We lost a couple of neighbours this week. The lady of the house next door sadly died after a short illness and the people opposite moved out. The greatest contrast imaginable in people and the emotions of their departures. The guys who moved out were a pain in the behind and seemed to go out of their way to annoy everybody in our little community - including me, as their yobbish kids keyed the paintwork on my car twice in a week - although it is impossible to prove. In contrast the couple next door were retired and retiring and perfect neighbours.
Spent much of the week in the doghouse after snaffling one of the kid's chocolate Easter eggs - a nicotine substitute! Made it up by replacing it with a bigger one and had a good party with the grandchildren pretending to be young again. Jeez, but being young is such hard work! My eldest grand-daughter (9) has come out top of her class this term with a string of "A"s but her Dad is more delighted that she has also won a scholarship to the Millfield School cricket academy this summer. Me, I'm just chuffed that they are all healthy and happy.
The FTSE100 rose by 61 points on Monday but it was unconvincing. Once again it was technology stocks which held things back. A much better day on Tuesday with a bit of confidence returning and banks and telecomms companies leading the way. With the US markets opening in positive mood, it gave London trading an extra boost in late trading and pushed the FTSE100 along to 5803 - a gain of 139 points. Profit-taking, expecially among tech stocks, took the edge off Wednesday's figures with the main index drifting away 14 points to 5788. At the end of this shortened week, things were quiet and trading relatively thin. Only a flurry of late buying saved the FTSE100 from a bigger fall than the closing loss of 21 points, leaving to end the week at 5766. Certainly not the bloodbath we saw last week, but neither did this week show any real signs that the bearish trends are behind us. With a long weekend to reflect upon things, maybe traders will be in a more upbeat mood when they return to their desks on Tuesday.
There are rumours that a Level 1 data streaming system is under beta test this week and, although there are one or two rough edges, expected in any beta, it is looking very good. Whether this is the shape of things to come for ADVFN, I don't know, but I hope if true, I hope it goes into production as it would prove a much easier way to track portfolio movements and, of course, a lot quicker and easier on the eye. Presumably if it does come to market, it will carry a price and be restricted to the Premium service but it could be a winner!
The Weekly BB Review
Arrangements for the Dodddy & Smelly London Night Out are well in hand and the list is growing fast. It is a great way for new users of both Bulletin Boards to put faces to names and get to know some of the regulars. moonblue has been good enough to do some searching around for hotel accommodation for those who would need to stay overnight. You can pick up all of the details from the thread, but the next date for your diary is 17th May. The venue is "Snows On The Green" restaurant in Shepherds Bush, not far from Hammersmith tube station. Smellie is in the middle of negotiating a set rate for the meal which should be in the region of £25-£30 pp plus drinks. I hope to see you there.
Capitalist's BREAKOUTS 9th April to 13th April thread threw up some interesting plays this week. (A good job Friday 13th was not a trading day with the sort of luck we've had lately!) Some, like PlanB's choice of Clinton Cards began the week looking great but tailed off with the martket and a bit of profit-taking. The trend still looks OK but they need to bounce off 130p on Tuesday. AMEC, capitalist's own initial choice, made a better fist of it and only succumbed a few points on Thursday - not enough to suggest it was a break in the overall pattern. I know a consultant geologist locally who does a lot of work with the company and he sees a big upturn in the number of major new projects coming along. sputnik's Alvis and Billiton both had excellent weeks. Finally capitalist saw a pale moon rising in Biotrace which looks interesting. Although, as Kayak pointed out, there is now a "breakout" facility as part of the Top lists feature, I still like to take a look at this thread first to see what my peers are checking out. I think, like goforit, mungoa and tightfist, that there is room for both. I don't like the technology to be doing ALL the work and prefer something a bit more selective and impersonal at times and I like to read the comments which go with the choices. I hope these threads continue. Thank you capitalist for taking the trouble to kick them off each week.
Keryx BioPharma (KRX), a "volatile beastie", as bones describes it, was back in play this week as Gerard J picked up some interesting feedback from a friend in Israel following a company presentation there. A hint of recovery began to shine through the murk early in the week but there is still a long way to go to turn it around. However, if there are a couple of broker recommendations to support it, maybe that will accelerate the process.
Since The Novice began A bid is back on ? in early March, it has been left to Balthazar B and chester to follow the fortunes of Brancote Holdings. After the initial upturn, it looked as though the share price was going to return to its old pattern of down and down but from midweek there was quite a spike with good volumes on Thursday to give a 10%+ increase on the day. Balthazar B has taken his profit (to fund an Easter party?) but will be back when he thinks the time is right. If there is a big buyer out there, he is being very cagey. Whilst Thursday sales outnumbered buys, there were quite a few 50k trades around the mid price which is intriguing. Maybe worth keeping an eye on. Brancote on the move on the Free BB has also picked up on this one, with Hyper Al advising us that his broker reckons stock to be in short supply. He also kindly provides a link to the company's own progress site which you might find useful.
There was plenty to debate on Thursday when ADVFN produced interim results. Although, in financial terms, they were understandably thin, there was enough in the accompanying statements to convince me that the business strategy is sound and that good progress is being made. There are too many threads on the subject to mention them all and a completely diverse set of opinions. One of the more measured posts come from Vasilis, a new convert to the Premium BB, who in ADVFN Interim Results provides some interesting food for thought about the way the various ADVFN offerings are packaged. As Aquila says, there are probably significant product and service developments due. I hope the company takes a good look at the various comments when deciding how those may be presented.
There is not a lot to cheer us up in Brace your self for a recession / slowdown but knowing Scripophilist's propensity for calling it right, we must assume that he is not over-icing the cake and that there are, in truth, hard times ahead. A good time to re-evaluate the balance of portfolios. JonC anticipates another bout of company share buy-backs (a dubious strategy?) while hawkeye is sticking with "booze, fags, oil and food retailing" shares (all essentials) which have stood him in good stead over the past year. jazza sees a lot of pain already in the price in UK shares and Martini is gearing up for a marathon. Clem had support from Spice Boy with the assertion that the markets are more likely to move sideways for a while. Andyble gives a good appraisal of his view of the current situation and still sees a run to quality tech stocks as soon as there is a hint of a turnaround. My favourite quote from all of this debate comes from DSH - "We all trade two currencies. One is money and the other is time. Time is the currency of our lives, and the older you get the more valuable it becomes." As one of the elderly members here, I find it particularly poignant and it has made me stop to think about where I'm really heading. An excellent and thought-provoking debate.
CHALKIN, after trading full time for 15 months (and into TA for 2 years), was just getting to a profitable situation and keen to see how his experiences stacked up against others on the BB in his Question for Full Time Traders. For jgp212 it had taken a lifetime while for marksp "profit" seemed to be a completely alien concept. royce has been trading fulltime for a similar period but during that time has reviewed strategy and invested in some training to make it an even more profitable exercise. For Smallchange, making the profit was the easy bit. keeping a hold on it was the big problem. SpectoAcc was another who found a need to change strategy mid-term but seems in a comfortable winning position now.
An interesting little journey into the past is provided by crocodile in Centuries old scribble starts computer revolution, quoting a piece from Reuters. Knowing that Autonomy's ground breaking technological breakthrough could actually be based on the doodlings of an obscure 18th century eccentric will fill followers of the company with a lot of confidence, I'm sure! :=)
Have an eggciting Easter ADFVNers gave Edz., jgp212 and Mealiff an opportunity to show off some of their HTML skills. Whereas Anyone going anywhere nice this Easter? reveals that Bullshare is going surfing in Cornwall! (Not the old heap of clothes on the beach and disappear to South America trick, is it?). fft is heading for the heat of Dubai (wise one) while Vertigo is still climbing mountains, although on this occasion only so he can ski back down them. With the holiday weekend traffic so heavy in the West Country, as usual, I'll probably be trapped at home. Guess I'll just have to take a lead from Cat Man and gordgeko and plonk myself in front of the TV with a nice bottle of bubbly and a large mountain of chocolate. Happy Easter everyone!
Meanwhile, in the Land of the Free.......
MotionPoster headed the 12 week breakout list on ADVFN's Top Lists facility on Thursday with a rise of 11.5%. For Whoops and the others who have followed this company through its short life, this must be like manna - or, as dcowling suggested, an early Easter present. mieke found a positive write-up in shares magazine which suggests that the first deal is fairly imminent. Not the pot at the end of the rainbow (yet), but certainly a step in the right direction. These are still firmly established on my Monitor.
We haven't had a PDQ thread on the BB for ages. This week, courtesy of quickflutter there was one regarding Redstone Telecom. (RedStone telecom BACK TO 120P PDQ!!!) whose share price carried on where it left off last week, heading in a northerly direction. Whether, as jimted suggests, it is a target for the widely publicised Cable & Wireless honey pot or just the wind whistling in the trees - who knows. But something caused the rise. Telecom companies have been in and out of favour a lot this week but this one certainly seems to have maintained some interest. Without the ramping phraseology of the subject heading, maybe this thread would have received more reasoned input. PDQ is definitely not the way to get people to take you seriously.
Any thread started by Mr Ashley James and addressed by CityTraderBoy is guaranteed to be provocative and full of detail (and probably will have something to do with mining). Take HEREWARD VENTURES PLC (HEV) for example, started three weeks or so ago and still going strong. The subject again is gold. Although less so now than in days gone by, Ashley's opening "...gold is viewed as a recession proof instrument, it tends to increase in value, as worldwide currencies deflate..." still carries a certain credibility. There are predictable comparisons with Cambridge Mineral Resources and Navan Mining but on balance the HEV chart looks the more bullish of the three. I know you'll all think - "heard it all before" - but this one might just be worth keeping an eye on.
Investment Clubs are more popular than ever - even I belong to one - but in INVESTMENT CLUB ANYONE?, i know nothing is sounding out the potential for an "online" club as opposed to most of the existing clubs which are often formed as much for the social intercourse as the investments. There are rules and regulations governing the set-up of Investment Clubs which cover maximum number of members allowed, constitutions, etc., Some useful information can be found at Proshare. There are also companies offering software to assist in managing clubs such as COW2000 Investment Club Software. You should also be able to find a broker who will give your a "preferential" rate for dealing as a club. The "traditional" club to which I belong uses the Yahoo Clubs facility to provide an interactive site for communicating between meetings which we find very useful. (It is also free.) I hope you won't write off the idea of having an online club out-of-hand but you will need to be clear on the constitution. Decision making will probably be even more difficult than it is with a "physical" club. It will be interesting to see if this progresses. I wish you well.
Another active week on both BBs this week and, as always, it has been very difficult to find a winner when so many deserve recognition. However, I have decided that this week Vasilis, a new premium BBer, is my Poster of the Week for his provocative analysis of the possibilities for restructuring the ADVFN offerings. I like the anecdotal "match talk" scenario. Congratulations Vasilis! I hope you'll continue to provide the food for lateral thought. Please drop me a line with a delivery address and I'll get your prize on its way. At the same time, how about sending me a few lines about yourself to include in the Who's Who? 
Good Hunting!
The ADVFN Who's Who is still growing and is now a quite long list. If you haven't sent me your bio yet, please drop me a few lines about yourself - a full editing service is provided! No e-mail addresses are published unless specifically requested.