I suspect trading tomorrow will probably answer this conundrum, but I know there are some far wiser owls than me that contribute to this bb & I would be interested in their opinions.

My question is this: the chart below looks to me like a pullback of the uptrend (ie when it went north through 14.00) however I am unsure as it has now broken down through 14.00 whether this is trending up or down :-(

So what do you think - up or down, or should I just flip a coin :-)) ?

I am hoping that any bad news is already in the price!

StockMarketWire.com
Man Group reported statutory pretax profit on continuing operations for the half-year to end-September of $154m compared to the pre-close estimate of $145m.

The hedge fund manager said adjusted PBT was $195m compared to the pre-close estimate of $185m after additional performance fees at period end.

Funds under management (FUM) at end-September were of $64.5bn, down from $69.1bn at end-March, reflecting inflows of $1bn, investment movement of -$2.5bn, FX translation effects of -$1.4bn and other movements of -$1.7bn.

FUM at end-October was around $63.5bn, with redemptions lower than in September. Further guaranteed product de-gear was $0.8bn on 1st November 2011.

Interim dividend maintained at 9.5 cents per share; final dividend for the three months to 31st December expected to be 7.0 cents per share, to give a maintained pro-rated dividend for the nine month period.

There will be an additional capital return by way of a share repurchase of up to $150m by calendar year end.

Peter Clarke, CEO, said: "The last six months began with record sales, but ended with a spike in redemptions as extreme volatility severely tested investor risk appetite in the late summer. Since period end we saw reduced redemptions in October, and we ended the month with around $63.5 billion under management.

"Liquid, diversifying returns are at the core of our offer to investors, and our broad range of alternative investment strategies produced overall outperformance in tough trading conditions.

"We remain focused on investment performance and profitable asset growth worldwide, but also on operational efficiency. Actions taken so far this year have secured $40 million of savings for 2012 from our debt repurchase and outsourcing initiatives. We are planning on the basis that investor appetite will remain subdued whilst markets remain volatile and uncertain, but are well positioned to capture demand when sentiment improves and investors return to markets."

Arbuthnot securities have a 192p target.

any sign of accelerating redemptions will determine the sp direction.

HSBC comment:
"Man Group reported a decent set of interims last week: The key positives were the share buyback programme of USD150m and outflows slowing in October. Buybacks should also underpin the dividend yield of c10%. The key negative was a decline in margins in openended AHL products, although that partly related to an increased proportion of institutional clients and partly to lower margins on the USD2.5bn Nomura AHL fund.
Valuation: We have increased our FY11 EPS by 2.0% to reflect higher performance fees and cut our FY12 EPS estimate by 2.0% to account for lower AuM. Our target price is unchanged at 200p and we maintain our Overweight rating. On P&L earnings, the shares are trading at a PE of 10x FY12e, in line with the sector. However, on its FY12e cash earnings, the stock is trading at 7x. Adjusting for 21p of cash on the balance sheet, the shares are trading at a PE of 6x FY12e cash earnings. The shares also offer a dividend yield of c10%. Key risks include negative performances by AHL and GLG funds and increased redemptions.

Man Group plc announces that on 9th November 2011 it purchased for cancellation 2,900,000 of its ordinary shares at an average price of 143.2257p pence per ordinary share.

Following this cancellation the total number of ordinary shares in issue will be 1,872,425,131. The Company does not hold any shares in Treasury.

Your point, mitzy???

Low of the year I believe ..?

Ah, I thought you were going to describe a unique chart pattern which pointed to future performance! ;o)

Yep 130.40 12 month low.

maybe a kamikazi ski run..?

There are far better about :-)

lol.

130p low.

I notice that EMG has been, as informed, gradually executing it's buy-back program of shares, so at some point, when the markets pick up, these should see a pretty healthy bounce.
On a slightly different topic, there is a lengthy article in this week's Shares Mag about AHL fund and algorithmic trading, which puts our PI trading of equities + spread betting & CFD trading into a very basic category. I wonder if EMG is really a suitable stock to be traded by us mortals as the AHL way of trading is light years ahead of anything we can get to grips with.

10 day chart fall of 25p.

will fall to 70p imo.

Deutche Bank downgrade to Sell.

"Man Group plc announces that on 19 December 2011 it purchased for cancellation 2,315,000 of its ordinary shares at an average price of 124.5946 pence per ordinary share."

This has been going on for quite a few weeks now, so at some point the brokers will have to review their figures and maybe change their stance.

I think they should have waited a while longer Harry.

Difficult to judge.