Tesco shares - worth a punt?

[Top_gun]

problem with a big crash at Tesco would be a knock on effect for the entire sector and all the way down the supply chain.

It does beg the question is Tesco too big to fail? It's not just the sector and supply chains but the pension funds and companies relying on Tesco for their business or investments. I think there will be a huge furore if the government decided to bail out Tesco.

[Ravens Nest]

problem with a big crash at Tesco would be a knock on effect for the entire sector and all the way down the supply chain.

how would I turn it around? IMO of course ; copy france - far greater ability to negotiate with the producers - take everything for a lower price than the highest quality and throw the rest. sell the random `bits` really cheap , you know, the odd shaped veggies> and make the highest quality items even higher quality. take the discounters on by the throat , and go by the original ethos ` stack em high and sell em cheap`.


and more staff on the shop floor - no queues at the tills , staff working stock yes , but enough of them about - and happy ones who are happy to help not moody ****s.

I have the misfortune of working for them, cant talk for other people but for me they are slave drivers and i work to the best i can and still there not happy. Never worked for a company that worked there staff so hard and were never happy. Even when the shares were at record highs the atmosphere wasnt good. Imagine what it is like for us now

[wasabi]

I have the misfortune of working for them, cant talk for other people but for me they are slave drivers and i work to the best i can and still there not happy. Never worked for a company that worked there staff so hard and were never happy. Even when the shares were at record highs the atmosphere wasnt good. Imagine what it is like for us now

True of most retail I'd think. I havn't worked in the sector in nearly 20 years, but it was pretty miserable then. Have heard similar of almost all of them, Aldidl etc too. However the one that I boycott is Waitrose - they make male staff (sorry 'partners') wear ties while women can wear whatever the heck they like.

[The Hand]

Just an update on Tesco: Serious Fraud Office plans Tesco criminal investigation

[wasabi]

Just an update on Tesco: Serious Fraud Office plans Tesco criminal investigation

Interesting. Honestly, my gut (with no evdence) is sales managers are at fault and not the financial people. A LOT of sales monkeys do precisely the abuse-the-returns-system-to-pretend-to-hit-targets trick.

[RobbieRoy]

I used to be a stock broker many moons ago, when Tesco was a strong buy recommendation. Then, as now, the adage was "buy quality and hold for the long term". Any thing else is gambling, the definition of which is you're completely willing to lose your stake. It's also based on one of Warren Buffett's approaches. The only proviso is to off load when no longer quality. Buffett did that recently with Tesco. That should say enough on its own.

The other adage was to only buy when a recommendation from the analysts included a 'kick the tyres' approach as well as looking at the fundamentals - in other words if they had got out and walked around not only head office but many places where business is done. The anecdotal evidence of many posters here substitutes for that in terms of this thread and says - no buy signal.

That also comes from things like margins, market penetration, competition, leveraging etc, with all the acronyms that go with it. On those measure, there are far better places to put your money than Tesco if you want a bargain and want it to grow.

[wasabi]

I used to be a stock broker many moons ago, when Tesco was a strong buy recommendation. Then, as now, the adage was "buy quality and hold for the long term". Any thing else is gambling, the definition of which is you're completely willing to lose your stake. It's also based on one of Warren Buffett's approaches. The only proviso is to off load when no longer quality. Buffett did that recently with Tesco. That should say enough on its own.

The other adage was to only buy when a recommendation from the analysts included a 'kick the tyres' approach as well as looking at the fundamentals - in other words if they had got out and walked around not only head office but many places where business is done. The anecdotal evidence of many posters here substitutes for that in terms of this thread and says - no buy signal.

That also comes from things like margins, market penetration, competition, leveraging etc, with all the acronyms that go with it. On those measure, there are far better places to put your money than Tesco if you want a bargain and want it to grow.

Maybe - but what if you want a bargain and then cash in quick? Also I don't think anyone believes they'll ever return to their former glory. But perhaps they can return to a more profitable restructured business? Their underlying market position and business model doesn't seem THAT bad to me - the big gotcha at the mo is debt from a crazy expansion phase, thus the bond issue, and of course pensions. So it comes down to backroom refinancing as much as the Aldidl problem IMO. Though the two are interlinked through confidence and the recent scandals...

[kalniel]

Maybe - but what if you want a bargain and then cash in quick?

Then don't touch shares.

But obviously, I'm not regulated to give advice. Go talk to a regulated financial advisor.

[peterb]

Not being regulated or registered with the FSA...

The higher the risk, the greater the potential return

Unless you have a large portfolio of shares, dealing costs may wipe out small gains or compound losses is you need cash in your investment in a hurry.

You need to consider whether you are investing for capital growth or income.

Speculation can bring large rewards, the trick is knowing when to sell. Speculation can lead to losses, the trick is knowing when to sell to minimise those losses.

But if you have spare cash that you could afford to lose, then TESCO might be worth a punt for a capital gain in the next 12 to 24 months.

[wasabi]

Then don't touch shares.

But obviously, I'm not regulated to give advice. Go talk to a regulated financial advisor.

Day traders would disagree....

[kalniel]

Day traders would disagree....

So would the algorithms.

But you're neither, or you wouldn't be asking here.

[Jonatron]

Anyone else feel like the oldies had it easy?


All they had to do was buy and it went up and up. Now there's boom and bust. If history repeats itself, we're due for a bust.

[RobbieRoy]

Day traders would disagree....

Day traders are professional gamblers, playing the game using powerful computers to jump in and out in milliseconds on account of fluctuations and charts (chartism is still safely out of favour). Not just in shares, but commodities, bonds, derivatives (of which there are many).

But, to another Buffett analogous sayings: When the tide goes out you can tell who's been swimming naked!

[wasabi]

Day traders are professional gamblers, playing the game using powerful computers to jump in and out in milliseconds on account of fluctuations and charts (chartism is still safely out of favour). Not just in shares, but commodities, bonds, derivatives (of which there are many).

But, to another Buffett analogous sayings: When the tide goes out you can tell who's been swimming naked!

May be true of some. Others use skill and research. Or a combination of both. Interesting day in the life of article here. I've done okay on a few gut-instinct investments on companies on the rocks before. For example BP when the drilling disaster happened and Obama got shouty.

And whether you like their 'gambling' on not, they're still putting their savings on the line as cash that companies can use to invest.

Just for the record I accept buying stocks is a risk and won't be taking anyone on here to court for bad financial advice - so no further caveats needed. Been trading shares inside an ISA for the past 10 years and allocate roughly twenty percent to fairly speculative investments. About due for another punt so Tesco is an obvious target.

[Zak33]

guys.. stick to the TESCO question pls.. and keep it specific to that subject.

[Saracen]

Did I hear the radio news correctly earlier? The SFO have formally announced an investigation into Tesco, after they were caught rigging profit reporting?

Oh, the rigging wasn't the news, the SFO formal investigation was. My earlier sentence wasn't that clear.