We advised at Christmas that disappointed Shell shareholders should at least hang on and promised to revisit the stock after its 2003 results. The fall guys having fallen and some, albeit limited, boardroom reforms having been set in motion, sentiment at least should improve. Since then, of course, it has wiped out 3.9 billion barrels of its stated reserves and fired its chairman. Shell shares trade on 7 times post-tax cash flows compared with almost 9.6 times at BP and 10.3 times at BG.The key question in this sector is if and when Shell will be a tempting investment again. The valuation gap between the haves and the have-not of the FTSE 100 oil and gas sector has never been wider. Luc is part-time and not unlike other FTSE 100 Index chairman has other interests and it is natural for him to do so.”Mr Vandevelde, who joined M&S in February 2000, was seen as the architect of the M&S recovery, with operating profits in 2002 beating anything achieved by the group over the previous four years.. The like-for-like figure for the year showed a decline of 0.4%.A quarterly sales fall of 13.7% was also seen in homeware as M&S continued to make changes to its product offering in the department.Mr Holmes also dismissed reports that major shareholders had expressed concern to the board about the time spent at M&S by Luc Vandevelde, the former chief executive who now occupies a part-time role as chairman.He said: “Our roles are very clear.

Critics said he was losing dividends on stars such as Vodafone.The future of the stock marketMr Dye believes that stock markets are still overvalued. Of the FTSE100, he said: “It is still probably not priced to give very good long-term real returns.”. Marks & Spencer surpassed even the worst fears of City analysts today as disappointing sales figures cast new doubt on the retail group’s recovery. There is an argument for saying things have got ahead of themselves in some cases but the general economic situation remains good.”DYE’S OUTLOOKJapanIn charge of a portfolio worth £60b, Mr Dye ended investments in Japanese companies in the mid-1980s. Within a year, the crisis in the nation’s economy was apparent, costing other investors billions.Dotcom bubbleAs early as 1995, Mr Dye was predicting a crash in the stock market, putting 15 per cent of holdings into cash and eschewing technology stocks. David Bitner, of the mortgage broker Bradford & Bingley Marketplace, said: “The chance of house prices falling are less than 5 per cent. The figure for February 2003 showed a similar drop of 1.1 per cent followed by a steady annual rise.Lenders rejected Mr Dye’s claims, reiterating the Bank of England’s analysis that economic conditions, including low interest rates, high employment and a shortage of housing, precluded a disaster.

But the statistics are unadjusted for seasonal averages, meaning they reflect the traditional quiet season in the housing market. Durlacher, an investment bank, and Capital Economics, a consultancy, have issued similar warnings. Figures from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister showed a fall in the average price of a home in February from £162,559 to £160,937. That is not how it happens.”The analyst is the latest senior figure to warn of an imminent price reversal. When there has been a rise of this scale it is not followed by a soft landing.