MET - Metlifecare - one for the fundies?

[BlackPeter]

I'm cycling thru the sector and buying weekly not worrying too much about price thou I do try and buy more when I think one is oversold. Margin account is great to have as my limit grows weekly and gives me capital to jump on something if I don't have cash that week. Buying exclusively retirement sector at present - might win or lose on a weekly price but I don't care

Hmm - I obviously assume you know what you are doing.

And yes, I agree, I think as well that retirement stocks in NZ are still a great long term investment (hold some myself).

However during times when share prices world wide appear to be quite dear it might be a good idea to be careful with buying on margin account. If & when the next crash happens will the banks or brokers be quick to get their money back ... and nobody likes to be in a position where they need to realise losses because the banks force them to sell.

While I think that it is likely for retirement stocks to go up mid or long term - nobody can predict what is around the next corner - and if they happen to dip temporarily (like Ryman did after the GFC by more than 40%) - would your bank still be happy to extend your credit?

It is a dangerous world out there - and one of the things which caught recently my attention (there is somewhere a great post from Hoop) is that margin accounts are at peak values similar like short prior to previous crashes.

Anyway - all the best .... just take care with buying on margin account, particularly towards the end of a long bull cycle ...

[dabsman]

I've never over 30% geared and interest is more than covered by dividend so all good. My margin limit is nearly topped out now and I wont apply for more. 40% drop for me is a dream and I'd just keep on buying - don't need the money for 20 years so not really concerned. Do I know what I'm doing? Of course not!

[forest]

MET receiving no love in this sector the last few weeks. RYM, OCA and SUM are all on good bounces. Not sure why MET isn't enjoying the same sector sentiments?

MET has some leaky building issues, I am not sure if the full scale of this has been exposed. But for the mean time one might want to be cautious.
I believe IFT has greatly reduced or maybe totally sold out of MET.

[Beagle]

MET has some leaky building issues, I am not sure if the full scale of this has been exposed. But for the mean time one might want to be cautious.
I believe IFT has greatly reduced or maybe totally sold out of MET.

Good advice there...wood rot has a strange habit of going deeper and further than originally estimated and restoration costs also have a strange habit of significantly exceeding initial estimations. A classic case of "where there's smoke there's fire" I would have thought.

[BlackPeter]

MET has some leaky building issues, I am not sure if the full scale of this has been exposed. But for the mean time one might want to be cautious.
I believe IFT has greatly reduced or maybe totally sold out of MET.

Correct - IFT sold out (with a nice profit). I am however not sure, whether this was a reflection on MET, they just realised that they are (even with 20%) not in a position to direct the company where they want to steer it, they prefer to be in a majority shareholder position.

And yes, you might have a point re the leaky building issue not fully understood ... things like that take time to investigate - and often you need to do quite destructive investigations before you understand the full extend of the issue.

[forest]

Good advice there...wood rot has a strange habit of going deeper and further than originally estimated and restoration costs also have a strange habit of significantly exceeding initial estimations. A classic case of "where there's smoke there's fire" I would have thought.

And it is not just the cost of recladding, fixing wood rot etc. The oldies who live in those places sometimes need to be rehoused for the duration of the repairs.
Its easy to upset those oldies they just don't except any temporary accomodation they can be quite particular. This comes at a cost.

[tipsy]

I'm cycling thru the sector and buying weekly not worrying too much about price thou I do try and buy more when I think one is oversold. Margin account is great to have as my limit grows weekly and gives me capital to jump on something if I don't have cash that week. Buying exclusively retirement sector at present - might win or lose on a weekly price but I don't care

Yeah I'm retirement heavy as well. Holding OCA, SUM, ARV, LIC all solid gains. Was wanting to load up on OCA earlier in the week but have been a bit slow transferring cash.

Who do you have your margin account with?

[dabsman]

ASB. i applied for 100k which I think may be the lowest you can have? Was also nice to see they have OCA at 60% so my limit is rocketing at present ahha

[Beagle]

And it is not just the cost of recladding, fixing wood rot etc. The oldies who live in those places sometimes need to be rehoused for the duration of the repairs.
Its easy to upset those oldies they just don't except any temporary accomodation they can be quite particular. This comes at a cost.

Yes agreed, you and I might be pretty fussy about our surroundings in our late eighties too Really the estimate that MET issued a while back, (forget was it about $40 million ?), can only go one way and perhaps quite dramatically too ! Try getting house renovations or additions done in Auckland and see if you can get them done anywhere near budget, nobody does ! Pure speculation on my part but I wouldn't be surprised if the final bill was double or even more than the original estimate.

[dabsman]

ASB. i applied for 100k which I think may be the lowest you can have? Was also nice to see they have OCA at 60% so my limit is rocketing at present ahha

Sorry there are 20k and 50k options right up to 1M