Northern Rock vs Barlcays Bank

I've watched with interest, the media frenzy surrounding the Northern Rock's decision to get emergency funding from the Bank of England last week due to a cashflow problem. The reason I've watched with interest is that since the story broke and the media basically decimated the Northern Rock by over coverage of the story and making it sound like they had done something the other banks hadn't done, therefore creating a fear factor in the general public; I spent the whole time yelling at the telly asking why this kind of coverage hadn't been given to Barclays Bank when it TWICE went to the Bank of England in August for emergency funding.

Barclays bank had borrowed £314 million to settle a loan earlier in August and then £1.6 billion later in the month. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article2358155.ece
Now, were Barclays just clever in how they explained away the need for these 2 loans within a month or are they seen to be such a large creditable instituion that the media 'let them off'.

The banks have all announced huge profits in the billions in the last couple of years, have kept interest rates to savers low and spent billions on takeover deals etc. So are they actually any better tahn any 'Joe Blogg's' member of the public who has made money, spent too much and forgotten to keep reserves for a rainy day. No they are not. But it's public money they are all borrowing just now and it is the public who wil pay again at the end of the day by not being allowed the credit facilities to sort their own mess out while the banks just trun cap in hand to the BOE.

Who ever said it was a fair world.

Happy Birthday !

To the QE2 and Me
Both 40 today !

But for some reason, I haven't made the news ........ d'oh .... lol

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/7003848.stm

QE2 back on Clyde after 40 years

In Pictures: QE2 The QE2 has marked the 40th anniversary of its launch by returning to the stretch of river where it was built.
The liner, which has been on a celebratory tour, will be given a gala reception at Greenock, on the Clyde.
It is the world's most travelled liner, having notched up 5.6 million nautical miles while carrying 2.5 million passengers.
The vessel was launched from the John Brown shipyard in Clydebank on 20 September, 1967.
It berthed at Ocean Terminal, Greenock, on Thursday and at 1428 BST the ship's whistle will blow to mark the exact moment of its launch
About 100 workers involved in the construction of the QE2 have been invited as guests of honour.
The QE2 will be delivered to Dubai in November 2008, where it will cease its role as an ocean-going passenger vessel.
It will be refurbished and transformed into a luxury floating hotel.

Is it time Tadpole morphed?

I've had a very difficult few weeks myself recently having been ill and various other 'life' stuff.....phew! It has meant I didn't have either the time or heart to blog for a bit, but it has given me time to have a good think about the latest Tadpole situation.

Yet again, Tadpole dropped a bombshell on the shareholders just when they thought it was safe to go back in the water.....lol.....but through the Geospatial Division for the second time instead of the Streaming side which we are so used to.

Could this spell the end of the line for the name Tadpole and indeed is this the best opportunity for a long time for it to really metamorphosise and shake off the bad news, bad news, bad news, expectations of the British Press. Why do I say this?

Well since GSD haven't produced any new business this year other than the Ordnance Survey contract that they just announced is ending already - on top of the original price dropping news of the OS review on the Phoenix Project - halving the GSD revenue for this financial year, where can they go now. I think the next we will hear of them will be either asking for shareholder approval for a sale of the division to perhaps ESRI if they will have them for their GoSync product which they promote or to another suitor for the Iplan product or for a Management Buyout at a knock down price.

Either of the above would leave Tadpole with one division, Endeavors Technologies Inc, Which in reality the name would bear no relationship to Tadpole, so why have any confusion with 2 names for a one division company and why not use this as the best presented opportunity for years to drop the name that the press expect to announce bad news from and get a big brush out and sweep clean the floor for the latest darling product of the technology world - Streaming.

I would find it hard not to still think of myself as a Tadder....lol..it's like an illness in itself, but I would like to see what seems to be a company with new life breathing through it have the best chance ever and attack the press as Endeavors Technologies PLC, effectually making it a new story to the press.

Some people have been calling for a name change for several years now, but I personally couldn't see the point previously as what would you have called it, what with having 2 divisions that the Directors kept telling us had no synergy, and yet still represent them both. If there is only one company though, then there is no question of what to call it is there, so I'd support a name change at the same time as a disposal of the GSD side, if that's the route they go down with this latest set back.

In an email to a shareholder recently, Peter Bondar expressed that Endeavors Technologies have been receiving some good leads through the Stream24-7 site that is powered by AppExpress, which means that people must be trying the product and liking what they are seeing, and using. It is the singular most simple method of trying out a product that I've ever experienced and I'm no techie, so if people in the know are trying it out from that site, then their understanding of the simplicity of the experience must be exciting for them especially if they are an IT person running around updating products on PC's whenever there is a product update.

My hopes are that this latest setback in Tadpole hasn't caused problems and a setback in the streaming division, as after all, a company signing up for a new product doesn't particularly want to be hearing that the said company is short of funding as we keep getting told via the RNS's.

Presumably if GSD is sold/disposed of then assuming that Endeavors have business in the pipelines ready to be signed or close to it, then the funds created from the sale should give them the stability to progress for the moment and to get past the funding issue to the point where their own revenue streams should start to support them.

A name change just now might also be just what is needed to get institutional investors aboard as they may have a better understanding of what they are investing in if they only have one company to focus on.

Of course GSD might not be disposed of - that is purely speculation on my part, but the next few weeks will be interesting to say the least.