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Today we are watching…
1.ย Metro Bank (#mtro)
Shares in this bank are up a ridiculous 25% as investors celebrate the rapid turnaround in its fortunes and the demise of its CEO and founder. Last week, it was all doom and gloom with Metro Bank staring down the barrel of bankruptcy. Funding plans to keep it afloat had fallen through, and its controversial leader, Vernon Hill, had promised to go down with the ship after being accused of conflicts of interest. Well, miracles do happen, it turns out. Big Vern has vowed to leave soon and not only that, but an even bigger deal was reached for funding! Before this one, no new high street bank had opened in one hundred years in the UK. Customers have never had a bad word to say about the company, which investors hope will now go conflict-of-interest-free for another one hundred years!
2. Tesco (#tesco)
The CEO who saved Tesco effectively just said โYOLOโ and handed in his notice. โDrasticโ Dave Lewis was forced to help be the whistleblower of his own blue-chip company shortly after taking over in 2014. The British supermarket lied to investors in its financial reports, a cardinal stock market sin! Tesco shares were decimated following the news, but are now gradually recovering as the grocery chain takes the fight to German discount supermarkets Aldi and Lidl. The grocer is also doing well by cutting costs, a policy pioneered by Dave Lewis. โI want to take some proper time out with my family and recharge my batteries. You pass this way only once.โ The clash of his departure with an earnings beat left shares of Tesco trading roughly in the same place they started yesterday’s session.