Hbos Shares

sKiTz-0

Hi all,

I have previously had shares with HBOS from the merger with Halifax & Bank Of Scotland, and sold these a while ago when they were £9.something.

I have a small amount of savings and have been keeping an eye on these for a while.

I was wondering if now is the time to buy them, as they can't really get much lower. This is money that I can do without for a long term period, so could comfortably wait until the shares have gone back up in a few years - let's face it they can't get much worse!

Does anybody know if now is a good time to buy? And what difference the loyds merger will have?

Thanks

apt

Some people bought Northern Rock shares on the grounds that they used to cost £12 and were now so cheap that they could not fall further. I made the mistake of buying Marconi shares a few years ago thinking they would bounce back. Buying HBOS or indeed RBS is a punt. You might get a good capital gain in the short or medium term or they might fall even further. What is certain is that you will get little or no dividend for the next few years. As with all single shares only put in money you can afford to lose entirely.

Reaper

These have been insanely volatile stocks recently. I bought some when I thought they were at the bottom only to see the share price drop 40% one day and rise 30% another.

Not shares to buy if you have a weak heart!

My opinion was the merger would be a good thing for the share price, possibly not quite so good for consumers. They will corner so much of the market between them that in normal times the monopilies and mergers commission would not have allowed it to go ahead.

That assumes both banks survive of course. Don't touch them unless you have money you can afford to lose.