|
What a morning! You're all lucky to
get an update at all today! I didn't even get a l peek at the markets till noon.
Why's that? Because
ALL the staff at the cafe decided they were 'ill' today (nothing to do with the
snow and the hassle of getting in or anything). Oh, except the cook which is
just as well or I'd have just had to sod it and close.
This means muggins here had to deal with long queues of irritated punters
who weren't getting served as fast as usual and of course the whole world
decided to descend on the place to top it all off.
So I'm tired, hungry, and quite frankly, pissed off! So don't try and
upset me today, you don't want an angry Scorpio on your back, do you?
Just as well I didn't want to trade today. My screen is showing lots of
lovely blue and most of the portfolio is going up.
Yesterday's buy Wyndeham Press
is rising nicely - 160p looks like being a bit sticky for a bit but with
positive vibes coming after the St Ives closure, the company looks well
positioned for a good next statement. I expect to hold for quite a bit for a
steady climb to the 200p mark.
Burren looks like it's
going to bust out substantially higher once it gets through the 535p area.
Well. I did say don't panic the other day. A few people on my discussion forum
sold most of their shares. Never sell on a panic market-maker mark down day.
So all these are going up today:
Ashtenne, Croda,
Dart,
Dignity,
Gibbs,
Hitachi and
Sondex.
Sondex looks especially exciting now it's really broken upwards and some swift
rises look on the cards - there was a big buyer around yesterday.
Broadcastle (for a boring
company) looks exciting too as it's nearly broken above 100p - just one more
push should do it! Any close above 100p would open up 120p.
I was enjoying the cold and snow
until..... half the cafe staff have been affected by flu so I'm going to have a
pretty bad couple of days. She too
was desperate to be popular and had been on far too many of those useless
management courses run by people who couldn't manage the brewery piss-up. At 5pm one night she did a David
Brent and decided to show her staff a 'comedy video' to 'improve morale'. Of
course everyone just wanted to go home! The
mature student who looks like a potential Dr Who needs to go next. The cheek of
him reading a book while they were having a meeting.
Everyone wants coffee and I've no staff so I'm writing this in between
making sodding coffees! And it's busy and I thought it was posh school half-term
week.
Thanks I feel better getting that on paper. Don't you realise why I write
this site every day? It's pure therapy!
Great Apprentice last night. Aren't the women complete disaster areas? The
woman who rightly got fired was a supreme example of people who make terrible
bosses.
She was determined to go ahead with her complete pants of an idea 'secret
signals'. It didn't matter her team thought it was crap (and how right they
were) - despite taking votes you could see from the beginning she was going to
go ahead with it whatever anyone thought.
On top of that she wasted time on the other project which was obviously
just a sop to the others.
As a boss you have to listen to other people and be prepared to be
gracious and realise when you've made a mistake. She just didn't listen to
anyone and always thought she was right.
She reminds me of a woman I had to work with for a short time (she wasn't
my boss luckily) who thought too she was the bees knees of a boss but didn't
know her workers hated her.
Two of the blokes look pretty good (the one who sold the flowers well last
week looks the winner). But the rest look like also rans.
In between making coffees I made one new trade today that's in
Wyndeham Press (WDSW) - I bought
4,000 at
154p (it was up one pee already)
and a few for the wife's ISA too. Target
195p, stop loss 140p.
I found this one while trawling through all the shares that were going up
against the market yesterday and I like what I see.
Although
not obviously undervalued at first glance I think the last few reports looks
fabulous and they've just won an excellent £50m contract.
It's got everything I like in a company which is improving prospects and
higher dividends profits and turnover.
The chart breakout looks to be in full flow and it could easily bust higher to nearer the 200p level quite quickly. One that the institutions and funds must be looking at.
It
wasn't even affected by a warning from a company in the same sector. A great
company for us value seekers. And at worst I can't see much chance of the price
deteriorating much.
What a great day! Top star is my
Isotron Holding. Up a whacking 30p today on a brilliant earnings report.
Yet again, my patience in holding winning shares for a long time has paid off.
This is a superb set of results and I'm not tempted to take profits of
more than £3,000 - I think there could be a lot more to come and I'm staying
firmly put.
Loads of other fantastic risers too - patience has again paid off as
Sondex made a significant
breakout today and even bigger rises look set to come.
Burren continues its good
run -just 530p to break through now to open 580p.
Broadcastle looks good - nestling
just under 100p - a close above that any day would give bullish signals.
Also up is Croda building on
yesterday's gains - also Emerald
Energy is trying to get over 220p.
Recovering after yesterday's falls are Dawson, Diploma and Telecom Plus, also RPC, Harvey Nash and Get.
There's no doubt about it - our food industry is a scandal. We're all raised now from an
early age to get addicted to salt and sugar and that's about it! So far
I'm confining myself to share trading - might get in to CFDs, shorting etc
later. Could you clarify one thing for me? I don't
understand the methodology behind the numbers you select for Target and Stop for
each of your share holdings. Is this a scientific exercise, or an art? Hope
that's some help! Any others of you want to chat about how you set your stops
and targets let me know! So let's have a look at the damage
today! Actually not too bad! I even have two strong risers! My worst affected is
Diploma - not sure why - but it's
nowhere near stop loss territory yet. I'm sure it'll have another bash in
the coming days. The results due soon I hope will push them over 100p for good! Also other institutions are buying
up shares too - I see if they combined they could together have more than 50%.
Interesting to see what happens even though it may take some time.
It's fun to have a bit of snow,
isn't it? Very bracing! Means some of the cafe staff are going off sick so I'm
doing a bit of real work today. Onto the markets and three trades - one
buy and one short and one sell. The buy is a return to an old favourite
Broadcastle (BCS). It's a bit of
a teaser (or it has been for me!). I've made a profit once and a loss
once. However I've always thought it undervalued and I believed it was a matter
of time before it was discovered and boy it's been a long time! A market cap of only £30m looks way
too low for this carefully managed company. The management of this finance
company seem shrewd and building things up slowly and keeping costs controlled.
The liquidity is pretty good -
ComDirect's system shows it's easy enough to buy and sell around £5,000 worth. I
bought 5,000 shares at
94.763p (weird price!) Target is
120p, stop loss
85p. The chart is starting to look very
weak and recent announcements disappointing and everything is in the price - I'm
looking for about 20 points profit. Target
245, stop loss
275. Although a fan of the company it
looks like the shares may trade around here for a bit and my money may be better
off elsewhere until we get nearer results in April. As Arnie says, I'll be back!
A couple of weeks ago I decided to
take part in a 'placing' of shares. This is where institutions and anyone can
buy shares in a company just before it launches its shares on the market. I knew well the owner of one of
these premium rate companies and I know he earns good money from these lines. But I think the founders of the
company have been wise to go to the market with only a market cap of £5m as that
leaves I think plenty of room for growth and I'm hoping I might even double my
money though obviously it could take time! A pretty good start to the week -
Burren shot up early in the day
but is holding well above 520 after the dramatic gains on Friday. I decided to buy a few more on the
mid morning dip at 524p for Elizabeth's Isa as I think next stop is 580p.
Call me a killjoy (you killjoy! -
Ed) but I can hardly believe so many people watch crap like EastEnders. It's 20
years old and time it was canned. What
worries me is the kids that watch it and think the violence and arguments that
dominate this appalling rubbish. These
two ideally need to be in sync although this has not been the case for the past
couple of years but either way the transport index nearly always leads the
other, and this fall (if it continues) could be read as a warning sign of things
to come, and possible later this year.' No move yet from yesterday's buy
Keir Group but it's only a matter
of time till they scoot up over 900p - well undervalued. They tend to stay quiet
for a while and then suddenly lift. I have a very large £50 spreadbet
(£25,000 position+) and I hope this is going to pay for Christopher's private
education. Well done to all Burren holders with
the patience to hold on. A good close today above 500p signals a quick rise to
530p. I think we can safely say 200p is a
firm bottom after being tested twice. I don't care much as I just hold and let
the short-term traders battle it out.
I had to laugh at the start of The
Apprentice. No wonder BBC 2 showed the American version in an off peak slot. The UK
women are bitchy and generally hopeless. I'd have sacked the woman who sold the
flowers at a loss! The
only reason I think Sugar didn't sack her was because he fancied her a bit more
than the one he sacked, who admittedly was also useless. 'It was
great, From the boys Paul I think the one who sold all the flowers was great and
the boys project manager was good. As for
the other one who started selling at loss without permission how the hell can
she be from a sales background. But overall Sir Alan Sugar made the right
decision as the one fired contributed nothing but negativity.' The Impact team seemed far more
cohesive and professional, and I think the winner will come from this team by
the end of the series.' This
looks a really well run company and I expect fabulous results next month. I
think they will carry on moving up ahead of results though I expect a few tree
shakes along the way and I think there is a big re-rating coming!
I've increased my target price to 300. The huge volume means a lot I
reckon. No-one's getting hold of my shares at the moment!
Will the UK version of 'The Apprentice' be any good tonight? We'll soon
find out - I'll give my review tomorrow and look forwards to all your comments. New investors shouldn't be going
high risk (at least not until they have lots of experience). Those on my e-mail
list I believe will treat the high-risk buys responsibly. However,
I was a little disappointed to read you were thinking of taking some time off -
your admiring readers need you !!
And besides,
like me, surely you have been able to profit in falling markets as well? Think
it would be really helpful to the readers of your website, including me, to
share your thoughts spread bet (what you use with Cantor) or CFD's.
I
initially was interested in spread bets but got to hear more about CFD's and
there is a bet of debate in BB's about CFD's etc. So, I thought you may be able
to shed some light on this. Because
I use up my allowance every year, any profits from CFD's would be subject to 40%
tax which for me makes spread betting a better option for the moment though I am
considering Cfd's within my Sipp. Any views welcome. I
wanted to ask you if you have read any of the other Rich Dad, Poor Dad books and
if so what you thought of them? Irritatingly
I could have got out at 660 if I'd sold earlier in the day and I'd have ended up
with a profit.
Spread
betting is all about timing and mine was rubbish. I'm staying flat on shorts for
the moment as I said, despite some worry that I feel we're reaching a peak, the
upwards trend is still intact. Looks
like the market-makers are trying tree-shaking but the shares just continue to
jump higher. I'm wondering whether I'll end up nearly doubling my money quickly
on this one? I will
keep you all in touch but for reasons I've discussed most of my buys will only
be available to e-mail recipients. Some interesting large buys have
gone into Telecom Plus recently
as it continues to do battle with then 255p area - the next statement should
prove interesting.
Looking forward to the UK version of
the brilliant 'Apprentice' that starts tomorrow on BBC2. The
other reason is getting hold of pension money isn't easy - you can take some but
then there's annuities and other rubbish. I want big reward but I'd rather not
go bust. So I will look at the risk/reward ratio very carefully with each
selection which will all be relatively short-term. And I also don't want inexperienced
new investors following me in to high risk plays. I don't approve of anyone with
less than two years market experience buying these kinds of shares. My main
money-making policy remains outside the high risk AIM market. And b,
- I know 80% of you on the list quite well though e-mail correspondence and I
know you are all sensible investors and will just watch my new Sipp trades with
interest rather than following me in. Hope it
will make interesting reading. Those of you on my e-mail list will get updates
when I've traded. It's a
new issue on the markets and a high risk mining shell, it's due to make a major
acquisition in a few days.
The
reason I bought was the management has an excellent track record in this area
and I felt it was worth the gamble. You may not be in the same boat and
I suggest you build your Sipps slowly but surely as I have done with my ISAs.
What's all this about the greatest
song of all time being Robbie William's Angels? I hate it. Surely everyone knows
the greatest song is Britney Spears' Toxic followed by 9-5 by Dolly Parton? When
there's a good 'buzz' it often means the professionals are thinking of heading
for the exits.
I just can't get enough of my 3 month old son! Every time he smiles I melt. I don't
even care that every T-shirt I have now has sick on it. Onto the markets: Northern
Recruitment is showing signs of heading back up after a quiet post
results period. Yesterday's buy
Diploma is trying to decide
whether it should go over 700p or not! Let's hope it does!
I'm quite excited. Dragon's Den
inspired me to come up with a few business ideas of my own and I think I might
have found a good one - a simple idea with potential to make millions. Here's
who I'm looking for - if you fit into this category and would like to help me
develop the idea (put some money in if you want) or you know someone that does
fit this category let me know. Of
course those scared of buying rocketing shares could end up being right but the
fundamentals here look great and the share is still undervalued despite the
rises. Add in
the possibility of a better than expected statement soon, and that could be
150-200p more. And despite the rises I can't see it retreating back to more than
660 or so. Not a
stock that small investors bother with but this small investor is now on board!
Elsewhere actually quite a quiet day compared to previous days this week.
Wow! A spectacular day on the markets! A lot of mine are really flying. I took a look
at my SIPP portfolio and since I started it back in September 2002 I've nearly
doubled my money! Of course you won't be able to read about that anymore, more
in a minute. Sondex
continues its climb higher. Harvey Nash,
Admiral,
Ashtenne and
Dart are also heading higher.
Christopher
is talking more and more every day - we had a very long conversation this
morning, I'm certain he's got a share tip but sadly he just can't
communicate it to me. I did ask whether it was Google but
he shook his head. He seemed quite interested when I asked whether it was
Mothercare.I keep telling him he must run his winners and cut his losses. A huge
pile of what looked like chicken curry shot out of his bum. I suppose it could
have been worse - he could have done it while I was picking him up.
Onto the markets. Very interesting
to see the FTSE about to break 5,000 and even more interesting to see whether it
can sustain and push through. Could it be time to short? Or is it worth going
long? I was waiting for some movement and
it happened too quickly this morning for me to get anywhere near the 177p on
offer earlier today. I'm not surprised the buyers are coming in to this one.
There's loads of buying going on.
A good weekend! I hired a night
nanny for the weekend so myself and Elizabeth were free from feeding and
changing nappies (mostly!). So onto today's markets. One new
trade today - I'm dipping very cautiously back into the world of shorting. It's not really the time to short
with markets strong but I think RAC
looks a tad overvalued. I sold for £10
a point ( the same as 1,000 shares) at
667 after it has already moved down quite a bit. (Currently 662 sell). Target
620, stop loss
680. There's good support at 640
but that could break. Results are due soon. This company bought the shares at
7.5p back in 1998! So it certainly has made multi millions from selling at 225p!
The smart boxes aren't really needed
any more as new technology means calls can be diverted without need for them. 255p is a big sticking point but we
may clear through that this week. I got a nice dividend cheque for over £1,000
last week which was very nice.
Remember I told you about the lady
that comes into the cafe and has a treble shot coffee, followed by another.. and
another (that's NINE shots of espresso)? Another fab day on the markets -
2005 is turning out to be my best year yet. Star of the day award goes to
Vanco which announced some big
contract wins. It's heading back to all-time highs and any break though 340p
will look very bullish.
Another great day on the markets for
me! I have to keep pinching myself to check I'm not dreaming as I'm making about
£3,000 a day at the moment! Now it's got there greed has set in.
Something good is obviously happening here and there are hardly any sellers! I'm
staying put!
Another
great edition of 'Dragon's Den' last night. Anyone dealing in shares should
watch it. You
should pretend you're a dragon (an investor with buckets of cash) when you're
thinking about buying a share. 'How do you decide whether to actually buy
a share in a company or to spread bet it long instead? Is it all to do with
dividend only or do you have other things which influence you?' Sometimes
a small share is starting to move fast and calling up to get a quote makes it
easier for me to get a position quickly before the price moves up too much. And
sometimes it's because I'm looking for a short-term position. Hope that helps! You Rule/Rock (Delete as
applicable). Selling your house at what looks like the peak, and with the new
government announcements about affordable housing and the level they have set
them at. I can
only see house values falling in line with normal salary multiples and at a base
value just above the government affordability level.
Onto the markets. Yet another cracking day! I realise at some point the
small and mid caps won't just carry on going up every day but for the moment
it's all good. I thought it was undervalued when I
bought at 413p and even at 470p now I think there are further rises to come. I
suspect a market maker tree shake now to get some to take profits.
An interesting morning! As I mentioned
yesterday it was all hands on deck as the café ended up as an early morning pit
stop for the film crew working shooting a music video. Popular with the dancers and crew
were bacon and egg sandwiches which were wolfed down. My mood didn't improve when I
eventually got to my screen and saw an announcement from Havelock Europa. More
on that later. One trade to report - that's a sell
in my recent spread bet in Keir Group
to take some profits. I sold at 817
to bag a very quick profit of £600.
While I still think it's got a way
to go there's bound to be some profit-taking at this point and I hope to buy
back 15 points lower. That pushes my Cantor spread bet account to profits of
£20,000 sitting in there which is very nice! I need to look at this all a bit
more closely and when I'm not so tired but my initial reaction is the shares are
probably now fairly priced rather than well undervalued which is what I thought
they were before the statement. I'm holding for the moment pending a
good look at them over the weekend. Even with profits trimmed there should be
strong support in the low 120s. That means suddenly lowering the
price dramatically to get investors to sell their shares so the mm's can
replenish their stocks. I won't be parted with my Gibbs and Dandy just yet! Also going very well this week,
Rotork,
Dignity, and
Burren. So generally it's been a
very good week. So here's to another one next week. Well, I'm getting up very early
tomorrow - in fact at 6.30am. There's a music video being shot round the corner
and from 6.30am to 8am the café is going to be serving tea, bacon sandwiches and
breakfasts to 30 hungry crew members. Apparently the star of the vid is
quite famous so we'd better make sure the sarnies are good and the tea best
quality PG Tips. It couldn't be Britney could it?
Better make sure the tea isn't toxic. So it's all hands on deck including mine.
Tea anyone? Same target and stop loss as the
other buy. It may go to sleep for a while now but I don't think it'll be long
before it wakes up and motors again. The chart looks superb.
Carrs Milling looks like it's about to continue the re-rating which
should soon see it trade over 600p. Still well undervalued despite a strong run.
Onto the markets. Two trades to report today. First a return to
Birse (BIE), an old favourite.
This is a 'fun money' high risk trade. I bought
50,000 shares at
13.85p. Stop loss
13p target
15.5p. Well, I don't know. Maybe call it
gut instinct - anyhow I'm in and we'll see! Please be aware if you're tempted to
follow me this is high risk and if the lawsuit proves painful, shares could
slide. And my fun money could be your serious money. These buys look significant - I
wonder if news is on the way? RPC
continues to shoot higher and is trading higher every day. I'm amazed
Gibbs and Dandy has not succumbed
to some profit-taking. It's steady today after some excellent rises which looks
bullish to me. Rotork is heading
up to a crucial 450p level - a move through should see big profits.
I got a call from one of the brokers who handle the dealings on some of my
isa's/peps today. "As you deal a lot with us you are one of our most valued
clients," said the wage slave. "And we can give you benefits."
Then I chanced my arm. "How about some bottles of wine or something?" They would never let an Englishman
buy 75 acres and grow guaranteed truffles (even if he could and seven years is a
long time to find out). They would set loose a herd of the
wild boar, who love them. Even if he managed a huge crop, the price would
automatically take a huge dive. So what's happening on the markets today? Nothing wrong with this one as a
long-term hold but for right now I think I'll make more money elsewhere. I'd be
interested in coming back into Havelock later this year, perhaps once an assault
on 140 looks likely. They also panic far too easily when
market-makers mark down. They fall into the trap mm's love. Mark a good share down to get the
sellers.. then hold.. then start rising it.. attract buyers and make a nice
profit. How do you become a market maker. Any idea? The account is worth having just for
their system. All deals are £12.50 with no dubious small print.
All the supermarkets peddle 'convenience meals' which are all garbage -
just read the ingredients before you eat them. I stopped eating them ages ago
and feel much better for it.
Basically most of the processed food you buy is crap. Just try not to eat too
much of it!
It's the second 'Apprentice' tonight on BBC 2 9pm. Don't miss! Can the
women really be that bad? Will the men start bitching?
You have to say the men are way better than the women so far. And it's
great watching this dog eat dog show when I'm comfortably away from the rat
race!
A dip into the mailbag:
Though only a small trader (but growing!), I'm hooked on the fascination of
the market.
Cheers John
A good question! I take each share individually rather than just going 10
or 15 per cent. I tend to try and make it as a guide to what I was trying to
achieve when I bought.
Targets are based on what I think can be achieved in about 6-9 months and
the price is based on what I think the shares are fairly worth.
Stops are based more on charts and where the support is - I'm not a great
chart reader so it's more of a guess really.
A few of you are probably panicking this morning and maybe even sold some
of your shares. I've seen it all before so I'm perfectly relaxed.
As long as you've got a good bunch of companies there is no need to worry.
And the last thing to do is sell because the market makers have taken a red pen
out to all the medium and small caps.
Of course the market was due for a bit of a correction. But the worst
thing is to sell, then see the market makers raise prices later in the week.
Bizarrely, the first buy in my high risk Sipp has gone up 30% so far
today! Although sad to say because the spread I'm only up a touch taking into
account the selling price. I must say it is quite fun and a whole new world!
Also the red pen has gone into
Dart and Telecom Plus. I
had another look at Dart's fundamentals and unless something has gone wrong with
the company it still looks cheap and it could easily take off again.
Harvey Nash is down on a
bit on a perfectly respectable trading statement. I think they were unlucky to
be releasing it on a red day. Still happy holding.
I'm lucky in that I bought my shares at way lower prices than even the
markdowns today so I guess I can afford to be relaxed.
On the plus side, a great report from
Croda sees them up 20 which is
great and good old Burren is very
strong today up quite a few pee.
Others on the rise are Istotron,
Roxborough and my placing shares
in TV Commerce.
Emerald is up too and looking
strong - I can see 300p on the way.
Yesterday's buy Broadcastle
tried to get over 100p but could not sustain that in a weak market today.
Roxborough is a fascinating
story. Aberforth keeps on snapping up shares and is getting close to 30% at
which point it would have to make a bid.
On a day like this it's worth taking a look at shares going up because any
strength in a market like this is worth noting. So I'm scouring the market for
interesting risers. And I think the market will continue its upward trend after
this bout of selling is out of the way.Tuesday, 22nd February 2005
Dropping in and out from my trading desk at the cafe serving coffee and
food - actually it's quite fun and makes a change. Small, medium, or large for
you? (Medium is fine reckons my wife).
I saw a small item in the Guardian yesterday - soon you'll be able to put
your credit card in a slot and buy things via the TV more easily. Could be very
interesting for BskyB and also for TV Commerce, I got some shares in that via a
placing.
You know I'm quite into market psychology - know yourself and how you work
and that really helps trading. How and why you make trading decisions is really
important.
I'm buying at this point because results are on the way and I'm banking
that they will reveal profits and dividends have been increased again.
Profits were up 28% last time with dividend up 8%. The current yield is
nearly 4% which is pretty decent.
The risk is obvious - the shares are in the nervous nineties and the next
report might not be as good as I hope. However I think at worst I'd lose 10% but
I think I will hold onto these for longer than last time.
I've shorted a previous buy -
Radstone Technology (RST)-
and sold yesterday afternoon at 265p
for £25 a point.
One sale today - I took profits of
£238 by selling my 2,000 Vanco
shares at 323p. Main reason is
there's been two attempts at getting through 330p and both failed. And I saw the
price starting to weaken today.
A down day on the markets (remember those?) Quietish for my lot today but
a few movers. Kier Group
continues to be quietly re-rated and is rising a few points every day.
RPC is beginning to rise
now profit-takers are out of the way.
Emerald is trying to get through the sticky 220p area.
Harvey Nash is starting to move
after a quiet spell.
Get has failed again to get
through 270p.. come on, any day now.
Burren has come back a touch but I reckon that's only temporary.
Monday, 21st February 200 5
So I decided to buy £12,000 worth of a tiny new company called
TV Commerce (TVC). The placing
was at 6p, valuing the company at just £5m.
The reason it interested me was because it owns TV stations on BskyB and
intends to make money though various interesting ways including premium rate
lines, which was a business I used to be involved in and made a lot of money out
of while I worked at BskyB.
The company owns a clever concept 'The Advert Channel' which is channel
684. I think they have a good chance of making money with their Destiny TV -
that is kind of stars and tarot readings etc.
So I thought I'd give it a go! The placing means I got the shares at 6p
without paying stamp duty or commission.
The share price opened up today at 6.5-8 and is currently 5-7. Of course a
whopping spread as it is a tiny company though there are four market makers and
it seems reasonably liquid.
I intend to hold onto the shares and see what happens and how the company
develops - I suppose it's a new thing for me and I shall be interested to see
whether I end up making money when I eventually come to sell.
I'll keep you all updated from time to time with how it goes. I'll be
keeping my eye open for other interesting placings
A quick update on my new high-risk sipp (one week on!) - I've bought three
companies so far - two are showing quite good profits already but the first one
I bought at 2.4p is now 1.75p to sell but I think that'll come back. It just
goes to show high risk means.. high risk!
My most recent buy Keir Group
is going up nice and steadily and I feel a re-rating up to the 1000p level is
only a matter of time.
Volatile Emerald Energy has
bounced very well today. The 220p-223p area is starting to look like a
resistance point but once though there 260p opens up.
A few other nice gainers include
Get Group gradually heading back up to the 300p area and
Telecom Plus, looking to regain
the territory above 255p.
Two of my biggest winners so far this year are pausing nervously in the
nervous nineties - VP just under
200p and Carrs Milling just under
600p - any break though these numbers could see some good rises - crucial few
days for both these shares.
Friday, 18th February 200 5
Dirty Den dying again, blah blah. Recycled crap and unrealistic plots
written by smug middle-class writers.
I would hate to think of my little Christopher watching it and thinking
this is how real people live, killing each other, being aggressive with each
other, etc.
Oh bring back flower power and love! Maybe that'll come round again by the
time he grows up. I hope so. Give me Top Cat and Wacky Races!
The beeb should axe it and bring us some good quality programming. Where
is the British Sopranos or Nip/Tuck. Nowhere to be seen
'With all the talk today on your site about the market and has it reached
a top - thought I'd drop a couple of comments to you.
Well obviously a top is only clear when the market goes down and is clear
for all to see. However for the moment the uptrend is very much in place and
regarding opening shorts I agree with you, perhaps later in the year. How much
later will be interesting.
The Nasdaq has been trailing well behind the Dow and S&P and should it attract
some strength from somewhere it will drive the other two upwards and perhaps to
new highs. If it doesn't then perhaps we are seeing the top.
From a bit of intermarket analysis it would appear the Fed's monetary and
fiscal policies are doing the job, and may yet have some room for more short
term rate hikes if they are measured by the following :- falling spread of the
long and short term yield, fall in gold prices (the traditional hedge against
inflation) the strength of the US dollar, long term interest rates falling,
again suggesting inflation is not a problem, commodity prices are flat to lower
all coupled with a rising equity market all of which tend to substantiate the
bullish tone, at least in the short term.
However, from the charts Gold is approaching support the dollar
approaching resistance the commodity market has been extremely calm and could
become more volatile and the Fed has only to hike rates that last little bit to
tip the very fragile balance. Indeed over the years history has told us that is
exactly what they do.
A couple of other concerns is the Vix which is at all time lows showing
the complacency in the market as though prices can continue upwards for ever.
The Vix is generally used as a contrary sentiment indicator, so keep an eye on
it. Plus the Dow Transport index recently fell nearly 10% when the Dow
industrials were moving higher.
Cheers Frank, an interesting summary.
I do wonder about shorting the FTSE even thought it's going against the
current trend. But I'd rather short from a higher level! And I'm also crap at
indices so maybe not!
Onto the markets.
At last!!! Burren has
soared today! Have I been patient or have I been patient? It's paid off at last.
I already doubled my money but now it looks like the big pay off is coming.
I've seen bizarre movements in shares before but
Emerald today takes the biscuit.
Up to 240p yesterday, down below 200p today, then up again then down then up.
Diploma looks like it's
having a stab at leaving 700p behind.
Vanco's on the rise after a minor tree-shake yesterday.
Dart's come back a bit but
only down to previous support so I expect it to bottom around here and go back
up. Same comment applies to RPC.
Thursday, 17th February 200 5
The US version starts with the wannabees arriving at the amazing Trump
Towers - a superb luxury building with money oozing out of every room.
The UK version starts with the wannabees arriving at the .. er Amstrad
offices which look like they are based somewhere like Slough!
The US version has gleaming state of the art computers. The UK version
has... Alan Sugar's poxy 'e-mailer' phones!
But let's take aside that this is the poor relation of the US version,
it's still entertaining. The women are a complete disaster! The US women were
amazing.
If these are the cream of UK talent we should all despair! Of course
they're not because the cream of talent wouldn't need to take part in the show
at all.
That guy who sold the flowers is a born salesman and he's the winner of
the series already for me.
Reader Mr Qureshi writes:
The women seemed hopeless with all the usual infighting and bitchiness. I
hated Saira at first and thought she was clueless but then she really impressed
with her selling ability.
We're discussing the show on my premium discussion board on ADVFN.
One poster said 'Re: The Apprentice, I liked the programme, but I don't
think Alan Sugar has the same charisma as Donald Trump on the American version.
Was it me, or did the women seem a bunch of chavs?
Paul writes:
Well done on the website and I've been reading your articles with
interest. So are you inspired by last night's 'The Apprentice' to top up the
Sipps with some flower-selling? Very watchable telly I thought but boy did that
Saira girl wind me up!
Onto the markets.
One new buy today and that's 850
shares in Keir Group (KIE) at
836.5p. I just got in before the
market maker raised to 840p where the buy price stands as I write. I've also
made quite a large spread up bet too.
My target is 990p. Stop
loss 794p. I've made a few quid
on this one before but the more I look at it, the more undervalued I believe it
is - I think fair value is nearer 1100p.
What can I say about Emerald
Energy? Bought just a couple of weeks ago at 169 it's already moving up
to the 240 area.
Come on Burren, for God's
sake! Get Group continues to
climb back up to the 300p level. I still believe it's worth 320-240.Hitachi
Credit is going back up after a bit of a shakeout - lovely long-term
hold.Wendesday, 16th February 2005
Well, my decision to go high risk on the SIPP has generated a lot of
e-mails with 99% of you reckoning it's a good move.
I was actually expecting some abusive e-mails saying it was a terrible
idea. Maybe they're on the way.
I've been inundated with tips for the high-risk SIPP! Thank you all for
them, I'll certainly be taking a look!
And I'm also glad you all agree it's better not to publish high-risk buys
on the site. It's the responsible thing to do.
Moving on now to a bulging mailbag! Starting off with
Don:
Edwin writes:
I read your 'final' column as well as the latest summary - I quite agree
with you, the market is beginning to look over-frothy and must surely be due for
some consolidation.
Maybe a little additional advice for your readers in how to deal with
markets at these levels would help, especially since many will begin to wonder
what to do when the market goes sideways or down. Those Sipps and portfolios
will still need to be managed!'
I guess we're talking shorting here, Edwin. It's something I certainly
expect to be doing later this year but the main thing to say is I would
personally wait for a definite sign the market is trending down - and that does
not appear to be the case yet.
This from Mo:
This is an interesting debate, Mo. I use spread betting for the moment, my
main reasoning is because it's not subject to capital gains tax.
Tanuj writes:
Apologies if you've already mentioned them on your web site previously,
but I've only been reading it since beginning of February.
Yes, I have Tanuj. In particular I enjoyed Rich Dad's Prophecy - why the
biggest stock market crash in history is still coming and how you can profit
from it.
Moving to the markets.
As I said yesterday I was coming out of my short in RAC in the afternoon
before results which I did at 675
to lose £80.
Wow! Emerald Energy is
really storming up and by buy a few days ago is now looking very good. There are
some socking great buys coming in so I'm hoping some good news is on the way.
My new high-risk Sipp has got off to what seems a good start with
Zareba and I'm in profit already
though it's early days.
I'm a bit mystified as to the fall in
Dawson this morning - still looks
like a good value share to me so I'm staying put.
Diploma closed over 700p which
I'm pleased about, I reckon it's up from here.
By the way, unlimited one mega broadband is now available at £19.99 a
month which is good value.
Burren continues to
frustrate with its inability to break that darn 480 level! I'm holding on but
only just!!
Tuesday, 15th February 2005
I doubt it'll be as good as the US version but it should still be good fun
watching those trying to get a job with Alan Sugar.
Like most 'hard-faced' businessmen I suspect he's quite sweet and sugary
underneath it all. Anyway a date for your diaries - BBC2 Wednesday at 9.
The main news is: rather than try and make my million within the Sipp
within ten years I'm going to try and do it in three.
This means I'm going for high risk/ high reward shares. This strategy is
going to be for my SIPP only. The rest of my main trading will remain exactly
the same as will this website.
Why am I doing this? Well, first of all my main money is building up in
Peps/Isa's - this is the money I really care about and so my strategy remains to
build huge wealth slowly.
Despite the fact I've doubled my Sipp bank in two and a half years I still
only have £90k or so to play with. And in a pension this is bugger all. For a
decent payout you need around £1.5 million.
I'm still young enough to re-build the Sipp if the new high risk policy
doesn't pay off. I think at my age and with substantial funds behind me outside
the Sipp I can take this risk.
Also, my Sipp is the only place I can buy AIM stock which will make up the
bulk of my new-look Sipp.
But don't get me wrong: I'm not going to go crazy. I will look at each
stock in the same way as my normal selections.
The other thing to say is that while I will let you all know how I'm
getting on, generally I won't be announcing what I've bought here on the
website. The reason is I'm a responsible guy!
If I started posting high risk gambles here there are two dangers. First,
if too many followed me in the market in the share would be unfairly disrupted.
Secondly, this site is all about value investing, not high risk gambles.
And so it will remain. My Sipp trading will be ring-fenced from my site.
However I've decided to release my new-look Sipp trades and reports only
to my e-mail list. This is because a, - the list is tiny, therefore the share in
question won't be affected by hundreds following me in.
I will update my new high risk Sipp progress here on the site once a month
or so and only then let you all know the kinds of shares I've been buying and
whether I've won or lost.
In order to give you an idea of the kind of share I'm going for with the
new-look Sipp, My first buy was shares in
Zareba (ZBA) this morning at
2.4p.
This is the kind of share I'm after for the new-look Sipp. I hope you will
find it interesting to see how I get on and I will update from time to time.
Please do not follow me in to this.
I also recommend strongly that those of you with Sipps do not follow my
new strategy. Please remember I am now very wealthy and can afford to mess
around with my pension.
Moving on to the markets now.
A fairly quiet day - the two stars of yesterday -
Emerald Energy and
Get Group continue to climb. Some
big buyers coming in for Energy which makes it look very interesting.
Diploma is looking like
it'll conquer the 700 area any time.
Dart is having problems getting through the 400p though it could happen
any time.
I suspect I'll cut my RAC
short this afternoon or tomorrow - the 660p level looks rock solid so my
original reason for shorting looks flawed.
RPC looks good even after recent
rises.
I've got quite a few e-mails to reply to - please me patient I will get
round to you, my box was pretty clogged up with the supportive Times E-mails.
The post box will be back tomorrow as well.
Monday, 14th February 2005
If I'm having a long spell in the office at the café (I have a trading
desk there and at home) the music they play in the kitchen drives me crackers.
It sounds like the Eurovision song contest in there every day. Ukraine? No
points! Ukrainian music sounds just like Greek music (my mum is Greek) and both
countries produce terrible music.
If it's not that they have some awful radio station on which seems to play
the same ten power ballads in rotation. To be fair to them they know I find it
annoying and tend to turn it down when I'm around.
In the café we have classical till noon and then cheerful old house funky
stuff with a few new ones thrown in.
I hope you all feel loved up today although as a bit of a rebel I hate
being told when to be in a party mood (new year's eve), loved up (today) or
dinner with family (Xmas Day).
What more could I want today though? A beautiful wife, son and cat?
That'll do for me! When we're all on the bed together I feel very content.
Ahhhhhhhhh!
I'm also getting a lot of mails from people asking how to start investing.
That can also be a sign that the market is too high.
In fact I'm seriously thinking about selling up next month, taking a while
off investing, bank the profits, and come back in September using the time to
enjoy with my son. We'll see.
Onto the markets. I'm sure a lot of you are having a good as time as me so
enjoy it! Some good risers for me today.
Get Group is shooting
higher after a few strange down days. I've always felt these should be around
320p but maybe I'm on my own here.
Recruitment companies Harvey Nash
and Northern Recruitment are
beginning to go higher again.
Hitachi Credit is looking
strong. A good rise by Emerald Energy
- any move above 200p would look bullish.
Carrs Milling seems to go up
every day and today is no exception.!
Various recent buys are holding up well at higher levels including
Gibbs and Dawson.
Diploma is tantalisingly close to
breaking the 700 mark. VP is
threatening to get over the 200p.
Friday 11th February 2005
Looks like he's going to be a fighter. When he looks in the mirror in the
bath and sees what he thinks is a rival baby he tries to punch it.
Maybe I should try and get him into boxing? My uncle was the middleweight
boxing champion of Greece so who knows?
I decided to take profits yesterday afternoon in
Umbro and sold at
115p to take profits of
£1,469 (real trade 6,214).
The shares have had a very good run and have gone way over my target so
it's time to bank! I've also got back the money I lost on the share last time!
Another good set of movers for me today.
RPC carries on rising fast. I'm
told analysts visited the company's plant in Germany and were so impressed they
are recommending it as a big buy. Despite the huge recent rises, I'm staying
put.
Carrs Milling continues its
progress up while Gibbs and Dandy
is up a bit more after big rises yesterday.
Hitachi Credit scored a good rise
late yesterday and is carrying on with that today.
Burren is proving a touch
frustrating and it just refuses to go above 480p. Come on, get on with it! Other
rises include Telecom Plus
(trying to break 255) and Rotork
(trying to break 450).
I don't 'get' why GET group
is going down - it's always seemed undervalued to me. But then again it's always
been volatile. I think I'll take the chance and carry on holding.
Thursday 10th February 2005
I think if I pitched this idea to the dragons I might get some backing.
But I'm lucky in that I can afford to back myself! And I need the help of one of
my readers.
I need a London cab driver preferably based in West London who's been
doing it for at least 2 years.
So if you are one or know someone please e-mail me. I am happy to pay you
to participate in a certain experiment to see if it works. Please contact me!
Onto the markets and a brand new buy today. That's
Diploma (DPLM). I bought
1,000 shares at
695p.
Target 795, stop loss
660.
Many people would look at the chart of Diploma and say: "I'm not buying
that! It's already rocketed up.. it's bound to come back.far too risky.."
I disagree - I've spent the last year buying shares with charts like this
and I like buying shares with such good upward momentum.
This distribution group looks in great shape to me and things appear to be
going very well in its American businesses. Just on current earnings and profits
alone I reckon it's worth at least 100p more.
Of course buying just before the "zeros" is always a bit risky but I'll
risk it. A couple of whacking big buys this morning of more than £200,000 worth
of stock tempts me further.
Not much movement in the portfolio today. After a very clever tree shake
by market makers to get rid of those who bought
Gibbs and Dandy on the back of a
tips heet tip, the share is moving back up to the 500p area.
The obvious clue it was a tree shake was the huge buyers at 500p followed
by the smaller punters who'd bought on the tip exiting during the shake. Lovely
share this and I expect soon to see it back over 500p and moving on up.
RPC continues its excellent
run - I've got huge profits on this one as I have monster £60 a point spread bet
on it (around £7,000 profits including my buys in the market). A broker upgraded
the shares today with a new target of 300p.
Carrs Milling continues its
slow upgrade and a great stock to hold.
Telecom Plus tries again to break through the very stubborn 255 area.
Dawson is holding nicely at
a higher level. There could be a tree shake on the way to scare out some people
who bought in after me - after that, it should be onwards and upwards past 200p.
Wendesday 09th February 2005
I must say I felt very happy this morning as young Christopher chatted
away to me - think he's going to be a lovely child.
After the awful death of our first child last year we really have been
given a gift with this one. Someone is looking after us!
I know I slag off British TV quite a lot but a pat on the back for the BBC
for Dragons Den and Trouble At The Top last night, both great shows.
Good to see Rachael backing the two keen inventive lads with some hard
money. And it's really great to see imaginative people and ideas around.
What's amazing is the people who want to pitch for money but have no idea
what the difference between turnover and profit is or have any figures, even
rough ones, in their head.
Onto the markets! My patience in holding onto a number of good stocks for
quite a long time is paying off today! Pretty much everything in the portfolio
is booming.
RPC is kicking upwards
towards through 275p - I'm certain something is going on here! My patience with
VP is paying off, looks like
it'll go over 200p - that should open up 220p.
Yesterday's buy Dawson Int
(not to be confused with a penny share called Dawson) is going very well, it
might take time to kick it over 200p but it's a good sleep at night stock.
Vanco is approaching all
time highs confidently, can it break through?
Roxborough is looking strong and
is bounding upwards.
Only a couple moving down. Gibbs
and Dandy but there were big buyers at 500 and I reckon the market makers
are trying to shake out those who bought on a tip sheet tip last week.
I forgot to mention I sold my small gamble in
Chieftain yesterday at
68.35p. Looks like I sold at the
wrong time as it's gone a bit higher since! Still it was only a small gamble and
that books a profit of £240.Tuesday 08th February 2005
I had a bath with him last night and he seemed to be concentrating on
something. It wasn't soon before I found out what it was.
Well, I don't care because for me, trying to second guess the direction of
the FTSE is just gambling. I'll stick with my undervalued stocks!
One new buy to report in what looks to me like a very undervalued share in
Dawson (DWN). I've bought
3,734 shares at
181p. Stop loss
170p, target
220p. I'm kicking myself for
missing the 177p that's been around for a few days!
Shares are rising strongly at this newspaper distribution group and it's
not hard to see why. Turnover and dividends are rising fast and so are the
profits. Debt is coming down fast and its capitalisation looks too low for what
seems bright prospects.
I don't see why it shouldn't get to around the 220-230 level in the next
few months and it seems a mighty good tuckaway.
A bit quiet today but Sondex
is looking hot! It's right on a big breakout at the moment and if it can carry
over the 230p, 250p looks the next stop.
Dart is inching closer
towards the 400p mark, I suspect once through it could stop inching and take
off..
Burren is flirting with its
all time high. Looks like it needs a bit of new buying to push it on upwards.
It's tempting to take profits as I've doubled my money but I'll try and resist
the urge.
I'm showing very big profits in
Umbro now. I've got back the losses I made on my original badly-timed
trade. I'm hanging as so much big buying makes me wonder if there is more to
come.
Monday 07th February 2005
So we went to a great restaurant called the Bluebird Rooms in Chelsea
specialising in English food which if you think about it is quite unusual.
Mutton chops, pork and some great puddings were eagerly consumed. We also
went to the gym and did some shopping. And a few other things I'm not going to
tell you about!
On Saturday morning I had to sack one of the staff at the cafe. Not great
fun. But she really had to go.
But after I sacked her and promised her some extra pay, instead of leaving
she was determined to carry on for the day. Whatever I said about please going
she ignored it!
I thought, oh blimey she going to go bananas and on top of everything
she's a black belt in karate. I'm going to get a foot in my head!
Luckily Elizabeth saved the day and did a woman to woman chat on the phone
and she went. Phew!
Great to see Nip And Tuck back - as with most decent US dramas it makes UK
shows look like the rubbish they are.
Telecom Plus is strong
today as at last it's revealed why the shares have been held back. The company
that made its smart boxes that divert phone calls has sold its stake.
Now the overhang is cleared and the gas problems are all in the price, the
share price should head back up towards the 300p level.
Dart is starting to move
again - can it get past stubborn resistance in the late 300s?
Sondex is about to push past a
previous high and looks promising.
Vanco is looking to move up
to previous highs. Evil Knievel's short if he still has it (does he - anyone
know?) must be starting to hurt. If he followed but his fans close out this
could lift the price nicely.
Carrs Milling continues its
well-deserved re-rating - a bit more to come here.
Gibbs and Dandy is holding steady
at much higher prices which is good.
Friday 05th February 2005
This morning she was trying really hard and kicked off with a three shot
decaf... er and a large tea! (urrrgghh - tea and coffee together?!)
Then she relapsed badly and finished off with another tea and a three shot
coffee. I'm still debating whether to act like a pub landlord and suggest she
slow down.
One great perk of renting out dvd's which we do in the cafe is getting new
films early. So Wimbledon arrived yesterday lunchtime and I took it home,
we put the curtains down and spent the afternoon watching it! A nice benefit of
being self-employed!
It was OK, bit of a girlie film really, the usual formula and the clichéd
airport dash. Still, a pleasant way of relaxing....
Onto the mailbag.
Michael writes: You say
there are hardly any sellers in Gibbs and Dandy. How can you tell please?'
It's fairly easy. All you have to do is watch the share(s) on your monitor
and see the trades coming through.
Of course market makers can delay trades and make sells look like buys
because they are cunning like that.
But they have to put 'T' by any trade delayed for a long time and from
that you can have a good guess.
Yesterday there were loads of buyers of Gibbs and it was easy to see the
buys coming in, The sells seemed to be few and far between.
Northern Recruitment is
heading back up after profit takers, er took their profits. Us longer-termers
should look forward to much bigger ones.
Gibbs and Dandy is in the
holding area just below 500p. A few brave buyers and we'll be onwards and
upwards - again profit takers have come and gone and there weren't many of those
anyway.
Dart Group is inching
closer to the 400p level. Come on, get on with it. I can hardly believe
RPC isn't up today, it usually
goes up every day. Oh well, maybe this afternoon.
I have quite a few shares I'd like to buy but for right now - my lot are
doing so well I don't fancy selling any of them to raise the cash!Thursday 03rd February 2005
What can I say about Gibbs and
Dandy? It reached my target after only about 5 trading days! Quite
remarkable!
Bought at 413p I was expecting to take profits at 500p sometime in March
not in a couple of days.
RPC is the other one doing
the business for me today, yet another strong day for this one. My real spread
bet on this is £60 a point so the money is rolling in. More to come again I
feel.
Gambles Chieftain and
Birse are both looking fine.
Chieftain profits are excellent so far so I'll stay in. Birse of course is bound
to take time but there's a good chance it'll come good.
Telecom Plus is recovering
well. 220p now looks like a very strong bottom with 255p now strong resistance.
Sondex continues an excellent
recent run as does Hitachi Credit.
Umbro has been rocketing up
and my buy at 93p is looking very good with the price up at 114p today. As I
said with the big buys coming in I wonder if an interesting announcement is due?
Wendesday 02th February 2005
The reason?
Think about the company behind the share you want to buy. Would you invest
your own cash in the company? If you wouldn't, why are you buying the share?
I thought they were unfair to the guy with the self-watering plant idea. I
would have taken the UK rights for a stake.
And well done to the guys with the golf carrier. A great idea and they
were right not to accept the money for a too big stake in their company.
Are you as fed up as I am hearing ads from the post office for their
insurance, telephony services etc?
DELIVER THE POST ON TIME AND CORRECTLY - THIS IS WHAT YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO
BE DOING! Ah, that's better - this is the reason why I write this site,
free therapy.
And another thing - what is a Labour government doing closing down local
post offices which are there to provide a service because they are losing money?
Quite amazing.
I think in ten years time we'll look back at the early 2000's and go - how
did we let them get away with taxing us so much, establishing 'congestion
charges' while letting all services get run down? As for the red tape on small
businesses, don't get me started on that!
Christopher continues to enchant me! Every time he says 'goo goo' my heart
melts!
This in the postbag from Mark: I
enjoy reading your webpage. I have a question to ask if I may.
Well, I use spread betting for shorting as it's easy. On longs sometimes
because I'm fully invested and I want to use margin.
And from Jon:
Of course the other knock on effect could be that house prices will not
rise after the fall, because of 'burnt figure syndrome' and the current
affordability level. Said with respect for the many families that could end up
with a negative equity situation
Oh, the flattery! Thanks. I don' t think I rule or rock, just a sensible
guy, that's all.
No big stars today just loads of good steady risers.
Gibbs and Dandy rises pretty much
every day and another good rise today.
You can always rely on Dignity
to rise every day and it's another usual rise today!
Dart and
Roxborough are both stirring
after some time not moving. I hope momentum can be kept up on both of these.
Big buyers still going for Umbro
- I'm sure there is something going on there. Excellent profits now.
VP is on the way back up and I'm
hoping it'll challenge 200p.
And what can I say about RPC..
a great continued riser with seeming no resistance to rises just yet.
Yesterday's buy Birse is
inching forward. As I said, a big gamble and we'll see whether it pays off.
Sondex is motoring today as well
- so I am very happy.
Friday 29th January 2005
Well, It didn't turn out to be Britney Spears but we did do breakfast
for.. Rachael Stevens. What so you mean who is she? Come on, dudes, get with the
latest music, man.
She was in S Club 7 but now sings solo. You see, you can come here for
showbiz gossip now as well as shares gossip!
Want to know what she had? All right then, a very healthy porridge with
banana and honey. IN fact a lot of people had porridge.
At time of writing she might be coming for lunch too. Oh, the heady world of
showbiz.
Sadly I didn't present myself very well. I had to get up at 6am which I
find difficult and put my normal gentle self in a bad mood and I ended up doing
a Gordon Ramsay on the staff.
"For f**** sake, " etc poured out of my mouth for two hours while they got
things wrong. I felt sorry for them in the end and gave them a tenner each. See?
Kind hearted. That's me.
Havelock Europa put out
what I can only describe as an annoying statement because it was all a bit vague
with hardly any figures mentioned - just talk of contracts taking longer to play
out.
Teather and Greenwood the broker re-iterated a buy in the share though
while reducing forecasts a bit.
My two recruitment sector stocks
Northern Recruitment and Harvey
Nash are shooting up. Northern reports on Monday so fingers are crossed
here! The figures should be good but I just hope good enough to sustain the
recent hike in the share price.
Gibbs and Dandy continues
its good run and there's very little selling pressure. The market makers look
short of stock so I would not be surprised to see a tree-shake.
Emerald Energy is breaking
out nicely and the chart pattern looks bullish at the moment.
Sondex is showing signs of some
upward pressure.
Thursday 28th January 2005
I know I keep saying this but.. Another fabulous day on the markets for
me. What an amazing year this has been so far.
I decided to pick up another 1,000
shares in Gibbs and Dandy (GDYO)
at 437 to add to my buy the other
day at 413.
Most investors can't bring themselves to buy more of a share they've
already bought at at a cheaper price but I'm not one of them!
I'd far rather average up than down! As I think Gibbs is going to 500p I
have no qualms about adding some more even if I have to pay a bit more.
Star award of the day to Northern
Recruitment. I ignored the recent tree shake partly inspired by some
rubbish tipster who put out sell "advice" . Shares are storming higher today
ahead of what should be sparkling results on Monday.
Keir Group as I suspected
it would has risen dramatically straight through 800p and onwards and upwards.
Burren has quite rightly
shrugged off the placing and resumed its natural course upwards. I think there's
a chance it could double in value this year given continued good drilling
reports.
Rotork is having a good
run, now attempting to break 450 which would open up 500p. Other risers for me
today include Dignity,
Sondex and
RPC.
Tuesday 01st Febraury 2005
Birse has been trading in a 13-15 range for a long time. While profitable
and paying a huge dividend, more than 7% which tends to give support to the
shares, it seems it always gets into some kind of calamity. So it's not the kind
of share I should really get involved in so call me a hypocrite if you like (you
bloody hypocrite! - ed)
It's currently doing battle with Citibank. My reason for getting in now is
I noticed over the last week an big improvement in volume. Someone has bought
reasonably big recently and I wonder whether this long drawn-out lawsuit could
be reaching a conclusion.
The second trade is a spread bet in
Croda (CRDA). I bought for
£20 a point at
341p. Chemicals seems to be the
sector to be in and this one looks like breaking out nicely. I'm hoping to nip
25 points or so. Target 365p,
stop loss 330p.
Pretty quiet today - Umbro
is at last making progress some large chunky buys have pushed it up nicely and
I'm sitting on some good profits - it was worth being patient.
Monday 31th January 2005
"Oh good," I said. "Does that mean you're offering me lower commission rates,
fantastic!"
"Er. no," he replied.
In effect all he was offering was, er, well, him to talk to on a direct
line, which really wasn't a major benefit given I do all my trading on line and
have never had any reason to call.
"That's disappointing," I said. "Surely as a valued client you could offer me
something else."
He paused. Then said the magic words; "Do you prefer white or red?"
"Hmm, red'll do," I said. "I'll see what I can do," he promised.
Look, if you don't ask you don't get. I wonder if the wine will turn up or not?
If I was setting a spread on how many bottles it would probably be 1-2. Of
course it may well end up being zero. I'll keep you all posted.
Before I forget remember to watch Dragon's Den on Tuesday night BBC2 8pm.
Once you've seen it I know you'll be kicking yourself for missing it so far.
In the last show one of the "dragons" (men with money) offered £75k to
help a young bloke set up a truffle farm in France. Here's reader John on why he
thinks it might have been a bad investment!
"Quick say on truffles! I always watch Dragon's Den. I cannot think what
induced the dragon to invest. We half live down there and the truffles are
traded from the backs of dirty old vans by the equal in Frenchmen!
Thanks John! I'm glad I didn't give him any money! Watch it tomorrow! It's a
must!
Quite honestly you can all stop your moaning regarding my e-mail service.
I've had offers of cash, booze, and a couple of other offers I can't publish.
(Though I was tempted).
The only way, and there is definitely no other.. is for you to subscribe
to one of the Utility Warehouse
And the excuses! From I live abroad so can I have it anyway to I live in a
rented house and can't subscribe to any of the services.
I made a tough decision and took profits in
Havelock at
128.35p. That's a profit of
£474. Friday's results made it
more of a hold than a buy for the next six months or so and it looks to me like
a trading range of 120-140 will be established.
I was looking for 170p and that seems unlikely now. So to get some
short-term cash for now it seems sensible to sell. I think long-term investors
have nothing to worry about.
Northern Recruitment
reported a strong set of results. I'm not surprised the shares are down a little
as these days investors seem to take profits on results day.
Actually the shares have only given back a little bit and once
profit-takers have gone it should move on.
Pretax came in at 1.66m against 1.02m which I would be very pleased with
if I owned the company.
The shares still look cheap to me and I believe there's plenty more to
come. The 17% dividend rise shows management confidence. I'm staying put!
I read with amusement on the BB that one bloke sold because he thought I
would! Come on, have the courage of your convictions!
Some good movers today - Gibbs and
Dandy continues to look, er.. Dandy.. a break through 450 and my initial
target of 500 will be in sight.
Carrs Milling's re-rating
also continues and I'd be surprised if it wasn't trading up in the 600 area
soonish.
Hitachi Credit is on the
move and looking bullish - Vanco
is starting another push up hopefully back up to the previous highs at around
340.
RPC carries on its strong
run and Sondex looks set for a
another run. Harvey Nash is down
a little in sympathy with Northern.
A reminder via my site you can open a Comdirect account at no risk via the
banner at the top of the page because you'll get £50 after one trade.
Past Commentaries
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
The "Ads by Google" are just ads and help support the free information aspect of this site. You'll have to do your own research to decide whether those companies are reliable or not. Please do not copy/paste this content without permission. If you want to use any of it on your website contact us via email webmaster@financial-spread-betting.com