anyone got any ideas about the block trades that went through today?

website: http://www.sterlingenergyplc.com/



weather: www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at4+shtml/084938.shtml?50wind120

I'm still trying to get through that old bone the dog doesn't want.

MS

PS. Well said Ian

For what it is worth HNR I think has been the target of shorters too.

It has really struggled since Capitaine and Dorade1.

The Tiof news has sent it into reverse with no justification.

If people fall into the Shorters trap, then they, (The Shorters), stand to make a fortune.

All make your own minds up what to do, I am in long for at least Q1 2006 maybe for many more years on any profit, so I do not care if it is shorted out or not.

In the meantime, I will continue to research and post ALL relevant information good or bad, because I have a firm belief in this stock no matter what!

As nameh3 says we have all taken our eyes off the ball.

Over 2000 posts and nearly all recipes

Righty, I am going to peel some spuds, decided on steak pie and 3 veg with mash and a nice gravy.

Ever tried cranberry juice with lemonade half and half?

Delicious!

Aldi do the best lemeonade imho at 25p for 2 litres and it does not lose it's fizz!

Worth a trip.

Do we have a shorting campaign going on at the moment. I am trying to find the bottom in order to buy. Unless of course, someone can give a valid and concrete reason for the selling, in which case I won't!

pete from an earlier entry



Short sellers were on the prowl yesterday and dealers reported they were busy attacking two stocks in particular. The car dealer Pendragon was the worst affected, falling 8p to 267p, with those shorting the stock taking the view that all is not rosy at the group and that it is struggling amid tough trading conditions. Suggestions that business is not booming for car dealers was no surprise to those who follow the sector closely. They noted that back in September, HR Owen, a Pendragon rival, was forced to issue a profit warning.

It was less clear why shorters were targeting Sterling Energy, down 0.25p to 17.75p. The oil explorer has had a great run over the past year on hopes that its assets in Mauritania will eventually prove to be very profitable.
http://news.independent.co.uk/business/analysis_and_features/story.jsp?story=585739

Must say I rather like the ability to post the banners....... look nice don't they?

Ian, cheers for the comments. somehow i think a certain persons last post (2038) sums up her "value added" idea of posting.

SWW - i think the powers that be at moneyam would think this is the last thread things would get out of hand! it just takes one to rock the boat!

anyway as far as i am concerned it is back to newsflow, discussions and the frequent dinner recommendations.

SWW Thanks once again. I have these long term at 17.61 and have just been quoted 16.85 to buy. My finger is hovering on the button but I guess that when we do reach bottom there will be plenty of time to sense the moment. Also holding PCI, PRE and AFG. Thrills and spills stocks, all of them!

I refer back to this post:

StarFrog - 11 Nov'04 - 13:01 - 1621 of 2043 edit

I might be missing the point here but if SEY have had to issue new shares to raise the 97m (amounting to 41% of the new combined shares in issue) won't we then see a drop in the share price on the 19th to match this dilution of the market cap? Obviously I'm hoping not. But isn't this a fundamental matter?

Of course, if the sp does drop it will represent a new buying opportunity.

PS Hilary, I'm a muppet.

PPS I've always intended to be long, very long, on this one and am not at all bothered by todays drop. If shorties make some money of it, then good luck to them.

Well plenty of posts to catch up on here.

Ok,so we are down today and there seems to be some shorting or talk of shorting going around, big deal. Personally I couldn't care less if some are short. I guess the shorters feel they may make a quick buck, well that's up to them.

Me, I continue to look at where the company is going to be over the next few years, not where the sp will be in a few weeks or a month. I've taken a long term view of this and continue to do so. I'm in this until 2006 at least so short term sp movements don't really concern me.

So Hilary say's she is shorting this. Fair enough, that's her call. I'm not going to attack her for doing so, not my style.

Anyway, I hope this board will not descend into chaos because of talk of shorting.

Starfrog.

this is NOT a one for one rights issue where you would expect the price to halve when the issue size is doubled. This is a placement at almost the existing market price which implies that those who purchase in the placement are paying the same as a current holders shares are worth (or there abouts).

In a rights issue, if you chose not to take up your rights and didn't sell your nil paids then (in a 1:1) the share price would indeed halve on the dilution of new stock.

i know i am repeating myself but really want the point to be understood!

proptrade - thanks for that, you've explained that nicely. However, and I'm sure that I'm still wrong here (hoping!), the placing was to raise money to give to the Mauritanian government to secure the licensing deal. Therefore, the money raised is not in the company's coffers, per se. But, the number of shares in circulation has nearly doubled. Since the market cap of the company hasn't changed but the shares in issue have, surely the notional asset value (or SP) decreases?

I'm not saying this to be awkward or contrarian, but when proptrade says in 2048 that "the share price would indeed halve on the dilution of new stock", that is not strictly true. It discounts the money which would have been raised through the rights issue and the effect of that money on the balance sheet.

For instance, if you've got a company which has a BS nav of 100m and is capitalised on the market at 200m (ie twice nav) which carries out a 1 for 1 rights to raise a further 100m, then the share price will likely stay at or around the same level post-rights. This is because the nav of the company will have doubled, as will the number of shares in issue. Each share should therefore be worth the same amount. If however, the same company were to only raise 50m through the same 1 for 1 rights issue, then the new nav would be 1.5 times the original value but there would be 2 times as many shares in issue. It would then not be unreasonable for the shares to trade at a 25% discount because of the dilution. There are other factors such as the extent to which the rights have been taken up and the fundamental reason for the issue which will also affect supply and demand and therefore the price.

Hope that helps.

Now that's more like it H.

MS

StarFrog,

The money from the placing does come into the company's coffers. It will initially come in as cash and increase the nav of the balance sheet. Once it goes to the Mauritanian Govt, it will go from cash into an intangible asset and be amortised.

Hilary - thanks. But are intangible assets costed in the same sense that a quid in the bank would be when determining the value of a company?

Hils

very well put but surely the argument for longer than the short term is whether the earnings gained from this deal are worth more than paid for and hence a profitable, earnings enhamcing deal or whether sterling have effectively overpaid and then the deal will dilute the relative earnings. Only timw will tell on this front but i am comfortable that this deal will be earnings enhancing in the medium to long term and hence continue to hold.

Are we still ranting ,,steve are you in on sey i cant remember if you are or not .

No we've all calmed down now. Business as usual.

MS

DD

read my posts - yes i am holding long term

good luck for tonight

Cheers,2 many posts ,,so little time,,,,do you need a monitor 17",,back after the match,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,





come on the reds ,,away win.