any comments, thoughts, on this stock.

Thought it was 23.3bln as at this time last week so more like 23.5bln now. Add this to the enevitable break up or restructuring in March when European law kicks in I'm not surprised rescue proposals will only offer to pay a portion of the loan. Offers already discussed suggest rescuers only want a percentage of the Rock which against the European law requirement for restructuring suggests the Rock will be broken up sooner or later... With the cold weather I think the banking secor will be filming this one as its own version of Titanic!!....

have checked with IG and it is indeed now effectively impossible to short NRK ..... this means that no one is prepared to lend the stock, so it really does make one wonder what these various fund managers are doing buying the stock, unless it is some sort of exotic hedge against short positions they already hold

from advfn................

8 bids coming in tomorrow will send the price rocketing, almost feel sorry for the shorters!!! (not really)



Northern Rock is expecting to receive as many as eight proposals for buying all or some of the stricken bank.

Northern Rock and its advisers Blackstone, Citigroup and Merrill Lynch have set today as the deadline for indicative proposals.

Darling comments fuel Rock row - Nov-14Publish the bid details, says RAB - Nov-14Lombard: Rock could dent UK state aid halo - Nov-14State aid faces European scrutiny - Nov-14Northern Rock faces years of debt - Nov-13Treasury aid seen through rose-tinted spectacles - Nov-13JC Flowers, Virgin Group and Cerberus are expected to put in proposals to buy the whole bank.

Some proposals are only for parts of the business rather than the whole bank, and although the official deadline is today, late proposals could still trickle in over the weekend.

It is understood that one or two banks from continental Europe and Asia are also looking at putting in proposals.

Northern Rock may issue a statement detailing where it is in the auction process as early as next week. The sales memorandum used to sell the company suggests that even if Northern Rock were to be bought outright, the Bank of England may have to provide it with 6bn of support until 2010.

Some bidders are thought to have lodged low bids and are expecting the UK government to provide Northern Rock with some form of support after any takeover. The memorandum not only sets out a possible sale of the whole bank, but outlines two other options splitting it up or selling off basic infrastructure such as branches and leaving some assets and liabilities behind for an orderly run-off.

However, it is thought that one or two of the bidders have come along with bank backers which are prepared to refund the Bank of England over a period of time if, for example, the government were to keep in place its guarantees for retail savers.

Such a proposal would be far more palatable to the government and the company than any bidder relying on sustained Bank of England support.

The idea is that this reverts to the private sector as quickly as possible, said a person familiar with the situation.

It is thought that Northern Rock has no plans to suspend its shares in spite of the huge volatility in the price, because it would add to the crisis mentality that continues to surround the company.

Alistair Darling, the UK finance minister, will next week make it clear that he has no prejudice against a private equity bid, insisting that his principal concern is protecting the taxpayer in any deal.

Mr Darling knows that a private equity sale could be politically awkward, particularly if it is underwritten as expected by taxpayer-backed loans and then subsequently sold on by fat cat bosses at a big profit.

Trust me, fatgreek, NRK will sink like the Titanic soon. SELL out.

RAB. What are they up to ? .

I reckon they had a very big punt and it looks like it's going wrong.

Whoever is putting them stories in the weekend press is another question but that's all part of the game I suppose. Must be some serious Swiss bank accounts on the go the last few years.

cynic.. yep ... ig..index and markets or..if you like... s/bet and cfd unborrowable. Also City Index unborrowable. Cantor and Spreadex still accepting shorts but this could change quickly.

I can't work out why it's not suspended because in my view it's kaput but you have to go back to the first Parliament Commitee meeting. Everyone was 'on holiday' and none of the plonkers had taken the time to read the accounts.

Anyway...a bigger picture thing. Who else.. Well I reckon it's worth looking at companies who will in time get hammered from the fall out.

mc.

Almost certain to be very little/nothing for existing shareholders.

No surprise there then BD.

market underwhelmed by these 6/8 bids! ...... perhaps it's maestro on advfn redkoning sp would rocket this morning, for i see sp has slipped again!

Maestro is full of shite...doesn't have any clue at all.

i am surprised he has any money too!

I have just had a look at the KYS thread on the rival site, a mention by E K on RAB and NRK, I think Simon has a 8 % holding one way or another in KYS.



Gentlemen,

See what I mean? RAB are completely useless. They have gone and written off circa 50m on Northern Rock and now need to raise a paltry 150,000 or so to try and make things up cashwise. How the reputation of RAB was ever allowed to get so inflated I shall never know.

Simon Cawkwell

Perhaps evil is right but don't forget politicians are never wrong! Or are they?

Adam Applegarth has finally swallowed his pride and has stepped down from his throne of crisis which he built.

several pages in Sunday Times devoted to NRK debacle ..... with some amusement you may read about two hedge funds (RAB and SRM) squawking about the damage to shareholders if NRK is sold off .... what they really mean of course, is that the pair of them have been pouring millions into buying the stock as it fell, and are now likely to take a total pasting!

ST reports that all the bids now on the table value NRK at significantly below Friday's close, with Abbey's partial purchase being the only one that just might, several years down the line, put some value back into the company/shares ...... but why would one want to keep holding the shares in vague hope in the meantime?


just for reference, an extractedcomment re Abbey was ......

"Luqman's backers intend buying between 10% and 20% of the company at a price similar to where the shares now stand. This is believed to be much in excess of the price offered by rival bids."

cynic
Cheers I missed the 115p to 285p i will keep watching.

Great news...this will cause a slide in NRK tomorrow.

DOUBT IT..APPARENTLY 400P BID ON THE LINE

you mean i should care? .... i have guaranteed stops, so would be out with a profit even in the less than unlikely event that one of your crap stories comes true.

when do you expect to bank your multi-bag profit in EEL?

possibly tomoro on peak news tonight

Interesting.... where would a bid of 5 billion stg let alone 6 put the share price?

or have i got my sums wrong?

all depends on the change of BOE loan status to ' restructuring ' i surmise