any comments, thoughts, on this stock.

hlyeo, if you have to ask other posters what advice to take on a stock, perhaps you should consider not taking any positions at all, especially short ones on margin!

i have not shorted further, but still may do

Seems that the price is far from dropping - up 28% today

Peter .... sp has been an awful olot higher this morning .... think i saw it as high as 140 earlier, and could certainly have dealt in high 120s

with all the rumours, counter rumours and even facts, NRK is gonna be a volatile jobbie, mind you can't help but agree that it has to be a short, but no position for me

I'm not asking you, pth, you can keep your tiny grey matter to yourself.

you might not be asking me, but i'm telling you, stay away from the leveraged products until you at least have a tiny idea what you are doing :)

come on children ..... bad golf this w/e Peter (lol)? .... confess to being very cheesed yesterday in a 4-ball knockout .... we were 3 down with 4 to play and pulled it back to flat by 18th .... looked as though we should have that tied up too, but they made a miraculous recovery from what looked to be dead and i 3-putted! .... we lost on 19th (my fault again)

Just got home Richard so haven't played yet, probably Wednesday, will also give you a call soon re sorting out a round.

Anyway I've been short from 165p. I don't think it will reach that level anymore imo.

would concur with that, and i guess would let it run though you may want to top-slice to lock in some profits ...... am still pondering

Watching from the sidelines and feeling sicksick doing so. Surely with a 25p rights issue on the horizon from the preferred bidder this is bound to plunge soon. ? Has this price surge been induced by the vain hope that some white knight other than Branson is going to come forth ?

annie ... if on sidelines, why sick?

Cynic: You must have a stronger constitution than me if the gyrations in
this one is not making you feel "green about the gills !"

while i have no position, i can look on rather as i would a football match

OK so Virgin have put some of their cards on the table but what about the rumoured Flowers or others which now will feel under pressure to also show some cards. Hard to call long or short, didn't expect the jump this morning but can't help thinking if this happens again following others plans the sp could well go higher..!!

i rather suspect that Virgin have been given some kind of exclusivity for a limited period - say 2/3 months

i have an itchy finger to short, but have so managed to restrain myself as sp very slowly inches north - at least for the moment

RAB have backed this takeover and i believe the market sees longterm value. This means if you have a horizon longer than 3 years you could make good money

BROKERWATCH Northern Rock upped to 'hold' from 'sell' by Shore Capital




LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Shore Capital has upgraded its stance for
Northern Rock PLC to 'hold' from 'sell' following today's news that the troubled
UK mortgage lender is to take forward takeover discussions with the Virgin Money
consortium.
In a comment published today, Shore Capital said that further takeover
details provided today provide a useful benchmark against the other remaining
bid proposals for the UK group.
The broker said while there is uncertainty regarding shareholder approval,
it would expect the Virgin Money consortium's proposal to proceed in the absence
of a viable alternate offer.
As such, the proposal allows it to estimate a potential floor to Northern
Rock's share price, although with continued uncertainty over the bank's future
earnings, the focus is weighted towards its net asset value (NAV).
Assuming the transaction proceeds, the broker said it estimates Northern
Rock's post-completion NAV per share to be around 55 pence.
Shore Capital pointed out that due to the highly dilutive and discounted
nature of the proposal, bullish investors may see an opportunity to invest now
and gain access to the rights issue.
The broker added that at current share price levels, an investment of around
110 pence provides an opportunity to buy around 6 additional shares at 25 pence
each effectively 37 pence a share.
Shore Capital said, therefore, if an investor believes Northern Rock's share
price will trade at close to its NAV post-transaction, there is potential for
substantial upside.
Following this morning's announcement, the broker said it believe there is
greater clarity over the long-term future of the company.
Shore Capital concluded that, as such, supported by its post-completion NAV,
it now considers there to be limited further downside on an ex-rights issue
basis for Northern Rock shares, hence its upgrade to 'hold'.
At 2.21 pm, Northern Rock shares were trading 27.8 pence higher at 114.9.