Northgate Information Solutions Share Discussion Threads

[ards] 09/8/2007 18:43

fear gripping markets. why, greedy fund managers bought high yield mortgage bonds to make sure they beat market and got their bonuses. sounds familar. time to get out cash and buy distressed sellers.

[hotfinance14] 09/8/2007 18:40

I am sure Stone is not worried about the share price .it will bounce back.

[beercapafn] 09/8/2007 18:32

Hi Oranges..

I think you are first person to have posted an 'Oximirion' post on NIS

a 'sell' notice wraped in a 'Buy' post... Confused.... Luton....

[oranges] 09/8/2007 14:38

I am out of NIS, but I'm stunned at this price, these must be a buy!

[eithin] 09/8/2007 11:45

Not a chartist but 70p looks likely........

[bluesbreaker] 09/8/2007 11:44

drunker50
Can't you invite a few fund managers to go with you and your son to the football?
They might be inspired to hop on board.

[hotfinance14] 09/8/2007 11:39

Some news of big contracts would be nice.

[eithin] 09/8/2007 10:20

some biggish sells going through ????

[foxiedealer] 09/8/2007 10:10

What is the matter witht his stock...... it just keeps falling. Now over 25% down compared to the price offered by the Private equity a few months back.

I thought the management was going to add value to this share, not destroy it!

[hotfinance14] 08/8/2007 16:57

Northgate strengthens its housing team with two new appointments
6/08/2007 [General]


Northgate Information Solutions today announces the appointment of Jane Fletcher and Carol Duncan to its housing team as the company looks to strengthen its position as a leading provider of innovative services and solutions to the housing market.

Jane, who has been appointed Housing Marketing Manager, has considerable experience in the social housing sector, and joins from IBS OPENSystems where she worked as a pre-sales team manager. Her responsibilities at Northgate will include market analysis, advising on housing product development, and working alongside account management teams to support business strategy.

Carol, who has been appointed Business Development Executive, also comes to Northgate from IBS OPENSystems, where she was Business Development Manager for the southwest region, specialising in housing, revenues and finance systems. In her new role, she will be responsible for promoting Northgate's solutions and services in the southern region of the UK.

Joe Bradley, Managing Director of Local Government & Social Housing at Northgate Public Services, said today:
"I am delighted to welcome Jane and Carol to the team. Their knowledge of the social housing sector will prove a great asset as we look to develop our work and deliver excellent public services.

"Jane and Carol are committed to making a real difference for both social landlords and residents in local communities, believing passionately in placing citizens at the heart of public service delivery. They will benefit our Public Services team immensely."

[filmboy] 06/8/2007 18:27

What a great post. Well written.

[ards] 06/8/2007 10:18

Posted on Thursday, August 2, 2007, 12:00AM
Here's a fact: The speculators and hedge fund managers who run today's stock market need market volatility in order to make money.


They can't make enough money if the market stays flat or moves only a bit, so they like extreme and unexpected price movements. They especially like sudden, surprise movements down, when they can make money off stocks they borrow and sell -- or, as they say, "sell short."


Money Lust Satisfied


That's what's been happening the past couple of weeks. But it's not interesting to say that the speculators are whipping the market around to satisfy their money lust. So the speculators themselves make up reasons for why the market is fluctuating, flog those reasons to the media, and then profit if some other speculators believe the jive reasons and jump in the way the manipulators want them to.

Supposedly, the market is "correcting" because of worries about the housing slowdown, and also because of fears that the debt markets that support mergers and acquisitions is drying up.


These are interesting theories, and people who don't know a lot about the stock market or the economy might find them beguiling. What follows are a few truths that show how shallow these "reasons" for the stock market moves are.

Housing a Theory


Yes, the housing market has slowed from a spectacular bubble level to a simply pretty good level. Housing sales and starts are now about what they were in 2002, and no one thought we were in a housing depression then.


In any event, housing is only about 5 percent of the economy. If it falls by 15 percent, that would represent a fall-off of about .75 percent. That's not trivial, but it's also not the stuff of which recessions are made.


The fact is that there is no recession. The economy is suffering from a labor shortage, not a surplus of unemployment. The Fed is worried about excess demand, not slack demand.


Corporate profits set new records every day. Whatever's happening in residential sales and building is simply not slowing down the economy. Why should a Boeing or a Merck or a Pfizer have any reaction to housing at all? Because the speculators sell everything they can when nervousness sets in -- and for no other reason.

A Minor Major Mess


Subprime is a mess. But it's a small mess. Subprime mortgages account for roughly 20 percent of mortgages even in the most heavily exposed states. About 20 percent of them are delinquent in some way. That's 4 percent of mortgages.


Of these, maybe half, or 2 percent, will go into foreclosure. There will be roughly 50 percent recovery on sale of these. This is a loss of 1 percent in the mortgage market -- a sum the lenders have already made many times over because of the hefty fees on those deals. In the context of the size of the U.S. financial sector, it's nothing.

And why should a crisis in subprime drive down stocks in Mexico and Thailand? Again, because the speculators seek to create panic to make money by selling short, and they sell short everything.


There's simply no connection between subprime and developed or developing nations' stocks. This by itself shows the thin context of the selling wave late last month.

Money's Still Cheap


What about the supposed drying up of loans for mergers and acquisitions by private equity firms? Well, here's a good, simple test of just how valid that explanation is for stock market moves: The majority of private equity takeovers are financed with junk debt.

If there really were a major shortage of funds for these deals, the interest rate on the junk would skyrocket. Instead, while the rate has risen by about 150 basis points in the past month, the spread between junk and investment grade is now about 290 basis points, according to leading junk analyst Martin Fridson.

This is a lot lower than the year-end average of the spread from 2002 to 2006, and far below the almost 800 basis point spread during a true interest-rate crunch like the one after the tech meltdown in 2000-2002.


So that's phony, too. Interest rates have risen, but not anything like what they've done in real crises. And besides, the Dow fell by about 550 points the week before last, yet not one of the Dow stocks is involved as either acquiror or acquiree in a private equity deal.

In short, money is no longer virtually free the way it was for private equity deals in the past year. But it's not expensive by historical standards, either.


Spreading the Fear


In other words, it's all the speculators trying to panic us so their sell programs will make money. And they'll make money as long as they can spread their panic. When they can't do that any longer, they'll work the long side -- and make up reasons for that, too.


In the meantime, the economy is strong. Profits are great, and interest rates are low and will stay that way. Don't sell. With all the shrieking about the market, it only fell to what it was about five weeks ago -- and we didn't think we were poor then.

So let the speculators shout "fire." As of right now, they're not blowing anything but smoke

[tillman] 06/8/2007 08:40

I lost patience with this one and sold for a loss first thing this morning.
I still rate the company as very good but there has been a shift in market sentiment and I wanted to be out.
Looking at the chart, it could well bounce from this level up to around 77/78 before hitting resistance. It does look oversold but sometimes things can keep going up or down irrespective of the overbought or oversold indicators respectively.

[stable] 06/8/2007 08:31

perhaps the Belgians are selling the paper accumalated from the recent takeover.

[ards] 06/8/2007 08:14

think some feel private equity groups may now no longer be interested

[tillman] 05/8/2007 09:23

I am beginning to think that 250 stocks are being dumped for the relatively cheaper 100 stocks. Annoying that safe 250 stocks are being hit hard!

[togglebrush] 04/8/2007 15:05

3 previous large volumes of the 10m order in last two months or so have all had a small share price increase. I guess that those were buys and now the owners need cash for their reserves etc. We are in strange times !

[togglebrush] 03/8/2007 17:19

Large volumes going through today. Over 10m which is well above 2m as mean and 4m at lower end of upper quartile (40 m max) on my reckoning for past year ???

[bluesbreaker] 03/8/2007 15:03

Sooner rather than later, I hope. What's happening to the sp? :(

[hotfinance14] 03/8/2007 07:30

They are waiting for proof of integration..Stone will deliver.

[slaterlp] 02/8/2007 23:31

Seems the market doesn't think that NIS can digest Arinso without problems.

If it gets any cheaper, its going to be the bargain of the year.

[hotfinance14] 01/8/2007 22:15

Northgate secures £2 million contract wins for CallTouch
27/07/2007 [Trade / PR]


Northgate Information Solutions, a leading provider of innovative technology solutions and services, today announces that it has secured contracts worth over £2 million in the last six months to manage the complex communications needs of eight major organisations.

Northgate's CallTouch will be used in the control rooms of London Underground, Network Rail, Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5, and five police forces – South Yorkshire, Thames Valley, Hertfordshire, Tayside and Dorset – to enable them to improve call-handling times, speed-up responses, and direct resources more effectively.

Control rooms and call-handling centres are often unable to join up communications and IT systems, leading to reduced efficiency and longer inquiry times. CallTouch is a fully-integrated system which enables simultaneous control of a range of communications channels, including telephone, radio, CCTV and IT systems.

In a police control room setting, operators answering calls from the public are immediately provided with on-screen details of the identity and location of callers. Using an integrated geographical information system (GIS) they can then locate, inform via radio and mobilise the nearest and most appropriate resource for any incident.

CallTouch delivers:

- increased efficiency in locating and dispatching resources through a user-friendly, touch-screen display;
- improved call-handling through supplying the operator with details of any previous contact with the caller;
- a reduction in response times through faster processing of individual inquiries.

CallTouch is already being used by organisations throughout the country including police forces, fire brigades, ambulance services, utilities and the Ministry of Defence.

Speaking today, Ian Blackhurst, Managing Director of Criminal Justice & Public Safety at Northgate Public Services, said:
"In the pressurised environment of a busy control room or call-handling centre, effective communication is vital. Northgate is committed to addressing the challenges facing organisations required to manage complex communications and respond quickly to incidents.

"CallTouch gives control rooms the confidence that communications will be handled swiftly, smoothly and efficiently, helping organisations to improve their operational efficiency and encourage greater public confidence."

[Ends]