The best way to tackle the bear thesis is consistency... patience can bring reward The ''it is duller than you think'' investment thesis has served us well in the past and though it might not get the juices of everybody flowing, history would suggest that for investors, it can work well. It''s not to say Tesco is devoid of opportunity. However, when the shares are held back by fears on what price competition and online might do to the industry profit pool and cash flow, steady and consistent delivery is the best counter and potentially the most exciting win for the shares. Following H1 results last week, we update our thoughts on the key price and online debates. A noisy pricing environment but there''s little logic in a price war If the bears are right on price competition in the UK then it has the potential to be much more damaging to the industry profit pool than online. But ask yourself this; what''s to be gained? If the UK food retail market is all about price, why is Aldi struggling to hold share despite c7% p.a. space opening? Data suggests price elasticity is very low in the UK. We doubt a price war is coming. Online is a major focus but we should at least focus on the ''less bad'' The reason Aldi is losing share is the lack of online proposition we think. Though it may be trialling options, we''d be surprised if an already low cost, low margin business could digest a large scale online business, even click and collect. Meanwhile, the rest of the industry is making progress with Tesco highlighting the positives of click and collect or automated picking. With penetration already high, much of the negative is already in the base and if Tesco can focus on at least reducing the loss, penetration can move higher with profit potentially growing. We flesh out some thoughts. A good start from the CEO - we doubt the story is about to be upended We thought Tesco''s new CEO, Ken Murphy, did a good job last week. It was particularly encouraging to...