SPK- Spark NZ (TELCO)

[Master98]

I've only got 3 blue arrows out of 16 stocks and I want to keep them, good luck with your averaging down, we will both have another good divvy payment come September to look forward to anyways:cool:

i will hold spk for long haul, so current sp weakness not worry me, at least the dividend yield is good.

[Master98]

I've only got 3 blue arrows out of 16 stocks and I want to keep them, good luck with your averaging down, we will both have another good divvy payment come September to look forward to anyways:cool:

if needed i will sell some of ift.

[craic]

One of the benefits of being old is that I no longer have to save for my old age. Spk dividend is usually paid in first week of October - right next to my birthday so I usually buy myself a birthday present. But I still like to pull a few Shekels at intervals on the way by dealing.

[couta1]

One of the benefits of being old is that I no longer have to save for my old age. Spk dividend is usually paid in first week of October - right next to my birthday so I usually buy myself a birthday present. But I still like to pull a few Shekels at intervals on the way by dealing.
You must have taken a few hits of late with the downtrend?

[airedale]

You can only pass on so much cost in the face of stiff competition and it would be very bad news for SPK if the ComCom increase the draft price for copper come the FPP. PS- Airedale that base is still falling:eek2:
Thanks for those encouraging words Couta. I should have said that it is a flexible, bouncy, spongy sort of base.:)
And as a further thought, the month of May is notorious for markets bottoming.

[craic]

You must have taken a few hits of late with the downtrend?
Not at all. 25000 shares on monday -sold on tuesday for 275 - now 265.5. If I buy back now Iwill have 25000 shares and 25000 centsmultiplied by 9.5
or $2375 less about $300 for two fees and one third for tax. I can hang about for one of the daily spikes and go again - or I can sit and wait for something near the bottom.Problem is watching the market this close interferes with everything else.

[couta1]

Just equaled 52wk low.

[Master98]

Just equaled 52wk low.

seems spk near the end of world:D

[couta1]

[QUOTmaster98;573636]seems spk near the end of world:D[/QUOTE]
Yeah dem sheeple sure do spook easy:scared:

[winner69]

Just equaled 52wk low.

What have you been saying about the market lately couta?

Is it all playing out?

[winner69]

Just equaled 52wk low.

Still higher than 5 years ago

[couta1]

What have you been saying about the market lately couta?

Is it all playing out?
Sure is winner, must be time to go into hibernation till the spring , snow be here soon so ski time.

[Nasi Goreng]

Still higher than 5 years ago

People used to pay for international calls 5 years ago too

[craic]

Pre-market dealing seems to suggest more of the same today?

[Master98]

Pre-market dealing seems to suggest more of the same today?
have your buy order filled yesterday? if so you could have decent profit today, American and tech shares rebounded.

[craic]

Jumped back in this morning on a reduced profit of $1,700 which is 2/3 of what I could have made yesrerday, but that's the way it goes. Hope it rockets today and can sell again but will have to wait and see - I have a bunch of chickens and a felled tree that are feeling sorely neglected.
have your buy order filled yesterday? if so you could have decent profit today, American and tech shares rebounded.

[Master98]

Jumped back in this morning on a reduced profit of $1,700 which is 2/3 of what I could have made yesrerday, but that's the way it goes. Hope it rockets today and can sell again but will have to wait and see - I have a bunch of chickens and a felled tree that are feeling sorely neglected.

have to wait and see what's going on afternoon when oversea traders come in.

[craic]

Mine are back on at 275cps - just an insurance to allow me to go and do other things. I will be guided by the afternoon hump - if there is one.

[craic]

Came in off the hill for smoko and it was at 272.5 so dropped them at 272, still await confirmation, but will then make an offer at 268cps. Chainsaw was going well too.

[tim23]

Gee Craic you make money on trading SPK on the way up and the way down?

[craic]

Gee Craic you make money on trading SPK on the way up and the way down?
As long as I can get a three cent differential - and that is quite easy with spk, I can make a profit.

[blockhead]

Spark New Zealand announces on-market share buyback

Spark New Zealand has announced today that it plans to undertake an on-market
share buyback of up to 40 million ordinary shares for an aggregate purchase
price of up to NZ$100 million during the remainder of the 2015 calendar year.
The ordinary shares will be acquired on the NZX Main Board, the stock
exchange on which Spark New Zealand is listed in New Zealand.

Following recent divestments, including Telecom Rentals Limited and its 60%
stake in Telecom Cook Islands, Spark New Zealand's balance sheet is now
under-levered. The purpose of the on-market share buyback is to return
gearing to a more appropriate level for the Company.

[couta1]

Good news for holders blockhead, less supply gotta be good aye:cool:

[Nasi Goreng]

It will be really interesting how the market responds to this.

[blockhead]

It should be good news, interestingly, by way of simple arithmetic one could deduct that if SPK are prepared to buy 40m shares at a cost of no more than $100m then they are expecting to pay no more than $2.50 per share.

That puzzles me ?

[couta1]

It should be good news, interestingly, by way of simple arithmetic one could deduct that if SPK are prepared to buy 40m shares at a cost of no more than $100m then they are expecting to pay no more than $2.50 per share.

That puzzles me ? The announcement says a purchase of up to 40 million shares so they obviously have a price range in mind. At the end of the day it all equals less supply and more demand plus being happy with the financial health of any company which does a large buyback due to being under levered.

[Nasi Goreng]

I know share buy backs are very common place but the concern is that companies with cash are unwilling to invest in growth opportunities. Is this buy back confirmation that they have no ideas to grow their business?

What are SPK doing with lightbox? My thoughts after downloading the free trial is that the content is light compared to Netflix and unless they give this a good shot in the arm, it's going nowhere.

[couta1]

I know share buy backs are very common place but the concern is that companies with cash are unwilling to invest in growth opportunities. Is this buy back confirmation that they have no ideas to grow their business?

What are SPK doing with lightbox? My thoughts after downloading the free trial is that the content is light compared to Netflix and unless they give this a good shot in the arm, it's going nowhere. Spark have been growing their business hard out since moving from being just a phone company, lightbox is only a teaser for them, perhaps maintaining their A grade S&P rating is more important to them at this point in time? in order to keep keen overseas investment interest.

[airedale]

My feeling is that downtrend is slowing and a base is forming. Last year they increased the divi from the previous year. They are unlikely to decrease it this year, more people are consuming more data. An increase in divi this year is possible. I think that it is a hold.

Today's buy back announcement gives me further confidence that this year's divi will not be reduced. That slippery spongy base has just got firmer.

[couta1]

Today's buy back announcement gives me further confidence that this year's divi will not be reduced. That slippery spongy base has just got firmer.
Nice airedale we will settle for an increased divvy then, market likes announcement methinks.

[Master98]

Spark weakness comes though perceptionAn Aussie broker's view on our major telco.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/69121683/spark-weakness-comes-though-perception

[Zaphod]

Spark digital (formally Gen-i) is enduring some very serious competition from Datacom. It will be interesting to see how this is playing out for that business unit in the next annual result.

[winner69]

Spark weakness comes though perceptionAn Aussie broker's view on our major telco.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/69121683/spark-weakness-comes-though-perception

So perception is reality then.

What is Spark going to do about changing this so called negative 'perception' of themselves?

Sounds like unless they do that 'reality' is the share price continuing to languish

[couta1]

So perception is reality then.

What is Spark going to do about changing this so called negative 'perception' of themselves?

Sounds like unless they do that 'reality' is the share price continuing to languish Spark are in the middle of transforming themselves and upcoming results will prove they are doing the business so perception will take care of itself in due course as will the share price aye. PS-My biggest holding and my favourite stock on the NZX for a variety of reasons.

[Puggy]

Spark digital (formally Gen-i) is enduring some very serious competition from Datacom. It will be interesting to see how this is playing out for that business unit in the next annual result.

That's because during the numerous restructures a large number of decent people from T&SS (Shared Services) and Gen-I went over to Datacom, my understanding is you can't swing a cat at Datacom without hitting an ex-Telecom employee.

[RGR367]

That's because during the numerous restructures a large number of decent people from T&SS (Shared Services) and Gen-I went over to Datacom, my understanding is you can't swing a cat at Datacom without hitting an ex-Telecom employee.

So true. And the funny thing is that some people that have been made redundant earlier are now being sought after as contractors for almost the same job as they were doing earlier :( Unfortunately, they can only get a few of them back they have already found employment after being let go. Just goes to show that maybe, yes maybe, that management still doesn't know what their people do or how their software applications are tied up to one another :)

[Puggy]

So true. And the funny thing is that some people that have been made redundant earlier are now being sought after as contractors for almost the same job as they were doing earlier :( Unfortunately, they can only get a few of them back they have already found employment after being let go. Just goes to show that maybe, yes maybe, that management still doesn't know what their people do or how their software applications are tied up to one another :)

Telecom's management style is all wrapped up this in image;

http://lowres.cartoonstock.com/business-commerce-streamline-downsize-downsized-slave-row-wmi100817_low.jpg

[Zaphod]

That's because during the numerous restructures a large number of decent people from T&SS (Shared Services) and Gen-I went over to Datacom, my understanding is you can't swing a cat at Datacom without hitting an ex-Telecom employee.

Yup - and I don't blame them, especially when there were three rounds of redundancies which certainly did nothing for morale or to provide an aura of job security. Not a good look for customers either.

[Major von Tempsky]

I take it Zaphod, RGR and Puggy are all Spark investors? Or are they just Trolls, agents provocateurs like Troyvdh wasting everyone's time? Maybe it's time Sharetrader did a little weeding out and excluded said trolls/agents provocateurs. There's plenty of room for them on the Daily Standard, a much bigger audience and all sympathetic frothing at the mouth left wingers. Or maybe they are in the other troll category of people who have wives/girlfriends/boyfriends/mistresses/lovers/friends/relatives working at 2 Degrees, Vodafone etc etc. It's amazing what a long tail of hangers on Telecom/Spark has developed over the years...

[Zaphod]

I take it Zaphod, RGR and Puggy are all Spark investors? Or are they just Trolls, agents provocateurs like Troyvdh wasting everyone's time? Maybe it's time Sharetrader did a little weeding out and excluded said trolls/agents provocateurs. There's plenty of room for them on the Daily Standard, a much bigger audience and all sympathetic frothing at the mouth left wingers. Or maybe they are in the other troll category of people who have wives/girlfriends/boyfriends/mistresses/lovers/friends/relatives working at 2 Degrees, Vodafone etc etc. It's amazing what a long tail of hangers on Telecom/Spark has developed over the years...

Yes, I'm an investor.

I raised the question regarding Spark Digitial's performance, given how the market has become dominated by Datacom. It's an interesting question and there's absolutely nothing time wasting about that discussion point.

The redundancies in the Spark Digital could have been handled better, and Datacom did take advantage of the situation by recruiting affected employees and by leveraging on the negative PR to their advantage. How will that affect the long term performance of SD?

If you have something worthwhile to contribute to the topic at hand, you're still welcome to post.

[RGR367]

I take it Zaphod, RGR and Puggy are all Spark investors? ................

Well, Major von Tempsky, I happen to be one and a long investor of SPK :) If you have been reading this thread instead on shouting on the ugliness of Politics on the other non investing thread, you would have read what little or senseless contributions I said too about this stock. FYI, my last bundle that I bought was at $2.70 and I think I paid too much for that :) Are you Major major or just a Sergeant Major too, if I may ask :D

[Puggy]

I take it Zaphod, RGR and Puggy are all Spark investors?

Ex-Investor, Ex-Employee. I clocked eight years working for Telecom watching re-orgs and CEOs come and go where the majority of people given the axe were the ones who were good at their jobs and got on with it but weren't well connected, leaving those of us left over having the carry the extra workload while getting shafted year after year with no pay-rises and only token bonuses. When my time came I took my payout, sold out the shares and moved onto pastures new (not Datacom FYI).

I'd say that qualifies me to speak on Telecom, unless you disagree?

[airedale]

Thanks for your historical look-back Puggy. You are probably still connected to some of your ex-colleagues. What is your assessment of the present management and CEO and can they carry this company forward profitably?
As for the Major, I don't think that he is a real Major, he sounds more like a crusty old colonel from the Shirtcliffe/Gattung era;)

[BIRMANBOY]

As you are probably well aware ..a year in the IT industry is probably akin to 8 years in any other industry...You were well acquainted with Tel...this is a new era and new company..SPK is not TEL. All well and good reminiscing over the "good ole days" but that's all it is...looking back. However I know where you are at..my partner is ex IBM. Hah..getting shafted ...what does that mean? you were only making 90,000 a year? :p
Ex-Investor, Ex-Employee. I clocked eight years working for Telecom watching re-orgs and CEOs come and go where the majority of people given the axe were the ones who were good at their jobs and got on with it but weren't well connected, leaving those of us left over having the carry the extra workload while getting shafted year after year with no pay-rises and only token bonuses. When my time came I took my payout, sold out the shares and moved onto pastures new (not Datacom FYI).

I'd say that qualifies me to speak on Telecom, unless you disagree?

[Puggy]

Thanks for your historical look-back Puggy. You are probably still connected to some of your ex-colleagues. What is your assessment of the present management and CEO and can they carry this company forward profitably?

Hard to say really, as BIRMANBOY below you points out, there's been a fair number of people come and go since my time there, but nothing I've read or heard makes me believe that they've done anything other than some repeated restructures to try and right-size the business, which although sorely overdue, has resulted in throwing out a number of babies along with the bathwater...

I sold my shares when I left since I figured if I didn't like the place enough to work there then its not somewhere I should park my money. Nothing in the last couple of years has made me consider re-investing.


getting shafted ...what does that mean? you were only making 90,000 a year? :p

Just a touch more than that. I think at one point it was stated that almost 50% of the staff were making more than 100k p/a on one of our annual reports.

[BIRMANBOY]

Hah...my heart is bleeding for you and your meagre salary....:ohmy:...if only someone would insult me in like manner.. SPK has done well for me as an investment, and since that is my point of reference, that has to be my point of judgement. Since 2009 when I first started buying it has not only continuously given me a very healthy dividend (currently 10.06 % gross), but also share price growth as well as the CNU spinoff ..which alone probably contributed 10,000 plus at no cost all in all. So regardless of all the noise that investments make....bottom line is how does it perform financially with the capital you put into it. Since it was up to 3.50 odd not so long ago, I see the current SP as a new opportunity to climb on...Time to take the dog for a new walkies Puggy.:p
Hard to say really, as BIRMANBOY below you points out, there's been a fair number of people come and go since my time there, but nothing I've read or heard makes me believe that they've done anything other than some repeated restructures to try and right-size the business, which although sorely overdue, has resulted in throwing out a number of babies along with the bathwater...

I sold my shares when I left since I figured if I didn't like the place enough to work there then its not somewhere I should park my money. Nothing in the last couple of years has made me consider re-investing.



Just a touch more than that. I think at one point it was stated that almost 50% of the staff were making more than 100k p/a on one of our annual reports.

[blockhead]

Interest rates drop and Spk goes back 2.6%, sometimes I just don't get it

[Master98]

methink Spark is thinking the right timing to start buy-back programme.

[Major von Tempsky]

Good.
My earlier point was - Why carry, nurture, feed an historical grudge long after it ceases to have any current relevance....And associated with that, I'd much rather see interesting, informative and useful comments from current actual investors.....

[Master98]

methink Spark is thinking the right timing to start buy-back programme.

SPK just started the buy-back programme yesterday.

https://nzx.com/companies/SPK/announcements/265732

[sammiesmiles]

SPK just started the buy-back programme yesterday.

https://nzx.com/companies/SPK/announcements/265732


i thought they started when they announanced it. didn't notice they just started...

[winner69]

Didn't they get a fantastic price for Yellow in 2007. Amazing

Who was in charge of SPK at the time --- deserves a medal

[Nasi Goreng]

I have a question or number of questions for SPK holders. If you are not trading SPK and planning to hold for the next few years at least, what do you see as the initiatives they have in place that will continue to deliver existing profits? Does anyone see SPK growing profits over this period and what do you see the catalysts for that being?

[airedale]

Hi Nasi, more people are downloading more data and internet content. More movies online,lightbox, Netflix etc. That seems to be a growing market.

[Nasi Goreng]

Hi Nasi, more people are downloading more data and internet content. More movies online,lightbox, Netflix etc. That seems to be a growing market.

But broadband keeps getting cheaper. Do you think this will boost profits?

[BIRMANBOY]

When you invest in this type of company..you are investing in their capacity and ability to look for and find the appropriate products that will deliver market position and consequently profits. Specifically which products or services is unknown to most of us outside that industry. SPK has always had a big presence and always kept moving forward (and continually made money). That's what you are investing in..its ability to stay in the leaders pack.
But broadband keeps getting cheaper. Do you think this will boost profits?

[airedale]

Who knows, but I see SPK are in the same situation the TLS was in a couple of years ago. TLS was right out of favour as an old style telephone company, then the market re-rated it as something more than that.

[Master98]

I looked today buy-back announcement on oz market, specify the max buyback price allowed is nz$2.9915, and max number is 38mil, so if the sp push back to nz$3.0, then buy-back will have to stop?

[Master98]

I looked today buy-back announcement on oz market, specify the max buyback price allowed is nz$2.9915, and max number is 38mil, so if the sp push back to nz$3.0, then buy-back will have to stop?

i guess that's daily max price allowed to buy, that's mean maximum 10% price rise.

[workingdad]

I sure am glad I don't have shares in spark. I made 4 attempts to contact to transfer my business accounts to them, first time was unanswered call, 2nd time was an email, 3rd time was to the Hamilton business centre where my details were passed to the person covering my area, 4th time was a complaint email after 4 days saying no one had bothered to contact me so why would I bother..... 13 days later I got a reply saying someone will be in touch and they are urgently clearing the back log, needless to say I said not to bother ringing as I had wasted enough time already.

If this is the best they can do with a new customer enquiry I would hate to imagine what they are like with an account enquiry or issue.

[Master98]

I sure am glad I don't have shares in spark. I made 4 attempts to contact to transfer my business accounts to them, first time was unanswered call, 2nd time was an email, 3rd time was to the Hamilton business centre where my details were passed to the person covering my area, 4th time was a complaint email after 4 days saying no one had bothered to contact me so why would I bother..... 13 days later I got a reply saying someone will be in touch and they are urgently clearing the back log, needless to say I said not to bother ringing as I had wasted enough time already.

If this is the best they can do with a new customer enquiry I would hate to imagine what they are like with an account enquiry or issue.


very sorry for your experience with spark, my home phone line with spark since 1995, and always can get help from them if i needed, no complain at all.

[DarkHorse]

I have a question or number of questions for SPK holders. If you are not trading SPK and planning to hold for the next few years at least, what do you see as the initiatives they have in place that will continue to deliver existing profits? Does anyone see SPK growing profits over this period and what do you see the catalysts for that being?

They are catching up with vodafone in the mobile market - previous 4G investment bearing fruit

[Puggy]

But broadband keeps getting cheaper. Do you think this will boost profits?

Interesting thing I heard during my time there. Take a guess what Spark's most profitable product is... I'll bet you're wrong...

The answer is. Dial-Up. They were billing a bunch of old people $10 a month for a service that cost them cents to run, talking about 99.9% profit margin.

Yes they'll try and roll out new products, but they're not as profitable as their old ones.

[craic]

Sparks price is artificially inflated by the buyback that is going on. Anyone know the figures for total purchase to date and amount yet to be bought? I am fully cashed up for now and will wait till this party is over to buy back - hopefully at a much more realistic price.

[winner69]

Sparks price is artificially inflated by the buyback that is going on. Anyone know the figures for total purchase to date and amount yet to be bought? I am fully cashed up for now and will wait till this party is over to buy back - hopefully at a much more realistic price.

Only just started

4.217 million ...... about 36 million to go

Probably less if capped at $100m

[couta1]

Sparks price is artificially inflated by the buyback that is going on. Anyone know the figures for total purchase to date and amount yet to be bought? I am fully cashed up for now and will wait till this party is over to buy back - hopefully at a much more realistic price.
Couldn't agree with you there, take 40 million shares out of circulation means less supply which equals more demand I reckon the price is cheap at the moment and will be back near or over $3 by the end of the year.

[Nasi Goreng]

Dividend plays could be a risky place to be in the medium term. I think more so overseas but perhaps with an economy coming off the boil, not an ideal stock here either.

My rationale for this is that US bond yields are increasing and could be in the 3% range by the end of the year. This is going to put pressure on yield stocks in the US and all other stocks for that matter. Those low growth yield stocks who have been paying 3-4% for the last few years are now at risk of a sell off which will in fact lift the yield of these stocks possibly by a % or 2. The cost of that being a fall in their share price.

Now lets look at NZ prospects for overseas investors. In SPK's case, we have a nice dividend yield of around 6% but a falling NZD and still relatively high interest rates. It looks quite unattractive compared to perhaps this time last year. The sell off for SPK can probably be attributed to a number of things but I certainly think overseas investors selling is one of those reasons.

So with SPK, MEL, FBU etc. being nice dividend stocks for overseas investors, I would say that there are many other attractive destinations right now rather than NZ.

On the other hand, a reduction in NZ interest rates means that there could be an influx of new domestic money into NZX and this could support SPK.

I'm not interested in owning SPK in the short term. I'm not convinced they can continue to deliver profits at existing levels and the problem with that is that even though they may be able to maintain dividend for the next few years, if this gets cut, then you will end up with lower dividend and lower SP.

[Master98]

CallPlus to axe Global Mode to settle legal action say TV companieshttp://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/69656543/callplus-to-axe-global-mode-to-settle-legal-action-say-tv-companies

[Hoop]

CallPlus to axe Global Mode to settle legal action say TV companies

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/69656543/callplus-to-axe-global-mode-to-settle-legal-action-say-tv-companies

Boy oh boy..look at all the negative comments... it seems SKY TV has copped the most flack...Netflix kept away from this court action..a smart move methinks
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/69656543/CallPlus-to-axe-Global-Mode-in-deal-to-settle-legal-action

Read the comments and learn't about Hola (http://hola.org/)
With the fast changing world of technological progress, creating laws to protect antiquated systems is like cutting a head off a hydra..eh?

[clip]

Hola is insecure and not recommended Hoop, I would suggest people use Zenmate browser plugin instead of Hola
http://holaunblockerdangers.com/hola-unblocker-scandal/
http://lifehacker.com/hola-better-internet-sells-your-bandwidth-turning-its-1707496872

[Zaphod]

Agree with Clip. There are numerous security concerns with Hola and having your "spare bandwidth" sold to another company for their uses to use could leave you open to some severe legal liabilities.

SPK (Lightbox) has been criticised for being party to the legal action, but there is an argument to be made for protecting what they have paid for. Many question the entire regionalised rights management system, but that is IMO a separate issue.

[Master98]

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11471721

I have more feelings the SPK could be safe-haven for porting my cash regarding the future internet growth.

[couta1]

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11471721

I have more feelings the SPK could be safe-haven for porting my cash regarding the future internet growth.
I read another article a few weeks ago along a similar vein, I agree with the Aussie brokers that Spark is being underestimated.

[winner69]

I read another article a few weeks ago along a similar vein, I agree with the Aussie brokers that Spark is being underestimated.

Perception rules (as we discussed last week)

And Citi have Spark on their 'also felt at risk' (of an earnings downgrade) list

http://www.smh.com.au/business/markets/citi-tips-more-downgrades-to-come-20150629-gi0avj.html

[couta1]

Perception rules (as we discussed last week)

And Citi have Spark on their 'also felt at risk' (of an earnings downgrade) list

http://www.smh.com.au/business/markets/citi-tips-more-downgrades-to-come-20150629-gi0avj.html
Yeah and if you read the 2nd comment down in the comments section which I think Sums up the quality of this article perfectly ( Basically low quality space filling) Also felt at risk sounds authoritative aye:cool:

[Zaphod]

Boy oh boy..look at all the negative comments... it seems SKY TV has copped the most flack...Netflix kept away from this court action..a smart move methinks
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/69656543/CallPlus-to-axe-Global-Mode-in-deal-to-settle-legal-action

Read the comments and learn't about Hola (http://hola.org/)
With the fast changing world of technological progress, creating laws to protect antiquated systems is like cutting a head off a hydra..eh?

Rights holders do need to legally protect their investment. Not following this course of action could have weakened their position in any subsequent court action in the future.

Given how nebulous the law is with regards to geoblocking, we desperately need a test case to be brought before the courts, but I am glad SPK aren't going to be funding it.

[Zaphod]

I read another article a few weeks ago along a similar vein, I agree with the Aussie brokers that Spark is being underestimated.

I agree, especially if SPK can also leverage the value-add that their digital division can bring to the commercial and potentially residential, IOTs.

[winner69]

Yeah and if you read the 2nd comment down in the comments section which I think Sums up the quality of this article perfectly ( Basically low quality space filling) Also felt at risk sounds authoritative aye:cool:

You read the comments after wasting your time reading the article?

So I had a look at them - this was rather emotional as well Stand buy for stock market crash of 2015 when wall street opens

[couta1]

You read the comments after wasting your time reading the article?

So I had a look at them - this was rather emotional as well Stand buy for stock market crash of 2015 when wall street opens
Nah I read the comments first then skimmed the article and wholeheartedly agreed with the first two comments

[GTM 3442]

I might have thought that a bit of money would leave Europe for the safe haven of the S&P500. Still, you never know.

[Hoop]

Hola is insecure and not recommended Hoop, I would suggest people use Zenmate browser plugin instead of Hola
http://holaunblockerdangers.com/hola-unblocker-scandal/
http://lifehacker.com/hola-better-internet-sells-your-bandwidth-turning-its-1707496872

hi Guys
Yeah I learn't about Hola and I agree sharing bandwidth opens up a lot of security problems and it is definately something I will stay clear of.....but this type of global interconnectivity is the way the internet world is moving..towards a networked world where everyone will be able to connect to the internet of things..obviously there will be teething issues...

If this type of global interconnectivity thing grabs hold then these local rights to stream selective media will within a few years become unworkable..Making geo-unblocking illegal while the world is heading towards a total networked system seems totally stupid. Something that Luddites would do..eh?..I think Netflix and other innovative type companies are slowly working towards an interconnected world..They are the disruptors..so they don't need to enter the fight to stop geo-blocking.

I'm still at a loss why Spark would ever want to take a non-innovative system approach, spend millions into creating another internet streaming media resource from the ground up (suffering the experience curve cost effects as all newbies do), buying up rights, and enter into an overcrowded industry going head to head against some very well organised very powerful experienced competitors + entering into a market that is very vunerable to distruptive technology..

Spark's actions comes across to me as something a disruptee company would do.. The trick is to not become mired in the protection of the system being disrupted (https://www.anpi.com/support/articles/being-the-disruptor-not-the-disruptee/)

[couta1]

FY15 financial guidance remains unchanged:cool:

[robbo24]

FY15 financial guidance remains unchanged:cool:

With the COMCOM uncertainty gone the dividend yield of SPK looks good. The ongoing share buyback seems beneficial to holders too.

Is SPK a solid yield buy?

Because technically it seems to be trading above the SMA50, RSI crossed upwards with higher lows too, OBV ticking upwards the same, ultimate oscillator crossed over, Williams %R crossed over... Looks like the candlestick is creeping up to the PSAR dot too. Doesn't look too bad for Spark.

More certain than power companies right now IMO :D

[couta1]

Couldn't agree with you there, take 40 million shares out of circulation means less supply which equals more demand I reckon the price is cheap at the moment and will be back near or over $3 by the end of the year.
Not long now and with the OCR certain to drop more upside methinks:cool:

[blockhead]

Think you are right, have been toying with the idea of dropping SPK in favour of AIR, couldn't hang up on the old Telecom so AIR has departed on time without me.

Seems to be six of one and half a dozen of the other between those two at the moment, both would seem to offer good divs, lower $ might suit AIR a little more perhaps.

[tim23]

Gee robboo24 that was an interesting spiel about whether SPK is a good yield buy thought it was as simple as dividing share price and dividend and coming up with about 6% net?!

[Jim]

I just up graded my old adsl to ultra fast fibre with Spark. My download speed is 2.29 Mpbs and the upload is 8.03Mpbs, is upgrade or downgrade ? What a joke. Has anyone has the same problem like me ?

[Bjauck]

I just up graded my old adsl to ultra fast fibre with Spark. My download speed is 2.29 Mpbs and the upload is 8.03Mpbs, is upgrade or downgrade ? What a joke. Has anyone has the same problem like me ?

I just have regular adsl. However recently Chorus had to fix a fault on my line which was affecting the broadband connection. I had been on a cheap plan a few years ago and the Chorus techie said that my connection had been deliberately throttled to about 3mbs. He removed the throttle and it is now at 7.5 mbs. It is brilliant. I can watch SKY GO and Skype at the same time without any stuttering.

[GTM 3442]

I just up graded my old adsl to ultra fast fibre with Spark. My download speed is 2.29 Mpbs and the upload is 8.03Mpbs, is upgrade or downgrade ? What a joke. Has anyone has the same problem like me ?

It's a joke all right, but I can see why you're not laughing.

It's an upload upgrade and a download downgrade.

FWIW, I used to get 10/down and 2/up with Saturn about ten years ago.

[RGR367]

I just up graded my old adsl to ultra fast fibre with Spark. My download speed is 2.29 Mpbs and the upload is 8.03Mpbs, is upgrade or downgrade ? What a joke. Has anyone has the same problem like me ?

You just have to complain as SPK has a dedicated Fibre team called "Fibre In Flight Support team", if I'm not mistaken, to sort out issues like this. My VDSL connection would burn you faster by at least 16 times over so yours is really an issue. GL.

[Zaphod]

I just up graded my old adsl to ultra fast fibre with Spark. My download speed is 2.29 Mpbs and the upload is 8.03Mpbs, is upgrade or downgrade ? What a joke. Has anyone has the same problem like me ?

Do you happen to be connected to using Wifi when you ran the connection speed test? If so, try using a wired connection.

Hopefully tech support isn't too OT for this forum :)

[Hoop]

Jim best to ring support services
Of interest you could post your problem on this forum..This is the Geekzone Spark new fibre forum thread (http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=39&topicid=177117)
or here to enter the main Spark threads (http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=39)...

For others with different providers http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp
Often the IP technicians answer your posts
A very informative and interesting site...especially if you are thinking of swapping providers..

[Guild]

Not spark, but might help. Had the same problem with vodafone, technician came around Saturday, he said most modems, wireless boxes come with the same frequency. With the advent of netflix etc too many people on same frequency is causing problems. He reset frequency and download went from 2 to 49.

[Zaphod]

Not spark, but might help. Had the same problem with vodafone, technician came around Saturday, he said most modems, wireless boxes come with the same frequency. With the advent of netflix etc too many people on same frequency is causing problems. He reset frequency and download went from 2 to 49.

Yes, you're right on the money with this one. Interference is one of the primary cause of customer complaints to ISPs and corporate helpdesks about internet performance, and is what I was alluding to earlier. Wi-Fi interference typically impedes downlink performance disproportionately, and with so many fibre customers connected to via Wi-Fi, this issue is very common.

I’ve seen SPK take an unfair beating on many occasions due to failures with customer equipment, or misunderstandings of how performance should be measures (GYI speedtest.net isn’t necessarily a good indicator of internet connectivity performance).

[RGR367]

Spark NZ is 1 year old today. Whether it has grown into a good year old baby from a matured/decayed zombie will be known on the 21st August. What's your bet on it?

[RGR367]

The competition continues as Spark broadband is now available in JB Hi-Fi and Noel Leeming stores.

[airedale]

Just over a week until the results are in. The SP trembling nervously. One wonders if there has been a little leakage from the boardroom.

[couta1]

Just over a week until the results are in. The SP trembling nervously. One wonders if there has been a little leakage from the boardroom.
Read nothing into it Airedale Spark is often the heaviest sold stock when global selldowns occur due to its liquidity and large number of international holders.

[macduffy]

Read nothing into it Airedale Spark is often the heaviest sold stock when global selldowns occur due to its liquidity and large number of international holders.

I wonder how significant that is these days since the company split - Spark isn't the biggest on the NZX lists any more. Unfortunately, nominee holdings prevent accurate assessment.

[couta1]

I wonder how significant that is these days since the company split - Spark isn't the biggest on the NZX lists any more. Unfortunately, nominee holdings prevent accurate assessment.
It may not be the biggest but its the most liquid with a large number of international investors/traders that use it as a money parking spot for various lenghts of time.

[Major von Tempsky]

In any case if it went down too far the Spark buyback would kickback in - anyone work out what the trigger price is for that? $2.72 or thereabouts? I agree with Couta1, the turnover in Spark is normally larger than in Fletcher and the Fletcher share has been rather overvalued for years. Would you park your money in a stock that is overvalued on fundamentals....Not me!

A hoary old rule is that if a stock is going to report earlier than usual (Spark) then it usually means good news....let's hope that that holds!

[Master98]

In any case if it went down too far the Spark buyback would kickback in - anyone work out what the trigger price is for that? $2.72 or thereabouts? I agree with Couta1, the turnover in Spark is normally larger than in Fletcher and the Fletcher share has been rather overvalued for years. Would you park your money in a stock that is overvalued on fundamentals....Not me!

A hoary old rule is that if a stock is going to report earlier than usual (Spark) then it usually means good news....let's hope that that holds!
Forsyth Barr forecast Spark will report FY2015 NPAT 356m on 21st which is 19.5cps.

[couta1]

Overall result looks solid to me with a nice divvy increase to boot, next years divvy expected to increase to 22c plus 3c special:cool:

[Master98]

Overall result looks solid to me with a nice divvy increase to boot, next years divvy expected to increase to 22c plus 3c special:cool:
NPAT 373m beat Forsyth Barr 356m, beat 4-trader 335m, can't expect better.

[winner69]

Spark profits take a beating

According to The Herald
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11500623

[couta1]

Spark profits take a beating

According to The Herald
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11500623 Yeah right they need to read more than the first line of an annual report, I can't see many negatives. Up 7% initially.

[couta1]

Looks like the market has given the two finger salute to the Herald and rightly so, at this rate they will have to change their headline to Spark Share price Soars to save embarrassment.:eek2: Ha Ha just noticed they have changed it to Spark beats Expectations.

[stones]

Looks like the market has given the two finger salute to the Herald and rightly so, at this rate they will have to change their headline to Spark Share price Soars to save embarrassment.:eek2: Ha Ha just noticed they have changed it to Spark beats Expectations.

And rightly so!!! But what else can you expect from a crumby small town tabloid.

[Master98]

Looks like the market has given the two finger salute to the Herald and rightly so, at this rate they will have to change their headline to Spark Share price Soars to save embarrassment.:eek2: Ha Ha just noticed they have changed it to Spark beats Expectations.
NZ journalists are paid too little, no complain here.

[bull....]

awesome result, yield next yr looks pretty impressive

[Major von Tempsky]

Ah, so Granny Herald have changed it already! I was going to say the Stuff headline and report is somewhat kinder and more accurate!
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/71321344/spark-shares-jump-as-company-ups-dividends-generates-more-cash

[RGR367]

Though the sp is better now that the last time i bought some at 2.70, I'm on the side of not being impressed too. Maybe my gut feel was expecting a lot more :(

[couta1]

Hits $3 again :t_up:

[couta1]

What a picture of beauty the SPK depth chart is today with a Vwap of around $3.05 and currently hitting $3.18.

[tim23]

Gee hard times and SPK going better and no ones commenting thats bizzare unless this forum is simply for pessimists?

[couta1]

Gee hard times and SPK going better and no ones commenting thats bizzare unless this forum is simply for pessimists?
Seems to be the main flavour plus a few downrampers with ulterior motives.

[bull....]

I commented on the nzx thread on the weekend spark was worth looking at on Monday for safe haven

[tim23]

Bull you have proved correct if you buy at $3 say then its 7% plus net ignoring the special divvy so if you sell where do you get a better return?

[bull....]

Bull you have proved correct if you buy at $3 say then its 7% plus net ignoring the special divvy so if you sell where do you get a better return?

why would anyone want to sell a stock that doesn't decline? its telling you something

[tim23]

Agree its performance has been stellar in this market yet most posters have chosen to ignore that conveniently thats why I did!

[BIRMANBOY]

What a remarkable run SPK is having...from 2.70 odd its shot up and shows little signs of stopping...I wouldn't be surprised to see it reach 3.50 again. Some punters out there are no doubt rubbing their hands in glee. Dividend still in front so of us so no real reason to stop. All the more remarkable in light of current market drops. Its like ...'where is a nice safe place to put our dough"? Cant do better than SPK.

[voltage]

their shops are always busy. Is the yield for this stock 7.75%, is the yield published on the NZX historical? or reflective of new dividends? This is better than any rental, with growth potential. May be a great stock for gearing, any thoughts?

[craic]

Bought a pile on Thur/Fri for 317.5 hoping it would go up for the div and at the same time looking for a sell price that would guarantee a win/win situation even without the dividend. I didn't expect this rise -20cps in three or four working days. Now I find myself looking at 350 or 400cps. Am I being too hopeful. My wife is no help - she wants the div. @ $2,500 to finance a holiday in Adelaide next month. She can't see that pulling the five grand profit now might be a better idea.

[couta1]

Bought a pile on Thur/Fri for 317.5 hoping it would go up for the div and at the same time looking for a sell price that would guarantee a win/win situation even without the dividend. I didn't expect this rise -20cps in three or four working days. Now I find myself looking at 350 or 400cps. Am I being too hopeful. My wife is no help - she wants the div. @ $2,500 to finance a holiday in Adelaide next month. She can't see that pulling the five grand profit now might be a better idea.
You could of course get to have your cake and eat it to, it goes Ex on the 23/9 so quite possible it may have another dip back down toward the $3.20 ish mark before then, depends how game your are and whether your worried about collecting imputation credits or not. There seems to be quite a lot of resistance around the $3.40 mark.

[craic]

That's my problem. But I have been doing this for years and I get as many wrong as right. And Just as I was about to take the plunge, it drops a few cents so I think I'll put them on at a higher price and deal with the consequences. 236 looks a good number.

[airedale]

Hi Craic, you could look back and see what the action was like 6 months ago when it topped out at about $3.50 just before divi date. Then with hindsight that might help the forecast. But your crystal ball will be as good as mine. .But don't sell for 236, :confused: 336 is a better number.:)

[craic]

set it at 340 - its not hard to edit if ther's a rush on. but, not long ago I rushed for the edit button to avoid selling too low only to find it sold anyway - I had forgotten to push the Confirm button.

[Major von Tempsky]

$3.53 is what it topped out at earlier this year from memory. I think there must be a number of brokers newsletters floating around which recommend it because of its actual and prospective dividends, fully imputed, and forecast. It's only the Chinese shenanigans and the fact that most Spark shares are domiciled overseas that has stopped Spark from bolting up to at least $4. Give it time :-)

[Zaphod]

The non-technical exec summary of the Review of the Telecommunications Act 2001 is worthwhile reading when you have some time (link below).

http://www.mbie.govt.nz/info-services/sectors-industries/technology-communications/communications/regulating-the-telecommunications-sector/review-of-the-telecommunications-act-2001/consultation-8-sept-2015/telecommunications-review-2015-exec-summary.pdf

There are a number of aspects that will have a material impact - both positive and negative - on SPK and other telecommunications companies, e.g. Net neutrality, changes to wholesale network pricing methodologies for fixed line services etc.

[craic]

OOPS! missed the bus this time - had it on at 340 and pulled it because I need to sit on the screen for an hour or so and my still is at a critical stage and had to be minded carefully or my chainsaws are getting rusty or my other half wants me out of the house for some odd reasoning like she wants to do the vacuuming or something of that nature. I'm hoping for a technical solution like some small camera that can watch my still temperature gauge with a wire running to my laptop inside.

[airedale]

Well said,Craic. Sometimes real life gets in the way when you are making other plans. Did John Lennon say that?

[craic]

Anyone know why this lot is falling through the floor this close to a fully inputted dividend of 11cps? It defies any logic that I'm aware of.

[Hoop]

Anyone know why this lot is falling through the floor this close to a fully inputted dividend of 11cps? It defies any logic that I'm aware of.

Maybe rising +27% during the last 2 weeks of August may have something to do with it, do you think?

[craic]

Somebody traded 4.7 million shares in this at 9.01 am and total trade value is 16 million by 9.30 am. That's half a million dollars in dividend in October. I wonder if they will declare it on their tax form?

[Lewylewylewy]

Can someone alleviate or confirm my concerns about Spark as a business?

BAD:
- They are an over priced ISP and only have customers because people (on the residential side) are too lazy / not smart enough to switch to a cheaper provider, or don't understand the service enough to know that Spark provides nothing above it's competitors in the ISP arena. As they're a dinosaur, they'll likely never become efficient enough to compete and the ISP side will eventually die off.
- They are an over priced mobile provider, the likes of Skinny undercut them and use the same network. They stay alive because of the brand.
- Their lightbox product is failing because they don't have good shows on there. My view of this is that it feels like old duffers in charge don't really understand how younger generations use the internet and have tried to move into an area of industry that they don't know how to survive in, don't understand their customers or product. They have failed to do anything disruptive or innovative here.

GOOD:
- They provide IT support services which are excellent, but poorly run. Likely to always be around.

My concern here is that Spark could get pushed over and become a much smaller company run by dinosaurs that are left feeling dellusioned and hurt egos.

[RGR367]

Can someone alleviate or confirm my concerns about Spark as a business?

BAD:
- They are an over priced ISP and only have customers because people (on the residential side) are too lazy / not smart enough to switch to a cheaper provider, or don't understand the service enough to know that Spark provides nothing above it's competitors in the ISP arena. As they're a dinosaur, they'll likely never become efficient enough to compete and the ISP side will eventually die off.
- They are an over priced mobile provider, the likes of Skinny undercut them and use the same network. They stay alive because of the brand.
- Their lightbox product is failing because they don't have good shows on there. My view of this is that it feels like old duffers in charge don't really understand how younger generations use the internet and have tried to move into an area of industry that they don't know how to survive in, don't understand their customers or product. They have failed to do anything disruptive or innovative here.

GOOD:
- They provide IT support services which are excellent, but poorly run. Likely to always be around.

My concern here is that Spark could get pushed over and become a much smaller company run by dinosaurs that are left feeling dellusioned and hurt egos.

My concern about your post too is you haven't really done any research yet as SKINNY is Spark's other mobile brand.

[warthog]

Can someone alleviate or confirm my concerns about Spark as a business?

BAD:
- They are an over priced ISP and only have customers because people (on the residential side) are too lazy / not smart enough to switch to a cheaper provider, or don't understand the service enough to know that Spark provides nothing above it's competitors in the ISP arena. As they're a dinosaur, they'll likely never become efficient enough to compete and the ISP side will eventually die off.
- They are an over priced mobile provider, the likes of Skinny undercut them and use the same network. They stay alive because of the brand.

As RGR367 pointed out, Skinny and Spark segment Spark's market i.e. Skinny is the younger, more trendy brand.

On the ISP side, there is a huge part of the market that consists of people with @xtra email addresses who as long as things are working for the most part and the cost differential isn't huge, are wealthy enough to not move ISP.

So then Spark's strategy becomes a pricing/churn one, and they are relatively good at this with a huge client base of customers they know an awful lot about, including calling patterns, package spend, data usage, mobile behaviour, etc.

As a big player in a small market Spark can also reduce their cost simply on the basis of scale.

Disc.: no position in SPK currently.

[craic]

And today is the last day to buy in and get a dividend - tomorrow is too late. Even if the price drops the eleven cents tomorrow as it should, you can still sell tomorrow and wait a while and buy for much less in a few months. As to the future of the company, there are some very big players holding in Spark and a few politicians at the top who would defend it. And, of course, there are a lot of oldies like me with landline, Sky TV and a heap of other stuff through Spark and are more than pleased with the service.

[Zaphod]

Can someone alleviate or confirm my concerns about Spark as a business?

BAD:
- They are an over priced ISP and only have customers because people (on the residential side) are too lazy / not smart enough to switch to a cheaper provider, or don't understand the service enough to know that Spark provides nothing above it's competitors in the ISP arena. As they're a dinosaur, they'll likely never become efficient enough to compete and the ISP side will eventually die off.
- They are an over priced mobile provider, the likes of Skinny undercut them and use the same network. They stay alive because of the brand.
- Their lightbox product is failing because they don't have good shows on there. My view of this is that it feels like old duffers in charge don't really understand how younger generations use the internet and have tried to move into an area of industry that they don't know how to survive in, don't understand their customers or product. They have failed to do anything disruptive or innovative here.

GOOD:
- They provide IT support services which are excellent, but poorly run. Likely to always be around.

My concern here is that Spark could get pushed over and become a much smaller company run by dinosaurs that are left feeling dellusioned and hurt egos.

Spark's pricing is generally comparative to its peers such as VF/2DM/Orcon etc. Drawing accurate comparisons are made difficult due to differences in the bundles (e.g. Orcon UFB $78/month with 50GB data v Spark UFB $79.99 with 40GB data), billing months (Spark's calendar month v Skinny's 30 day month), and triple plays (Spark offering 6 months free Lightbox, but Orcon not offering any streaming option). Customer services issues quietly plague some providers such as Orcon, but Spark seem to have a vocal minority kicking the company for failings of old.

I'd be interested to understand what makes you conclude the Lightbox product (quote) "failing"?

Spark Digital are facing extreme competition from Datacom, and I am not clear on what their strategy even is to combat this threat.

[Hoop]

Spark's pricing is generally comparative to its peers such as VF/2DM/Orcon etc. Drawing accurate comparisons are made difficult due to differences in the bundles (e.g. Orcon UFB $78/month with 50GB data v Spark UFB $79.99 with 40GB data), billing months (Spark's calendar month v Skinny's 30 day month), and triple plays (Spark offering 6 months free Lightbox, but Orcon not offering any streaming option). Customer services issues quietly plague some providers such as Orcon, but Spark seem to have a vocal minority kicking the company for failings of old.

I'd be interested to understand what makes you conclude the Lightbox product (quote) "failing"?

Spark Digital are facing extreme competition from Datacom, and I am not clear on what their strategy even is to combat this threat.

I'm with Orcon and never had any Customer service issues..Last week it took 10 seconds for my call to get answered..

[Zaphod]

I'm with Orcon and never had any Customer service issues..Last week it took 10 seconds for my call to get answered..

It's good to hear that you've had good experiences with them.

In our experience, of all of the providers we deal with, Orcon have given us the most issues, usually on provisioning (cutover dates not being adhered to), customer support (lengthy waits and/or the occasional poorly trained staff member) and various billing issues. VFNZ are very close behind.

[Hoop]

It's good to hear that you've had good experiences with them.

In our experience, of all of the providers we deal with, Orcon have given us the most issues, usually on provisioning (cutover dates not being adhered to), customer support (lengthy waits and/or the occasional poorly trained staff member) and various billing issues. VFNZ are very close behind.

Hmmm..I know Orcon had a bad image around 2012/2013 with multitude of problems...

Back in October 2013 I asked Spark and Vodafone I wanted to go onto fibre Spark kept on saying I didn't have fibre at the gate... Argued with them that I watched them lay it back in November 2011 but they didn't believe me..and Vodafone said there was no demand for fibre and so they weren't offering any services..and I argued how on earth do you know there's no demand when you don't offer services...Rang Orcon and they said sure no problems signed up over the phone right there and then and 150 metre of fibre was laid up the driveway through the paddock to the house the next week...Now it was around this time late 2013 that Orcon finally sorted their act out but I can remember people asking us "how many problems have you had with Orcon??".....Since I joined Oct 2013 every time I rang I didn't have to wait long and my problems were sorted on the spot efficiently and quickly...I went around for a coffee at my mates place last Wednesday and he was hanging off the end of his smartphone at the time..he waited about 40 minutes to get customer service with Spark ...he was mildly pissed off.

EDIT: we did have some really bad speed issues back in April / May 2015

[tim23]

Craic - your theory is interesting but you may not be able to buy back cheaper and if so when do you time your entry?

[craic]

Have a careful look at the charts, the one year chart is probably the clearest. For me if I sell 25000 at a price and then buy back at a lower price, I gain $250 cash for every cent differential. You will se the chart line zig-zags up and down on its way down. When it goes up a few cents, sell again and on like that. The biggest problem is having the balls to wait for the movement and avoiding panic when it gets away on you. If you have cashed up and it continues to rise, you don't lose -if you believe it isn't going to come down again you can reduce the number of shares and start from the higher price - but it will come down.

[Regi]

Just thought I'd leave this here :D

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11518274&ref=NZH_FBpage

[airedale]

UP 9 cents today. Is this the last day to get the dividend?

[Hoop]

its ex div today

Opportune time for Divvy hunters to jump out of Spark and into GNe or MEL as they go ex next week...eh?

[airedale]

Good plan Hoop, the record date for Spark is tomorrow 25th. Does one have to own the shares on the 25th, or can they be sold on the 25th and still collect the dividend?

[couta1]

Good plan Hoop, the record date for Spark is tomorrow 25th. Does one have to own the shares on the 25th, or can they be sold on the 25th and still collect the dividend? They could be sold anytime after going Ex and you will still get the dividend ie from 23/9 onward as long as you bought them before the 23/9 (The Ex date)

[sharp]

What's with the recent downtrend? Anybody holding or have any ideas?

[Bobdn]

Share price over the last five years shows a really positive trend, nice appreciation and lots of dividends. Oh wait, this is NZ Sharetrader, trends are measured by the hour ;) (forgive me Mr Sharp, just joshing).

[stef]

What's with the recent downtrend? Anybody holding or have any ideas?You would think on the surface the M&A would be positive?The greater market knows better?

[Zaphod]

The earning accretive purchase of CCL was a good strategic move that will increase Spark Digital's market hold in the South Island. Datacom are however a formidable competitor and are continuing to grow their regional presence.

A bit of a dip doesn't worry me too much with a decent dividend yield, especially as interest rates on cash deposits continue to fall.

[tim23]

Who cares - the yield is compelling 22c plus special to come it need about x5 amount of capital in my Rabo call account to match this return.


What's with the recent downtrend? Anybody holding or have any ideas?

[Mickey]

Does anyone have a view on the SPK sp - any technical analysis? Seems to be holding up well above 320 of late. I think my inexperience was showing when I sold at 306 in September hoping that based on previous trends - the sp would be back down in the 270 - 280 range and allow me to buy back to increase my holding. However, that hasn't happened and I'm still sitting on the sideline waiting to re-enter but not sure if I should bite the bullet at the current level or wait a bit longer. I did originally purchase SPK for yield but decided to gamble as well - lesson learned.....

[BIRMANBOY]

LOL lesson learned huh...and you are thinking of maybe getting in at current SP...so what part of learning lesson did you get? The higher you buy in at the lesser your chance of getting your profit margin relatively quickly. Having myself done what you are proposing (buying in at this level) I can tell you that it took quite a long time (4/5 months I think) to get a margin. HOWEVER the good thing is in the interim I did get a nice dividend and also eventually made a decent trade. However would have been better NOT to have bought quite so high. Patience may be rewarded and you could get a drop..or maybe not...don't you just love the share market....Some TA might inform you of picking those points for entry and exits with a little more certainty but that is no guarantee either. The one good thing about SPK though is it has over the years shown a reasonable amount of SP movement so even if you get it wrong and have to sit a while because you bought a bit high its not the end of the world with the periodic dividend as a consolation. Personally I am waiting for a SP of 3.10 or so ...could have bought at 3.06 but dropped my buy price to 2.98 dammm don't be too greedy.
Does anyone have a view on the SPK sp - any technical analysis? Seems to be holding up well above 320 of late. I think my inexperience was showing when I sold at 306 in September hoping that based on previous trends - the sp would be back down in the 270 - 280 range and allow me to buy back to increase my holding. However, that hasn't happened and I'm still sitting on the sideline waiting to re-enter but not sure if I should bite the bullet at the current level or wait a bit longer. I did originally purchase SPK for yield but decided to gamble as well - lesson learned.....

[Hoop]

Does anyone have a view on the SPK sp - any technical analysis? Seems to be holding up well above 320 of late. I think my inexperience was showing when I sold at 306 in September hoping that based on previous trends - the sp would be back down in the 270 - 280 range and allow me to buy back to increase my holding. However, that hasn't happened and I'm still sitting on the sideline waiting to re-enter but not sure if I should bite the bullet at the current level or wait a bit longer. I did originally purchase SPK for yield but decided to gamble as well - lesson learned.....

Warning..BB's post will be more informative than mine :(

Mickey..what type of investor are you?
From the chart it seems you may be using TA as an exit strategy on September 23rd or thereabouts when the share price gaped down under its $3.20 short/medium term support..Ok getting out was theoretically a good move as its an insurance (re: Capital preservation ) from unexpected sudden falls in price...but you didn't re-enter after it bottomed .Ok..never mind as SPK became trendless and been that way for 4.5 months now.
...also..
SPK has had no trading range pattern neither as it is meandering around at will with a low volatility of 10% or less...but...on a daily basis the volatility is a lot higher as it's intraday range has often been up/down 3%...

Mickey view TA with caution as SPK is currently TA unfriendly...
Most default (set at medium term)TA indicators perform poorly (unreliable) when stock prices go trendless for any length of time...and SPK is doing exactly that...

Reading TA books..The "Experts" suggest using Oscillators for Trendless stocks .....Since August 2015 Using the quicker Oscillators (more sensitive) indicators with SPK e.g Stochastics tended to fire off only to break down again with little to no net price gain and sometimes a loss...so Oscillators aren't much help here neither...

An interesting thing...probably only interesting for Chartists:p....is the MA200 line has basically flatlined between $3.01 and $3.04 for over 4 months.

Hmmm....Half year result in a months time then the SPK price will become cum dividend price..that may entice some dividend hunters to enter and help boost momentum (oscillator)...if nothing else it may please the holding yield investors.

Mickey what ever you do...be careful when venturing into the woods ...there's talk there could be a bear roaming around...nasty animals them bears

[Mickey]

Thanks BB and Hoop for your comments / opinions. I still obviously have a lot to learn about investing but this is a great site and there is a wealth of information shared here by some very experienced investors. My current investment plan is to accumulate stock in solid companies and I see SPK as being one of these. My momentary lapse of reason to sell SPK when I did was foolish now that I look back (isn't hindsight a wonderful thing....) and although I made a decent enough profit selling when I did - my plan to accumulate more SPK at a lower price using the profits didn't come off and I'm now faced with having to invest more capital to re-establish the holding that I previously held.

I hear you about venturing into the woods Hoop - there does seem to be a lot of bear sentiment coming from major overseas institutions at the moment. I remember reading once that investing in equities was less about trying to time the bottom of the market or a SP but rather time spent in the market. With that - I'll weigh up my options and decide what to do next. Thanks guys :)

Discl. currently holding AIR, GEN, CEN

[Bobdn]

Article in Friday's Australian Financial Reviews identifies Spark as a good choice.

"We believe that the market is yet to allow for the earnings uplifts that are coming through to Spark in the coming years, and we believe that a multiple of 16 times next year's forecast earnings is undemanding. A yield of around 8 per cent is also very attractive, especially against cash rates."

Read more: http://www.afr.com/markets/equity-markets/global-stock-pick-spark-nz-20160114-gm5t59#ixzz3xNTieP3T
Follow us: @FinancialReview on Twitter (http://ec.tynt.com/b/rw?id=cCUjAS_ECr5iWLacwqm_6l&u=FinancialReview) | financialreview on Facebook (http://ec.tynt.com/b/rf?id=cCUjAS_ECr5iWLacwqm_6l&u=financialreview)

[bull....]

verizons result showed good revenue growth for there internet of things

[bull....]

might be breaking out

[Major von Tempsky]

It's a mighty fluctuating battle between the solid, sensible, NZ value dividend investors and the international "China is crashing, we're all gonna crash"/Spark is the proxy for NZ Inc/doomsayers/shorters.
A fascinating ebb and flow.

[craic]

Seems awful close to the number - tomorrow - for such a poor price. I hope this isn't a flood of insiders rushing for higher ground. I was fortunate enough to trade my way to quite a good profit in recent weeks. Nothing is making sense, even my chainsaws are giving me the run-around and the horses are just as bad. Must be the year of the donkey.

[Bobdn]

Yeah big day tomorrow. And Chorus on Friday. Do you still have that car you bought with all those Chorus shares?

[Major von Tempsky]

Agree it's very hard to understand on a rational basis. Maybe tomorrow has a nasty surprise :-(, if not some speculators are going to look rather silly. SPK have not changed their guidance so they'd be in trouble with the NZX for not keeping the market fully informed.

Also hard to understand why Chorus is trading above Spark when the article I read projected a dividend payout for CNU very significantly below SPK.

[Bobdn]

Yeah I read that article too. I guess people are expecting some sort of catch up dividend for the past two years; plus Chorus has made over 100 cost saving measures; oh and premium fiber is now flying off the shelves. High revenue earning products. So much so that they can't keep up with demand.

[craic]

Still got the car and it's probably more reliable than Chorus shares. Problem with physical transmission, wire or fibre, it is always just one blink away from redundant, but then what isn't these days?

[Bobdn]

Yes, so true.

[Major von Tempsky]

I suppose there is another reason - milk prices went down a bit overnight overseas; milk = NZ Inc so sell anything NZ even if its in a totally unrelated field. Probably why FBU went down too in spite of posting a good result.

[deleted by STMOD]

[pierre]

Good news

Net profit up 9%. Dividend 11cents plus 1.5c special.

[bull....]

Good news

Net profit up 9%. Dividend 11cents plus 1.5c special.

net profit is up due to cap-ex falling by the look of it.
Broadband they lost market share at the bottom end but gained revenue due to higher value fibre connections
mobile good gains customers, but revenue increased due to more hand set sales which could be one off
voice still big declines in revenue but being offset by cost cutting - can only keep cutting so much but voice revenues will continue to decline so still need to buy more revenue?
divs nice

[Zaphod]

"The days of being able to buy cheap mobile phones and pre-paid Sim cards loaded with mobile phone credit may be drawing to a close, Spark says.

Chief executive Simon Moutter said the company wanted to "pull back" from the kinds of promotions in the pre-paid market that led consumers to frequently switch between mobile operators."

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/77013366/retailers-ones-benefitting-from-preloaded-sims-handset-subsidies-says-spark-boss

Good move IMO. Leave the low value high churning customers to their budget brand Skinny, or to the other players.

[airedale]

I see that the SPK goes ex divi on the 17th March, and the record date is Friday 18th March. On which of those two dates can one sell SPK and still collect the dividend?

[Lewylewylewy]

My understanding is that the ex div date is the cut off date for being about to get a dividend, and the record date is the date that they look at the records to see who to send the dividend out to. Therefore, I would imagine either the 18th or next working day would be the date to be able to sell and still get a dividend.

[Snow Leopard]

I see that the SPK goes ex divi on the 17th March, and the record date is Friday 18th March. On which of those two dates can one sell SPK and still collect the dividend?

You can sell them on the 17th or there-after, if you really want to.

Best Wishes
Paper Tiger

[BIRMANBOY]

This is a useful link for all those questions.
http://www.anzsecurities.co.nz/directtrade/help/hlp_glossary.aspx#E

[macduffy]

You can sell them on the 17th or there-after, if you really want to.

Best Wishes
Paper Tiger

Quite so. "Ex div" means the buyer buys "ex", ie "without" the dividend.

[airedale]

Thanks guys, once you get the "ex" and "cum" sorted out it is clear. Believe it or not I used to be quite good at Latin in my school days.:confused:
I also notice that on the ANZ Share & Bond Trading site that the SP is quoted with EX or CUM around the divi period.

[bull....]

finally could be the breakout cross fingers was in an ascending triangle

[bull....]

target 3.80 if breakout holds from ascending triangle

[Major von Tempsky]

Serious investors have just 17 days (fewer in business day terms) to get on board Spark for the dividend.

[bull....]

its hard not to like the spark dividend yield and that 3.80 target:)

[RGR367]

That's probably going to happen now as they have just announced that they have signed a deal with China Telecom Global to improve interconnectivity. Portion of that announcement is ........

China Telecom Global provides leading access into the Chinese internet market, hosting more than 2.3 million websites, owning more than 70 percent of Chinese internet resources, and managing more than two thirds of all Chinese domain names. The China Telecom Global network has over 63 Points of Presence around the world, more than 300 backbone nodes in China providing 4,000 Gbps of bandwidth, and a global network across 72 countries with over 33 submarine cables.

[bull....]

That's probably going to happen now as they have just announced that they have signed a deal with China Telecom Global to improve interconnectivity. Portion of that announcement is ........

China Telecom Global provides leading access into the Chinese internet market, hosting more than 2.3 million websites, owning more than 70 percent of Chinese internet resources, and managing more than two thirds of all Chinese domain names. The China Telecom Global network has over 63 Points of Presence around the world, more than 300 backbone nodes in China providing 4,000 Gbps of bandwidth, and a global network across 72 countries with over 33 submarine cables.

can only be good, I note also china telecom has partnered with other major companies around the world also looking to expand there business as well into other regions

[bull....]

real battle going on by the shorters here trying to keep the price from breaking out, witness the swings the last few days. will fuel a big jump in price when they capitulate

[bull....]

hourlies possibly coiling up for a upside break

[bull....]

hourlies possibly coiling up for a upside break

is this it?

[bull....]

interest rate drop may feed thru into deposit rates paid by banks - lower rates, makes sparks div yield look even more attractive

[Major von Tempsky]

What a pity McDunk (Duncan McGregor) has departed the scene, gone the way of all flesh I suppose. He used to spend most of his time here castigating Telecom/Spark investors and saying how stupid they were, I think he needs to reread the stats and investment returns now.
One of the other things he couldn't understand was Free Trade, International Specialisation/Comparative Advantage and Exchange and cutting Tariffs....

[tim23]

Good call - I don't miss his contributions too much!
What a pity McDunk (Duncan McGregor) has departed the scene, gone the way of all flesh I suppose. He used to spend most of his time here castigating Telecom/Spark investors and saying how stupid they were, I think he needs to reread the stats and investment returns now.
One of the other things he couldn't understand was Free Trade, International Specialisation/Comparative Advantage and Exchange and cutting Tariffs....

[bull....]

mc dunk quite the character , I remember seeing him a lot on hirequip thread years ago piggy backing that larger character brothercoy

anyway 3 days left before spark goes ex div time to back up the truck or you miss out on those nice tax paid divs

[Bobdn]

Hold Spk but I'm not tempted to buy anymore at these levels. Hell, I'm even tempted to sell:)

[BIRMANBOY]

There has to be a correction at some point..could be after it goes ex-div..or not...but not a question of if just when. Personally I like the feeling I get when I see all that increase there in the plus column...helps counterbalance TTK:p
Hold Spk but I'm not tempted to buy anymore at these levels. He'll, I'm even tempted to sell:)

[Bobdn]

I know what you mean. Spk is definitely my best performing share.

[bull....]

3.80 was a target got close 3.70 - 3.72 it is not uncommon though for an ascending triangle to break to the upside then retest breakout level and then continue upwards - see what happens

[airedale]

Today's Press business page financial diary. Ignore the news that SPK goes ex divi on Thursday. It happened last Thursday. Other newspapers may have the same mistake.

[RGR367]

http://billbennett.co.nz/2016/03/25/spark-spectrum-buy-tilts-broadband-power-balance/

[craic]

For some reason the reality hits home for some people when the dividend is paid, forget about the other dates.I imagine that the price will drop early April.

[RGR367]

For some reason the reality hits home for some people when the dividend is paid, forget about the other dates.I imagine that the price will drop early April.

And that’s very likely as they have to build more towers now to support their fixed wireless service. Others don’t like to see capex increasing so much in a given year. Someone mentioned then that the cost of cell tower is a 6 digit but the blow out is not on the infrastructure itself but expenses associated more on getting resource consents, etc.
But I’m really getting to love what SPK is doing so gut feel says that the sp will just keep getting stronger :cool:

[craic]

Tomorrow is pay-day I think? Wonder if the silly price will drop after that. I've been cashed up since 18th and getting interest on my money waiting for a low price. looks like I might have to wait a bit longer than I expected.

[bull....]

Tomorrow is pay-day I think? Wonder if the silly price will drop after that. I've been cashed up since 18th and getting interest on my money waiting for a low price. looks like I might have to wait a bit longer than I expected.

ill be surprised 4 dollars will come before 3 dollars

[couta1]

ill be surprised 4 dollars will come before 3 dollars Not worth its current price let alone $4, once this rampant market corrects she will come down although not much below $3.40 (It tested $3.40 last week and held)

[bull....]

Not worth its current price let alone $4, once this rampant market corrects she will come down although not much below $3.40 (It tested $3.40 last week and held)

3.40 was the breakout support, so it held - should be up and away lol

[couta1]

3.40 was the breakout support, so it held - should be up and away lol Everythings up and away at the moment but wont stay that way lol.

[bull....]

Everythings up and away at the moment but wont stay that way lol.

what don't you see nzx at 10000 by the end of the year lol

[Master98]

Everythings up and away at the moment but wont stay that way lol.
dear couta old mate, still hold 50k shares bought last year at about $2.85,not sure how high should away, so still hanging there, maybe just like Spark lol.

[couta1]

dear couta old mate, still hold 50k shares bought last year at about $2.85,not sure how high should away, so still hanging there, maybe just like Spark lol. Each to their own Mate, I do just fine when holding Spark shares:cool:

[Master98]

Each to their own Mate, I'm do just fine when holding Spark shares:cool:
checked Spark chart, it is still in perfect uptrend, hopefully hit $4 soon as bull.... said.

[couta1]

checked Spark chart, it is till in perfect uptrend, hopefully hit $4 soon as bull.... said. Good luck to anyone paying $4, I wouldn't pay anymore than $3.40-$3.45 currently.

[Master98]

Good luck to anyone paying $4, I wouldn't pay anymore than $3.40-$3.45 currently.
can't agree mate, good dividend return, stable income, low risk business should hold sp well and potential go up.

[Zaphod]

can't agree mate, good dividend return, stable income, low risk business should hold sp well and potential go up.

I completely agree with the first three parts of what you've said above, however with respect to growth IMO telecommunications has become a commoditised business with potential growth coming from either conversions, growth in connections from other sources (e.g. IoT) or from the sales of value added services (e.g. Lightbox, Spark Digital services etc.) Spark's strategy on the IoT and value-added services isn't quite as clear as I'd like it to be.

[James108]

Good luck to anyone paying $4, I wouldn't pay anymore than $3.40-$3.45 currently.

Why is that? How do you value Spark?

I ask because I have not attempted to value it yet.

[couta1]

Why is that? How do you value Spark?

I ask because I have not attempted to value it yet. Spark has a Medium valuation by 8 Analysts of $3.32 upgraded from $3.18 formally, my gutometer says $3.32 is pretty close to fair value but you decide for yourself. PS- For those with glasses with rose tinting the high value is $3.80:cool:

[bull....]

Spark has a Medium valuation by 8 Analysts of $3.32 upgraded from $3.18 formally, my gutometer says $3.32 is pretty close to fair value but you decide for yourself. PS- For those with glasses with rose tinting the high value is $3.80:cool:

traditional way of fundamentally valuing companies isn't how you should value companies in this environment it hasn't been working for quite a while now

[couta1]

traditional way of fundamentally valuing companies isn't how you should value companies in this environment it hasn't been working for quite a while now How you choose to value Spark is up to you, I don't buy to hold or trade overvalued shares anymore (I've sold down a few of those last week and yesterday for substantial losses)

[bull....]

whats overvalued is very subjective - if you ran on that theory would you still be holding such stocks as aia,fph etc etc etc like I say traditional way of valuing companies hasn't worked for quite some time

[couta1]

whats overvalued is very subjective - if you ran on that theory would you still be holding such stocks as aia,fph etc etc etc like I say traditional way of valuing companies hasn't worked for quite some time I wouldn't buy AIA nor fph at their current prices, there are better options available, same goes for buying Spark at current price. PS-Currently you have droves of rats leaving the sinking ship of low bank deposits piling into shares like Spark, these people just want dividends and most wouldn't have any idea of what fair value might be so the SP gets pushed up beyond its fair value artificially IMO.

[Master98]

I wouldn't buy AIA nor fph at their current prices, there are better options available, same goes for buying Spark at current price. PS-Currently you have droves of rats leaving the sinking ship of low bank deposits piling into shares like Spark, these people just want dividends and most wouldn't have any idea of what fair value might be so the SP gets pushed up beyond its fair value artificially IMO.
Bought AIA at $5.25 when valuation was $4.2!, after interim sp shoot to nearly $7.0 then those so called valuations revised to $6.5, really just play catch-up game, I mean not to be fooled by those valuations.

[couta1]

Anyway work to do so enough rambling for now.PS-I agree with BB in post #693, It's not a matter of if but when a correction will come cause it will come as sure as the winter:cool:

[craic]

Guess what? It's pay day and now the price is down by about 10cps. Monday will see the price begin a further downward track as people realise that the money has gone in the bank or - it isn't going in the bank. Next payday is early October. So it's forget about SPK and try and find some horses that run faster than my more recently favoured ones.

[Major von Tempsky]

I rather suspect that the 9cps drop on Friday was a result of those newbieish investors who have never bothered about a new trans Pacific cable to the US etc and it all came as a rude shock. However there are some words from Spark in the paper today that they still expect to be the first choice cable until 2025 or so and will replace their cable about 2030.

Certainly the investors of the $500 million will be expecting a return on their investment (means that Spark will continue to get a good one too) which (new cable) won't come on stream for 2 more years.

WOLF! Go hide under the bed.

[tim23]

Thought the 9c drop was just a bit of pre-weekend across the board weakness following weak lead from Australia

[craic]

Never mind! I found a couple of fast horses today and got a bit further up the ladder. But what I am looking for is a trading platform to make some money and that should begin about 340cps .

[couta1]

Never mind! I found a couple of fast horses today and got a bit further up the ladder. But what I am looking for is a trading platform to make some money and that should begin about 340cps . Hope those fast horses did okay, another 8c drop today(No surprises to us aye) We know how this share moves and shakes after many years of close involvement with it, it will be retesting that $3.40 barrier again sooner or later but just in case I bought a wee parcel today at $3.47 (36k shares)which is a couple of cents outside the top of my buying range but no worries as I have a good cash pile ready to average down at the necessary moment.

[Bobdn]

Wow couta that's not a small parcel in my universe :)

[Master98]

Hope those fast horses did okay, another 8c drop today(No surprises to us aye) We know how this share moves and shakes after many years of close involvement with it, it will be retesting that $3.40 barrier again sooner or later but just in case I bought a wee parcel today at $3.47 (36k shares)which is a couple of cents outside the top of my buying range but no worries as I have a good cash pile ready to average down at the necessary moment.
Good on you dear couta, sold my 50k shares at $3.66 last Friday, and bought back 25k shares at $3.465 today, my target still $4.0.

[couta1]

Good on you dear couta, sold my 50k shares at $3.66 last Friday, and bought back 25k shares at $3.465 today, my target still $4.0. Great timing and 81cps profit is fantastic, $4 target , yes one day but not atm.

[Master98]

Great timing and 81cps profit is fantastic, $4 target , yes one day but not atm.
I have enough patience for my favourite SPK, at least you and me on the same boat again lol.

[couta1]

I have enough patience for my favourite SPK, at least you and me on the same boat again lol. Yep on the good ship lollipop:cool:

[Master98]

Yep on the good ship lollipop:cool:
Bought SKT at $4.19 when everyone trash it as i saw the value at this price tag, but many people laughing me ( sky tv thread), i did same thing with CEN, basically finance sound firms with good dividend return when sp is reasonable low for me just buy it,didnt expect sp bounce back tomorrow, but will be some day for sure.

[couta1]

Bought SKT at $4.19 when everyone trash it as i saw the value at this price tag, but many people laughing me ( sky tv thread), i did same thing with CEN, basically finance sound firms with good dividend return when sp is reasonable low for me just buy it,didnt expect sp bounce back tomorrow, but will be some day for sure. Yeah I thought about you as SKT hit $5 again after continuing to rise immediately after it shed it's divvy as if it didn't matter ( I never laughed, just thought it was an incredibly ballsy move given Sky's outlook at the time) Once again highlights the value of doing your own thing no matter what anyone else on here says.

[Major von Tempsky]

Don't you guys worry about IRD catching up with you and getting taxed on share speculation? My cardinal rule for a start is I never buy and sell the same share in the same tax year! How do you spell tax audit?

[dobby41]

Surely if you are trading then you would be declaring the income for tax?
Same tax year of different doesn't matter - it is the intention (particularly shown by the action of churn).

[couta1]

Don't you guys worry about IRD catching up with you and getting taxed on share speculation? My cardinal rule for a start is I never buy and sell the same share in the same tax year! How do you spell tax audit? If you buy and sell any share with the primary intent to make a profit then you are liable to pay tax on that profit just like any other similar type of activity, why would you worry about IRD unless your being dishonest? Off course if your running losses overall then there is no tax to pay and you can choose to carry those losses forward on paper and not claim them until you get back in the positive. Whether you buy and sell a share on the same day or five years later has no bearing on your liability to pay tax under NZ law, only your intent at time of purchase.

[bull....]

took my trading profits last week + divs so will re- enter at some stage, still keep my income portion though for hopefully the $4 level at some stage, although I note nzx has had such a run last 5 weeks surely must be a breather soon but hey who knows?

[bull....]

If you buy and sell any share with the primary intent to make a profit then you are liable to pay tax on that profit just like any other similar type of activity, why would you worry about IRD unless your being dishonest? Off course if your running big losses overall then there is no tax to pay and you can choose to carry those losses forward on paper and not claim them until you get back in the positive. Whether you buy and sell a share on the same day or five years later has no bearing on your liability to pay tax under NZ law, only your intent at time of purchase.

yea, just like when I buy a house I never purchase it with the intention to one day sell it for more, it just rises in price no matter what so that's why its tax free because its not your fault price keeps going up is it

[Master98]

I have no ability to be a trader, more be a active share investor keeping invested shares safe and profitable.

[craic]

I'm afraid I will not buy until 341 or lower and it will go lower. I've been playing this game with this share for a few years now and the total number is 37,000. the day I buy they go back on the market at 4cps above the buy price. Tax? Well the division is 30-30-40. 30% set aside for tax, 30% reserve fund and 40% to me. One cent on my lot is $370 so a four cent difference is $1,480 less $400 fees (2 transactions) Profit is only on buy back. Hardly a day passes in the life of this share without a four cent difference. The reserve covers miscalculations when I have to take a small loss to maintain the number. I am cashed up at present and happy to wait but I expect 341 within two days.

[dobby41]

I have no ability to be a trader, more be a active share investor keeping invested shares safe and profitable.

Semantics!
Actions speak louder than words - if you are active and buy and sell the same share regularly then I think IRD would see you as a trader and want tax accordingly.
If you buy a share to keep but something happens and you sell then fine.
But do that often and you are trading.

[couta1]

Semantics!
Actions speak louder than words - if you are active and buy and sell the same share regularly then I think IRD would see you as a trader and want tax accordingly.
If you buy a share to keep but something happens and you sell then fine.
But do that often and you are trading. Until we get a universal capital gains tax in NZ then multitudes of people will continue to transact millions of share transactions every year with only a tiny percentage of them declaring any trading activity, that's the result you get with grey tax laws.

[Master98]

I'm afraid I will not buy until 341 or lower and it will go lower. I've been playing this game with this share for a few years now and the total number is 37,000. the day I buy they go back on the market at 4cps above the buy price. Tax? Well the division is 30-30-40. 30% set aside for tax, 30% reserve fund and 40% to me. One cent on my lot is $370 so a four cent difference is $1,480 less $400 fees (2 transactions) Profit is only on buy back. Hardly a day passes in the life of this share without a four cent difference. The reserve covers miscalculations when I have to take a small loss to maintain the number. I am cashed up at present and happy to wait but I expect 341 within two days.
I am afraid you can get 341 as i said before SPK in perfect uptrend currently which 50MA is the support, 343-345 is the low you can get, anyway good luck to you

[dobby41]

Until we get a universal capital gains tax in NZ then multitudes of people will continue to transact millions of share transactions every year with only a tiny percentage of them declaring any trading activity, that's the result you get with grey tax laws.

True.
Surely it is easier these days for IRD to trawl through a bunch or meta data and produce profiles of people.
Is it possible to open a share trading account with a false name?
I would have thought that was just about impossible with the focus on anti money laundering etc?

[Bobdn]

Spk at a five year high this week. How far we've come from the days of a sub $2 price and XT getting off to that terrible start. As painful as it was, I've sold the last of my Spk shares because I hardly sell off off anything and it was about time I took some profits somewhere. I bought Telecom shares in 2009 at $2.62 (first share purchase since 1987!)and kept on buying during 2009/10 and the XT troubles for at an average purchase price of $2.29.

I'm putting the proceeds towards a cruise and other bit and pieces. No reinvestment here, just pure consumption.

[kizame]

Spk at a five year high this week. How far we've come from the days of a sub $2 price and XT getting off to that terrible start. As painful as it was, I've sold the last of my Spk shares because I hardly sell off off anything and it was about time I took some profits somewhere. I bought Telecom shares in 2009 at $2.62 (first share purchase since 1987!)and kept on buying during 2009/10 and the XT troubles for at an average purchase price of $2.29.

I'm putting the proceeds towards a cruise and other bit and pieces. No reinvestment here, just pure consumption.

Nice one, lots of divvies along the way too.

[tim23]

You forgot the 1:5 CNU issue as well!
Spk at a five year high this week. How far we've come from the days of a sub $2 price and XT getting off to that terrible start. As painful as it was, I've sold the last of my Spk shares because I hardly sell off off anything and it was about time I took some profits somewhere. I bought Telecom shares in 2009 at $2.62 (first share purchase since 1987!)and kept on buying during 2009/10 and the XT troubles for at an average purchase price of $2.29.

I'm putting the proceeds towards a cruise and other bit and pieces. No reinvestment here, just pure consumption.

[Major von Tempsky]

You're suffering from itchy trigger finger. The gross yield percentage vs the yield on bank fixed deposits shows it's got some way to go yet.

If only McDunk were alive and reading this now.....:-)

[couta1]

Spk at a five year high this week. How far we've come from the days of a sub $2 price and XT getting off to that terrible start. As painful as it was, I've sold the last of my Spk shares because I hardly sell off off anything and it was about time I took some profits somewhere. I bought Telecom shares in 2009 at $2.62 (first share purchase since 1987!)and kept on buying during 2009/10 and the XT troubles for at an average purchase price of $2.29.

I'm putting the proceeds towards a cruise and other bit and pieces. No reinvestment here, just pure consumption. Well done, SP is toppy and will soon be heading in a southward direction again,you can bet on that.:cool:

[Bobdn]

You're suffering from itchy trigger finger. The gross yield percentage vs the yield on bank fixed deposits shows it's got some way to go yet.

If only McDunk were alive and reading this now.....:-)

Yeah, maybe. I do have a habit of selling just before huge price increases e.g. Telstra ($3.60) and IFT (sub $2). In this case it really is about trying to find a little balance. It's great accumulating, it's satisfying and feels good...but I could also get run over crossing the road tomorrow. Rest assured I still have plenty of other irons in the fire that could bring glory or absolute misery.

[winner69]

Bob - where you going cruisin'

Good to see you spending some of your gains - i often feel sad when i hear of punters accumulating more and more wealth without spending some .....and then being run over crossing the road (figuratively)

Enjoy your little trip

[tim23]

Really - just in your opinion you probably thought that when they hit $3.60xd, you might just as easily expect the price to move higher esp if the Reserve Bank cuts again soon.
Well done, SP is toppy and will soon be heading in a southward direction again,you can bet on that.:cool: