My credit card company Morgan Stanley is
getting desperate to make money out of me. I'm not one of their favourite
customers. My balance gets paid off by direct debit so I never owe them anything
in charges or interest. And I get .5%-1% cashback.
They've tried everything to get me into trouble including sending me blank
cheques that I can fill out and pay myself! Of course I ignore all that and
chuck it in the bin.
But I got excited when I got a letter the other day. As a valued customer
I was going to be 'upgraded' to the new 24 account with loads of exciting
benefits!!
Free travel insurance! Cashback! Use of Lounges at airports! A 24 hour
concierge service! I didn't think any of the 'benefits' were worth anything
except travel insurance which is probably worth £50.
They now reckon it costs £180,000 to
bring up a child between the ages of 0 and 21! They must be kidding - if you
live in London everyone knows the state schools are crap. Some faith schools are
good but I'm no hypocrite and I wouldn't pretend to be a Catholic or C of E to
get Christopher in so he has to go to private school.
That'll cost £216,000 on its own! Nursery for just three days a week is
£10,000 already! So I reckon he'll cost me at least £350,000!
Do I care? No! He's going to get the best. But I'm lucky I can afford it.
Thank goodness. If I couldn't I'd have to move out of London.
Interesting to see what Gordon Brown does with his young one. Bet you the
child doesn't go to an inner London state school! Notice most of Labour cabinet
offspring go to a private school of some kind or other...
Justin writes: Really enjoy your website ramblings and reading your BB as well - I'm a slow learner!
You are so right when you say that you cannot really learn about trading until you actually put your own hard earned into the market as the physcology changes with fear, panic, adrenaline and greed of course.
My first month was not too hot going down nearly 15%, but I have now becomed far more disciplined and after month two I'm up around 3% mainly thanks to Vislink. Wish I hadn't cashed in at 94.4 though!!!
One reason I was down was over trading and punts and the reason I'm up is that I don't feel the need to buy for the sake of it. I think I've learnt patience is a virtue.
I hope all is well with your mother and
thank you once again for being one of the few decent people in this dog eat dog
trading world.
Thanks Justin - Quite simply, discipline = cash! You've used the words
'over-trading' and 'punts' so you know exactly why you were down! Quite right:
be patient and don't buy something just for the sake of it!
Neil writes: To say I am disappointed with the market reaction to Fenner
results is putting it mildly - I am gutted ! Results were excellent and all we
had hoped for but for whatever reason perhaps the US dollar or US situation -
the sell off was overdone and now offers the obvious - a superb buying
opportunity.
I know we must react to market sentiment and not anticipate it -but what always puzzles me is why these sells were not executed prior to results which were after all anything but negative whichever way you interpret them. I also hold Celsis and the market reaction here was expected and reasonable.
This however is not my point. I have
always admired the laid back and controlled way in which you approach your
trading and have attempted to take your lead and avoid becoming a day/short term
trader - less stress.
I agonised long and hard over the decision to hold or sell on Tuesday and
needless to say I held. Was this GREED for more ?? I suspect it was and
therefore ill-judged.
I was therefore wrong - had I sold I would have banked a healthy profit
and inevitably bought back yesterday with the prospect of further profits. (
incidentally could only purchase 2000 on-line and I know I was not the only one
)
I do appreciate your view on running with winners but I simply cannot see
any argument which opposes banking a profit especially prior to results.
Hi! Don't think it was greed at all - perfectly sensible on good results.
You're right, shares often fall on results but good ones will soon start to
climb again, indeed Fenner has risen nicely again.
I did sell a few at 230 which was a previous resistance point but happy to
hold the rest. There is no wrong or right here... don't worry about selling and
buying back, after costs it's not worth the bother.
Markets
Business reporting on the BBC is pretty poor
I think. They don't really care about it much and it shows. Here's an exchange
from Radio Five.
Markets
Just keeps getting better. And when I say things like that
I know it's time to be careful! The trend is still higher and I'll stick with it
while it lasts.
In my experience it's often best to sell shares like this
after they have soared because often the story dies away, people lose interest
and the shares start going down. I had bought them as a potential bid target,
this news is now in the market so for me, time to take profits.
Marchpole rises ahead of results next Wednesday's results.
Big Yellow is pushing back through 550p - all in all again, a very happy bunny!
My near 2-year-old is going flirt crazy
with any girl he sees. Yesterday I took him out for a walk. Fulham Football Club
is right next door to where I live and he spotted a girl inside the reception
area.
Markets
A not surprising down day today with the US results a bit of an
excuse to take some profits. However some pretty excellent gains for the
portfolio yet again!
Given the price has stuck at the issue price for so long
this could be good news and give the price a chance to rise again. Results look
good today and though on a pricy multiple forward earnings look good enough for
it to be trading at this level and above.
Poor old Tony Blair is worried about
Saddam being sentenced to death - how ridiculous. Blair is the man who ordered
our troops into battle and many died. I'm not a great believer of the death
penalty but in this case, surely cut and dried? I would guess if Saddam
fled and arrived here, Blair would probably give him a council house! Andy writes: Just need to ask you if I
have interpreted the following statement issued by HBG 'homebuy' a few weeks
ago: The Joint Administrators do not propose
to appoint an alternative Nominated Adviser and Broker and accordingly they
anticipate that the admission of the Group's securities to AIM will be cancelled
with effect from 24 November 2006. I'm not sure if I am one of those who
has his head in the sand but I just don't believe all this doom mongering stuff.
After all, climate change has been going on for centuries. A hundred years ago
the Thames would freeze so hard you could ice skate on it! Scientists will tell
us that the earth wobbles on it's axis and there is an inevitable change every
two hundred years. I don't believe that man has made that much difference
although I do believe that if we are not careful, we will end up poisoning
ourselves. Last night there was 'another' scientist
on Sky News telling us that this new government report was all a load of rubbish
and that there was no real proof of climate change!!! All I can say is...if it's
all true then I might get my house next to the sea after all!
Markets
Still going strong! Every website position bar one is in
profit which is great - in fact I think I've only been stopped out four times
this year which makes it the best year so far.
An eventful few days in Ireland, really
enjoyed them but good to be back! Probably take me a couple of days to go
through the events....We rather tearfully left Christopher in the more than
capable hands of Elizabeth's mother.. I wondered whose fault it was: the firm
that booked me to speak, the hotel, or the computer. They had a spare room and I
booked and paid for that. The company was supposed to pay for two nights and I
was going to pay for the third.
Alan writes: I noticed what you said in your diary about protected rights.
I'm also very keen to get my protected rights into my SIPP, and a while ago
looked into it in some detail. Some people in the industry are saying
that it will be possible after 6th April 2007 , but actually the official word
from the Government in Dec 2005 was that it will be considered after 6th April
2007 when it's planned that SIPPs will be subject to FSA regulation. But please let me know if you know of
something new from HM Govt. - they have been known to do an about-turn over SIPP
rules!
Markets
I decided the portfolio was strong enough to enable me to
have two days off while in Dublin and I while I looked from time to time I had
no intention of trading unless something was near a stop loss. But in fact
everything's gone up and the portfolio continues to profit!
Perhaps this one has been overlooked by the market so far -
I think there is plenty of upside. So does a director who has just bought 47,000
shares to nearly double his holding in the company.
Telecom Plus sees a nice rise today (would guess a weekend
press tip) - a push through 150 would open 170. REA Holdings is back over 400p
and going strongly. Hunting has seen solid rises recently and more today
confirming its break over 500p. Celsis is trying to crack 200p and is looking
bullish - shame I sold some of my holding last week!
Sorry about this lads and lasses but there
won't be another update now till Monday! Why's that? Because I am off to Dublin
this afternoon and not back till Saturday. Graham, that can't have been a pretty sight! I
have got an I Pod but not got to grips with how to get music on it yet!
Markets
Another excellent day - I must admit to being relieved October
is out of the way without any major or really any minor corrections.
My mum's not feeling great in hospital
although she appears to be on the mend a bit. 'How are you?' I asked. 'I'd like
to jump out of the window..' she replied. Looks like she'll be in there for at
least a few more days. We are hoping she can go back to the
brilliant rehabilitation centre she was in before for a while before she
probably goes to a care home for a bit before either going home if she wants it
done up or living with my sister. Made a bit of a mistake with his
chocolates though. He made a comment that they were a bit of a mistake. Well,
thanks I bought some and they aren't really that great for £6. So these hypocrites called politicians
talk earnestly about how we are destroying the planet with our gas guzzling
cars.. Keith writes : Just like to say one good
thing about credit cards. I don't know if you've heard of it, its called
stoozing. Alot of credit card companies offer you 0% interest and balance
transfers for the 1st 6 -12 months. If you use those credit cards to get as
much free credit as possible you can then put the money into a high interest
savings account and collect the interest. Making sure you remember to pay off
minimum instalments and changing credit cards when the offers end. Another way
is to use the borrowed money into an offset mortgage, this reduces your mortgage
payments. Anyway have fun in Ireland and keep on doing what you do.
Markets
Sometimes I do a little bit of shorter-term 'Trading'. By
that for me short-term is about 2-3 weeks. I quite like trading Paragon (PAG).
It's a strong company so I know there isn't going to be a profits warning and a
number of times I've bought around 650 and sold around 700. Haven't mentioned
this there.
My soon-to-be two-year-old (four hyphens
in my first 7 words - can that be right?) Christopher is becoming quite a
dancer. Christopher was getting up at
6.30am-7.15am which was OK, now it's not OK as it's suddenly 5.30am - big
difference! Try telling a two-year-old the clocks have gone back so would he
mind not waking up for an extra hour till next March? Roger writes: Regarding your son's
puzzle where the chicken crows every time the light goes off... Not having seen
it I would guess that it knows which piece is where it is due to a light sensor
in each opening, so turning the light on and off does the same thing, except
there is a race for which open piece is the most sensitive time wise. Apparently it will be possible to
transfer these funds into a Sipp soon and have freedom to invest in same way as
normal pension contributions have you heard anything about this via your
contacts as i seem to remember from way back you mentioned you held some
contracted out funds in a pension pot.
Markets
One new buy to report. That's a buy of 2,000 shares in TT
Electronics (TTG) at 221p. Target 260 stop 195. This sensor and electronic
components company seems to enjoy a nice little niche and profits are rising
very nicely. What I really like about it is its growth potential as it expands
into new and hopefully lucrative markets. Christopher has a favourite toy - a puzzle - put the animal pieces in and
you get the noise that animal makes. Which is all very well - but this puzzle
has got weird. Every time the light goes on or off,
well, the chicken screams 'Cock a doodle doooo' - twice. That includes when dawn
breaks. Or occasionally for no reason at all. Are you like me getting sick and tired
of the power being given to officials and the way our freedoms are being
gradually eroded? ID Cards, councils being able to tell us which cars to drive,
smokers forced into the streets ? And now this - a new army of council tax
'inspectors' is to be given the right to enter people's homes and issue fines to
anyone who refuses to cooperate. Camera-wielding officials will be able
to take photographs inside properties, including bedrooms, and rule they should
pay more if they have home improvements such as patios and conservatories. The Conservatives branded the proposals
a snoopers' charter that would trample over fundamental civil liberties.
Homeowners are expected to face higher council tax bills if they enjoy good
views or have improved their property by building an extension or putting in
double glazing. Louise writes: OPD up 23p today, someone
posted on the iii board the reason for the price rise was due to a large sell -
I am confused - surely sell would lower the price?
Markets
Interesting times... are we heading for that long predicted
fall or will October disappear without too much bother, a bit of stalling in
November then an Xmas rally? No idea! Have you?
However I think caution should be the watchword and for now
I'm being very careful about buying anything new unless I really like it and
looking to do a little more shorting.
All complete speculation on my part. Looks like the end of
this year could see more consolidation in the oil sector - we've already seen
Paladin disappear, Premier Oil is about to go and could the next two be Dragon
and Burren?
But for now I think it looks overstretched and could easily
come back 50 or so points. However I would take a small loss fast if it looked
like accelerating upwards again.
But once through 100p, shares often soar so for me it's a
question of waiting. I had another look at Vislink and asked myself even though
I've nearly doubled my money on it whether I'd buy if I'd just discovered it and
the answer is yes. Yet again I have to say sorry but no update tomorrow.. will signings, power of attorneys, lawyers, you don't want to know.
So next update Friday. They'll probably get into even more debt. Debt is what eventually will bring the pack of cards down but maybe not for a few years yet. The term 'credit card' should be replaced with 'debt card'. I see 'shock jock' James Whale is standing to be mayor of London with some interesting policies that mirror some of mine. Like getting rid of the congestion charge. Steve writes: I was interested by your pigeon story today...... I've never seen a baby one, I began to think that they were born fully grown! So thanks for that. We have a pair of cats that are 3 1/2 years old (what's that, about 25ish). The other night a daddy long-legs appeared in our house. The cats went absolutely nuts trying to get at it, knocking over anything that got in their way. It was very funny watching my wife chase it about as well in a bid to save the house. I was far too busy laughing. Good on you for calling the RSPCA to rescue to pigeon, far too many people wouldn't have bothered. If I bought ex-offer, do I just ignore this as I guess I'm barred? And will this entry disappear after completion of the rights issue? Thanks for any light you can shed.
Markets
Two new trades to report. First a buy of 4,500 shares in Delta (DLTA) at 145.99p yesterday afternoon - target 175 stop 125.
Plenty of excitement here yesterday
involving an elderly cat, a baby bird, the RSPCA and a toddler. A word of
warning to the bloke who wrote in recently claiming I was boring especially when
the cat came into it.. please now scroll down about 7-8 paragraphs. Has he gone?
Oh good! I got a call from an FT journalist last
night.. I felt a bit sorry for her, they really work 'em hard there, like a
boiler room. She had to find four people who spreadbet and learn all about it -
I don't think she really understood it much. Graham writes: I would just like to know
what precisely the jargon means that analyst use in
terms of rating shares. eg Underweight, Neutral and Overweight etc. Its obvious
what buy and sell mean but other terms they use are less obvious.
Markets
My portfolio continues to do rather well and considering
it's usually one of the worst months of the year to make money I'm pleased.
Happy Birthday to me! Don't ask how old
I am today, I want to have a good day, thanks! What am I doing? Er, not much
this year. Friends have been visiting. Got tons of chocolates, they know me so
well. Yes, I know 20 something readers will be
laughing but I seriously know nothing. Any advice welcomed and you will not be
reported to the FSA. My sister is going to be meeting David
Cameron in a couple of weeks as a kind of representative from the world of the
Arts. Rob writes: Just wanted to say, I actually
worked in the city for 12 years as various types of trader. Uk equity market
maker for Merrill Lynch, Index Arb, Statistical arb etc... so pretty
experienced. However, it's a very different game trading your own money... a
different psychological game really. Anyway, I really enjoyed your book. Full of
great insights. This year the Gummint tried to bring in
a CGT on overseas shares except Australia, by the back door but has failed. They
still talk about a notional dividend threshold of 5% but that is not too bad as
even when your dividend yield exceeds 5% they can only take tax at 33% on the
maximum of 5%. That is 1.65% tax take maximum. And then
not before 2008! So if I ever do make the sort of gains that you do, I could be
very happy not paying much tax at all
Markets
A new trade to report... that's in REA Holdings (RE.) where
I bought 1,300 shares at 380p. Target 460, stop 330.I came across this one after
researching the sector Carrs Milling is in - a share I'm doing very well in and
wondered if the food/soft commodities area was booming and it appears to be the
case.
Given 134 looks like a very strong support area and buying
is coming in I wonder whether it's a pretty clear buy now. Thinking about it!
OPD has soared today - my buy at 395 just a week ago is looking good with the
price already pushing 450!
Another bad couple of days for me
personally. Hate to whinge but part of the reason I write this site is for
therapeutic reason and it saves me from counsellors who cost £50 an hour! Been
suffering from a terrible cold, one of those that makes it hard to sleep at
night. I'm hoping this is not a setback and
that she is about to get worse. It's possible she might have broken her hip... I
guess I am preparing myself for terrible times ahead. Both were reasonably organised but it
was still a nightmare with boxes and bags full of bits of paper. I have also had
to sort out my step mum who has lost her sight and her finances had started to
get in a mess. I swore then that I would not leave my
family in this mess. Depressing as it is (especially aged only 57) my life is
now documented and filed in case anything happens. One never knows..I wish you
well with it.
Markets
I've been so careful all year: picked great companies, made
fantastic and huge profits, indeed it's been my best year ever. And I've managed
to avoid picking any stinkers. Well, that was until now!
I have learned my lesson and it's been well worth the loss
to learn it. Even though I got out probably too early and there will be a bounce
I'd rather be out and move on.
I dithered about selling my remaining shares for around 35
minutes this morning but they were'nt bouncing so sold shares for 321p for a
profit of £324 and the spreadbet for 319p for a profit of £420 .
Those profits yesterday would have been a whole lot bigger
but there we are I didn't sell yesterday so I'm not going to bleat about it.
Wolfson's statement also made me decide to sell the last of my CSR - profits on
the sale at 800.1p are £502
It's taken a while but the shares are finally moving -
always liked this company and they report in early November. I've just sold a
few to take some part profits on the powerful move up. All in all that's a
profit of £618 banked for the site today.
Keller has climbed over 700p which looks bullish. Vislink
continues to be a complete star and is pushing 90p - won't be long before I'll
have doubled my money on the first few purchases. Ms is gradually moving up
after a quiet spell.
I am manfully trying to provide full
updates at the moment but won't be able to manage one tomorrow (Thursday) - next
one on Friday. Plenty more sick mum business to take
care of so apologies but know you understand. Some things matter more than
others. Dennis writes: Would be most
grateful if you could shed some light on how/why a company's SP can/is forced
down. I am a long term holder of Oil and Gas exploration stock (and will
continue to do so until well into production) which has fallen about 30-40% over
the past few months, but this is with 'good' news, and drilling within a few
weeks time. Is it MM's/supply and demand/Market in
general/price manipulation/??? Puzzled! I've read your book, but this drop seems
to be out of the normal.
Markets
A good comeback today after some red ink yesterday afternoon.
One trade to report: A buy of Abacus (ABU) - I bought 2,500 shares at 176.34p
and also a £40 a point spreadbet at 177p. Target 220 stop 155.
Ones I met over the weekend seemed pretty fired up. The
churn rate from the small amount of figures I see from my own customer groups
looks to be very low.
What a great weekend! I'm not a great fan of musicals but Billy Elliot is great - a real feel
good story and music. A lot of it is about the miners' strikes of the Thatcher
years so it's quite interesting to boot. So even if you don't like musicals go
and see it, you will not regret it! So a really good break which I needed
after having all the stress of my mum's stroke on my hands. The latest is I've
just got a few days to try and find her a perhaps temporary or maybe permanent
care home because the rehabilitation centre is desperate to kick her out as the
NHS continues to close beds. Tom writes: Have recently gone through what
you are experiencing with your Mother and I know just how much there is to do.
She is now safely in a care home and
whilst she knows me she has no recollection of having stayed with me. I take
that as a plus as she doesn't miss anything. My sympathies are with you. Barclays had one about 3pm. I'm short in
Barclays, they have had quite a ride. I know there is some bid speculation but I
still expect it to drop soon. I feel you can be generous with high stops on
shorts as typically it's a slow up and a fast ride down
Markets
First a new buy to report - a company called OPD Group (OPD)
- I bought 1,350 shares this morning at 395p Target 490 stop 365. Already looks
a good move with the shares having gone higher since I purchased earlier.
Chips Wolfson and CSR are having a good run after recent
falls. Vislink is up a little but three market makers on 87 - if they can be
shifted it could move 2 or 3 points fast. The oils going well with my long-term
oilers Burren and Dragon rising as the oil price sneaks higher. Apologies first of all, I have to spend a lot of tomorrow sorting out my mum's house/financial affairs so I won't have time for an update... next update on Friday...I'm not going to go into what I have to do but it's not exactly pleasant... Dave writes: I'm pretty new to the stock market scene and only have a couple of different shares in my portfolio. I was looking at a company recently and after some research I decided to buy some shares in it. The only problem is the NMS is just under half the size of the amount of shares I would like. I read about the problems of buying and selling amounts higher than the NMS. Now this might be a completely rookie question but could I not just buy the shares in two seperate transactions? It might be a bit silly but it what will decide whether or not I buy the shares. Also the broker wants to keep your business so they are pretty good normally and there are few mistakes - so basically, don't worry about it! Markets
I bought into Mothercare (MTC) this morning buying 1,500 shares at 368.19 - target 420, stop 340. I've been eyeing it up for a while and wanted to buy when it went through 345 but missed the move. For example when I went in to get a car seat for Christopher the salesgirl said she'd been rushed off her feet recently with sales of seats and if you look on their website there are a lot of 'sold out' messages. CPW obviously wants to build its customer base and be the biggest company in its area. The market seems to like it for now anyway and it brings website profits on CPW to over £6,000 so far.
The management is determined to grow the company and it looks like they will succeed making it worth far more than now. I'm guessing 1200p possible within a year.
I've seen some ridiculous things in
catalogues but this one beats all! A 'pedometer' for... Pets. 'Find out how far
your cat is travelling at night, just attach to collar and only £12.99! I can
tell you exactly how far my cat travels overnight...
Markets
Another splendid day! The portfolio continues to leap
higher though with the markets going well a dart in the FT would probably pick a
riser at the moment!
I suspect entry to the Small Cap Index would also mean it
will go SETS/MM quite quickly which I think could see the shares take off in
style. Still undervalued despite recent rises and I feel confident. Vislink
profits so far for the website must be over £10,000.
Wolfson reports shortly and worried investors have been
getting out. Could be a huge rise on the cards if a profit warning does not
materialise though obviously it's a bit of a gamble...Even Marchpole and
Havelock have scored some blue today, bored holders will probably be holding
street parties....
I did some shopping on Sunday. I went
with Elizabeth and Christopher. I did the usual man's special, grab anything
that looks OK fast and get the hell outta there. So boxer shorts, trousers,
jackets and shirts all chosen, bought and outta there in 20 minutes, impressive
huh? Oh dear! Those bastards in charge of
North Korea are flexing their pathetic muscles. While their people have little
power, go hungry and are brainwashed they spend their money on nuclear tests.
Let's hope one day this evil regime gets thrown out. Daniel writes: I am 14 years old and I'm am
trying to improve the amount of money I make. I started to deal in shares, but I
didn't have much money to invest so at the moment I have about £700 of different
shares. I have not invested more than £250 in
each of the companies I currently own. This was a big mistake, because they
hardly ever move! so I have held on to them and I looked into CFDs and Spread
bets. I found that spread bets are for me. So far I have made £50 in one week. The
problem I have is that firstly I'm under age so I trade in my parents names, and
my other problem is I'm at school all day so by the time I get home the stock
market is closed so I can only deal in indices. At the moment the minimum bet I
can place is 1p but in 7 weeks the minimum well be £0.50. I'm not sure what to do. How can I
increase my profits from £50 a week? I have read your book but it uses examples
of investing amounts of about £5000. But I don't have this kind of money what do
you think I should do? Ask your dad to keep an eye open when he
can - if it reaches your target your dad will take profits for you, if it hits
your loss your dad will take the loss. Or, some brokers will do this for you.
You can also set a 'trailing stop loss' with someone like Barclays Stockbrokers
- see their website for a demo.
Markets
A new buy to report and I just know 99% of investors would
go: 'You must be joking, I wouldn't buy that, look how far it's gone up already,
he must be joking more likely to go down..,' etc..
Not a great Thursday for me chasing
around trying to sort out my mum's stuff! Got her car done but sitting here with
mountains of her things to sort though. Like loads of small cheques she's been
getting in dividends, bills she needs paying etc etc. It's a minefield! Holmes Place is further away so I went
to Cannons with the thought I'd probably join there and it's cheaper. Goodness,
talk about rubbish negotiators at Cannons - Donald Trump would be shocked. Edward writes: I made my first purchase
of an AIM stock recently, and I'm finding that various sources display different
prices for the stock. The differences aren't that great, but
it makes it difficult to know what your shares are truly priced at. For
instance, HSBC - my broker gave a bid price of 407.75p, and Bloomberg and ADVFN
gave a bid price of 406.75. I then checked Yahoo Finance, and they showed the
same price as my broker - 407.75p.
Markets
Wow is the only word I can use for the current markets with
the portfolio continuing to boom - and now I've used the word 'boom' I hope I'm
not saying the word 'bust' in three months.
OK, I'm really sorry but there won't be
an update tomorrow (Thursday). I won't bore you with the details but I have to
sort out many of my mum's affairs (she is going to be in hospital for quite a
while). We're also going to take Christopher to
see her. His latest bout of teething I think is about to end and we will all get
some sleep again.. Cold calling isn't nice for those
getting the calls or nice for those making them Ban the lot and bring in fines
for firms who carry on doing it and especially make it illegal for anyone to
cold call about shares.
Markets
Pretty damn good today - more in a mo - first today's
trades. I bought a company called SMG today (SMG) - 10,000 shares at 68.67p -
target 85, stop 60. It's an interesting one and a recovery/bid play with what
looks like very little downside left and a lot of potential upside.
Obviously media advertising isn't very strong right now but
any recovery in that area could give a good lift to the share price and I feel
fairly confident of an uplift on the way. So I think there is at the very least
ten per cent to be had with SMG. We shall see!
While the mum in law is still here we
managed to get out to watch a preview of the movie 'The Devil Wears Prada'.
Surprisingly good!
I was kind of expecting a feel good
chick flick a la Sex And The City but it's very well done, entertaining all the
way through and even makes a few interesting points about the choices we have to
make in our lives. NI goes and everyone is taxed at the
same rate of well under 30% - and the treasury still makes the same money - and
those on the breadline and get more money as do those who earn a reasonable wage
too. I can't understand why they don't take a few risks and come up with
something new and daring! David writes: Sorry I don't agree
with you over Tony Blair. On Iraq there is some deep reason why he supported
George Bush, and its not WMD or getting rid of Saddam or democracy. I doubt if I
will ever hear the reason (I'm an oldie), you may never hear but Christopher
may!!!!
Markets
However, I do hold a lot of Wolfson for the site and though
my personal belief is the company should still put in a good report I have to
respect what's happening in the market so two positions are closed for the site,
the recent buy at 462 for a loss of £96, and the 404 position for a profit of
£966. All the other WLF positions stay open.
Glad to be back after a hectic few days.
Don't miss Wife Swap on TV tonight - John McCririck swaps with Edwina Currie -
bound to be entertaining. So, the Tory Party conference this
week... considering how weak the current Government is you have to wonder what
the Tories can do to ensure they mess it up. Oh, I know.. backbiting and
infighting anyone? Come on, sort out a flat tax. it would win you the
election...
Markets
I bought one share out of a shortlist of 7 that I presented
at the seminar and it is the one that those attending voted that I should buy..
so I did..
And it's not just directors buying - there have some big
buyers around in the last couple of weeks and the share price is starting to
rise fast. It might well pull back a bit given its good rise but a 100p target
perhaps by year end seems reasonable. Robbie Burns has been trading successfully for over 7 years, having spent 1996 to 2001 as finance and general editor for Sky TV's text services. Robbie has started this commentary page on Sky and Channel 5 text in 2000 and ran it until summer 2002, during which time he made profits of more than £50,000, even during the bear market from 2001. Robbie now runs an independent cafe and catering business, but trades more or less full time. He uses ISA's and PEP's to avoid tax liabilities and runs his own pension fund in a SIPP. Visit his site here
Still going well! What a year it's been so far..One speculative trade to
report, that's a buy of 1,000 shares in Hyder Consulting (HYD) at 354.85p today
- target 390 stop 320
Speculative because it's at the top end of the value range I usually look
for but what I do like is the volume coming in which makes me thing something is
going on.
The company is trying to grow through acquisition and raised money through
a placing recently. It's broken through previous resistance points and appears
to be rising fast with little to stop it. No idea what it is but something's
cooking and short-term at least there could be some action. We shall see!
Big jumps for my oil related companies today - brilliant leap for Burren,
patience again paying off here - and Dragon Oil looks extremely promising too.
I would be surprised if these two weren't bid for in the next 6 months or
so. Judging by today's action it could be even sooner.
Hunting and Petrofac in my favoured oils services sector also go very well
- the only oil disappointment is Sondex with the shares lower. Looks like the
market is a bit puzzled about the recent volt-face over the placing as too are
investors. Hard to know what to make of it.
Walker Crips reported today - they don't make crisps of any flavour, they
are a stockbroker/fund, unit trust manager and they are doing well now.
My buying price at just over 300p looks good now with the shares tipping
370p. I would expect FY profits to come in around £4m which makes the share look
still undervalued with fair value nearer 430.
All my real estate ones are going great guns. Yesterday's buy Quintain
Estates up a nice 10p today. Weir and Big Yellow are flying.
Thursday 9th November
Presenter: 'And now the business news..., so Peter how has the FTSE closed...?'
Peter: 'Ah, actually I don't know I left the piece of paper with it written on
upstairs...'
Presenter: 'Oh, ok, I hear shares in Marks And Spencers are doing well...'!
Peter: 'Oh, I thought you were going to ask me about what was happening at
Airbus...'
Presenter: Right, I was told we were talking about M@S, you'd better tell me
about Airbus then....
I know things go wrong with live shows but anyone remotely interested in
business should have known how the FTSE closed and also should have been able to
talk off the cuff about Marks and Sparks!
A 4.30 am start for me today.. my turn to do a morning with the toddler
and my bad luck it was such an early start. I got a bit of sleep with him till
30 minutes later the elderly cat needed to go out for a wee week. Slept a bit
more till teletubbies started at 6.30am.
It's currently 10am and I feel like it's time for afternoon tea... never
mind, he's worth it and the Mrs really deserved a lie in today.
My copy of the new 2007 Stock Market Almanac has arrived ! It's bright red
this year which will make it handy to find! And a brief glance through tells me
once again it'll be on my desk throughout next year. I use it as my appointment
diary and find it the most useful finance reference book there is.
Sandra writes: Can I pick your brains please, I have got a long spread bet
on Partygaming. I purchased these just after they crashed, I paid about 41p for
them. My stake is £25, and the bet closes in march. They are currently in talks
with
Ladbrokes about buying them out. I was wondering what would happen to the bet if
this would happen. Would the Partygaming pay out and close the shares at a
higher price or would they continue to run or would the shares crash and just
close at 0?
Hi Sandra - I don't follow the gaming stocks but if someone makes a bid
it's nearly always at a higher price. So the price would rise on an announced
bid and would be close to the bid price. At that point personally I would take
profits, sell up and move on especially on a spreadbet. It wouldn't go to zero
but the shares would end up close to the bid price..
I keep banging on about the real estate sector - it's hot! And it looks
like it'll continue to be hot for a while longer. I am already making money on 4
or 5 decent RE companies and I've added another one this morning.
That's Quintain Estates (QED) for £15 a point at 795p. Target 850, stop
750. This is simply another hot real estate company whose results are out at the
end of the month.
I expect these to be better than expectations and I am hoping for a good
run up in price before results are published. As usual whole numbers are
important so it might take time to get through 800p, but once through I think it
will fly!
I took profits on Enterprise today at 517 - to bag a decent profit of
£1,335 . The reason Enterprise has soared today and yesterday is a management
buyout is mooted.
I've also made a new high risk buy for the high risk SIPP today which
those who subscribe to the e-mail will get news of today.
Vislink has really broken through 100p now and I've officially doubled my
money on my first buy at just over 50p. The others in the 50s and 60s also look
pretty good now! As usual after a rise the market-makers will quieten things
down but I intend to stay put and collect even more profit!
Petrofac's announcement today has been well received by the market and
good profits now showing. Diploma is soaring again today ahead of results.
Walker Crips continues to rise nicely towards my target.
Lovely Mouchel Parkman just carries on going up as per usual and is now
showing great gains. Paragon holds well at higher levels.Wednesday 8th November
So he banged on the door, kept waving and shouting 'Hallo!' She made the
mistake of waving back and I was stuck there for 10 minutes.
We also met a couple of reserve players who had a ball on them and
Christopher for the first time got excited about a ball and kicked it pretty
well and even tackled one of the players! He's also talking a lot now, not that
much of it makes any sense, just like his father...
One major hobby is getting me to twirl him round and round really fast
which makes me extremely giddy and slightly sick..
We ended the day dancing to pop videos, sadly no Girls Aloud, his
favourite group but he seemed to like the big dance hit of the moment 'Let's all
stand up for Detroit'. He also enjoyed a bit of Kylie and quite liked the
Beatfreaks too.
I'm off to see my mum in hospital this afternoon and hope for the best and
that she is a bit more lucid today. I try not to get upset about it but
obviously I am.
I liked the results I saw from Celsis (CEL) and glad I held on to some of
the shares after taking profits on some last week.
The market-makers started what looked like a bit of an unfair markdown and
I topped up again with a small amount buying 1,500 shares at 194.85p. Target 230
stop 170.
The company is making decent profits again and judging by the upbeat
statement it looks like there is more upside possibly to 230. Bound to be
volatile but a strong base for the company to grow from here.
I also made a high risk buy for the SIPP which those who subscribe to the
e-mail should get details of. Despite the main market downs today the portfolio
has many gains so I'm pleased. The short-term Paragon trade continues to
strengthen and hope I get my 700!
Walker Crips has been rising steadily this week and is up again today. TT
Electronics is up again and looks good for more upside. Teesdale also holds well
and I expect more upside soon.
Sondex has made a turnaround in its would be acquission and is now telling
shareholders it doesn't want to make the buy and wants to annul the rights
issue.
Fenner too reported good results but as usual got hit by profit taking on
results day. Worth a buy again if it goes any lower. Big Yellow Group is pushing
up. And good news for Workspace - that's now rocketing up, what a great sector
to be in.
Croda is lifting over the 550p mark which looks very bullish indeed.
Vislink is sneaking up, just need to shift the one market-maker that is holding
the price action back...
Finally one of my unsung heroes Mouchel Parkman has hit 400p for the first
time. What more could you want from a fantastic shares that goes up slowly and
surely? Tuesday 7th November
My mum has gone a bit of a step backwards in hospital. Sometime she
struggles to remember where she is. I think it's the painkilling drugs - they
give you dreams which appear real.
It's distressing to see and I can only hope for the best and when her hip
recovers and she doesn't need the painkillers she will become more like her old
self.
Following the appointment of the Joint Administrators on 15 September 2006
Noble and Company Limited has today informed the Group that it is resigning as
Nominated Adviser and Broker to the Group with immediate effect.
Does this literally mean that the shares wont be coming back on the market
at all and therefore I will lose my money?!
Andy: afraid you have done your money and that's that. Bad luck.
Nigel writes: Just read your page and was interested to see you mention
climate change. I agree that all this is just another stealth tax, but I do
think that we should be taxing or fining the polluters who dump waste into
rivers and into the air.
Agreed Nigel I definitely don't believe everything I read or listen to on
climate change. Have you noticed we always are told there is a drought in May
and mysteriously the subject disappears by August and whatever happened to bird
flu!
As I often say sometimes the best trade is no trade and I'm happy today to
just let the strong stocks I have continue to run without buying anything new.
I decided to exit my short of Rotork and closed at 800p for breakeven
yesterday afternoon. There is no point fighting the tape on this one even though
I think the price has got ahead of events. It's a good company and the
short-term trade didn't come off. Still no damage done.
Some good buying is coming into yesterday's buy Teesland which as I
mentioned looks like a nice steady grower! Some nice buying coming into Havelock
today which is good as it was becoming boring - perhaps some buying to get the
dividend as anyone who buys today picks up the dividend as it goes ex tomorrow.
Looks interesting again especially if the gains can be capitalised on.
Standard Life appears to be accumulating shares and this morning a buy of
300,000 was announced. Still looks way undervalued to me. Perhaps this will
spark renewed interest.
My short-term trade in Paragon still goes well, glad I resisted the
temptation to take profits at 670, still looking for 700ish. Recent trade TT
Electronics still looks strong. Weir and Workspace both progressing well.
Carrs down a bit today but given the amazing rises recently that's not
surprising. I'll hold for now. Croda is creeping up well and poised for a good
breakout. Diploma looks strong today and looks set for a burst up towards 900p.
The market makers playing a clever game with Vislink trying to bore
holders into selling by keeping the price level. I guess the next move will
either be a tree-shake down or we will see a massive move up. I think even a
slight move up will see investors piling in. Collins Stewart is having a good
run now and looking to top 900p again.
Monday 6th November
A nice easy flight over to Dublin courtesy of Air Lingus - I'm told they
treat customers way better than Ryanair so let's hope there is no takeover...
Then a cab to the posh five star hotel. The cab driver told us they'd
spent 7 years building a tunnel in Dublin mainly for articulated lorries to ease
congestion and stop the roads getting beaten up.
But apparently just before the tunnel was to be opened they announced
there wasn't enough room for the lorries to fit! Red faces all round and as the
cab driver said: 'Talk about when the tunnel is to be opened has disappeared...'
Into the hotel for book in. Oh no! Some misunderstanding. No Burns booked
in! Looked right through the computer - nothing there.
Apologetic call from the speaker company, then it appears it was the
hotel's fault, forgot to put a faxed booking into the computer..
Then the fun started! Free bottle of champagne arrives for me followed by
a free spa treatment voucher for Mrs NT! Kind of glad things went wrong!
An amazing breakfast, my goodness! Stuffed to the gills I went over the
speech while the Mrs went off to spend the day with her sister.
Went down to the room where the event held by Delta Index, an Irish
spreadbetting firm was to be held, met a few people and did Microphone tests
etc.
I have to say for me the two races I like the most for their brilliant
sense of humour are the Irish and the Egyptians. Both charming people. The Irish
humour always makes me laugh and I met lots of great people while I was there.
I was speaking there along with economist Jim Power and FT writer Phil
Coggan, both great folk and good speakers.I was on first..
So, the MC announced my name, everyone clapped.. and I got up to go to the
podium (carefully avoiding the two places I could trip up and fall on my arse).
Extremely glad to have got to the podium uneventfully, I said: 'Good
afternoon everyone.. bloody expensive hotel this, 10 Euros for a coffee, 5 Euros
if you look at a member of staff, no wonder all the guests move fast with their
heads down...'
With that pretty feeble quip, I looked down to begin the speech, which..
well, wasn't actually there! Somehow despite making sure it was there before
lunch, it had gone! Gulp! What happened next? Tune in tomorrow and find out!
Thanks Alan - will let you know if I hear. I suspect we will hear more in the
Budget..
Back to work today with a buy of Teesland (TLD) where I bought 4,5000
shares at 108.8p. Target 130, stop 98. This looks like another nice real estate
company to add to my other booming real estate holdings.
Elsewhere a huge move for Carrs Milling while I was away now nudging over
700p coming up to nearly 200p higher than I bought not long ago! Results are due
shortly and judging by the buys coming in they should be rather good!
TT Electronics has announced a decent acquisition and the shares should go
steadily higher. Good moves too for Marchpole which looks on the march before
results due next week - a court case win this week has helped the shares higher
today.
Vislink has had a super run but I expect a lot more - a bit of a pause
here at the psychological 100p level before heading higher. Renold flew while I
was away and it could be interesting if it can swing up to 100p.
Wednesday 1st November
Why Dublin? I'm making a speech at an event over there - so if you live in
Dublin and see a bald guy running out of a hotel with a screaming horde behind
him chucking rotten tomatoes that'll me be...
I don't usually do speeches but decided to give the go-ahead as of course
Mrs NT is Irish and it gives her the chance to visit relatives and I've been
wanting to visit the City for a while.
I'm really looking forwards to looking round, I'm doing a couple of
radio/newspaper interviews too so you'll see me around the place! But don't
worry, I promise I'm not going to turn into a media whore!
You can still e-mail me re anything but you won't get a reply till the
weekend. I shall next update on Monday with all the gossip from the event. It's
always a bit nerve-wracking making a speech but you do feel great when it's
over!
If you happen to be coming to the event I look forwards to meeting you all
and don't hesitate to come up and say hello. Or something even more
interesting.. hello there? Just hope we don't get stuck at Heathrow security for
too long, you know what it's like there now.
After talking to the charmless US reporter earlier in the week it's been a
joy to talk to the Irish press. They are charming and so much easier to talk to!
Young Christopher is being left behind and we'll miss him but it's not for
long! Elizabeth's mum will be here so he is in good hands. We'll yell at him
down the phone.
He now knows all the colours... even purple! Impressive huh? His words are
expanding too though his favourite words are still Spider and 'Rory' who he sees
at nursery. Looking forwards to the say he says this sentence: 'Can I bring you
a cup of tea and some toast?'
Graham writes: I saw you jogging along the Thames on Sunday afternoon.
Keep it up. Plus "tune your run" with an IPod linked to your Nikes. It rocks .
I couldn't help buy buy a small amount more Vislink (VLK) this morning
this time with Man Spreads - I won't add these to the website as the site now
holds such a big chunk of Vislink - in fact profits on Vislink for the site top
£13,000 and a lot more for me personally!
I have a lot of money sunk into this one and it's my biggest holding and
it's now nearly doubled for me. It is tantalisingly poised at nearly 100p - and
once it pushes through I believe a quick rise to 120p will occur. People get
scared about buying shares that have risen so much but on the figures it is
still cheap.
Part of the reason for the rise today is the announcement of a new
contract win - not so much that this contract is that big - it's just that it's
perceived as the start of a lot more new contracts. It really is quite
conceivable that Vislink could double within a year.
My short-term trade in Paragon mentioned yesterday is going well, though
tempting to take a very fast profit I think there is another 20-30 points
waiting to be had.
Some going very well for me today are Weir and Workspace, both look
excellent as does Walker Crips and OPD Group. REA is coming back to what looks
like a decent top-up price and my finger is poised over the buy button on that
one!
Delta looks poised to breakout bigtime. Patience with MS International is
starting to pay off with a good looking 6% rise today. Croda is giving signs
it's about to go higher.
Tuesday 31st October
The sight of Christopher always cheers her up but the hospital is a long
way away so can't get him there that often especially as he hates being
restrained.
Me thinks Gordon Ramsay is spreading himself a bit thinly these days, he
obviously struggles to say 'no' to anything! Have you noticed how many products
he plugs? He's everywhere!
Trouble is if you're famous and start putting your name to everything that
comes along people start to realise it and stop believing you really believe in
the products.
I could probably make £100,000 a year or more from this website if I took
tons of ads from anyone who wanted one. But I especially refuse to take ads for
'systems' - all very well getting the money but it would not be worth it for my
own Karma if I only got one e-mail along the lines of 'You promoted that system
and I lost £20k and it's your fault!'
There are one or two people in the shares world that would promote or put
their name to anything or any system. You know the ones I mean. They obviously
need the money that they don't make trading.. or using their systems!
Why they hell do they travel around in gas guzzling cars then? Why aren't they
taking the lead and using electric vehicles themselves. Why has Prescott got two
jags?
All they're concerned about is how to use the green card to charge us yet
more tax. Did you know council tax has gone up 70% since 1998? Bet your salary
hasn't!
People like my 83-year-old mum face bills of £2,000 just because the price
of her house has gone up (which will be taxed at 40% when she dies)
A lot of pensioners like her can't afford this kind of money. And they've
only just started! The inspectors are about to come and get YOU! Put in a new
power shower? Oh dear, that'll be an extra £200 in tax then. Worked hard to buy
a home with a good view? Oh dear, sorry - another £2,000 for that.
The trouble is all these new taxes just mean one thing: no-one is
encouraged to aspire to anything anymore. What's the point of trying to work
hard and give your wife and kids a good standard of living if the taxman takes
away your advantages?
And what's worse is the 'services' we get for our taxes are disappearing.
What happened to two postal deliveries a day with one before 9am? Bin
collections? Once a fortnight if you're lucky. Police? Don't expect them to come
round if you've been burgled.
Halloween, nearly over for another year! This year I don't mind so much,
as I'm in an apartment the main entry door is nice and far away so I shall be
oblivious to the pleas of money or menaces.. oppps I mean trick or treat..Just
an excuse in London for young teenage yobs to go on the rampage.
Thanks Keith - all sounds complicated re the credit cards but if it works I
won't knock it!
But for a change I thought I'd share a shorter-term trade with you all. I
bought a spread bet and shares in the market too - for the website then we'll
just go with the normal share buy - I bought 800 shares at 649.85p. Target 690
stop 630.
My near 2-year-old made me miss 646p because he wanted to be lifted up and
twirled round and when I got back to the screen the price had gone! Never mind!
Level 2 really helped with the decision - and I'll be covering level 2 and how
to use it in depth at the seminar.
So this is purely a short-term trading idea of mine - I might take profits
at 670 ish if the market turns nasty but it could easily hit the 700 area again
quite quickly. It's already up to 660 as I write so going well!
I took some profits in one of my positions in Celsis - the 2,500 shares I
bought at 164.4 - target reached and sold at 188.2p for a profit of £595.
I am keeping the other position in Celsis so I guess I'm kind of selling
half and keeping the rest! The shares could easily go higher but they could dip
a bit too so seems sensible to take a few quid off the table.
Elsewhere a pretty fabulous day which I wasn't really expecting - the
portfolio continues to boom (I hate writing the word boom as it's associated
with the word bust)
I have to say a big word for Keller! I bought this three times at 611p and
650p and it's now pushing through 760p! I was always looking for about 800p and
looks like I'll get it. I'd probably sell half at 800p and hold onto the rest.
Looks like a spot of profit-taking in TT Electronics - not worried on that
score - 228p is now set as resistance, 250p should be easy if that gets broken.
Petrofac does well today, there is so much room for upside in this one, a matter
of patience, same for Hunting.
Renold is showing a bit of wellie and looks good for some more upside
Delta goes extremely well, breaking out nicely and Weir Group too is showing
plenty of dash. Abacus is beginning one of its runs and once through 200 which
could be this week I would expect 220p quickly.
Finally the best till last today - a magnificent 50p rise for Charter -
interesting volume on the way suggests some action - possibly a bid though that
is pure speculation on my part. Profits for the website now over £7,000 on this
one....
Monday 30th October
In fact once the Teletubbies have done their thing he likes nothing better
than to tune into MTV Dance, MTV Hits, Smash Hits, and The Hits.
As we watched on Friday night he seemed a bit bored with one of the
songs.. but then one group came on that set him on fire - he danced like crazy,
throwing his arms in the air... Now I notice every time their new single is
played he's up on the dance floor.
Who might it be? It's Girls Aloud! Not sure whether he fancies the girls
or the music? He also quite likes Rogue Traders which being my son, is really
quite apt.
Anyhow we spent the weekend without Mrs NT. The boys did good - took us
hours to clear up before she got back though!
Whose bloody stupid idea was it to put the clocks back? Whoever it was
(was it Prescott?) obviously doesn't have a toddler.
Thanks Roger - looks like the chicken wins as being most light sensitive
followed by the dog!
Andy writes: Robbie hope all is well with yourself and the family, have
you heard anything about proposed rule changes governing the investment of
protected rights contracted out pension monies ?
Andy yes I have heard from next tax year you can get at the protected
rights! I shall be claiming them rightaway and put them in my SIPP - I don't
have full details though.
It keeps winning new contracts and management took decisive action last
year to close a loss-making division. Order books look strong and so does the
share price action.
Buying volumes have been increasing and the share shows strength on down
market days. Looks like a good little grower and I expect to hold for 3-6 months
for 20-25% returns.
Elsewhere considering it's a big downday the portfolio is going pretty
well. A lot of very promising moves. Keller is my biggest mover up more than 4%
already - shame it's so volatile but the uptrend is very strong indeed.
Hunting is trying to crack the 500p mark - this brilliant share has
brought me lots of profits in the past and a close above 500p would be very
bullish indeed.
Renold starts a new move up after being quiet for a while with my patience
likely to pay off. Also going well today are Scott Wilson, moving up on good
buying and Carrs Milling is heading higher. Big Yellow is a big winner today and
if it can break 554p, 600p looks the next stop.
Dragon Oil's good buying volume hasn't quite continued into today but I
will stick with the holding - volumes may pick up again and it is holding its
own in a down market. Delta continues to look very promising indeed. Workspace
recovers well from its recent drop.
My short in Provident is starting to pay off handsomely as it's well down
today. My short in Rotork also making good profits already.
Friday 27th October
When dad in law was here looking after the toddler the chicken noises woke
him up, he thought it was an intruder... and advanced into the main living room
with a tennis racket to bash the burglar over the head!
It's very strange when it goes off in the middle of the night - I think
when the cat passes it. I guess I could take the battery out but it is his
favourite.. but how did whoever made it give the toy the ability to know when
the light's on or off?
Elizabeth is away this weekend so it's just us lads holding the fort. I'm
sure we'll get up to al kinds of naughty things while she's away.
Perhaps leaving the washing up for a couple of days.. eating pizza and
watching pop videos... leaving clothes on the floor and not picking them up..
we're gonna have a whale of a time. Well, except for Sunday morning which will
be spent clearing up the debris!
My mum seemed a lot better when I saw her yesterday thank goodness. I have
three or four very nice temporary homes she can go while she recovers.. she can
try them out and decide whether to stay in one for longer or go back home.
Thanks to all of you who've written in with your support... I think and
hope a gradual recovery is on the cards now - I am a little less worried.
Residents could be fined £1,000, and then £200 every day after that, if
they do not let the inspectors in or fail to properly 'assist' them.
These would be deemed 'site positive' features that
enhanced the value of a property under a planned revaluation of all 21 million
homes in England. The new tax system will require detailed information about
every home.
Under a new house price tax, 'site positive' features would include
gardens, patios, conservatories, double glazing, scenic views, number of
bedrooms and number of parking spaces.
Shadow local government secretary Caroline Spelman said legislation being
discussed in Parliament would pave the way for council tax inspectors to have
new powers to enter and assess properties.
In an alarming addition, residents who 'fail to give reasonable
assistance' or do not cooperate with the inspectors will be fined £1,000 and be
recorded on local police and court records.
If the householder continues to obstruct, hinder or fail to provide
assistance, they can be fined £200 per day on top, she said.
Shadow Local Government Secretary Caroline Spelman said: 'Labour craves
these powers since they want to tax every feature of people's homes - including
bedrooms, conservatories, double glazing and garden sheds.
'For all of Labour's talk of human rights, these new powers are the
footprint of an oppressive and greedy government.'
I think this is one step too far - can you imagine an 'inspector' turning
up unannounced at your house with a video camera? Two words immediately spring
to mind. One is 'piss' and the other one is 'off.'
Also, RNs says Canada Life no longer have interest in shares in the
company. Does this not have the effect of lowering the share price? I have
noticed quite often that s/p rises after these RNS - I would have thought it
would drop - more confused!
Hi Louise Bizarrely sometimes shares go up after a big sell - it's known
as an 'Overhang cleared' - ie, seller out of the way, now the price moves up as
there are no more big sellers around!
However I topped up in Dragon Oil (DGO) this morning buying 4,000 shares
at 158p to add to current website position at 109. Stop loss 141 target 190.
Why now? Quite simply big buying volume is coming in together with what
looks like a breakout from recent trading ranges. DGO is looking like a very
likely bid target at takeout price of I would guess 220.
I also opened up a new short - that's in an old buying favourite Rotork (ROR)
and sold for £12 a point at 800p. Target 750, stop 825. Nothing wrong with the
company and made shedloads of profit with it in the past.
Elsewhere it's been another good week. Only disappointment is Workspace
but it should recover. Vislink nearly scaled the 100p barrier but fell back and
it's not surprising - nearly all shares fail at 100 - it's purely psychological.
Recent buy Delta continues its good-looking breakout and 170 should be
achievable. Some decent rises being held in a downmarket today. Celsis has seen
a very impressive rise and the same comment to Creston.
Both hold firm and seem to have more mileage left. Creston looks
especially good having cracked 200p at last and on the up again today. Renold is
starting to rise again. My short in Provident Financial is really working out
now and I hope a drop below 600 will open up a fall to 570.
Wednesday 25th October
Thanks to the many of you who wrote in with help and advice on power of attorney etc, your mails have been very helpful and hopefully tomorrow we'll get it sorted out.
Next week looks an exciting one - giving a speech in Dublin next Thursday
- always wanted to go so we decided to extend our stay till Saturday so we can go out and about.
As Mrs NT is Irish born and bred, I'm sure she'll be showing me all the sights! Looking forwards to it but I only have 45 minutes to talk - considering I talk for ten hours at the seminars, 45 minutes is going to be difficult...
I've been watching Sky News this morning waiting for PMQ's and I don't think I can take another ad for a loan. I love the way the ads all make those in debt feel like everything is going to be a lot better once they sign up. It won't.
He stands for UKIP and it could be interesting to see someone who has not been connected with politics to become London Mayor. Could be a breath of fresh air.
There was a sense today in PMQ's that the current political parties are treading water until Brown succeeds Blair. At the despatch box at least Brown (missing today) is going to have a tough job once Blair has gone.
Hi Steve - I think the RSPCA is wonderful! The truth is baby pigeon looks like an adult one which is probably why you never see a baby pigeon - only the RSPCA lady knew and I should have asked her how you tell! Lucky my old moggie is way too old to care about daddy long legs!
Neil writes: Firstly, many happy returns!! And best wishes to your poor mum. Get well soon!
I have a(nother!) quick query. I bought SDX earlier in the month, and my contract note says the purchase was 'Ex offer'. Presumably, this concerns the impending rights issue, as a curious entry in my Selftrade portfolio showed up this evening, Sondex New Ord, with no price info etc.
Hi Neil.. yes, that's right you bought after the offer was closed so you're not entitled to the new shares at 280p which is a shame as I think they would be worth taking up...
This engineering and galvanising business has looked in good shape for a while and it has a lot of cash - but it's been stuck in a tight trading range.
But yesterday, a break up through 140p made the shares look very promising for some good gains. When they move they can really move and a push up through 150 should see 170 open up by the end of the year.
The second buy was a top up in Big Yellow Group (BGY) with a £20 a point spreadbet yesterday afternoon at 534p (4p higher than market price but I bought the December contract which is a bit higher) Target 650 stop 470. I bought some recently at a lower price the other week and wrote at length about the company so I won't repeat it.
But not only is the company doing brilliantly, it could easily be a bid target within the next year and the transformation into a REIT next year should continue to boost the share price which has a long way to go - hence the top up.
It's already up 20p today.
Two of the ones I've been patient with - Creston and Celsis - are both having excellent days. Creston's rise through 200p looks very bullish and it should open up 220p.
Good old Vislink which is my biggest holding by far goes up yet again today and gets exciting as it approaches 100p. It looks like I'll have shortly doubled my money on some big money I put in just above the 50p mark earlier this year.
Rea holds onto recent terrific gains well. Abacus is beginning to move up to the crucial 200p level and Charter shows good strength today. Tuesday 24th October
So, my cat Domino is about 120 years old and for some reason though she's
never done this in the past is having some kind of late life crisis. She's been
hunting pigeons. Well, not exactly. There's a wood pigeon nest buried in a hedge
on our terrace and a baby P fell down.
Domino attacked, injured wing of P and proceeded to chase it around the
place. Christopher (my 23 month old son) spotted what was going on and exclaimed
'Diddle and the bird!' and jumped up and down. Christopher's name for Domino is
'Diddle'.
Mrs NT shouted at the cat and so did Christopher. The pigeon rushed
towards me, past me and under the sofa. The killer cat was bundled into a room
and locked up and I called the RSPCA!
They came within an hour which was pretty impressive and I'm going to be
donating some money to them. A lovely lady came and she managed to get the
injured pigeon back into the nest.
And all this nature in London! That's what comes of living on the river.
Christopher has been telling everyone he meets about the excitement. 'Diddle and
the bird' has become his favourite sentence.
My mum's operation appears to have been a success though she is still in
pain. All we can do now is wait and see how she recovers and so where she should
go next.
It's been impossible for me to move money from her savings into her
current account to ensure her standing orders get paid, the banks don't want to
know.
It's sad really. 20 years ago I imagine I could have phoned her local
branch who would have known her and asked if standing orders would be honoured
but now of course it's a soulless call centre. Anyway I transferred some money
from my account into hers to ensure her bills are paid.
I said I'll help you fill your feature if you plug my website. 'Hmmm,' she
said. (Newspaper speak for 'you must be joking')
But I helped her anyway... gave her lots of good stuff, when she'd got
what she wanted for me she kind of ended the call abruptly. Which made me feel
not very good about the FT or her.
In this internet age newspapers are cutting staff to the bone and
therefore papers like the FT are going to get worse and worse - and they wonder
why their circulations are slumping! Interesting to see what she uses from me...
Graham .. it means as a percentage of their portfolios.... ie underweight less
than the average holding. Though I reckon underweight neutral and overweight
really = sell and only Buy means buy!
David writes: A book I found to be very useful and profitable was Beyond
The Zulu Principle by Jim Slater. Easy to read and understand and his
stock-picking criteria made a lot of sense to me.
Using his selection criteria and REFS I have found some excellent shares
since 2001: PZ Cussons Bellway Chloride Enterprise Inns Domino Pizza and
Bizspace to name but a few. I highly recommend this work!
Also let me wish you well with your Mother, I think I am just at the
beginning of a tough time with my own Mother. Thanks for the website, not only
informative but also entertaining---far better than TV!!
Thanks David
Jason writes : I am now the proud owner of a new business. I'm based here
on the outskirts of Lincoln and called Lakeside Physiotherapy providing
Chartered Physiotherapy to the public and industry.
A top-up in one of the high-risk SIPP shares today which e-mail
subscribers should be getting. Some big increases for the high risk ones in the
last 24 hours which is excellent!
Yesterday's buy REA Holdings (RE.) is doing amazingly. When I bought
yesterday at 380 I thought it might take a while to get it through 400 but that
wasn't the case with the price now at 425!
I saw the market makers doing a treeshake late afternoon yesterday so I
decided to use my new Man Spreads account which allows me to spreadbet in
smaller companies to top up just before the close of play yesterday at 400 for
£15 a point. Same target and stop as the other position.
It really is looking strong and I think I will now just sit and hold
ignoring treeshakes for a very decent and quick return. I went into detail why I
think RE. is a good buy so check back if you didn't read yesterday's
update..With 3 market makers there will be plenty of room for violent moves up
and down.
Elsewhere good old Vislink is approaching that crucial 100p area - I
suspect a lot of monkeying around by the market makers is coming up but I feel
once though 100p, 120 opens up as long as things are going as well with Vislink
as is suspected by me and other investors.
Creston has been quietly going up day after day and another rise today -
one of my 'Being patient will pay off' stocks and that looks like the case
here... however the recent rises look significant and if it can push up to 200p,
it could be interesting. OPD continues its brilliant run - another recent buy
that has done really well for me.
Holders of Marchpole will be getting out the flags and bunting for more
street parties as it moves up today. How boring has it been since the
consolidation? Very! However I've just about resisted the temptation to take the
excellent profits I have as news should be out soonish. Give it a chance, eh?
Abacus holds firm at higher levels - it kind of does this. Stops for a
while, has a think then goes up quite a bit so I'm a firm holder!
My top up plus patience in Scott Wilson is beginning to pay off well as
it's had a couple of days of great rises plus a good bullish write up in The
Telegraph.
Big Yellow is starting what looks like a new powerful move up. Carrs holds
onto its recent big gains and Petrofac is beginning to fly.Monday 23rd October
Trouble is I have so many boxes of chocolates I'm going to have to go to
the gym more often to work it all off. And it's driving Mrs NT mad because
everywhere she goes, there are chocolates, so much temptation.
Mrs NT bought me an IPod plus armband if I want to go running with it and
super-dupa headphones. Now as a techno-illiterate I have to find out: how do I
put music on it and can I transfer some of my CD's onto it?
Next year I'm going to have a massive bash to celebrate my birthday and
the release of what I hope will be three books, one of which (thank goodness)
has nothing to do with finance.. more on that project as it develops.
Thanks yet again to all of you being supportive over my mum. She had her
hip operation yesterday and is doing OK though she's likely now to be in that
hospital for another ten days.
So we'll wait and see how her recovery is - some of you think she ought to
go into a private hospital - it's a toss up for me between that and a nursing
home for a while.
I asked her to pass on a message from a share trader - nice one about
removing stamp duty from share buying - make sure you keep your promise and you
get my vote.
However I don't think she'll pass that message on, do you? I'll see if I
can unearth any gossip from the meeting after it happens.
David writes : New Zealand is still a lucky country for these taxes.
Australia does have a nasty CGT which does abate with time but not good for
traders. No inheritance tax here since 1980 or before.
Sounds like a good place to trade shares!!! Glad to have a reader from right
round the world!
Louise: One of my Aim shares has had two 3m sells today B trades. I assume
these are broker to broker trades. Do these exchanges/sales not affect the share
price? Both sales were at different prices (Dermasalve Sciences)
Is this a positive sign? Average daily trading in the share is quite
small. Is someone gathering up in anticipation of good news or is someone
offloading or balancing the books?
Hi Louise - I tend to ignore these trades and they usually have little
effect on the market. It's just two parties swapping shares and that's about
it!!
I liked the look of REA very much - it harvests fruit crops and palm oil
and the interim statement shows a company whose profits could grow very nicely
now.
Its intention to resume dividend payments is a good sign. Its market in
vegetable oils appears at least stable and at best demand could well soar. It
has also recently broken out of a trading range and looks really good for a
burst upwards.
Management now seem pretty determined to grow the company and I think it's
in for a re-rating over the remainder of the year which could end up making my
target look conservative - if it gets to 460p I'll look at it again and maybe
top up if the garden still looks rosy.
Carrs Milling continues its big climb up and looks like it could even have
a crack at 700p the way it's going. Havelock Europa is starting to quietly go up
and I wonder whether it would be a pretty good buy for the brave using a tight
stop.
Vislink just keeps going up and up and should be given another boost
shortly when it gets promoted to FTSE smallcap. That could drive it up and
through 100 which is going to be a very important area to climb through. I get
the feeling the push through 100 could happen quite quickly. Keller holds well
above 700 while Mouchel Parkman continues its excellent post results run.
Friday 20th October
I've also been trying to sort out the nursing home for mum and I've just
heard on the phone she had a fall last night and they are about to move her back
to hospital for an X-Ray so I will try and get there this afternoon.
I'm desperately trying to sort out her finances as none of the house bills
are being paid. So I'm pretty full on right now and just about managing to
scramble in this update. So only a short piece from me to kick things off today.
Thanks so much to the many of you who have written in with ideas and
support. They have been very helpful especially some of the comments and tips re
nursing homes and hospitals etc. My thanks. You know who you are.
Grahame writes: Firstly, let me say you have my greatest sympathy in trying to
sort your mum's finances. In last 3 years I was executor for my Dad ( who had
Alzheimer's) and my mum in law (who ironically died on 9/11).
Secondly, your comments ref the NHS... My niece recently had a baby boy,
(first ) Went in to labour and went to hospital 1am on Monday and was sent home.
Subsequent visits back (3 in total) and she was also sent back home.
Eventually gave birth 7.50am Wednesday.
But here is the point I am trying make.:: ' At 2.30pm that day was sent
home' Needed the beds. A mum of 6 hours with no experience or advice just
chucked out. Sooner we get rid of this 'bunch of Muppets' the better.
Thanks Grahame - the NHS is in a state from what I can see - nothing to do
with the fabulous doctors and nurses but the funding seems to go to the wrong
places - the overpaid penpushers.
SMG has just been awarded my stinker of the year. I try to only allow
myself one per year that was completely my fault and could have been avoided.
After all I'm only human..
Just after 9am it issued a dire trading statement and I saw with horror
the words 'banking covenants'. Two words that make me sell something rightaway..
don't care, they get sold as capital preservation is so important.
Anyhow I sold SMG at 50p for a loss of £1,867. I always try and learn
lessons from mistakes and this one is an easy lesson to learn.. don't buy shares
just because they are bid targets. If they are bad companies which you wouldn't
have bought without the bid story, don't buy.
Thank goodness I sold a lot of Wolfson on October 2nd. Though figures for
this quarter came in OK, they seem very worried about sales in the crucial
fourth quarter. I think this is the final piece in the jigsaw that the chip
stocks have gone ex growth for the time being.
In the end I don't feel too bad. I've banked over £30,000 from CSR and
Wolfson over their two year growth - with only 2 losing trades - of course if
I'd sold at the right time it would have been a whole lot more profit and I
didn't sell enough my my stock at the top.
I took profits in one of my positions in Fenner today at 230p to bank
£1,239 (the 180.47 position) keeping my other Fenner position running.
Elsewhere things are looking extremely rosy. Star of the day award to
Carrs Milling where my patience looks like it's about to pay off big time - a
huge 37 points or 6% gain today - more than 100 points higher than when I
bought.
My last buy Abacus is doing really well - up nearly 15 points already and
it looks like it's going to have a go at 200p. Mouchel Parkman continues its
steady rise since results and goes very nicely.
Scott Wilson has seen a powerful move higher and if it can break through
238, it could look very bullish. Petrofac has been showing strength and went a
lot higher yesterday. Good things still to come from this one. Some excellent
rises for some of my high-risk plays for my SIPP - more on that to e-mail
subscribers this afternoon. Wednesday 18th October
Thanks to all of those of you who've written in with advice about nursing
homes, you've all been very helpful. Glad to say mum was a lot better today so
the prognosis is beginning to look better.
I must admit to be feeling very tired at the moment but keeping going -
could do with three days' straight sleep! Got a bad cold, cough and all the rest
of it.. Probably the stress of the last few days.. and that's more than enough
of me moaning for one day.
Oh no, hold on, one more moan - fireworks! I hardly dare to write this but
one word: bored! Yes, I'm completely bored of them! OK, I know they're pretty
but seen it all before thousands of times!
I have a good idea: at a fireworks display ask those watching - would you
rather see the fireworks... or 50 of you go into a draw to win £2,000 each (the
cost of the display). I know what would happen! So Bah humbug!
Also fed up with the bangs that started last night and will go on
endlessly for a month or two. When you have a little boy tucked up in bed who
gets woken up by them it's not much fun. Right, er that's really it for the
moaning - you can tell it's not worth being anywhere near me when I'm feeling
sick!
Hi Dennis. I think at the moment oil prices fell therefore oil stocks fell now
prices are going back up and so are the oil companies, it is probably as simple
as that - I don't think there is particular manipulation involved!!
Mikey writes: I just wanted to ask you a very quick question about self
select ISA's. If you use your full quota of £7000 to invest in a particular
share, can you within the same ISA year then sell that holding (for say £8500)
and re-invest it in another share?
It may seem a daft question but I wasn't sure if you could use the ISA
wrapper as a trading mechanism and keep re-investing as long as you don't exceed
the maximum permissible amount in any one year, or whether it had to be more for
long term holds. Thanks again.
Mikey - Yes! That is the great thing about ISAs - you can build up as much
tax free money as you like - for example in just one of my Isas I turned £21k
into £100k - now in that ISA I can trade 100k tax free - one bloke I know turned
his into £1m plus! And like a normal account when you sell something you can use
the tax free cash immediately to buy something else..
I last made some money on this one a while back and wished I'd stayed in
rather than taking profits but this looks like a good re-entry point.
The company which distributes electronic components has been buying up
other companies and I expect these buys to start showing up in increased
operating profits.
It's also expanding operations in Germany hiring new staff for 3 offices.
I like these kinds of companies where the management is focussed on growth yet
is not going completely crazy.
The shares have been steady in the early 170s for a bit and the recent
push up into the late 170s together with some increased volume looks good.
Results are due in about 4 weeks and I hope for a run up to the 200 area
before then - might be hard to get through there but a decent set of results
could set up 220p or more. I suspect I could tuck these away for a couple of
years, not look at the price, come back and be nicely surprised.
Star movers of the day for me are my oil services sector stocks with
Hunting and Petrofac both bursting higher with Sondex also a little higher in
their wake. This sector could have a long way to go and my guess is one of these
companies will be bought by another in the next year or so.
Telecom Plus has quietly broken through 150 setting itself up for a rise
to the 170 level again. I'm now up nearly 50% on my buy at just over 100p - 200p
seems a reasonable six month target so I hope my buy will show a 100% return by
then.
New broadband deals which are pretty much as good as the Carphone
Warehouse ones plus extra incentives should help create more sales through the
distributors.
Elsewhere some good gains today for many of my lot including Croda,
Charter, Gyrus, Weir and Workspace. Big Yellow seems to be consolidating before
what I think will be another move higher.
Scott Wilson is holding yesterday's gains well and any more though 231
could see 250 set up - simply one to hold and be patient with for me to get the
ultimate prize of good gains.
Similar comment re OPD - a breakthough the 415 level should see good
gains. Keller is back up to the 700 mark - can it break through this time? I
hope so!
Again, one has to be wary, it's October and a toppy market - but those
with the courage to continue holding may have the last laugh on those that have
been in cash waiting for drops or those that shorted too early.
This week and next week being the big reporting season in the States will
probably guide the market here and give us a clue as to whether we should be
buying, taking profits or shorting! I'll leave it to the market to guide me and
not try and second guess!Monday 16th October
It was great to get home and see Christopher who was being looked after by
Mrs NT's Dad. He was very happy to see ma ma and da da and we were thrilled to
see him! New words this weekend include 'pasta', 'all wet' and 'market tanks'
(just joking on that one).
It certainly brings home to me the difference between Tony Blair's glib
performances in the House Of Commons and what is really going on.
In my case it was my Mother in Law who had stayed with me since her
Husband died some 30 years ago and then when my wife died some 10 years ago I
kept her on. No problem there as she was a gem. However in her case it was
dementia.
Thanks Tom - it's difficult at the moment and I'm looking for a care home
right now - they are very expensive! I'm strong though and think I can cope with
it though it makes time tight in my normal life...
Peter writes: I'm short on all my stuff at the moment, I think things have
gone too high. Another correction due. Is there such a thing as a tree shake
upwards? I have seen a number of spikes upwards which could catch out anyone
with too tight a stop.
Hi Peter! I think you have to be very careful about going short for no
reason other than things have gone higher. If they go higher shorters will close
out causing even more upside. be careful!
There are tree-shakes upwards but they are rare. And tree-shakes don't
really apply to FTSE 100 stocks because they are too liquid to manipulate in
such a way...
Love the look of the potential upside on this one and the minimal downside
and it's one of those that I can see is undervalued by 100p or so.
I have missed a few points waiting to see what happened after results last
week. Sometimes shares fall on profit-taking after results but this has not
happened here and a sharp move up looks likely.,
The international recruitment services group produced sparking results '-
H1 profits up to 5.9m from 2.3m says it all and forward looking the company
appears extremely bullish. Earnings per share were up a massive 128%.
I just can't see how these shares can be rated much less than 450p so the
current price looks a bargain. It's just great when you can spot one of these..
And the really good news: there isn't a bulletin board on these on ADVFN
which can be considered a big plus if you know what I mean...So I'm happy with
this buy and I think I'll pick up 20% possibly by year end.
As I write in fact I can see why the shares are shooting up with a massive
buyer of 49,000 shares at 410p reported or 2 million quids worth of stock!
Someone wants these badly! Oh, now there's another huge trade - 35,000 at 415p -
something cooking here!
I took profits in Ladbrokes at 391 this morning - profit £180. The simple
reason is the shares just aren't moving even when the main market goes up.,
Mouchel Parkman is moving very nicely just before results tomorrow - a
break through here on good results could see 400p (cue profits warning
tomorrow!)
Sondex has at last moved up though the 280 level which was always going to
be a good sign - the recent placement has caused the shares to plateau but now
on the move again 300p should be regained quickly. In the same sector Petrofac
is beginning to motor too. Diploma continues to look very strong for me
indeed.
Both Croda and Keller made some good upwards moves on Friday with Keller
especially impressive. Creston looks on the move at last - some patience needed
but 200p the key figure. Recent buy Weir is trying again to conquer 500p, may
need some time. Wednesday 11th October
Some spectacular views over the Thames as I write... it's raining hard and there's thunder and lightening..I have to feel sorry for the rowing crew out there right now.. can't be much fun..
My addiction to Aero bars is getting worse and still chomping through far too many. However those of you who came to the previous seminar may know I was then addicted to Kit Kats.
I have a feeling at the next seminar the Aero obsession may be replaced with Twirls as I'm beginning to eat those... I'll keep you all in touch with changing chocolate habits as they develop..
Apparently advertisers will shortly have a new weapon, using your mobile phone to 'target you'. So if you walk pass a bus shelter it will know you are there and you will be targetted!
Can you imagine! As I walk anywhere I will be bombarded with 'Free Hot Tips - Subscribe Now for 5 Tips!' or.. 'Turn £2,000 into £75,000 in ten weeks in
5 minutes a day!' (lying bastards) Or... 'Our average Tip is up 40%! (lying bastards X2)
Or even worse, Chocolate bars will flash up, or expensive cat food. And even worse Mrs NT would get ads flashing up for expensive sofas and other mainly Italian home furnishings!
Hi Dave - good question. Generally speaking NMS is there to protect the market makers in event of shares suddenly going down and everyone wanting to sell - they could revert to NMS. But in general you can deal in at least 2X NMS and often even 5X quite easily. I would personally feel fine buying 2X.
You could try two separate transactions but your broker's system may pick this up and not allow it - any further deal would have to be via a dealer rather than electronic..
DM writes: What is the position when a broker makes a basic execution error through incompetence and you lose on the trade or even profit? IS our relationship with our broker underpinned by contract law or some other obscure consumer related law?
Tried to find info on this subject but its very sparse on the ground which is strange cos i'm sure that many PI's have at sometime in their trading careers experienced it?
Hi DM. Yes info is scarce. I wouldn't worry too much - clients' money by law is segregated so your cash is safe. If they make an error which is most unusual, they are regulated by the FSA and would have to put the error right - normally proved as phone calls are taped.
I've bought for two reasons: first it did nothing for a long time and has been breaking up on good volume. Secondly the new car booster seat legislation may see some serious new sales.
I sold Ben Bailey at 498.5p yesterday for a small profit and the rest today at 490.48p for a small loss. I'm happy to take the worst price for website purposes and so bank a £70 loss.
When I bought I thought it was going to break up through 500 and then move to 550. But the 500 hasn't held and hasn't looked like holding so as they say on Dragon's Den I'm out for the moment but maybe not for long.
Carphone Warehouse is my biggest winner of the day. It's bought AOL's UK business and shares are sprinting up. Looks like a good move.
Admiral is another big mover, up yet another 20 points with profits heading up towards the £4,000 level in a short time.
Elsewhere in a quietish downish profit takingish kind of day most stays firm - pleased about that as the last couple of weeks have seen big profits building for most of the portfolio.
Many investors now feel there is only one way for markets to head and that's down and they could be right. But for the moment I'll stay with it - I never have any idea about market movements and can't forecast them nor would I want to.
So I don't much mind missing a few points on the way down. I don't believe it's possible to always buy at the bottom or always sell at the top and it's not something that worries me. I just trade what I see and let others worry about forecasts.
Vislink hold well given recent rises and any break above 86p is going to be very bullish and set up a rise to 100p. Oh, yes I forgot to mention Diploma's excellent acquisition yesterday which has pushed the shares up and over 800p.
Tuesday 10th October
She wants to go for a wee every bloody night at 4.30am when I let her out.
She walks precisely ten steps, does it and comes back in and that's it.
Which is good because I won't have to spend £12.99 on yet another piece of
useless junk (like that crap 'head massager' I stupidly bought. In fact I am
just a mug. Give me a catalogue selling crap and I'll buy it. Mango peeler?
Great idea. Even though I never buy mangoes. Send it to me now.
We had a meeting at mum's rehabilitation centre with hospital staff
yesterday. Basically they want rid of her as soon a possible even though she can
barely walk a step and we want to keep her there as long as we can.
Why do they want her to go? Because half of this brilliant place has been
closed because there 'Isn't any money left'. One doctor told me: 'The NHS is
falling apart.'
So Tony Blair can make all the speeches he likes. I've seen it. There are
50 beds there just lying vacant - beds people like my mum recovering from
strokes desperately need.
I wonder what it's really about. The centre is on some nice prime land.
Bet someone somewhere with friends in high places wants to turn it into private
flats..
My estimation of David Blunkett is going up now... let's face it, if John
Prescott hates him, maybe he is one of the good guys!
My largest holding right now is Vislink where I hold more than £50,000 of
stock - and the profits have poured in since I bought at 54p, 56, and 66p. I had
another look today as the shares have reached my target.
When I get a target I look, and if I would buy afresh I usually add more.
And I like what I see today so I've added a final amount - 4,000 shares at
85.75p. Target 105p, stop 75p.
I've talked about this one an awful lot in the past and don't want to bore
by going on about it again but its markets are booming.
A great rise already for yesterday's buy Big Yellow Group already up 25p
since I bought just a few hours ago! Don't think there is much to stop this one
advancing a lot further.
Charter continues to be a massive winner and profits on that one up to
nearly £9,000. Croda is booming. Carphone reports tomorrow and I suspect the
report will be good though tempered by problems connecting customers.
Collins Stewart has been rising pretty much every day. Workspace still
holds nicely higher. SMG and Renold hold their recent good gains. Monday 9th October
Elizabeth meanwhile spent hours looking for something to go over a flash
dress she bought for an event we're off to next weekend.
Telecom Plus (where I'm a distributor) are treating us and a few others to
a hotel, evening at the theatre and a meal at a top restaurant (it's for those
of us with more than 500 customers so we deserve it!) More on that later in the
week!
Christopher spent a lot of time trying to shoplift stuff out of the Early
Learning Centre and nearly got away with a pile of stuff cleverly concealed in
one of their pushchairs. Good try, old son!
Friday night we got a babysitter and went to our favourite restaurant
nearby 8 over 8 which does some great food though it's quite expensive. I like
it - it's Asian Fusion so it's stuff we'd never make at home. Never see the
point of going out and having grilled fish or pasta which I could have at home.
At last parliament is going to re-open and about bloody time - did they
all notice that most normal people started back to work after the holidays..ooh...
6 weeks ago?
First glad to hear someone of your age is already interested in shares -
you have plenty of time to develop so I really wouldn't worry about playing with
further amounts of money. Sounds like you've done well so far.
I think it's a bit dangerous that you are forced to play with indicies
because you can't trade from school - it's quite a volatile form of investing
and you can lose heavily and quickly.
I have an idea. Ask your dad if he wouldn't mind putting through the odd
buy and sell for you during the day. For example say you decide to buy BskyB at
500p. Set a target and stop loss. Say 430 stop and 550 target.
Good luck Daniel - make sure you don't go crazy and put on too much money!
Fund Manager Mark writes: Hi Robbie, I'm delighted to see you've become
fully qualified with a holding in diploma ! This is one of my favourite stocks
and I own plenty. A cracking little business with a very undergeared balance
sheet, so lots of fire power for little bolt-ons.
But I don't mind I love buying shares in such strong trends and I bought
1,500 shares in Big Yellow Group (BYG) at 506.43p this morning. Target 650 stop
470.
I last bought these at about 100p and sold at about 200p doubling my
money. Oh how I wish I'd held on.. I've missed out on about £40k of profit!
Never mind. I can make some here despite the rises. Big Yellow is a
storage company that's going places and management have done an amazing job of
building the business.
It recently raised a ton of money to roll out stores and transform itself
into a Real Estate Investment Trust which has good tax breaks. A director
recently bought millions of pounds worth of shares. On a fundamental basis
despite big gains it still looks undervalued by 150p-200p so as they say in
Dragons Den, I'm in!
Elsewhere the portfolio continues to fly - in particular the most recent
buys are doing brilliantly.. with SMG, Renold, Diploma and Workspace all going
much higher.
Charter is being my biggest star at the moment, massively up in the last
couple of weeks and still going higher. Admiral remains the biggest gainer of
recent times up more than 150p since my buy.
Also going well are Walker Crips, Gryus, Collins Stewart among others. The
high risk SIPP goes well too with the last pick up 20% and another one going up
more than 20% last weekFriday 6th October
On top of that her house needs urgent repairs and renovations before she
can move back in but lucky for me webmaster Dale is an expert in this field and
is going to have a look and the weekend and give me advice...
I've been with Holmes Place Gym for a while and my membership was up so I
went and had a look at the Cannons Gym very close to where I live.
As a negotiating tool I said I was happy with HP, could they do me any
discounts? 'It's my first day,' said the lady. 'So, I don't really know.'
I kindly suggested she asked the Manager who came over. 'Nah,' he said.
'Nothing we can really do..' Basically neither really cared whether I joined or
not.
Hmm, I thought. I went there with the intention of joining now I'm not so
sure.. you want to get sold to sometimes don't you?
So back to Holmes Place. Different story - someone Mr Trump would be happy
with. I said I was going to join Cannons so if they wanted to keep me it would
have to be a good offer.
No problem with negotiations. Got two free months and a tenner a month off
headline price, ten guest passes and some free tennis courts.
I said I'd decide tomorrow as they may throw in something else, you never
know. But the thing is they got me back and quite right. A member must be worth
£3k or so over 5 years.
If Cannons were a listed company I think that would be enough to get me
shorting. They lost my money cos they didn't care and didn't want to negotiate.
And they must be desperate - there are Cannons leaflets all over the bloody
place!!
Glad to see the list of shares I discussed at last week's seminars is
booming - four of them are up by a very decent percentage including the two I
actually bought - wish I'd bought some of the others too!
Is this pricing inconsistency usual with AIM stocks? Can you offer an
explanation to why this is Robbie? Should I only take notice of the price my
broker is offering?
Edward - two explanations - the stock could easily have moved in a second
or two.. or one of the feeds you were looking at was displaying a delayed price.
Some of the websites only show 15 minute delayed prices. There should be no
discrepancy in the real-time price whether AIM stock or not!...
You have to be careful when stocks rise so much - the market will
inevitably bite you in the bum when on a high! So I am on amber alert.
One new buy to report that's 1,200 shares in Workspace (WKP) at 419.96p
this morning. Love the office rental sector at the moment - it is red hot and
there are any number of companies doing well and the share price on this one is
soaring.
Many investors wouldn't buy this one - I can imagine them saying; 'It's
gone up a lot already!' And so it has but I reckon there is at least another
100p here for me.
I picked this one ahead of others as I also believe there is going to be
some consolidation in the sector and WKP is likely to be a target.
Elsewhere an excellent few days. Plenty of superb risers. Renold has been
going great guns ever since my buy - some treeshaking been going on but a rise
through 85p would look very bullish.
Also rising fast recent buys Diploma and SMG. Diploma is looking for a
rise through 800p and SMG through 75p - any break of these barriers I think will
see further good gains.
Petrofac has really broken through now and glad I held my nerve. Keller
has begun another move up and today's acquisition looks good. Still expect 800p
on this one.
In the same sector Hunting too is on the up again and I expect Sondex to
start rising soon once it gets back over 280p.
Admiral holds surprisingly well given recent huge gains - perhaps another 50p
still in the table?
Charter continues to hold its recent 100p or so gain and looks impressive.
Halford's trading statement just about won me over so will stick with it.
Vislink is seeing some good buying. So a great week but one eye open to some
profit-taking if the markets weaken.Wednesday 4th October
Tomorrow I have to sort out her car which isn't taxed or MOT'd so have to
go and get it and take it to a garage... all of which is going to take a lot of
time and make it too difficult for me to find the time to do an update.
Ok seriously, wake up Tories and come up with some radical new and
interesting policies - what I don't get is if the Tories, New Labour and the Lib
Dems all want the centre ground what is the flipping difference?
Here is another policy for them: Ban all cold calling - now what a winner
that is. OK, some people may lose their jobs but let's face it they are crap
jobs and no-one stays in them for long.
It owns Scottish TV stations and Virgin Radio - merger talks with UTV were
called off recently but I would be surprised if the company wasn't taken out at
some point soonish.
Even without a bid it's doing OK - the share price has come down quite a
bit to what looks like an extremely strong support area.
The last few buys have been going really well! A special mention to
Friday's seminar buy Renold and a big thanks to delegates for voting for me to
buy this from the shortlist!
It's already up more than 10% since the seminar just 3 days ago and it
looks like there is still a long way to go... so well done delegates!!
Also on the shortlist yesterday's buy Diploma keeps rising every day and
it looks good for at least another 100p - that one came second in the voting at
the seminar. Third at the seminar was a company that went up 15% on a bid
rumour, darn it! Those who came know the one I mean!
Vislink has at last broken through the sticky 80p area and that should
really help to get it nearer that 100p level where it really deserves to be.
I said Havelock might be a good buy at 125 for brave investors and so it's
proved - some massive deals going through today is lifting the price very
nicely.
VP produced a decent enough trading statement today - the actual figures
should prove an interesting read. Collins Stewart shows an excellent rise today
and Charter has been booming in bid rumours.
Keller is disappointing today but moves fast on thin volumes. CSR could
start bouncing off 750 support. The oils are down on lower oil prices - brave
investors could start to think about buying oils on these dips.
Carrs Milling, Creston and Carphone all going well and huge profits
building in Admiral make it an excellent day.
Tuesday 3rd October
So recommended highly if you want to watch a movie this weekend - Meryl
Streep is excellent playing the dragon of a boss at a fashion magazine.
Christopher has been teething poor lad and had a bad attack last night.
This meant him sitting on my lap at 2.30am forcing me to watch Teletubbies.
This is the 400th time I have watched this episode and I really really
know who stole the Tubby Custard: it was absolutely and definitely.. Po! (La La
was framed by Tinky Winky but didn't get away with it)
Here is a poster from my discussion forum on advfn talking about losses a
friend had made: 'Chap at work last month closed his VOG long at 97p from
220p for an £80,000 loss and a re-mortgage. Today (he was off work probably in a
total mess)
NLR long £30 pp from 800p
FPA long £20 pp from around 280p
888 long £20 pp from 175p
PRTY long £20 pp from 115p
SBT long £15 pp from 380p
No word of a lie he had no stop losses and was using credit cards to meet
his margin calls. Utterly frightening, (only earns £22000 a year).
That poster shows what a terrible mess people can get into. Don't become a
casualty yourself - use stop losses, steer clear of volatile stocks, don't catch
falling knives and understand how much you stand to lose on a spreadbet....
please!!
Tories, come on! How many times do I have to say FLAT TAX! It is a vote
winner. No-one has to pay tax on their first £10k of earnings.
Interesting David! Any ideas on what it could be and why wouldn't we hear
a little sooner - ie, maybe in Blair's memoirs which I guess will be out next
year!
A down day today, not really surprising after the last few days of rises
with some profit-taking going on. One buy to report made yesterday afternoon and
one of the ones on the seminar shortlist - Diploma (DPLM). I bought 800 shares
at 771p yesterday. Target 895 stop 710.
As I said at the seminar, this distributor could see 120-150p upside from
here even in choppy October markets. A recent AGM statement looked pretty
bullish with US markets growing well and results should be ahead of
expectations. Looks like a neat little safe tuckaway ahead of results in mid
November.
I sold some Wolfson yesterday at 453.29p given the weakness of chips at
the moment. It'll be reporting in a couple of weeks and I'd be surprised if we
saw a warning like CSR.
Havelock has me scratching my head. It looks way undervalued but one
market maker continues to bring the price down and I really had to sell the
position opened at 155 at 130p to take a loss of £1,247.
However I keep my other two positions in the company for the moment and I
would be really surprised if it went down any further and expect 120p to be a
final bottom.. the drop is a mystery but it just goes to show even safe
appearing shares can damage your wealth.
It has at time of writing come back even more to 125p where I suspect it
could be an excellent buy for the brave but who is to say at the moment?
Puzzled!
I sold Jessops yesterday at 127.05 to take a small loss of £178. I thought
the statement was disappointing and would have sold on Friday if it hadn't been
for the seminar! Taking losses and profits into account that bring a taken loss
for the site today of £555.
Elsewhere a slight down day but nothing to worry about for the moment. Yet
another director buy reported at Renold today and I suspect a market-maker
treeshake is on the way to scare out weak holders. Given the buys coming in I
shall be clinging onto mine!
Despite a weak market I have some decent risers! Charter again the star of
the day with a nice 20 point rise again and yet another 100p to come I feel with
or without a bid.
Amazing how Mouchel rises on downdays but I suppose it is a defensive.
Admiral has given back a tiny bit today but considering the massive rise that's
OK. Also nipping down a touch after recent rises are Carphone and Collins
Stewart.
Croda looks excellent and I wouldn't be surprised to see a major move
shortly. Finally a lot of my faves are simply unchanged today such as Vislink,
Creston, Celsis. Vislink I think may look quiet but there is buying going on and
I expect a sudden leap at some point. Monday 2nd October
I've met John a few times as I was a professional horse racing gambler for
a couple of years in the 1990s. And he was MC at my wedding at Kempton Park
Racecourse and was really brilliant and entertained everyone.
Well, except I had to stop him reeling of a number of dirty jokes after I
saw the look of horror come over the mothers' faces....
But don't be fooled by what you see on TV - he is actually a nice gentle
and quite nervous man - most of what you see on TV is an act - a kind of giant
caricature of what he's really like.
And don't fall for his wife 'Booby' who puts on the shy timid act.. she is
the real trousers behind their business and is a shrewd businesswoman who deals
with a lot of the finances.. And good luck to them - it's a great act!
Enjoyed the Dragons Den where are they now show, I think there is another
coming up..thank goodness she only ordered 18,000 pants instead of 180,000
though as the Dragons are aware the idea is, well.. pants!
The share is called Renold (RNO) and live just before the end of the day I
bought 10,000 shares at 75.85p. Target 100p, stop loss 64p.
I discussed this one, pointing out what I think are its attractions. It's
the kind of 'boring' share - it makes things like chains- ignored by most
investors but it's a company that looks very much on the up. Directors are
buying with the FD buying 20,000 shares a few days ago - and its reports are
becoming increasingly bullish.
New investors have come on board recently which makes it all the more
interesting - could be we are about to see a transformed company, at any rate
it's one I certainly feel is worth a small investment for me.
It's kind of a shame another company on the seminar shortlist wasn't voted
for - that's up more than 12% today darn it!!
Elsewhere it continues to be an excellent money making market!
Charter has soared over the last few days with a few bid rumours
surfacing. I have a massive spreadbet long on this and it's proving a big profit
spinner. Profits on the website buys are already showing over £6,000.
Recent buys Ben Bailey and Collings Stewart have both been rising nicely.
Admiral continues to do the business now up more than 150p since my buy just
recently yielding profits already of £3,000.
Croda remains very strong indeed and some terrific profits for me there
too. Even Scott Wilson is picking up! Hunting goes well and Petrofac looks like
it could be set for a run.
Which idiot sold their Britvic shares too early? Ah, that would be me. Oh
well, I guess at least I got a 10% profit.. but it could have been 20% if I had
been more patient...So all in all I am extremely happy with current progress of
the portfolio.Past Commentaries
Thursday 27th July to Wednesday 27th September 2006
Wednesday 19th April to Wednesday 26th July 2006
Monday 20th February to Thursday 12th April 2006
Thursday 12th January to Friday 17th February 2006
Tuesday 18th November to Wendesday 11th January 2006
Wendesday 24th August to Monday 17th October
Wednesday 20th July 2005 to Tuesday 23rd August 2005
Friday 20th May 2005 to Monday 18th July 2005
Friday 15th April 2005 to Wendesday, 13th April 2005
Monday 03rd March 2005 to Wendesday, 13th April 2005
Monday 31th January 2005 to Friday, 25th February 2005
Wendesday 29th December 2005 to Friday 30th January 2005
Thursday 4th November to Friday 24th December
Monday 11th October to Thursday 4th November
Friday 13th August to Friday 8th October
Monday 05th July 2004 to Friday 30th July
Tuesday Monday 21th June 2004 to Friday 2nd July 2004
Tuesday 01st June 2004 to Friday 18th June 2004
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