nice starting point..

In accordance with the requirements of D.T.R. 3.1.2 Barratt Developments PLC
(the "Company") was notified on 10 December 2009 that, David Thomas, Group
Finance Director, acquired 25,000 ordinary shares (0.0026% of the Company's
issued share capital) in the Company at a price of GBP1.12 per share, in London,
on 10 December 2009.


Following the above purchase, David Thomas holds 96,000 ordinary shares of 10p
each in the Company representing 0.01% of the Company's issued share capital.

below is a comparative chart which is pretty much self-explanatory

blue = BDEV
red = TW.
green = PAG (mortgage provider)

i have actually gone for BDEV rather than TW. purely because sp is at an interesting chart point and because sp has arguably better upside potential.

i have also bought a few PAG on the basis that if houses start to sell, PAG will almost certainly benefit quite significantly

Trading Update

Highlights

Net private reservations per active site up 8.9% on prior year

First half completions in-line with expectations at 5,028

Total average selling prices increased by 4% to c. 167,000, largely driven by changes in mix

Total forward sales up 43% on prior year at 651.2m

Increased operating profitability in the first half

Better than expected net debt reduction to around 610m from 1,276.9m at 30 June 2009

Good entry point at 110p.

Oddly enough, I just might disagree with both of you. I'll stick a chart up over the weekend.

don't forget BDEV had a rights issue

A few thoughts for what it's worth:

In an uptrend since the low of 30p in Dec 08 (grey dotted line)
In a downtrend since the high of 193p in Nov 09 (red dotted/slash line)
Downtrend accelerating since Jan 14 2010 (red dotted/slash line)
MACD MAs making higher lows during the last 12 months, although still firmly in negative territory.
RSI bumping along 12 mongths lows, albeit in the shallowest of uptrends.
SP currently sitting on long term trendline support.
Horizontal SP support only 5p away.
50MA crossed below 200MA 10 Jan 2010.

So, what does all that lot indicate? If someone held a gun to my head I'd rather be short than long, but to be honest it's a really difficult call and I think there are much easier opportunities (either short or long) than messing around with BDEV.

ptholden - So what does all that indicate? Heard of Premium Bonds?

pth
i think you have summed it up very well. lets sit back and wait for those easier ones to materialise.they always do, eventually, as i am sure you know.
regards
jkd

CC

I think I was quite clear, from my perspective it's not worth investing in or trading at the moment. You go off and buy your Premium Bonds.

PS If you want investment advice, best you pay for it.

ptholden - Ok any other pearls of wisdom you would like to share, that are totally irrelevant and not worth investing in or trading at the moment?

CC - For your information, I was responding to comments made by Hyleo and Cynic re the merits of BDEV, ie, offering an opinion (FWIW) on a public financial BB (which is apparently the main purpose of such a forum).

Now if you don't agree or like what I post, the answers are quite simple; either squelch me or just fuck off, I don't really care which.

When you have something to offer, please let me know, I'll be all ears.

ptholden - Charming - Hyleo and Cynic must be feeling really grateful to hear your wonderful opinion (verbal shite) (FWIW) re the merits of BDEV.

CC - Are you for real? You take a critical pop, dripping with sarcasm (I'm not a stranger to such myself) elicit a negative response and then you're surprised?

Good grief, I wonder why I bother.

BTW, if you ever feel you can offer something useful or informative to this BB, don't be shy ;)

ptholden - I aplogise mate! Had one on me last night, didn't mean to take it out on you!

CC - Apology accepted, hope you have a better day today.

figures look good to me - which means shares will get dumped out of perversity!

I agree, numbers look ok - debt sl better than expected, order book and margins up slightly.... nothing new for the many shorters to jump on ?

More housebuilder results coming up, further "constructive" (!) comments confirming the slow turnaround should help.

NAV 210p, so unless more landbank -ve revals etc pretty cheap. Just the double dip to worry about then....

Just browsing at land prices and came across this prime plot of land in Grantham>
.
Size: 0.6 acre
Land Type: Residential Development
Planning Permission: Detailed Planning Permission
Description: This DPP is for 5 town houses over 2.5 floors in a conservation area in the town centre. The price includes an end terrace house with 6 double bedrooms. This is at the main entrance to the site.
Guide Price: 900,000
Now I have no further info about the Development but I would guess you would need to find a total of around 1.7-1.8ml to see the project throughand that is with good Merchants accounts.also a lot of pound notes sitting around from start to marketing and sell .plenty of work with time scales of completion from six months - ?.and marginscould be fu*k all
Now from a thickos point of view900,000 suggests that land is still not at a realistic price Barratts and other large house Builders with far larger projects have not written down their land banks sufficientlyI believe it was around billion BDEV last yearit is no coincidence that Builders Merchants are suffering big timewhich suggest to me a few more years of pain to large developers add to the fact they are continually finding it difficult to bankroll projects on any terms then end up virtually devalued on projected completion estimatesas opposed to the plus 10-20% increases they enjoyed in the past prompting sells at plan stage...I have not read their half year report and sector to swerve I fear!