Well, our Davis Cup ambitions were thwarted by that tennis superstate, Ecuador. But, we managed to make the final of the triangular cricket competition to face those titans of the sport, Zimbabwe. The British Open Golf got under way at St Andrews with Tiger Woods obviously benefitting from the coaching received from Bullshare (see pic below).

On the home front, I now have a preliminary date for my next house move which has created just a tiny panic in the Greystone household. My (potential) buyer flew in from Russia where he lives this week and as I was explaining to him just how quiet and peaceful it is here, a WWII Flying Fortress roared overhead on its way the the Cornish Air Show. C'est la Guerre! Our Hamlet's millennium bash turned out to be a huge success and the plan to break even on the catering side actually produced a profit of about £1k. I must get the organising committee to have a look at my portfolio management system!

Picking up from Friday's strong NASDAQ performance, the UK tech stocks lit a fire under the market on Monday and the FTSE100 added 50 points. The Banking sector had a bad day following news that there would be more competition on the high street with B&B deciding to sell its mutual soul. All was reverse on Tuesday, driven mostly by profit-taking, and the FTSE100's previous gain was sent into deficit. Midweek trading was thin and lackd direction - maybe the sunshine took everybody's ind of speculation. The banks reporting season kicked off on a positive note and the government began announcing some of its spending plans which gave selected sectors a boost. Wal-Mart opened their first UK store in Bristol on Thursday and caused yet another flutter of panic amongst shareholders in M&S. With London closing out of sorts on Friday and US markets also looking pretty dismal in afternoon trading, we could be in for a rough ride next week.

The Weekly BB Review

Psion was off on its roller coaster ride again last week, following Vertigo's intro with Psion breakout imminent (maybe)?. At the time, sentiment was mixed. The shares were going to move but in which direction no one was quite sure. March, dodddy and adamh were doubtful that the signs were good and robber read them as pretty negative. MegRyan posted up news of the acquisition by Psion of Teklogix, wondering if that big splash might lead to a quiet period for the company while they absorbed their new baby. Mr Euro warned of a cold Winter but it needed explaining (for me at least!) while Addo put up a good argument for the shares moving into an uptrend within a fairly narrow margin. By Monday, this week, the scene was set and Vertigo correctly predicted that profit-taking would kick in about the 850p mark. The effect at first was negligible but Tuesday saw the price falling sharply despite healthy volumes. By the end of the week, it looked a bit rosier with Vertigo looking for 900p.

With the initial legal argument with Railtrack over, it was time for fans of Jarvis to start foretelling the return to the "good ol' days". And we all know who is the biggest fan of all! The Count, replying to Jon C, appeared to be advocating that an appeal against the recent litigation against their auditors might have a beneficial effect rather than the alternative. His humble treatise on the vagaries of Railtrack brought a tear to my eye. (See the thread Jarvis). I am so pleased that he has found a means of keeping himself well attired in capes and fangs! The shares rebounded well and look like heading back to something approaching fair value. transvestor sounds like he has the secret of extracting blood from stones (far more PC than The Count's method of obtaining the sticky red substance of life!) and has his sights set on getting a good return on JRVS. This thread even tempted mr c out of his shell with enthusiasm and Bonzo was persuaded further to be patient. News that the Government are ploughing more of our hard-earned into rail infrastructure might not please Mr. Ordinary Taxpayer too much but will probably allow JRVS shareholders a better night's sleep.

Having visited Canary Wharf a few days ago for the first times in ages, I was pleasantly surprised at the progress that has been made developing the area. Sitting in the sun outside Via Fosse quaffing cold beer has a tendancy to improve the picture but I was genuinely impressed by the tasteful restoration of the area. Even the Docklands Light Railway was a comfortable and efficient experience. Back to reality, the latest development plans announced earlier this month gave the shares of Canary Wharf Group a boost on huge volumes (having The Chancellor front the PR was a clever touch!) and the share price has shown steady improvement since. I know nothing was worried that the increase in sales might signify time to bail out but there seems to be solid support around the 430p mark so it may be a tad early to make a judgement on this one.

The Incepta Group chart looked so good that even Limpsfield Chartist took an enthusiastic stance when Wildrover began the thread this week (Incepta Group) with a look at the upbeat AGM statement. Hawkeye's aversion to shares of companies with outstanding Warrants must have been placated by news that the Warrants in this case expired at the end of last month. The share price continued to show promise during the week although volumes were drying up by Friday. One to watch for next week.

The moment Mpilot began Culver - Is no one following this? Good rise today! on Thursday, I had the feeling it was tempting fate. e-venturer was the other BBer, seeing stars in the charts. Whilst the share price has seen something of a renaissance since recent popular acquisitions, it is still way short of its high and Friday saw profit-takers moving in to recoup some of their earlier losses and the price fell away. Seems to me that this one could jump either way but when it moves it will do so in a hurry. Good luck guys!

Last week's Golf Day went off with a bang by all accounts, with RobinT arriving in style, piloting himself in by helicopter (bang goes the practice green!). Martini meanwhile was restricted to navigating only a golf buggy and a few bottles of Chablis (for public safety reasons!). Actually, I undertand the "old crocks" team broke the course record for the number of golf balls lost in a single round. (Things go so bad that they had to "borrow" balls from other teams.) With the likes of Bullshare and Sardine in the same group it is a wonder that they managed to find their way home to the nineteenth hole! The pics below are courtesy of Martini. You may think there is a profusion of "back-of-head" shots but our expert photographer believes that to be the most photogenic angle for BBers in most instances. :)
KARL - IMAGES HERE.........!

One of our newer recruits, Dingley, has obviously been out in the sun too long! ADVFN-ers running the New York Marathon ??!! ADVFN-ers running would make a headline. But a marathon. In New York? Must be nuts. Seriously, the event takes place in November this year and Dingley will be running with a group representing MENCAP to raise money for that laudable charity. She is already looking for company while training and seems have persuaded dellboy to join her. If you feel you would like to contribute to the cause, you can mail Dingley direct (her address is on the thread) or drop me a line and I'll forward your message on. Good luck with your plan Anna!

Some useful new features were added to the ADVFN monitor at the end of last week which have proved interesting. You can now add columns to track the previous day's bid as well as the current day high and low trades. These latter colums I find particularly useful as a quick indication of the current trading range at a glance. Don't forget that your monitor screens are customisable. Whilst the defaults are OK, everybody like to see a slightly different picture. With the customise facility it is very easy.

I have been fortunate enough this week to be one of a small team beta-testing the ADVFN Level II reporting system. First impressions are favourable indeed. I know there will be a few tweaks to make before it goes live but, to my mind, they will only be fairly cosmetic changes and I don't see anything which will delay the launch (whenever that might be!). It has been interesting to watch more closely the antics of the MMs.

Meanwhile, in the land of the Free.......

Daytrading UK stocks - surely a complete waste of time? posted by belsizepark drew some of the best debate early in the week. I totally agree with his main point that the way the UK market works and is priced, the odds are stacked against the daytrader or short-term trader. Liquidity is not good (or transparent) enough, dealing costs are exhorbitant and stamp duty is a further burden. As he rightly points out most succesful daytraders turn to the NASDAQ for their opportunities - certainly those that I know do. Tech Punk tends to agree but also proposes a list of dos and don'ts for anyone contemplating short-term trading - whatever the market, most of these rules apply. It is only the unsociable hours (2pm to 9pm) which puts him off trading NASDAQ. PeeTee is another NASDAQ fan. Sands makes the point that there is (in the UK anyway) a stigma attached to daytrading - as though it is just not cricket. The idea from a trader's view is to make a buck. If closing deals early gives you the sort of profit you are looking for then I see no problem with that. For any new investors who are contemplating sort-term/day trading, please read this thread first. Then book yourself on a training course, do some reading on the subject and paper trade for a while before plunging in. And be prepared for a stormy ride.

Another good debate began with atlantic_drifter, who currently resides in Germany, asking for help with managed offshore funds - Derivative funds, offshore. Again Belsizepark was interested in helping out. A conversation which went way over my head but may be of interest to anyone faced with maximising earnings and minimising tax exposure while resident abroad.

Daytrading or working with offshore funds is too boring for you? Try YOU WANT SOME REAL VOLATILTY OVER NEXT FOUR WEEKS. For CONVERS and Investor Dave, this is either the motherlode or a dry whole in the ground. PAN Andean Resources are operating one of the most remote areas in the world - all to discover oil (or gas). If you want to get some background into what they are doing and why, take a look at their website (www.panandeanresources.com). The share price chart has a familiar look to it and the rice is now way off its high at the beginning of the year. However, the company continues to be upbeat in its reporting and is quite open about the problems it faces. Not one for the faint of heart. I wish you all a healthy well!

Learjet is back with us this week, although I suspect has a little way to go to recover his old stamina. Good to see you return friend!


Winner of the, Poster of the Week competition this week is Tech Punk on the Free Bulletin Board for his rules to be applied to trading. Congratulations Tech Punk! Please drop me a line with your address and a bottle of quality champagne will soon be winging its way to your doorstep!

Good Hunting!

Have you had time to play with 9to5 Cafe yet? Take a look, you may find it becomes addictive!

The ADVFN Who's Who is growing daily and is quite a long list. All entries received to date have been included. If you haven't sent me your bio yet, please drop me a few lines about yourself - a full editing service is provided! For those concerned about security, any e-mails sent to me are held on my own secure system and only an edited version of the entry appears on the public page of ADVFN's system. No e-mail addresses are published unless specifically requested.

For those who have been contributing to the SETI project (The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence at home), there is now a dedicated ADVFN BBers user. To begin sending your results in that direction, click on preferences and login to existing account advfnbbers@lycosmail.com The tally is now about 30 at the moment but could be a great deal more if you dedicated some of your untapped PC resource to the cause. Take a look at SETI site and see what you can do.