For some reason Argentina has emerged in recent months as a possible investment arena. It is the eighth biggest country in the world and has massive resources both pastoral and mining-derived. But, most important of all, the new president Xavier Milei is compelling his fellow countrymen to grow up and be common sensical. And just to rub it in he refuses to run a deficit on his budget since he knows perfectly well that if he does so Argentina slides back to its old ways. Most are unaware that Argentina has defaulted on its government’s debt about eight times since 1820. As a result it takes a r ..read more

1Spatial (LON:SPA) – Really Gaining Awareness The recent £316m bid by the US-based Private Equity group Kohlberg Kravis Roberts for geospatial software peer group IQGeo (LON:IQG) has certainly highlighted the attractions of what Claire Milverton’s £82m capitalised business has to offer. Still early days in the development and exponential growth of 1Spatial, its shares which hit 77p last Friday achieving my latest Target Price in just 21 trading days, closed last night at a still appealing 74p. (Profile 12.05.21 @ 41.5p set a Target Price of 52.5p*) (Profile 22.04.24 @ 58.5p set a Target Price ..read more

Last week was a difficult one for Chrysalis Investments (LON: CHRY), whose shares were marked sharply lower when it became clear that its second largest holding was in trouble. The private equity trust provides exposure to a concentrated portfolio of unlisted stocks, so it is potentially very vulnerable to bad news flow. It is the German insurtech platform Wefox that is the problem, with the new chair and CEO Mark Hartigan announcing that the company could face insolvency within months, unless it is able to secure the sale of some of its loss-making operations. The business accounts for around ..read more

I do not wish to bore readers catatonic by reciting my life under the NHS but in the light of last week ‘s revelations I should add that after the ambulance men had been sent away empty-handed on Friday it transpired that the appointment at Chelsea and Westminster which they very reasonably thought they were fulfilling was in fact cancelled four weeks ago by Chelsea and Westminster itself. I know this since that august institution had sent me a letter precisely to that effect four weeks ago. I presume this utterly shambolic approach to everything is not confined to merely myself. Further, the ..read more

On Tuesday of last week Kier Group (LON:KIE), the leading UK infrastructure services, construction and property group, hosted a site visit to HMP Millsike for analysts and institutional investors. Over the last few years, the group has been undergoing a major restructuring, through significantly reducing its staffing levels and selling off its public and private housebuilding operation. Today the Salford Quays-based group is a strategic supplier to the UK Government with key strengths in the education, healthcare, custodial, transport and defence sectors, it is therefore well placed to benefit ..read more

Things go from bad to worse as far as my life with the NHS goes. Earlier this week I reported the mishandling for the second time this month of my visit to a dermatologist at nearby hospitals (St Mary’s and Hammersmith). One would have thought that that would be enough for one month but, blow me down, Chelsea and Westminster’s ambulance service rocked up this morning whilst I was still asleep seeking to take me to an opthalmology appointment of which I was wholly unaware. The chap in charge of this expedition is OK since I was able some months ago to write in his support in the misuse of ambul ..read more

Last month we learnt from Volkswagen that sales of their electric cars in Europe plunged by 24 percent in the first quarter of this year. It seems that demand for battery-powered vehicles has stalled, and buyers of new vehicles still prefer petrol-powered cars. Globally, all-electric sales at the German automotive giant, which as well as VW owns the Audi, Skoda and Porsche brands, fell by three percent to 136,400. At the same time, sales of internal combustion engine-powered cars climbed by four percent to nearly two million. Mercedes has also reported a fall in EV sales. Sales of battery elec ..read more

Currys (LON:CURY) – Now Looking Even More Attractive To Global Bidders On Tuesday of this week this £800m capitalised technology products and services group issued a Trading Update for the year to 27th April. It was very positive and helped to give a quick fillip to the company’s shares, boosting them from the recent 62p level up to 72.60p before easing back fractionally to close at 70.25p last night. The Update was better than expected, leading to a guidance of pre-tax profits being upped from at least £105m to £115m to £120m for the last year, which would be worth around 7.9p per share in ea ..read more

The Czech is not in the post. For he has instead posted the cheque by bidding 370p cash for IDS. The shares are 320p offer as I type. But that looks to me to be a mistake in that a bid like this has surely been cleared by all interested parties to stand any chance of being made. That includes HMG and the CWU. Therefore I believe that it is correct to buy without reserve at this point. The post Urgent Interim Advice appeared first on Master Investor ..read more

I suppose Wes Streeting, Labour’s putative health minister, believes the twaddle he spouts. For instance his comments on taxation are so wide of the mark that his poses are simply a proof of his stupidity. But what this means by way of health under his stewardship I do not know. Certainly I was personally looked after marvellously some five years ago when I was diagnosed with cancer and, through my neuropathy – also caused by my diabetes, was a guest of Chelsea and Westminster for five months. However, my experience since has been fairly varied. This morning the ambulance men arrived to take m ..read more