A great sunny week, broken only by a short sharp thunderstorm midweek which helped clear the air, has transformed the garden and brought a touch more urgency to getting everything finished. All of the bedding plants are way ahead of themselves and it is only that little fear of a frosty night which makes us feel uneasy about putting too much out at once. My gammy leg has got me out of the heavy stuff so I've been largely confined to the greenhouse which is getting harder and harder to get into as everything has shot up at once. Now, if I can only get my portfolio to follow that trend, I will be well happy.
I was in trouble with our "less-than-bright" barmaid's Mother this week as she overheard a little remark which her dim but beautiful daughter failed to pick up on. I asked her (the barmaid) what she really wanted to do with her life and she said she would like to become a teacher but was worried about whether she would be able to qualify. Without hesitating, (and not realising Mum was close at hand) I told her the biggest problem would probably be finding some kids thicker than she was to teach. I was only joking......really!
When the market re-opened after the holiday break, there was every hope that it would be with renewed energy. In fact, it was a tame start to the trading week, although, thanks to the tech stocks there was at least a little ecitement. The FTSE100 gained a modest 16 points to take it to 5886. Wednesday was another dull day but things brightened up on Thursday with confirmation of the BoE UK interest rate cut and a surprise move by its European counterpart to do the same. The FTSE100 moved closer to the 6000 line than we've seen for a while with a gain of 70 points to 5964. Sadly, the week ended on a flat note with a lot of the previous gains lost as the main index fell to 5896. However, I guess most of us would have settled for that at the beginning of the week.
Did you know that you can receive a free e-mail market update from ADVFN three times each day? It is often worth it just to pick up the newspaper tips and FTSE and techMARK levels. If you want to receive it, simply edit your profile through the Support tab and tick the relevant box.
ADVFN announced the introduction of their new "investor relations product" this week. The company also disclosed a deal to supply Friends Provident with financial data and the appointment of David Limpsfield Chartist Jones as Head of Sales for the new line. I guess we'll all have to stop calling him "Limpy" now. (I do hope the new appointment doesn't interfere with the hairdressing busienss!) I'm sure David will add a lot to the management team at ADVFN and wish him well. (For a more general reaction to the news see - Limpsfield Sales Management).
Tomkins in £700m buyback... came back to the top of the BB list for a while this week as first Tomkin and then Scripophilist (whose grapevine is renowned for its far-reaching tendrils) noted the continuing rise in Tomkins's share price. As Assagai and bobsims contemplate adding them to an ISA, there is still no explanation forthcoming. With their last statement full of doom and gloom about trading expectations for this year and the next, it is a puzzler. They are now nearing the year's high and the chart looks really bullish. Must be something driving them on. Anyone out there with an explanation?
Since pommy opened EARTHPORT PLC now trading on AIM (EPO) in January, it has been a spiral down for the share price virtually all the way. This week the trend changed - just slightly. Aquila picked up on a change of personnel and M.Darken found a positive piece in Shares magazine. With a boost in volume, sparked by a director buy, as adraind pointed out, the shares dragged themselves from the floor just a bit. If we could only tun the chart upside down, I'd buy some myself.
Dil called it about perfectly right when he introduced LNGO to the BB last week. Although the price levelled out at the endof the week, it certainly took a big hit right on cue for the shorters. Cat, Robbb, crocodile, ExecLine and royce were pleased to grasp the opportunity. Thank goodness Dil is sticking to the traditional "tea-leaf" forecasting system instead of relying on those squiggly line charty things. :)
TechNet's * USA STOCKS - May 2001 * is proving as popular as its predecessors with almost 600 posting racked up to date this month. Whether, like me, you just follow the US market information to get a preview of how it is likely to affect the LSE, or whether you seriuosly trade US stocks and indicese, this is a great place to visit. I also find the Nasdaq and TheStreet sites useful for picking up US analysts chatter. How long before ADVFN have some direct connections to the US markets?
Another of those little explanations of stock market terminology popped up in What are EMM disclosures? with StewJames baffled. Pitbull was soon on hand with the answer.
Almost since the day I first met him, many moons ago, Bigwig has been sure that one day Celsis were going to make his fortune. I can't imagine anyone knows more about the company than he does. In Celsis - Time for some action?, he says "...If the results are reasonable with no shockers then maybe we will start to see some action...." There's that IF word again! PUGUGLY decided on an alternative to CEL and is now glad he did as things have looked pretty bleak since the highs of last Autumn. However, nighshift and relwood still have faith in the company and Friday's half point bounce will have come as a big relief. Maybe we are about to see some action after all. I've installed them on my "hopefuls" Monitor just in case....
jungle bunny's faith in Deltron Electronics might just be about to bear fruit. In DELTRON - Looking good and unexposed, the latest news, posted by electricmen, as KP1 says, show "excellent results and a good statement". The share price has now been on an up-trend since mid-April and this will do nothing to hurt. Well worth keeping an eye on.
My choice of Poster of the Week this week goes to Bigwig for his single mindedness and determination to research things thoroughly - as demonstrated in his post on the Free BB Celsis - Time for some action? thread. While you may not share his confidence in the company involved, you must admire his thoroughness. Congratulations Bigwig! Please drop me a line with a delivery address and I'll get your prize on its way. The ADVFN Who's Who
The Weekly BB Review
Meanwhile, in the Land of the Free.......
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