why on earth has this exciting pharma company been ignored her for the last 3.5 years? ...... lots has happened in that time, generally for the better on the longer view ..... from a purely chart point of view, the 200 mda is rising quite steadily, with sp recovering well after a sharp fall, and now, after a brief tease below, is therefore probably worth buying on that basis alone.

From memory, Shares mag was also quite excited about this stock a week or two back, even though that medium has supported some classic stinkers in its time

typical reaction to first class figures = selling on the news ..... i shall top up ....
please see edited (for those seemingly incapable of such, please learn!) comment from the chairman


"2008 saw excellent growth across the business. 2009 will see continued
momentum in our business as we drive growth in existing products, pursue
launches of new products and continue to develop our strong pipeline of drugs.
We reiterate the earnings guidance framework for 2009 published in our third
quarter earnings statement, and our aspiration of growing sales in the mid
teens range on average between 2009 and 2015. We look forward confidently to
the future."

"i shall top up" aka as I'd best average down!! Cynic the expert strikes again. Give us that list for some short ideas, cheers.

certainly seem to have called SHP wrong for the moment, but it's a seriously sound and solid company so shall prob stay with it ..... short suggestions? .... WOS, WPP and maybe ASC

SHp seriously sound and solid??? Nice waste of a big wad of cash on Renovo I do recall.

call it what you like .... you are fully entitled to your own opinion .... surprised you haven't shorted

kate ... you're turn to admit you're wrong!! - lol

today's announcement of collaboration with GSK is not only interesting in its own right, but just may be the start of the long slow dance towards ultimate merger ..... henc +40p at opening

Express says, "Shire said to be possible bid target" ...... might be true one day!

probably something of nothing, but SHP up 41p today, and just as interestingly, volume is already 3.75m+ vs an average of only 550k

volume finished at just over 5m

Results are due soon, which pressumably are expected to be good. Was considering an investment myself as a semi defensive play (being a pharma), which might also explain the rise, given the FTSE's performance of the last few weeks (e.g. maybe a turn in the wider market is being anticipated).

Just a thought....

Strawbs.

aren't you a bit late to be talking about "maybe a turn in the wider market is being anticipated"???!!!

to my mind, if it follows through, it is the massive volume linked to a strong sp performance which just may mean something more meaningful afoot than simple "semi-defensive plays" and anticipation of results

It appears to have rallied 11% a few weeks before results last year, on volume of about 6M, but maybe that's just a coincidence.....

Strawbs.

is that 6m over several weeks, or just in a day?

confess that am perhaps a bit too attached to this company, for i always feel sp should be performing much better than it does ..... one day it will be taken over, but maybe after i am dead!

Two days of around 6M back to back, if I'm reading the charts correctly. It rallied significantly more after the results of course, so plenty of upside potential if they match or exceed expectations. Not that anything can be taken as read in these markets though....

In my opinion...

Strawbs.

Last year.....

Strawbs.

looking back at the charts on page 1, i would very much like to see 200 dma firmly breached (about 880), for then there may be some sustained sp excitement

If they rally by as much as last year then it has to be a distinct possibility. I'll keep watching and may take the plunge if I can see a good entry point before results are out. If not I'll wait until after the results and then reappraise...

Still not convinced by the wider markets direction, but probably about time I stopped being lazy and looked for some good (semi defensive) plays....

Strawbs.

you have been saying the same since the bottom of the market 2(?) months ago, and no doubt you'll say the same as and when the market goes up another 1000 points or whatever.

markets by their nature are volatile, sometimes more so than others.
if you want to be safe, put your money in a building society

I still don't believe we're at the bottom yet, so I guess you'll have to put up with my opinion for another 1000 points (up or down)...... ;-)

Strawbs.

in that case, put money with mouth and go short