales credit card is a crack pot idea of the first order.

Who came up with that one?

Oh yes Gordon Brown I see. Now there's a surprise

Actually, doods, I disagree with you about the frogs being the best wine producers in the world. Their wine is far too inconsistent in quality imo, something you don't get from many of the new world vineyards.

And the food? I've not meant a froggy chef yet who isn't up his own backside, and the standard of service in their restaurants is very often, err, non-existent. Gimme Italian food any day of the week, but, if you're a lover of steak, I suggest you get yourself down to Buenos Aires in time for dinner.

Scottish Independence Bank Run Already Underway - Video

Politics / Scotland
Sep 16, 2014 - 11:41 AM GMT


http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article47357.html

WINE
i confess i don't entirely agree with you hilary
at the top end, i don't think new world red burgundies come anywhere close to their french counterparts, nor do i think there is anything even akin to rhone white roussanne and marsanne, nor even viognier ..... for that matter, where else is there the equivalent of quality CNP or even cru beaujolais?


STEAK
give me well hung scottish grass-fed aberdeen angus entrecote with some decent marbling, or 2-4-bone forerib for roasting


FRENCH RESTAURANTS
it's certainly far easier to eat poorly than of yore, and as for french motorway stops, they've gone back 20 years to the bad old days in UK
but come with us on our cycling trips, or follow my (our) recommendations, and you'll eat very well without breaking the bank, and sometimes in some surprising places

Bad news for anyone wanting shot of the jocks.



Https://betting.betfair.com/politics/scottish-independence-referendum-betting/scottish-independence-betting-betfair-sportsbook-pays-out-early-on-no-160914-51.html

Simon Jack ‏@simonjacktoday
Betfair have paid out on a NO vote. Meanwhile Ladbrokes say they have taken 250k in last 24 hours - 70% of bets taken in Scotland on YES.

What do you reckon gf?

the markets nearly always get it right, and i have no reason to think otherwise this time

Whatever happens, Cameroon's finished!



David Cameron faces Tory 'bloodbath' over 'unfair' cash for Scotland

Tory backbenchers vow to block 'on the hoof' promise to sustain higher Scottish funding





By Matthew Holehouse, Political Correspondent

16 Sep 2014




David Cameron faces a “bloodbath” at the hands of Tory MPs after all three parties pledged to continue high levels of funding for Scotland if it rejects independence.


The Prime Minister is facing mounting dissent among English backbenchers after promising that Scotland’s special funding arrangements will continue even when the country is given control over its own taxation and spending.


One Tory MP said the promise to Scottish voters, issued by Mr Cameron, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg in the Daily Record newspaper, “smacks of desperation”.


Under the Barnett formula, devised in the 1970s by Labour Treasury minister Lord Barnett, spending is allocated according to population size, rather than the amount each country actually needs.


Critics say this gives Scotland an unfair share of government spending and even Lord Barnett has called for it to be replaced.



One female Tory MP said Mr Cameron’s promise, issued just two days before the polls open, was “desperate”.

“There will be a bloodbath. Last night as I was listening to Cameron saying we are going to be providing all these additional benefits to Scotland, when we are struggling in so many areas of the UK.




more : http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/scottish-independence/11098825/David-Cameron-faces-Tory-bloodbath-over-unfair-cash-for-Scotland.html

Hilary I think you must be going to some strange eating places in France! I'm fed up of eating ridiculously expensive poor quality food in this country. Bog standard pub grub is now silly prices, plus you can be surrounded by screaming kids whose parents cannot be arsed to keep them under control. Dining in France is totally different and I agree with cynic that you can find some real hidden gems where the locals produce some wonderful food which they take pride in presenting to their customers.

MaxK to close to call.

Im just down to 4 stocks now in my folio.

Has Cameron been watching Roxy Music with Jerry Hall (Clegg coming on with a wig).....?...looks like it....Miliband is looking more and more like Jack Nicholson in "The Shining" in the pictures I see of him !..
Can't beat France for food....I think a big problem for the French is that they have had it very good for decades now but there is now a lack of good job prospects over there and to put it bluntly : France is like one giant holiday camp....and they can't see it !....that's all very well for the well-off, but there are a lot of poor people in France that are really in desperate need of a job !...also the french are always shouting about Europe all the time...but they are the first to slam it.....the two things don't mix...