This week began in red as might have been expected with all indications from the US over the weekend that there was no end in sight to their internal political strife which was having a damning effect on the markets. The FTSE100 stopped just short of losing 100 points on Monday. Tuesday trading was thin and lacked direction and only a late flurry pushed the FTSE100 into positive territory. Technology stocks were still out of favour. It was difficult to see where the market was heading in toto on Wednesday and Thursday with mixed signals coming from some influential sectors such as retailing where Sainsbury's were all doom and gloom and Safeway were full of smiles and cheers. Friday morning showed a familiar pattern with the FTSE100 rising and the TechMark diving. With the US markets opening firmer during this short trading day, there is a glimmer of hope that the rout in London might peter out next week. With all but the Techmark finishing ahead in the final session here, and that off its lows, maybe there is some light at the end of the tunnel at last.

Another new feature was added to the Monitor service this week with the addition of an RNS link for each monitor which automatically throws up all of the news stories relating to shares in your list. The original suggestion came from Pitbull and is already proving its worth. Keep the ideas rolling in guys. I know the ADVFN Team are always busy but they do find time to react to good ideas whenever they can. There is also a new, improved Level 2 access system which promises to be quicker and more reliable. Although it is still officially under test, the user feedback all appears positive and those niggly delays which sometimes crept into the old system appear to have been overcome. A shame the prices of the examples I used still showed lots of red!

The official announcement of the opening of ADVFN.fr was made on Friday and immediately sparked some buying and a little improvement in the share price. It was, however, short-lived as one small sale at the new bid prompted the price to fall again. The plan for further overseas sites is well under way, I gather, so I look forward to more announcements in the not-too-distant future. A promising first step.



The Weekly BB Review

The Weekend press have been reading the Bulletin Board again in their search for inspiration. We all knew The Count was a star long ago, of course, but it is good to see that his propensity for detailed research and emotional pleading are finally being recognised abroad. The company in the limelight this time is ThreeW.NET in TWN - a STRONG growth story in fast growing B2B sector! The Count singles out this company for a variety of reasons, not least ".....I could see a business model that had the capability to move rapidly into profitability and with a growth rate that would have satisfied some of the criteria laid down by some of the reporting that used to accompany these sort of companies......." Last week hoops bought in, perhaps influenced by the rumour that The Count was a Spurs supporter, and bones, Jellytots and biker also showed up as enthusiasts. Wildrover, apart from hoping that the MMs might catch a cold with this one, was pleased to see the company advertising for a range of new staff - always a sign of expansion in the air. DocProc found that insideryou beat him to the punch on Thursday and pushed the spread apart to 28p/31p. Sadly, after showing a promising surge following the weekend publicity, the share price resumed its downward trend, only reversed at the end of the week when it finished strongly at 29p/32p. Taking into consideration the general mailaise of the market, it was perhaps not surprising to see the earlier dip. However, I'm sure that has done nothing to shake the confidence which The Count has in the company and the treatise he gives at the start of the thread is still valid. With a bit of his own research, Hotei contacted the company and was impressed that they went to good lengths to make sure shareholders were kept informed of what was going on. Refreshing these days! Permanently installed on my Monitor.

When Crypto started Antisoma comes to town (ASM) in December 1999, the company had just arrived on the LSE scene and was trading around 113p/114p. What has happened since then? After a short "get-to-know-you" period, the price took off dramatically, topping 280p at one stage. Following first account reporting the shares took a dive and could have been picked up for as little as 80p. However, since then, the price had shown a steady improvement and is currently over double that value. A new share issue in August at 117p was well received and did nothing to dilute the overall value. Although the price has slipped through November below the phsychologically important 200p mark, MegRyan and wideload are both hoping that once the US has celebrated Thanksgiving and found themselves a President, the investors will return. I guess the next solid support level is way down at 120p is the fall continues. (Rayrac has been very quiet on this one recently, but I suspect he is keeping a weather eye on the situation.) The last Chairman's statement was upbeat, but then, they invariably are. However, the price maintained a reasonable level and found some new enthusiasm in the final session of the week to finish at 188p bid.

liveinhope was seeking solace this week in Old English Inns - Results out today - any thoughts on these? (OEI). Neither goforit nor Lord C. were enthused by the company. However, despite a fall in real profits, for the last half-year, perhaps the news was not as bad as had been anticipated in some quarters. The company are working on re-balancing their portfolio of properties and obviously have some way to go to get the right mix. The rise in share price following the news, was maybe a reaction to the better-than-expected performance and reversed the previous downward trend. Whether this can be maintained is another matter. I'm afraid liveinhope's buy target of 70p is far off now. The share were trading at 87p bid at close on Friday.

After a minor stutter, shares in WH Smith resumed their upward trend this week and gausie had to quickly change his short stance. In WHSmith looking good, US-based schrodinger had been after advice to help him with the management of a family portfolio. He obviously sees SMWH as a company with a future with observations such as "...falls into this "great firm today and well poised for tomorrow" mould..." Dil and Wickhams Fancy were of a similar mind, although Neil Morris was not so convinced. With 600p bandied about as a potential target and the backing of financial guru Paul Merton, it seems there are enough investors out there to believe and the return to favour reflects that. By the end of this week the shares were still looking OK for 500p @@@@, the first target to break before those with wider ambitions for the company will be satisfied. A small glitch on Friday left them at 452p bid. At least for now schrodinger, the pension money looks fairly safe!

Anglo-Irish Bank continued to provoke some discussion on Anglo-Irish Bank are cheap ..., despite the price falling away a bit this week. With final results due next Wednesday, there is bound to be some speculation over the weekend. As mobile dealer pointed out for us, the Bank has shown year-on-year growth for 14 years now. Acorn1 has been keeping her ear to the ground to pick up rumours that results will be better than expected but without any hint as to what. She also picked up a hint that the National Bank of Australia might be coming in with an offer which mobile dealer confirmed hearing too. steve_mac didn't think the Oz rumour too significant but was pleased to know that the US business was doing well. If you have any interest in the banking sector, you may find this story an interesting one to follow. Any positive comment in the weekend press will surely give the price a hike in advance of the results.

A comprehensive report from 2BOB on the cardiology conference currently under way in Italy, raises the question of why UK companies involved in developing products in the field don't make more mileage out of these occasions. It also brings Biocompatibles International into focus again. For the latest lowdown, take a look at Biocompatibles. No lack of enthusiasm there, despite the relatively poor performance of the shares in recent weeks.

I can't go without wishing friend Martini good luck and best wishes as he undergoes the latest in a series of operations to get his damaged leg back to normal. I'm sure you'll all join me in wishing him well. Although constantly in a great deal of discomfort, he never shows it and is a constant bright spark even when things all around us are dull and dismal. Hurry back to health old buddy, we miss your presence. Good luck Martini !!

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

Investors in Bloomsbury Publishing (BMY) will have been heartened to see the return to northward movement this week following a very upbeat trading statement put out by the company on Friday. I figure jayno was right about tree-shaking early in the week and is blessing his decision to hang on when things looked not-so-good. However, Rainmaker posted a warning note that things might get tougher in the future. Meanwhile, current holders can bask in the glory of a return to the 847p+ mark.

Some mixed signals from Claims Direct (CLA) have confused both the City and the investors. If JMuncey and getritch are right in assuming that interim results will be good and growth will continue, then the news that provisions have had to be made to cover claims highlighted in negative publicity in last weekend's press (reported here by LeeBowyer and darren b) will have been discounted in the fall in price this week and will probably have been overdone. Is it a buying opportunity or a signal to steer clear? Darren and Lee think the latter and can hardly be blamed, seeing the 25%+ fall on Friday alone. But then, we know from experience that these situations can be reversed - albeit over time. The best answer is to watch and wait until the exact level of the claims against the company is known.

Steve100 appears to have been graced with a direct contact with Santa Claus PLC and has kicked off his own competition to guess the Christmas closing proce of Bookham Technology with a drop of the hard stuff up for grabs. At close of play, guestimates so far vary from a "realistic" 1000p (paulwells) to 4500p (petefirks) who reckons he always gets what he wants for Christmas. I have a vague suspicion that you might be disappointed this year pete. As a shot-in-the-dark, I'll go for 1320p! If you want to take a guess, post up your thoughts on Santa Claus is coming!. Only 20 trading days until Christmas! Scary, isn't it? Where has the year gone?

On Thursday night Mealiff took advantage of the lull in the US brought on by over-indulging US Thanksgivers, to savour a glass of wine but Kevin prescott, Briggsy, and timwhitehead took it as an oportunity to swap notes on spread betting. The experiences are mixed (couldn't be anything else in the current climate) but there were some good pointers from Kevin who is getting the feel for this form of "investing" in a controlled way. It is really worth taking a look at. (WHAT A RELAXING NIGHT WITHOUT THE NAS/DOW) It is reassuring to note the term "stop loss" appearing there. Good luck guys!

Choosing a nickname can be a tricky business. There is always a good chance that your real name (or a derivative of it) will already have been snapped up and you have to remember that the name you choose could be with you for a long time. alan greenspan was intrigued enough to ask the question "Where did you get yours?" in Your Nickname and received some interesting responses. pod is a Dark Crystal lookalike and money loser gave a graphic description of the reason for his pseudonym by listing some of his portfolio choices! Alexei would have preferred to be Dr. Doom and zzaxx99 got fed up with looking for something he liked and plumped for something which no sane individual would be likely to want - unless they hailed from Mars, where it is probably the equivalent of Smith. Biggsy and borderer had more traditional reasons for their names and I know nothing turned out to be a Fawlty Towers fan - though not from Barcelona. Tywocky sees himself as a Cornish nutcase and ducatiman is set to go downmarket to mopedman if things don't pick up soon, whilst frau guessed that Chai27 might be a Kevin Spacey fan. The origins of soccanutta are easy enough to guess (if you're hard enough!) but I do like BuyBuyBuyBye which about somes up my trading pattern of late. Me? When the time came to choose, I picked on the name of the house I lived in at the time - boring, boring, I know. But I guess I'm stuck with it now after six years or so.

Poster of the Week this week is The Count who I know to be a very thorough inquisitor and a glutton for research. If he posts something it is always in depth and carries a passion only he can instil. A perfect example this week can be seen at TWN - a STRONG growth story in fast growing B2B sector! which I covered earlier. Congratulations to The Count! If you will e-mail me your delivery address, I will see that your prize finds it way to you very soon.

Entries for the ADVFN Who's Who are always welcome! Let your fellow BBers know a little about who you are. If you aren't yet on the list, drop me a few lines about yourself - (a full editing service is provided!) Take a look at the list so far if you want some ideas for how to put a brief bio together. (ADVFN Who's Who) No e-mail addresses are published unless specifically requested by you. Click here for my mail address -



Good Hunting!