today's figures could not be described as exciting, yet the shares are now +20 at 650 after a low of 615 ..... back in april, aviva made an approach but terms could not be agreed ..... under SE rules, that meant no new approach could be made for 6 months (i assume that only applied to aviva) ...... for all that, if PRU's sp continues to thrive, why question?

Yes interesting comments cyners.

Dont forget we have results this week aswell so we might have a run up to them.

have now taken a fairly modest stake ..... reckon it's a safer bet than PCI!

a few minutes later ....
and already very nicely in the money .... thanks digit!

Yep up nearlly 7% not bad for the kick off to the week.

Loads err money cyners, up nearlly 10%.

"you know it makes sense"

just banked a useful profit ..... figures were terrific, but shall not be on line again until late afternoon, so took the PRUdent line (groan!!)

this is silly ..... bravely bought back half of yesterday's quantity at a considerably higher price and currently show almost double the profit!

have PRUdently banked a thoroughly undeserved and very tasty profit at 342 ..... all market is feeling frothy and just soooooooo easy to get greedy

time to dig this one out again! ...... scrip issue announced today, so that will play havoc with the charts in due course ..... in the meantime, sp is (at last) challenging 200 dma, so with financial stocks now coming in from the frozen wasteland, this is well worth watching

decent chart on post 10

as always, broker's tips an invaluable aid in boosting sp!!!

HSBC raises Prudential Plc target price to 500P from 350P

quite a nice looking chart too

larger scale chart showing support - one hopes - at recent high

1/2 year results due on thursday, so either just some profit-taking today, or someone knows more than we do .... both are distinct possibilities

well done cynic .... good call that one!
sp now toying with this minor resistance, but decided to cash in my very tasty profit (514) but shall continue to watch with a view to re-buying at some point

PRUDENTIAL PLC TO SEEK LISTING ON THE HONG KONG STOCK EXCHANGE
UPDATE ON COMBINATION WITH AIA



Further to the announcement on 1 March 2010, in relation to the combination of Prudential plc ("Prudential") and AIA Group Limited ("AIA"), Prudential today is pleased to announce that it is able to accelerate its plans for seeking a listing of its ordinary shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Prudential has made an application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange for the listing of, and permission to deal in, its shares and it is now aiming to have the listing effective prior to launch of the rights issue announced on 1 March 2010.

Prudential puts its case for AIA takeover

Prudential will launch a charm offensive this week in an attempt to quell the nerves of its leading investors about its $35.5 billion agreed bid to buy AIA in Asia and pay for it with a $21 billion rights issue.

might be an interesting one to short if sp hits 200 dma at about 540, not least because the markets are starting to look a bit toppy to me

cynic - you may well be right - I'm long from 502 with stop in place and in profit.

Broker note from Merrill Lynch:
"We summarise our thinking on the Prudential/AIA deal having digested the detail
and engaged in many conversations with investors. It has become apparent, in
our view, that shareholder approval of the deal should not be seen as a given.We
think the prospects of gaining 75% approval are finely balanced. In terms of the
share price, we see three main scenarios from here and set out our thinking on
how investors should position for these:
* The shares come under sustained pressure. The shares look vulnerable
down to the c450p level at which point the chances of the deal breaking and
a snap back to c600p pre-deal becomes high enough to discourage selling
*The shares become range bound until the rights issue period. This is
a more likely scenario, in our view. Our analysis of past rights issue patterns
suggests it is possible the shares come under most pressure in the early
days of the ex-rights period before recovering in the latter part of this period.
*The shares recoup initial losses and rally into the deal. In this case the
deal starts to look less dilutive and the chances of a successful vote increase.
Win / win from here; retain Buy
From current levels, we see something of a win/win situation over a 12 month
view. The shares either go up; or the shares go down giving a more attractive
entry point for the bounce that we believe will happen if a) the deal is abandoned
or voted down; or b) the deal goes ahead and a re-rating occurs over the
subsequent months. This is predicated on our view that the combined entity is
undervalued at less than 12x EPS; and that Prudential is even more attractive on
a stand alone basis at less than 10x EPS. Reiterate Buy rating; PO 750p."

.

Just closed @548 +46