Don't Worry! Soon be October! (30/9/2000) Greystone
In case you were unaware, the reason that Devon and Somerset are so green is that it rains quite a lot. Or that would be the distinct impression you got if you'd been here this week. I imagine all the happy campers are cosily tucked up in their happy camps as there has been little sign of activity in town. The local skittle season has got under way, heralding a return to Autumn and normality. That will at least keep the publicans happy - they tend to make more money in the Winter here than in the Summer. My Freeserve Unlimited access came through and has been a limited success - limited in that if I try to connect above 28,800bps, it doesn't seem to recognise me. Ah well, that's one to solve next week.

ADVFN WAP Developments - Facilities available via your WAP-enabled phone continue to improve. From this week, you can access Top Lists (gainers/losers) and also the 10 most recent RNS announcements. There is still much more to come so watch out for information on the BBs and here about the latest offerings. The address to access ADVFN WAP services is http://mobile.advfn.com/wap/main_menu.php

The trading week got off to a good start on Monday with technology shares back in vogue as bargain hunting began. With the oil price rises being, at least temporarily, controlled by the US and others releasing crude from their stockpiles, there was a feeling that things might be returning to some sort of normality. The FTSE100 rose accordingly. Tuesday was virtually the opposite with tech stocks again taking a beating. Most of the talk in the City was on the subject of interest rates. A poor start to trading in the US dragged the indices down en bloc. Whilst Wednesday and Thursday saw brief but determined efforts to disregard bad news everywhere, following a good overnight performance in the US, Friday began in buoyant mood and the FTSE100 was ahead from the bell but fell away in the afternoon session as it was clear the US markets were suffering another bad day. Ho hum!

The Weekly BB Review

Since midas began 10 Group - A penny punt ! back in May, he has single-mindedly stuck to the task of making everyone aware of 10 Group's potential - although he hasn't always received with the enthusiastic reponses he hoped for. When Thoroughbred mentioned some sizeable trades going through early this week, Rayrac was unimpressed. He was, however, a little more attentive when the share price ramped up 10% the following morning. zzaxx99 reported on conversations going on elsewhere which suggested that maybe a mention on SMTM was on the cards or a revaluation of one of the Group's many divisions. Show Me The Money it certainly was as the company Chairman appeared on the programme on Wednesday to give his sales pitch. I guess the programme still leaks like a seive - just like last series. The price soared for a while but settled still ahead as the week wore on. I'm pleased midas got his result but, like Mart, less happy with the way it was achieved. Surely the authorities are going to have to some action to prevent this sort of thing happening so regularly. I believe that TGR has potential but being tainted by this sort of blatant leakage is doing its image no good at all. Interims on Friday showed a big leap in gross profit and reduced losses, together with a nice cash balance in the bank. The market was unmoved and the shares finished a disappointing 1.75p bid.

Crocodile fired a warning shot across the bows of UK sports good shops with DECATHOLON to shake up UK Sports goods retailers. and may have been surprised that the company seemed already to have made such inroads into the UK (and Spanish) markets. With glowing reports from Greg, Carlile and johnnyboy, it makes me wish they were quoted in London. If they are part of the Auchan Group, then they will certainly have some clout behind them.

Another company which showed unexpected price movement this week (and was also linked to rumours of a mention on SMTM) was our old friend Medi@ Invest. I had great hopes of this company at one time but they make a complete mess of their PR earlier in the year and the price drifted into no-man's land. This week's dramatic rise, documented in Anyone read any rumours or interesting posts on Medi@invest came as something of a surprise to moneyspider as well as me. cfrsgc was certainly bullish on the prospects but an ominous warning from dodddy that they were being shorted may have frightened off a few who thought to dip a toe in the water. The shares ended the week at 8.5p - unimaginable a couple of weeks ago.

hoppo was after some advice on Abbey National this week in What is the "expert" opinion on ANL and may have been surprised that there was little enthusiasm for their prospects amongst the BBers who responded. Crocodile counselled patience and Limpsfield Chartist anticipated that the current rally in share price would not be sustained. Certainly the chart has looked promising over the last few weeks, but the difficulty in breeching the important 900p milestone says a lot.

London Forfaiting Company, clem's favourite share, got some better press on the BB this week (LFC. Ultradog.) with Novision kindly pointing out that Prudential were buying stock and that TV Ultradog, SMTM, may have had a hand in the rise in price. Toogood sounded disappointed that the rise was so temporary and so low but, on a generally bad day, clem and KeithB were happy to see some improvement to make the overall picture a little less bleak. The shares levelled out as the week ended but at least showed blue at the end.

With everyone generally having a pretty dismal time with their portfolios, more and more BBers are turning to spread betting or trading CFDs as an alternative. A good thread on the subject here from TechNet (IG Index / CITY Index / CANTOR Index began throwing up some interesting sites to visit to find out more about the mechanics of spread betting and the relative strengths (and weaknesses) of the various suppliers of this sort of service. nc and Trendy found good sites for comparisons and information. Oddball, Limpy and taxlossuk have experience of IG Index which sounds as though it is good but still leaves something to be desired on the customer service front. Robbb gave a good appraisal of his current experiences with Index Direct. I'm sure this thread will grow. It is good to have so many of the alternatives discussed under one heading. If you are interested in the subject, I recommend regular visits here to keep up with the latest views.

I love rumours. And most threads with that magic word in the title attract my attention. So it was with Walker Greenbank takeover rumours...???. gateway kicked this off as rumours of a MBO sent the share price up sharply on Thursday. Walker Greenbank are specialists in wallcoverings and fabrics, refreshingly not one of the tech sector which gets so much coverage. Input from ainsoph and mahmood seemed to confirm that something is in the wind. Whether it will raise its head before the Interim Results are published is doubtful. But, you know what they say, "buy on rumour, sell on fact!" Friday's confirmation of the sale of the group's historic hand block wallpaper businesses did nothing to stir the price. Watching and waiting!

Telewest are looking weaker and weaker as time goes by. In fact you have to go back to mid-1998 to find the price at the current level, despite the investment they have made in their infrastructure and cable services. DavB is obviously a follower of this one (Telewest - The Thread) and is expecting news imminently which might just turn the price around - like restarting sales of digital services next week. griss has been watching the price drop and I think, like many others, is hoping that this may be the turning point. Having said that, Friday saw the price fall another couple of points, so if there is anything in DavB's crystal ball, he is obviously keeping it to himself (and us, of course!) I fear there might be some sizeable short positions open on this one which could hold back any possible recovery. However, it is definitely one for the Monitor!

Meanwhile, in the Land of the Free.......

Holders of shares in Scotia Holdings were brought down with a bump this week as their trials of Foscan, on which they had based so many of their hopes, became the subject of much speculation after a notification from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that its application for Foscan in Head and Neck cancer is not approvable at this time. Whilst that is not a complete NO, it did throw enough doubt on the situaion to send the share price tumbling. The shorting ambitions of Evil Knievil did nothing to help the cause. The story unfolds in SCOTIA PROMISING, the title of which is such as it was begun by NickB in August when feelings were just a little less negative. The Nun was one to admit to taking a hit but the shorting news reported by M.T.Glass might have saved some others taking a bigger loss. the wah certainly seemed to have time the bail-out right. PUGUGLY decided to watch from the sidelines. With some of the institutional holders bailing out, it is not a good time for the company's confidence. Any recovery is going to need good solid acceptance of Foscan by the FDA and, at the moment, that is not looking likely. The company does have other products. Maybe the saviour will come from them. Personally, I'm watching from a safe distance. Closing price Friday? 20p - as someone here predicted.

It was interesting to see another mention for Hawtal Whiting - What Happens Next ? but the company's suspension, put down to takeover talks delaying publication of interims, was a tad disappointing, if not unexpected. More crucial is the negotiation of alternative banking facilities. enq, as a former senior employee, had a close interest and strong views on the reasons for the present position of the company. belsizepark had supplied the detail needed to make a judgement well in advance. I hope nobody got stuck with any of these shares on their hands because it doesn't sound too promising a bet at the moment. This one needs more than a white knight to save it.

The Pacific Media Discussion(PCM) has been going on here since May, but it was not until the end of August that any positive movement occurred so far as share price is concerned. Interest was recently revived by matt1231 who is a long term fan and has SuperInvestor and stormtrooper as allies. I think jonnycross represented a fairly widespread view when he warned "Investors are still waiting for the market to bottom out before investing in volatile stocks such as PCM". When I left the thread, Katie Finn was still waiting for an answer to the question "....what are they capable of in the future?" I don't think anyone has a clue. Maybe double figures - some day - but the recent price recovery has stalled with the rest of the market and the shares are now languishing at around 4.25p bid. One to watch from a safe distance, I think.

Baltimore - no question a riser (BLM) saw zaldi assuming that the overnight recovery on the NASDAQ on Thursday would continue into Friday. MightyMatt also saw it as a "buy" at the opening level and rysiu had hope in his heart, I'm sure. The stock began the day well but subsided towards lunchtime and fell away to end at 688p bid following the US downturn in the afternoon.


My choice for Winning Poster of the Week this week is money loser from the Free Bulletin Board for the consistency of detail in posting. I hope that his contributions to the discussions on MEDISYS MAKES FTSE 250 AFTER ALL will demonstrate what I mean. Congratulations money loser! If you will e-mail me a delivery address, I will see that your prize finds it way to you very soon. And I hope the nickname only refers to loose change! :=)

Good Hunting!

This week sees the introduction of a trial of The Weekend! Trivia Quiz with the top prize a classy bottle of Champagne and 10 runners-up prizes of tickets to the Investor's Chronicle Expo Show on 20/10/00 (face value £30 each). The quiz will be in two parts. A total of 20 questions on various subjects, 10 on Saturday and 10 on Sunday. If the quiz results in a tie, the winning name(s) will be drawn from the hat. As you are all such clever devils and have the internet at your fingertips to help you, I am not going to make it tooooo easy. Please take a look at the Quiz threads running on the Bulletin Boards for the questions and details of how to enter. The first set of questions will be posted up at 10am on Saturday and the final set at 10am on Sunday. The competition will close at midnight on Sunday and winners announced during Monday. If the trial period is popular, I will make this a regular weekend feature. Have a go! You have nothing to lose and the weather is going to be too wet to bother going out at all.


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