share prices?

homealone_2

Nick_C wrote: »

You can see performance on these 3 shares for the last year here ...

http://www.google.co.uk/finance?chdnp=1&chdd=1&chds=1&chdv=1&chvs=maximized&chdeh=0&chfdeh=0&chdet=1389889800000&chddm=128772&chls=IntervalBasedLine&cmpto=LON:NG;LON:BG&cmptdms=0;0&q=LON:CNA&ntsp=0&ei=JvrXUqi0BuipwAOyVQ

Centrica's price is 5% down on a year ago, and down 20% on 4 months ago. BG and NG have both risen substantially. Centrica may well not improve unless and until Labour lose the next general election, given their threat to interfere in the energy markets.

So IMHO, a good time to sell BG and NG. Centrica is a gamble. But if she bought them more than two years ago, your SIL may still be making a profit.

Personally, I'm holding Centrica for the long term. The dividend is currently more than 5% net for basic rate tax payers.

from what I gather she bought the gb when they first came out but the ng and centrica she is a bit vague on and thinks she was given them when the original company she bought from changed hands ???????

Glen_Clark

Nick_C wrote: »

Centrica may well not improve unless and until Labour lose the next general election, given their threat to interfere in the energy markets.

Politicians Pre election promises.
Labour can't really cut energy prices because they need to persuade the energy companies to build new power stations.
As a National Grid shareholder I am more concerned about politicians going back on the green energy subsidies they promised, which National Grid has invested heavily in. But with a PE ratio of 11.3 and a yield of 5.2% I am reluctant to sell.

bowlhead99

Centrica used to be part of BG, so it's likely she got them when BG was restructured into the two separate businesses (15-20 years ago), and she then had two lots of shares from that point.

Anyway, it doesn't really matter what she paid for them against what she could get for them now. What matters is what they are worth now, against what they might potentially be worth to her in the future.

Held for a decent amount of time from now they should continue to go up in value and pay dividends, more than money in a basic back account. The surgery over time will also bring her happiness of unknown value so whether to cash in for surgery now is a question nobody can really answer for her.

But ignoring what she might spend it on -what we can say, is bearing in mind the relative values of all these shares compared to a few years ago, it is definitely not the worst time to have sold. If she wants to sell at some point, better to be doing it now while shares are in great demand and decent prices, rather than some other time that they have not been. (There have been many of those "worse times" in the 80s or 90 s or 00s or 10s)