Bought some @ 65.99p

Has been touching 66p support for some time.

After the early marked down is now at best of the day 66.49p

Why it's time to buy Lloyds Bank, Shell and Vodafone - By David Brenchley | Wed, 12th July 2017 - 13:00

With such an increasingly uncertain macro backdrop - rising inflation, stagnant wages, political uncertainty and Brexit - the UK market has fallen out of favour with asset allocators at the big investment management firms.

The UK has been dismissed as a basket case and, true, recent data has hardly impressed. Corporate earnings momentum has also just turned negative for the first time in a year, as benefits of a weak pound and higher oil prices fade. We're now seeing more downgrades than upgrades.

"The relative risks do not appear to be fully priced in," argue strategists at broker UBS.

Elsewhere, with US markets expensive and earnings forecasts overly optimistic, investors are being nudged toward Europe and emerging markets.

But, while DIY investors should diversify through exposure to overseas markets via investment funds and trusts, a home bias is understandable, as UK stock markets are easily accessible.

The good news, then, is that plenty of UK-focused fund managers still see pockets of value. And, in a note to clients this week, UBS trumpeted that it has 94 'buy' ratings on the 213 UK companies it covers. Take that with a pinch of salt, of course, but it suggests selective stockpicking can still pay off.

According to UBS analysts, the FTSE 100's (UKX) 12-month forward price/earnings (PE) ratio is roughly in line with its long-run average - 14.2 times versus 14.7 - and trades at a modest 4% discount relative to history compared to Europe. "It's a similar story on the dividend yield and price/book value measures," they add.

"Whilst we see the bulk of sterling weakness as behind us, given the sharp deterioration in the domestic economy, we would have a preference for international exposure."

The broker's top FTSE 100 picks list is headlined by a couple of heavyweights, although they're at opposite ends of the scale regarding their level of domestic exposure.

Five most favoured stocks

The expected slowdown in the UK economy should not put investors off backing popular high-street lender Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY), says analyst Jason Napier. "In four of the last five UK recessions it paid to buy banks early."

He reckons Lloyds is "well positioned for a downturn", due in part to good capital levels, good forecast capital generation, its defensive loan portfolio and high levels of liquidity.

"Lloyds targets 200 basis points of capital generation in 2017, worth 6p of potential payout power. Compounded by the completion of the government sell-down, we believe Lloyds offers strong income returns."

Forecast earnings per share (EPS) and dividends per share (DPS) of 7.4p and 5.5p respectively put the stock on a forward PE of 8.8 times and yielding over 8%. At a discount to the European bank average, a re-rating is expected, so UBS tips Lloyds up to 85p, implying 30% upside.

67.15p +1.10p

gone over 67p not seeing for some time
you can not trust MAM chart spikes for sure

..

141 mill buys against 35 mill sells and still sp is in the negative area!

You need to be an optimist to believe the volumes.

you have to learn that "AT" on the order book ( offer side) are sells instead of buys

and then maibe you will be less pessimistic

68.84p +0.76p

breaking up from the recent intraday high 68p

..

It will pick up in expectation of the interims next week.

Banks could be preparing to take a further hit of £500 million to compensate victims of mis-sold payment protection insurance because claims have spiked since customers were given a deadline to complain. Lloyds could add about £200 million to its PPI bill when it reports its half-year results this week, taking its total cost from it to nearly £18 billion, according to analysts at UBS. Lloyds added an extra £350 million to its bill in March.

When this PPI business kicked off, Lloyds were approving payment on the nod. Then they decided to contest claims and middle son, a lawyer and CA, was hired along with a lot of others to review them. He now does the same for HSBC.
What gets me and to my mind is typical of rip-off Britain, is why the government didn't say "you sold some people unnecessary insurance, now contact them asap and compensate". It would have been the transparent and decent thing to do.
Instead we have a never ending situation of PPI shysters cold calling people and lawyers being paid to fend them off.

"you sold some people unnecessary insurance, now contact them asap and compensate".....I think it's partly because the banks have proven that they can't be trusted to get it right, so regulators have stepped in and forced them to take a hit.

My point is that the regulators could have insisted that the banks contact their customers direct, not wait for a PPI claim. It wouldn't have stopped the shysters bottom fishing for those of no fixed abode but it would have been the decent thing to do in the majority of cases. The most vulnerable to that type of sales tactic were the unsophisticated and cash strapped.

HALF-YEAR REPORT

Strong financial performance with improvements in underlying and statutory profit
· Underlying profit of £4.5 billion, up 8 per cent; underlying return on tangible equity of 16.6 per cent
· Total income 4 per cent higher at £9.3 billion
- Net interest income of £5.9 billion, up 2 per cent with improved margin of 2.82 per cent
- Other income 8 per cent higher at £3.3 billion
· Operating costs 1 per cent lower at £4.0 billion. Market-leading cost:income ratio improved to 45.8 per cent
· Asset quality remains strong with impairment charge of £268 million, asset quality ratio stable at 12 basis points
· Loans and advances increased to £453 billion, including the benefit of the acquisition of MBNA
· Statutory profit before tax 4 per cent higher at £2.5 billion, despite an additional £1 billion of conduct charges in the second quarter, primarily in respect of PPI
· Strong capital generation of c.100 basis points reflecting strong underlying performance with common equity tier 1 (CET1) ratio of 14.0 per cent (13.5 per cent post dividend); leverage ratio of 4.9 per cent
· Tangible net assets per share of 52.4 pence (31 Dec 2016: 54.8 pence) after payment of 2016 final dividend of 2.2 pence per share and a 1.4 pence per share reduction from the acquisition of MBNA

2017 guidance for NIM and AQR updated, with all other guidance reaffirmed
· Net interest margin for the full year now expected to be close to 2.85 per cent, including MBNA
· Asset quality ratio for the full year now expected to be less than 20 basis points, including MBNA
· Continue to expect 2017 capital generation at the top end of the 170-200 basis points ongoing guidance range
· All other longer term guidance remains unchanged

Increased interim dividend
· Interim ordinary dividend of 1.0 pence per share, up 18 per cent, in line with our progressive and sustainable approach to ordinary dividends.

more .....

All in all a decent 1st half

SP is still lower than in May 2017 ---- perhaps those PPI advertisements on the car-radio are to blame . . . I hold from both earlier (Higher) and Post-Crash times . . . Now, I might be in profit on this one.

Still just in the channel.

Deutsche Bank Buy 67.27 79.00 79.00 Reiterates

Barclays Capital Overweight 67.27 - - Reiterates

What Lloyds Bank needs to hit 76p