BT shares...

frenchplonka

Does anyone have an opinion on how BT as a whole may preform in the next 3-5 years reason I ask is I have started working for plusnet who are owned by BT and am able to buy shares at a 20% reduction on the current price when I join the scheme.

would you invest in this regardless or should I look or ask for opinions on BT's future im pretty clueless but any shares would be taken from wages before tax ( so thats a saving on tax ) and also have no arrangement fee ( again another saving i think )

opinions welcome as im clueless about this kinda of thing

kidmugsy

With a 20% discount, there is presumably money to be made by buying the shares while meantime "shorting" them elsewhere. Or would this be a sacking offence if discovered? Or perhaps your spouse could "short" them?

Gadfium

frenchplonka wrote: »

Does anyone have an opinion on how BT as a whole may preform in the next 3-5 years reason I ask is I have started working for plusnet who are owned by BT and am able to buy shares at a 20% reduction on the current price when I join the scheme.

would you invest in this regardless or should I look or ask for opinions on BT's future im pretty clueless but any shares would be taken from wages before tax ( so thats a saving on tax ) and also have no arrangement fee ( again another saving i think )

opinions welcome as im clueless about this kinda of thing

Sounds like the Share Incentive Scheme. Is it the one where you can invest £150 per month, direct from your wages? If so, then you have to hold the shares for 5 years, otherwise NI and Income Tax will be payable on them. After 5 years you can sell them tax and NI free (also Capital Gains Tax free if you sell them from within the scheme)

frenchplonka wrote: »

Does anyone have an opinion on how BT as a whole may preform in the next 3-5 years

If anyone knew that, then they'd probably also know the winning numbers on the Lottery.

frenchplonka

Gadfium wrote: »

Sounds like the Share Incentive Scheme. Is it the one where you can invest £150 per month, direct from your wages? If so, then you have to hold the shares for 5 years, otherwise NI and Income Tax will be payable on them. After 5 years you can sell them tax and NI free (also Capital Gains Tax free if you sell them from within the scheme)

Yea plan on putting them in the 3 year scheme and yes it is the SIS system but at a 20% discount seems a really good idea to have this as my first look into the stock market I currently have too much money left over a month after getting this job so im just looking to save save save



If anyone knew that, then they'd probably also know the winning numbers on the Lottery.

Yea I wish I knew them too kinda interesting that we are buying EE could be good for the share price quad play and all that

Gadfium

frenchplonka wrote: »

Yea I wish I knew them too kinda interesting that we are buying EE could be good for the share price quad play and all that

Well, if it goes through then I reckon it can only be good for the shareprice. Less so for the employees as I would think that there will be lots of jobs going AWOL.
If it doesn't go through then the shareprice will tank.

Londoner_1

Go for it.

BT shares are rising after staying static for last 10 years.

frenchplonka

Yea hopefully as plusnet are owned by BT but run as a standalone I wont suffer a job loss plus we have been growing year on year ever since BT bought us so it would be silly to cull us but who knows hehe if only i knew that BT was going to release some game 'changer' id be in on the shares

frenchplonka

Londoner_1 wrote: »

Go for it.

BT shares are rising after staying static for last 10 years.

I seriously wish i could invest atm but the share scheme is closed till the next tax year i think so i gotta wait!

unless i just buy shares at current price till then from where ever you buy them from

grey_gym_sock

Londoner_1 wrote: »

Go for it.

BT shares are rising after staying static for last 10 years.

staying static for 10 years? have you looked at the share price graph?!

you seem to be advocating momentum investing, i.e. buying a share that is currently rising. there is strong evidence that this method works, but that means buying a portfolio of at least a few hundred shares which are showing positive momentum (and ideally also shorting a portfolio of a few hundred shares which are showing negative momentum i.e. falling), and amending the portfolio as the momentums of those shares and other available shares change. implementing this is beyond the resources of just about any private investor. buying a single share which is going up is not a proven strategy - it's just a shot in the dark.

i have held BT shares for some years (bought at about 167p in 2008, then they fell to less than 80p, since when they've risen to 435p). i think of it as a boring, utility-type share (which is a good thing, IMHO). the dividend yield is not that great at the current share price, however. i'm happy to continue to hold, though i don't expect spectacular gains from here. i should mention that my approach to share selection is based less and less on the idea that i know anything about which shares to hold - it is mainly based on the idea that if i hold a wide variety of shares from different sectors, then perhaps the results won't be too bad (which sounds like an argument to use tracker funds instead of buying invidual shares).