We had the mother and father of all thunderstorms here this week. It cetainly shook the rafters! I have never known a storm stay so close overhead for such a long time. But my "potting shed" office survived intact, although there were about half a dozen short power cuts which didn't do the old PC any good! I've kept away from the market this week - too volatile for me - and, as a consequence was roped into helping Mrs. G. and her Horticultural Society prepare for a flower show on Saturday. On balance, I think I prefer to deal with the old women in the City! :)
To the surpise of many, the markets opened in good heart on Monday, although it was difficult to see why the enthusiasm. The FTSE100 gained 74 points and rose to 5716. It was back to reality on Tuesday as gloomy forecasts cast a cloud oiver proceedings. All of the previous day's gains were lost and more. The main index dropped to 5639. On Wednesday, Marconi's temporary suspension was enough to cause a few more jitters and the FTSE100 lost a further 39 points. Thursday saw the pessimism spread thoughout the tech sector as MONI crashed, bringing the FTSE100 down to 5549 and the final session of the week was even worse with Biocompatibles International among the biggest casualties. The FTSE100 ended the week limply at 5479 after a 74 point fall. More of the same next week? Probably!
The Weekly BB Review
Old friend Marconi, once a bastion of the British establishment, took a thrashing this week with all corners of the financial world and the international press having a go - the shares were down over 54% on Thursday. On the FBB (Why is MONI taking such a battering ??) Boron started alarm bells ringing as early as Monday although things looked quite stable at that stage and the price actually managed to rise. With the shares temporarily suspended pending news of their disposal the Medical System Division toPhilips and, ominously, "a trading statement", nchahal anticipated a profits warning and wasn't disappointed. LARGE ONES was keeping a bottle handy just in case sorrow drowning was in order. peterreidsmith's "...sell on the rumour..." was the best advice (in retrospect). zzaxx99 was another expecting the worst while colombo and Bouncer were hoping for Divine intervention. Charles Bronson was one of the few enjoying the suspense of waiting but expecting the share to retun sub 180p - he obviously didn't have a wadful at 350p+! RoleyBirkin reported back from an analysts meeting that the Philip's deal had been well received, but still the MONI Board sat and deliberated.... The announcement wasn't released until well after market close, so the RNS announcement was missed by many. Mr Wildjuice kindly posted it for us. With over 10m shares traded prior to Thursday opening and the price looking very dodgy, it didn't take a Warren Buffett to see what was going to happen. Only the shorters made any mileage and I think even they were nervous about when to pull out - if they could get a deal at all! (The Week's Chart)
Since beginning Newsplayer deal with EMI? (NPG), Tankertop has virtually been the only one interested, although this week KENNETHRICH make a brief appearance following a comprehensive report carried by Citywire which makes a compelling argument for taking an interest. Despite the poor performance over the past year, I think this one has potential. If only it can hang on long enough to take advantage of its position in the media arena. Increased volumes pumped the share price up a couple of points this week. Something is afoot!
goodfella was interested in Xansa when Adam was a boy and his initial posting on Xansa Bonanza, what an overvaluation? suggested a good shorting opportunity was just around the corner. How right he was. By mid-June, it was apparent that all was not going to plan for the company, as smm316 pointed out. The share price plummetted during June to consolidate the stance and general opinion here. A bit ironic that on Friday, this was one of the only blue lights in the tech sector. However, 271p is probably still high, given the figures goodfella quoted. Well-timed call.
Budgens - anyone watching this? (BGE) from hatman coincided with Thursday's results which showed some healthy growth. The CEO sounded super-confident that the growth would be maintained. The news couldn't have come at a better time as investors clambered around looking for an escape from the tech downturn. Chris Cross was one of many watching carefully. Abdul585 even suggested there might be a bid on the way, although he couldn't be found to confirm it. As shemshersingh said, this stock is bundled in with the food retailers as far as sentiment is concerned and that is where a lot of the clever (safe?) money was going this week. The Week's Chart looks pretty and volumes were sky high by the end of trading.
Mr Charts paid a rare visit to the PBB last weekend to pick up on his Marylebone Warwick Balfour (MWB) thread started way back in November 1999. Although, at the time, it was a perfect call - (see the chart) - the share price has crumbled recently in line with other office rental companies. Mr C liked the way the shares had bounced off their support level and M.T.Glass posted up the trading statement from the company on Monday which was upbeat enough to reverse the trend and get the shares heading north again. With approval now through for its big Royal Victoria Docks Development which will be perfectly situated for City Airport users, there is every hope that the share price will get back to its previous growth pattern. Whilst the early enthusiasm levelled out as the week progressed, I feel that was more to do with the overall market conditions than the company profile. A permanent fixture on my Monitor list.
A "buy" recommendation in Investors Chronicle this week brought Where there is muck there is profit !!!!!!! back into play. Started by red army in May, this concerns VHE who specialise in reclamation of "brownfield" sites - there are plenty of those around! As M.T.Glass reported, recent Government legislation allowing local authoritues to force landowners to clean up contaminated sites, should push plenty of business their way. It was even interesting enough to persuade Moneybags to part with some loose change to buy a copy of the magazine. Now there's a turn-up! :)
The Friends Provident flotation seems to have been a topic of conversation for months and now the day looms large. In FRIENDS set to float at 'lower end' on July 9, nlb posted news that Merrill Lynch were anticipating the floation price would be in the 225p-235p range. Like many others I know, gopher thought this exactly the wrong time to be floating a company. The current state of the market doesn't lend itself to dynamic take-offs. Analyst confirmed that the price would, in fact, be 225p and nlb added that the preferential rate for members is to be 213.75p. As ADVFN.com supply financial data to the company, there is an extra incentive for them to well. Monday will tell!
As long ago as February, Dil was calling IMAGINATION - All The Way Down To 80p ??? and looks like being right. As TechNet says - "good call" - I hope someone else took notice! Dil's next target is 40p for Imagination Technologies - who can argue with that on current performance!
You can't beat a nice provocative title to get a conversation going as StewJames discovered on Thursday with Is everybody stupid?. A good contrarian view from Stew "...Seems to me that once 90% of the people have their feet firmly planted in the past, the 10% who are prepared to be brave and ignore the herd tend to have their courage rewarded." energyi remains pessimistic about the year and Tinker's "gut feel indicator" has persuaded him into 100% cash, much the position adopted by Martini. Slacker has found switching to trading indices has paid off handsomely. pommy sees less danger in people being driven out of the markets altogether with the ability now to short stocks but suggests that breery shares are always a winner in days of pessimmism as all the losers drown their sorrows. Just to be ultra-contrarian, lesk now considers himself "bullishly pessimistic" and, with MH, looks to the housing market as an alternative to stocks. Madasafish (not one of Sardine's proteges, I hope!) still sees a lot of stocks as overvalued and glumly predicts the FTSE100 as low as 4500. As Limpsfield Chartist points out - we can't blame the shorters this time!
For ten years or more, I had a little house in Etaples in France, not far from Crocodile's more luxuriant pad in Le Touquet. In all the years we were there, Le Tour never came near us, although the locals were fanatical about cycling as most Frenchmen are. This year the race goes straight through the town and I'm going to miss it! Tour De France 2001 - Bolougne & Le Touquet - Looks as though Croc will have to watch it by himself as no-one can join him for a beer! (I think Contra might have hit the nail on the head about the guy in the Devil's costume - now we know!)
Poster of the Week prize this week goes to StewJames whose Is everybody stupid? thread was a joy. Congratulations Stew! Please drop me a line with a delivery address and I'll get your prize on its way. 
Now you are famous, how about including a few lines about yourself for the ADVFN 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.