Leon Boros

I was very sad to hear that Roger Lawson has passed away. Roger was a tireless champion of the private investor and played a central role in the establishment of @ShareSoc. He was intelligent, determined and fearless. His fluid writing style made his blog, roliscon.blog, consistently engaging. Roger could be pugnacious and, at times, stubborn - qualities that sometimes made him challenging to deal with - but he also showed real integrity and grace in acknowledging mistakes, as he did following the Globo plc episode more than a decade ago. His death, coming so soon after the untimely losses of David Webb and Mark Bentley, is a significant blow to all of us who care about the rights of private investors. My condolences to his son Alex and the rest of his family.

Depressing. UK GDP per capita has been flat for two decades. Without growth, the welfare state is on borrowed time. We need to shrink the state and unleash enterprise.

@FranceskAlbs @Rehiana1980 Doesn’t this exchange show the problem Israel faces with this constituency? Even mild deviation from the narrative makes you the enemy. It’s hard to see how a future Palestinian state shaped by that mentality would be democratic or at peace with itself or its neighbours.

@Rehiana1980 My "weak stance on Palestine". That's memorable.

I didn't like this woman. I hated her weak stance on Palestine (but not to worry...she was the victim...who does that remind you of?!) And ...guess what, my instincts were right again. People just don't see it.

US Supreme Court strikes down Trump’s Tariffs. “The president asserts the extraordinary power to unilaterally impose tariffs of unlimited amount, duration, and scope,” Roberts wrote for the court. “In light of the breadth, history, and constitutional context of that asserted authority, he must identify clear congressional authorization to exercise it.” The emergency authority Trump attempted to rely on, the court said, “falls short.” 6-3 majority.

Barclays Bank my best performing share in 2025 has just released its Annual Report which contains some very exciting targets including the prospect of a 5-6% dividend yield. It aims to :- 1) lift its RoTE from 11.3% to 14% by 2028 2) increase capital distribution (dividends and buy backs) from £3.7bn in 2025 to £15bn over the three years 2026 to 2028 3) buyback a further £1bn of equity. As it bought back £2.5bn in 2025 and given its commitment to increase capital distribution to an average of £5bn over the next 3 years the dividends will increase substantially from the £1.2bn paid out in 2025. Assuming £4.5bn of capital distributions in 2026 that means total dividends of £3.6bn, three times the value of the 2025 dividend. The forward dividend yield for 2026 could be in region of 5-6%. Tangible Net Asset Value per share increased 14.5% in 2025 to 409p. The company now trades on a modest premium to its TNAV of 20%.

I’m speaking tonight at 19:20 on Mello Monday. Mello Insights: Leon Boros' 2026 Investing Strategy & Stocks To Watch. Not too late to join. melloevents.com/mm090226

Yes. The status quo is unsustainable and damaging to both peoples. A viable two-state solution would have to be realistic, reciprocal, and rooted in consent. That would mean: A Palestinian state alongside Israel, with major Jewish settlement blocs near the Green Line annexed to Israel, in return for equivalent land swaps Palestinians in the Triangle given a democratic choice to join Palestine or remain citizens of Israel Jewish settlers who remain in a future Palestinian state granted full civil, political, and economic rights Freedom of movement between the two states for work, family, and religious access Jerusalem preferably remaining undivided, with shared governance and guaranteed access to holy sites A limited Palestinian right of return to Israel, focused on family reunification rather than demographic reversal. Compensation: •for Palestinians who lost land and property in the Nakba •and for Jews expelled from Middle Eastern and North African countries in the 1950s–60s A federal or confederal structure, with: •a shared constitutional framework •a strong joint judiciary to enforce federal rights •and coordinated security arrangements for borders. For this to work would require things that are brutally hard to achieve: •Referendums approving the deal on both sides •An end to terrorism and rejectionism by dissenting minorities •Palestinian acceptance of Israel’s right to self-determination and the Jewish people’s historic connection to the land •Israeli acceptance that biblical claims to Eretz Israel cannot override political reality, and that permanent rule over another people must end. In truth I think the Palestinians have much further to travel than the Jewish population of Israel. They have rejected every proposal for a two state solution going back to 1936.

Do you support a 2-state solution?

Congratulations. Glad to have been of some assistance. I hope you didn’t follow my Novo Nordisk suggestion! youtu.be/mufcv88NvI4

It looks like Beazley will go to Zurich at £13.35 including a 25p dividend. A 62.8% premium to the price before the bid was announced. My original holding bought in 2011 cost me just £1.10. The good news was tempered by a profits warning at Novo Nordisk. It beat 2025 expectations but it now expects sales to drop in 2026 because of downward pricing pressure in the US. You can’t win them all.

Thank you for honouring Holocaust Memorial Day. However, on the same day, in another tweet, you repeated your clarion call: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” As you must know, just under half of world Jewry now lives in Israel — over 7 million people — within a global population that has still not recovered to its 1939 level. Israel and its future therefore matter profoundly to Jews worldwide. Given Jewish history, from expulsion from their ancestral homeland under the Romans through centuries of persecution culminating in the Holocaust, Jews are not going to risk their lives, hard-won freedoms, and democracy on political solutions that do not include a sovereign State of Israel. Hamas’s founding charter, and the events of 7 October, make painfully clear what Jews would reasonably expect from a Palestine extending “from the river to the sea.” Israel is also a strong state, economically and militarily. Responsible Palestinian leaders recognise these realities, seek to change the narrative, and pursue realistic outcomes that could genuinely improve the lives of their people. The truth is that, in the real world, your chant has only one meaning for Palestinians: “From the river to the sea only brings us more misery.” For Jews, if acted upon, it would mean a second Holocaust. Rather than repeating slogans, you would do better to listen to Palestinian voices seeking reconciliation and a future built on realism @aziz0nomics @realbassemeid @AzizAbuSarah @SSinijlawi

@FranceskAlbs “Abomination without borders.” Really! You are more an agent provocateur than a UN Rapporteur. A disgrace to the office and doing a major disservice to the UN.

In Italy, France, and Australia: as police brutality and intimidation failed to silence demands for accountability for Apartheid Israel, pro-Israel politicians seek to outlaw anti-genocide expression (under the pretext of fighting antisemitism!). Abomination without borders.

Delighted with yesterday’s indicative offer for #Beazley plc from Zurich at £12.80. Beazley is my longest held equity position going back 15 years. From original purchase it’s now a 10x bagger in addition to significant dividends over the period. Management may be able to squeeze out another 20p to 70p - but hopefully they won’t be too greedy or are too focussed on job preservation and their freedom of action. A cracking start to 2026.

@aziz0nomics Your instincts are right. They match mine entirely. This is a good and decent man. Iran would rise like a phoenix if his vision were to come true.

I like Reza Pahlavi. I like his rhetoric about human rights, democracy, and very importantly about peace in the Middle East and between Muslims, Jews and all religions. I think that Iran's transition to full democracy will be a success with his involvement.

Sadly another champion of the retail investor has passed away. David Webb, who was awarded an MBE in the summer, was active in the Hong Kong market and led successful initiatives to improve transparency. He was just 60 years old. reuters.com/sustainability…

Don’t let them throw away their young lives with their impossible demands. Instead do the responsible thing as a Member of Parliament and persuade them to choose life over “martyrdom” - a concept that has little relevance in modern liberal democracies but seems to dominate the minds of Hamas and other radical Islamists whose causes you appear to support. Let’s remind ourselves that the first execution will take place shortly of a young demonstrator who stood against the Islamic regime in Iran. Has he enjoyed due process or the other 500+ who have been shot dead in the streets. Western democracy may not be perfect but no one is putting a gun to the head of the hunger strikers. They have agency as do you. Use your voice wisely.

Heba Muraisi is in critical condition on day 72 of her hunger strike. She struggling to breathe and suffering uncontrollable muscle spasms. Kamran Ahmed is on day 65. He is experiencing shrinkage to the muscle of his heart and has been diagnosed with bradycardia. Their lives are in immediate danger — yet Starmer’s Labour government refuses to engage. This Labour government is prepared to let people die rather than uphold due process. As a movement, we must not allow this to happen.

Reading the excellently written The Curious Case of Mike Lynch by Katie Prescott is a useful reminder of the red flags to look out for when attending or listening to an investor conference call. 1. Management’s unwillingness to break down revenues by type. In this case Lynch didn’t want to disclose the rising proportion of hardware sales in Autonomy’s overall sales numbers. 2. Look out for situations where the CEO takes a question meant for the CFO or where the CEO takes over mid way through the CFO’s reply. Most importantly look closely at the CFO when the CEO speaks. Is he or she nervous or giving non verbal clues that show discomfort? According to Prescott, Sushovan Hussain Autonomy’s CFO who was later convicted of fraud hated investor conferences and would become very nervous in them. Remember it’s always the accountant who go to prison in these cases. They are nervous because have the most to lose. 3. When the cashflow doesn’t follow profits be very sceptical. Management will talk about investing in Capex/Software development, and in Autonomy’s case marketing spend as well, but so often it’s a sign that profits are being massaged. A big clue is management’s failure to address working capital and cash movements in its annual/interim reports or presentations. 4. When you ask a difficult question on an online conference call and it doesn’t get answered or in a face to face meeting management say they will come back to you on a particular point you have made - it almost certainly means they have something to hide. 5. Management are defensive and get angry when you push on a particular point. It almost always means they have been found out. MIke Lynch was notorious for going after analysts who were deemed difficult or unsound.