Member Info for CHEQUEMATE

Hello again GG. To answer your previous questions, my buy order on GBG did not execute today. I set it at 99p before work, changing it at midday to 99.25p, trying to squeeze the price. I sometimes wonder about my sanity/meanness; it seems sensible at the time but afterwards I think "what a wally; does 1/4p make all the difference if the sp jumps by 20p and you have missed out?". Should have settled for 99.5p but too mean. Will now have to settle for or close to 100p tomorrow, but for the no. I am thinking of buying it won't make a huge difference, particularly if the sp is going to move North again. Good luck with your U.S purchases today GG.........just keep your eyes on them. I hadn't thought about trading U.S shares in evening, that's true. Thanks for thinking about me......kind. However, I really do have enough thinking about shares during the day and don't want to do it in the evening too. Not sure if I could trade in the evening using SVS Securities. I think I will keep to what I know. Any news from Jacks Wrap this evening?. Right, back to do some more research.....or shall I do the washing up?..........err........no brainer........... Chaio CM

Good evening GG. I have not bouught back into AIE today; the sp seemed to be bouncing about a fair bit and I want to see a little evidence that it is on the rise generally not just first thing. It is still on my watch list. Bollinger Bands and how I use them......ok. I click on the share chart using LSE which gives the sp movement over the last 3 months. Go to graph types and click in the empty box. Then chose Line with Bollinger Bands. That redraws the chart with the sp movement and an upper (green) and lower (red) Bollinger Band. What does that tell us?. Well, generally........the sp trades between ther two bands. At times it will be above the upper band and at times below the lower band. For the 3 month chart it uses the 9 day moving average base. If you want to view it for 6 months change this to 20 day mab and for say a year then use 50 day mab, it gives a more accurate record. So what you may say?. Right, you may notice that when the sp falls below the upper bb having been above it, it falls to the lower band and sometimes below the lower band,. and vice versa, when the sp rises above the lower bb having been beneath it, it rises to the upper band and sometimes above it........BUT NOT ALWAYS!, and AIE is not the best example of this. Have a look at GBG and GBO charts. Again, generally the trading is between the two Bollinger Bands. With me so far?. So.....what should we do with this info. Well, it CAN mean if we are careful, that when the sp falls beneath the upper band it is a good time to sell, and when it rises above the lower band it is a good time to buy. Today, using the above could indicate a good time to buy AIE, but careful, I would rather wait confirmation rather than gamble on one days movement; maybe another day of upside. To get a better picture use longer term chart and of course, a rns can change everything and again.....of course......don't forget the fundamentals of the company, last trading update, chairmans comments etc. You will notice too that the gap between the upper and lower BB can vary greatly, from being narrow to being far apart....does this matter?. Well, when the bands are close together and steady, it can mean there could be a price breakout coming. If the BB are far apart then it means the sp movement has been greater than usual, both up and down. If the sp is above the upper BB and you are thinking of selling, it may be best to wait for when the sp falls beneath the upper band. Likewise if you art thinking of buying, it may be best to wait for the sp to cross above the lower band. This is not a science and is not always accurate, but it would have worked on many occasions. Worth looking at but don't depend on it.........just for your info and contemplation. Enough for now. Post again later. Regards CM

Hi GG,just back in and too late to post much now with work tomorrow. Will get back to you about Bollinger Bands, useful tool but not fool proof of course. Had forgotten about them and had I remembered I would have sold before I did for AIE, TRCS; but in truth anthing is very difficult to read in present circumstances. Thanks for Jacks crap item, interesting. Re. mtn. rescue, largely dry and some sunshine, fresh snow on tops. Wet and windy right now though. Yes, we mtn. boys and girls do have the right gear; if we don't then we can't expect anyone else to. Another call out whilst we were training, not unusual. Catch you tomorrow when I have more time when I can give you a better idea about Bollinger Bands and when it is a good time to buy back into/more AIE. Good night CM

Hello GG, hope you have had a good weekend. I'm back from being out with mtn. rescue but about to head out again; so just a few lines to check how you are doing. Just put a buy order on GBG for tomorrow morning, but not expecting it to execute, wait and see. Keeping an eye on the chart for AIE for when share price turns up above the lower Bollinger Band which may indicate a time to buy back in. May be a better day tomorrow, who knows?. Right, got to go......again. Regards CM

Just to say thanks for your comments. In a dash just now since I am at the library in my lunchtime. GBG has fallen beneath my sell price yesterday to buy today.............should I wish to. Got to go Regards CM

Hello Scotluie, welcome to a pretty quiet board. Not only do the bod hold a lot of shares but so too do instituitonal investors. If you go to digitallook.com and look up TRCS there you will find out how many shares are in issue and how many are not held by directors and ii; as a percentage it is very small; in my opinion a good thing. That can mean the stock can be illiquid hence the spread can be larger than others. Use digitallook,com for a lot of your research, but look at the fundamentals from here. It is an excellent company, debt free, good eps growth, low peg etc. I bought in at around 82p and only sold some of my holding yesterday to look in some profit. The share MAY fall back a little from here, it got a little ahead of itself so it is better valued now, it has done it before but longer term it is a good prospect. On growthcompanyinvestor.co.uk it was recently rated a buy at 143p. I am limited for time just now, but can get back to you either Sunday evening or Monday. Don't think you need to rush into this but a good choice looking at ratios etc. Regards CM

Hi GG. Good to hear from you. I probably won't answer everything in your post just now since it is getting late and want to think about what I am posting. Unfortunately I am back at work tomorrow because I have this weekend off so only get Thursday off beforehand. My weekend is taken up with training with mountain rescue search dogs, my weekend off co-incides with the monthly training which is rare so I want to take advantage of it. I was not happy about selling any of my shares in GBG, but as in Deal or No Deal i could have sat for longer hoping I would get a better deal only to find it would be worse, as indeed it was later and then I would have been kicking myself. I admit I had got quite attached to GBG which is always dangerous but we probably all feel like that when we come to sell a share which has done well for us. Not easy to stay detached. I will look to buy back in before the results because I feel they will have a positive effect on the share price. I think you have done the right thing today with your dealings. We need to be able to sleep with our holdings. I have never held any U.S stocks, that is too serious for me, I prefer to keep to the U.K ones at present, they have given me enough grief as it is. But good luck to you. Don't want to over complicate things with having to think about different time zones and exchange rates etc., so keeping it simple. I am a map and compass man not a gps whatsit. Don't know about AIE trading update on Dec. 4, but I think you may be right. Think it will only give same details as the last trading update though. Looked at buying into PEN today but didn't feel right when my head was concentrating on selling due to state of markets and not state of the individual shares. Consequently it rose today!, but don't think I wold have been happy at buying. Would have thought "What on Earth are you doing CM, selling only then to buy!, twit!". Regarding my friend, no she has not come to me for help she wouldn't want to do that. But she has been off work ill, in hospital for a no. of days and, like me, if she is off work sick she gets no pay at all. It is difficult enough for her at the best of times, which these times are not, so I would like to help her out (if she will let me.....!). Anyway, enough of that. GG, I have to go, I'm almost asleep!. Will probably be out of touch for a couple of days/evenings. Take it easy, and as I have said before, believe in yourself, you're doing a great job. Apologies all for being off topic. Good luck all. Regards CM

Hi GG, how has your day been?, thanks for the post. Glad you are feeling better. Disturbed nights sleep last night, what sleep I had, just couldn't relax, long time since I felt like that. Sold out of AIE today for a very small profit before it went negative on me. Also sold out of SAA for small loss, reduced holding in TRCS and sold a majority of GBG (rightly or wrongly), just wanted to go more cash. I intend buying back into GBG probably before they issue their results on Monday 26 so it is a bit of a gamble on the share price falling further from here beforehand. I have no doubt AIE will recover so I wouldn't be surprised if I was to be back. Have made no alteration in my holdings in GBO and NET. U.S markets a little smoother today (so far) which if it holds may mean a more comfortable day tomorrow here. BLNX were given an ADD recommendation yesterday by Growth Company Investor with final paragraph reading "With technology concerns among some of the most resilient companies during the downturn and Blinx being close to doubling profits year on year we'd say it was wise to remain onboard. Add." Regards CM

Your U.S holdings are beyond saving?, why so?. Be VERY careful on that thought my friend. I've heard that too many times on other boards by people saying "seeing this to the end" or "going to average down". A share can ALWAYS, repeat ALWAYS get cheaper. Had I taken that view I would have still been in NGL at sub 3p having sold out at 35p, TAN at around 5p having sold out at around 185p plus a few more. Of course only you know your circumstances, but keep your logical, sensible, calm head about you; it's easy to get emotional from one who knows all too well. I'm not cross with myself; I've been thwarted to a large degree by having to work and not having the opportunity to do much about the situation. What would be worst would be to repeat past mistakes after all these years. My heart does not want to sell, but my head says sell........if only for a while. Buy on the dip yes, if we can recognise them. No guarantee your accounts are worse than mine; but lets agree not to compare. And by the way, I enjoy talking to people like you, not wasting my time, please don't think that. We need to be here during the rainy days and not just the sunshine. You speak a lot of good sense GG and it's refreshing to read your posts. Have confidence in yourself. "Don't give up; if you do, you will never know just how close to success you were". As for me, I'm like an old dog trying to learn new tricks; better to keep to the ones I know already I think. Now,... where did someone hide my ball!. Kind Regards CM (Yoda)

So glad to hear you GG. Times like this it is so good to have someone like you aboard. You make a lot of sense. In money terms my portfolio hasn't fallen TOO much today, but it has been the drip, drip, drip over the last week with the occasional heavy shower that has hit me. You are absolutely right about the result of the election in the U.S although I think a Romney win would only have delayed a fall back but it would have been far worse in the long term with his proposals. We won't know for sure of course. Today though there has been the demonstrations throughout Europe, the negative comments from the Governor of the Bank of England, plus the trouble in the Middle East which will disturb the market in a big way at least in the short term if the Israelis and Palestinians start to fight again - affecting the oil price and its affect on global growth. There just seems NO reason for any positive movement on the market and at these times regardless of prospects I think shares will get hit. For me right now, it is a matter of preserving my capital whilst I still have it. It is a terrible feeling to see all profit evaporate in an instant, thinking things will be ok. Well they may become ok, but from what base. This is most unlike me being in this state of mind, but............successful investing (if that is what it is) is reading the signs and making the tough decisions when you don't want to. Very interested in your comments from Jack ? (your other Yoda!). I'll get back to you, want to post this to you now. CM

The 4 letter word is WORK. Due to it I am unable to take any action on my investments during the day apart from a brief spell during my lunch break, by which time again there had been negative movement particularly regarding TRCS. Had I been wise(r) of course I would have taken profits there but was trying to run my profit. Today has been a bad day, and tomorrow looks no better I'm afraid after what has been going on today in the Middle East. What a turn around a week has had. I did think the market would fall back after the U.S election, but things look bleak and I'm not sure when things will turn around or what will turn things around. My comments from yesterday stand but I feel there will be more downside and have no idea from what base it will recover. I am seeing my profits drainaway. I am not in a position where I can let this happen and need to protect what I can. Had I taken some profits last week I could have helped someone in a difficult position, I still want to be able to do that. Thankfully it is my day off tomorrow, so I can take some action and sell what I feel I should. Unfortunately I see no immediate upside anywhere. I am sure there will be opportunities to buy and/or buy back but from a lower base. I am a firm believer that it is TIMING the market, not TIME IN the market; you can wait a very long time to get back to where you started from like that. Tomorrow I intend selling out of AIE and will look to lock in most if not all of my profits elsewhere and reduce holdings. The real decision is what to do with GBG; it may fall back itself before its results due out in just under 2 weeks, I don't want to be losing £60 a penny. Sorry to sound pessimistic and down, We can work so hard at our investments for so long only to see Mr. Market hit everything indiscriminately. I still DO believe in the investments I hold and if I do sell out will be looking to buy back in again when things settle down. You of course must do what you feel is right; you may have a different take on things. Believe in yourself and your decisions. And of course..............I may change my mind over night, and like you said about yourself, be contradictary!. Around if you need to scream!.........or anything else. Glad to see BLNX has had a reasonable day. Hope your portfolio hasn't been hit. Regards CM

Good evening GG, nice to hear from you. Very surprised to see shares up at day end having seen them down for most of the day; don't know how that happened; given up trying to understand the market movements, but welcome after the last week. S & P has only closed slightly down, may not be too much to worry about. Think there will be continued market turbulence for a while yet. This is probably a good time to re-visit our portfolio and assess which of our holdings are most likely to be affected by a market down turn; some will be more affected than others. There will still be opportunities out there. What of AIE?, how will they be affected?, will there be cut backs affecting the business?. We need to look at the bigger picture and not panic.............or if we are going to panic then panic early!. I have been on Growth Company Investor website this evening, now that I have access. I use it as a tool to further research. Interestingly it has given a buy recommendation on one of the shares I have had on my radar from a few months ago using the criteria set in the Zulu Principle. The share is PEN. Share price has risen from 30p when I previously looked to 42p. Didn't invest before due to what I regarded as too large a spread 29-32p, but with new contract wins and very good set of results it is worthy of consideration again. I am NOT giving this as a tip of course; just airing a thought. Sometimes difficult to concentrate on my work when markets are on my mind; not sure that is right and as you say sometimes ignorance is not a bad thing. Try not to let things bother you too much GG or you will find your time spent worrying about things neither you nor I can change when it could be spent more positively. Unfortunately it is all part of investing. Somehow we have to balance out the harder times with the better times and try to walk a straight line regardless........easier said than done I know. Regards..........and take care too CM

So, someone else knows about Zulu!. Hmm. This share was on my radar a while ago when priced at around 30p, but with the spread being 29-32 I held off. It has re-appeared again having had a buy recommendation by Growth Company Investor on 9 November. The criteria set by Zulu is very largely in place. I am very tempted again, despite the subsequent increase in share price since I last looked at it. Most of my investments made using the Zulu Principle criteria are paying off; the others I need to give a little more time. What to do!. Yes, a quiet discussion board; I can live with that quite happily, very often a good sign. Regards CM

The buy/sell price has stayed the same all day from opening, yet the share price is showing 2.5p down. This is taking back yeserdays gain. I am being offered 99.225p to sell right now. I do not intend to sell just yet. No reason for fall, it is not stock specific, more market related, jitters. Expect volatility generally. Good luck Regards CM

Hello GG. Yes, I have a special account, a direct line.........I just call up and say it's Yoda here, tell me what you know!.......no, not really. I back up LSE with digitallook.com, infact I do a lot of my research using that site. On that site you will see the largest trades and the latest trade, the big buys went through at a similar time. I don't know how the buys/sales works with the share price sometimes, it doesn't seem to work logically,. I don't know if there has been a "tree shake" to free up shares for a client(s) to buy in at a given price, I would like to think so but await to see. The directors generally have only been buying in small quantities so maybe something else is going on. Either or which way, nothing you nor I can do about it. There may be a holding announcement in the next day or two. Incidentally my purchase in AIE was at 127.775, so pretty much like you. Very little profit at present; but seen this before with other shares including GBG and TRCS. Believe the road ahead is largely good, just the section we are on just now needs resurfacing. IDOX had been on my radar a while ago, meets many of the criteria set out in the Zulu Principle. Shows that in many cases we need to have patience and wait and wait a bit longer before it is rewarded. Comes down to which shares do you invest in?, I think I may have chosen GBG at the time. But worth keeping an eye on those that had been on my short list, most have out performed the market. Glad you haven't sold out of this one just yet. I genuinely think this will move back North. We'll see. Hope the building work is going ok Regards CM

I received a phone call out of the blue over the weekend from a company asking me if I still held shares in TND. The women sounded foreign, possibly Phillipino, maybe Asian, although that is beside the point. They said that there was going to be takeover of TND and could offer me a price of between £3 and £11 per share; would I be interested in selling!. Highly suspicious I said I would be so as to get more information. I was told that the price could be settled if I would sign a bond (I think they said) to say I would be bound to accept the offer. Of course I would have to pay something for the agreement!. Now folks, I have been investing in shares for many years and one of my very first investments was in a company called MV Sports, which was either taken over by or renamed Tandem - its too long ago for me to remember clearly. I also know that NO company will approach their investors in such a way about any takeover and offer them such a deal. Generally a takeover approach will be announced through a rns with the bods approval and seeking the approval of the shareholders and NO financial payment is expected. As shareholders we can then agree or not agree to the takeover although usually this has no effect because of the directors and institutional holdings. I can see no rns for TND about any takeover so............BEWARE!!!..........it may happen to you and if you DO agree to this bond you WILL lose your money. Remember if something sounds too good to be true then it generally is too good to be true. £3 - £11 per share for a share trading at 88p?!..........my backside!!!!. Regards CM Incidentally, I no longer hold shares in Tandem; or if I do then it may be the 136 or something this company inferred I did.........too long ago.

Are you still in here Gardengirl or did you offload any today?. Some very large buys today at 135.5p, 2 x 1,000,000, 1 x 963,879, 1 x 803,233, 1 x 432,888 + 3 others over 100,000. If that proves true that is a lot of money being invested. Does someone know something we don't?. Can't see it as director(s) dealing, nor institutional holding, or at least it hasn't been declared yet. Besides, I thought Gardengirl was looking to sell not buy!. Hmm, wait and see. Not a great day GG. Didn't sell any of my holdings here nor elsewhere. TRCS took a hit, more than expected and too soon for me to be able to do anything about it; but I have seen the same fall before from a lower price so I think it is likely to be profit taking unsurprisingly. There are few shares in free float, so it can be quite volatile to any trading. It is now at a more sensible level imo, but may fall further yet. At least GBG tried to offset the fall here on AIE and GBO. Have a good evening folks and lets hope for a better day tomorrow.

You know, you and I really do think alike. I felt the same way about the comments on GBO; not so much intimidated but a bit of a lightweight, absolutely. Wondered if it was the time of day or lack of sunshine, too much work or a combination of all 3........not to mention my age!, and like you will read but feel not able to contribute much. However their contributions are invaluable. Have seen no broker downgrade for AIE anywhere, more that analysis is unchanged and not expecting a change until possibly Q1 next year. Think the fall back was more down to market expecting more from AIE so slight disappointment. I don't have many shares in AIE, just 1000, really haven't the finances nor the stomach to invest more in any shares at present, although my holding in GBG is considerably more built up by buying in on 3 occasions. Expect to stay with GBG for longer term, just might reduce my holding a tad. I have little profit at this time in AIE. Since last posting I have looked in some detail at AIE fundamentals and trading updates (again) and see no reason (other than danger to market generally) to worry. No idea what is likely to happen this week. In truth I, like many, find it difficult to do any trading during the week apart from a brief window of opportunity during my lunch break; so I am rather a hostage to fate. If you/we need some money in the short term then now may not be such a bad time to cash in on some of our profits. That is what profits are for. I too, like you, have around 50% profit in GBG, but I do see that one having legs to go higher. As for TRCS, I'm not sure that hasn't got ahead of itself, so may look to take something there. I liken the situation where you and I are re. do we take (some) profits with the game Deal or No Deal, but unfortunately for us this IS our own money, not given to us to play with. If you are feeling a little nervous GG, then, if it helps........so am I. Can you sleep with your investments?, if not then maybe it is the right time to sell, or at least a percentage of them. You are right, only you can answer the conundrum, but taking some profit at any time is never wrong, the old "selling too early is always better than selling too late" comes back to me. Investing was never meant to be easy. Agree with your comments re. greed and jump in and out. I resisted buying HYR last week; glad I did, it would have been following my heart and not my head. What would be the point of all the reading and discipline I have tried to keep to if I did that. Remember just one mistake can destroy all the hard work done previously, regardless of how inviting the case may be. Around if you need me, even as a sounding board to bounce ideas off. Regards CM

Good evening GG, hope your Sunday has been good. Have you got a sore head?; good grief woman!, all that wine!. Words fail me.......for once!. I assume you enjoyed yourself. can you remember any of it?!. Before I go any further have you visited GBO bb today?. I posted a question to Ridingwaves and Jollyspeculator what their views were on the US fiscal cliff. There have been a no. of replies, you may be interested to have a read. To answer your question, I have been trading for around 15 years or so I guess. The first shares I owned were in the Halifax when given free shares when it was privatised a long time ago. As I have got older my appetite for risk has lessened. The biggest change for me has been the invention of the internet which makes obtaining information so much easier. Getting info. previously was so difficult and relied on publications like Investors Chronicle, Growth Company Investor and the F.T. Never approached a broker for details. I have invested in very many shares, losing on a vast majority, particularly in the earlier years. Indeed even today, most investors will lose money on most of their investments. We still have to use our judgement and common sense; unfortunately circumstances beyond our control can still set us back as you will well know. I think it is more important than ever right now that we look at our portfolio and study our investments. Will they/can they hold up?. I believe all of my investments are fundamentally strong which is why of course I chose to invest. Inevitably there will be some fall back some time; none of us knows by how much. So what to do?. Well, we could sell and take profits right now, we could hold and try to stick it out........or........maybe we could take some profits by selling some of our holdings within a company. I am considering the latter in regards to TRCS and possibly a little of my GBG. Regarding AIE in particular; well..........there may be a little fall back but I truly believe it will recover. If we look back to when we have had the same global problems, ie Euro woes and previous fighting between the Democrats and the Republicans over the same matters, what?, maybe 2 years ago (at most) we can see AIE pulled through strongly. That is likely to happen again. IMO this is a time to be invested(in) in companies which are profitable, cash rich and debt free, this is not the time to take a punt - too easy to wipe out the profits from a profitable share by one bad decision made on the spur of the moment. This is when the reading you have been doing will come into its own. GBG, yes, I would hold until at least the results are out at the end of the month, although we already know what they are likely to be. What is important within the results will be the Chairmans comments, the outlook, and possibly any announcement regarding further acquisitions and/or contract wins. I MAY, reduce my holdings slightly to bank some profit. Regards CM

Good evening; how is your weekend going?. Just looking at AIE again after the past few days trading. I have looked at the graph for all periods up to and including the last 5 years. Despite the trials and tribulations affecting the market generally and the occasional set back (29 March - 18 May when the price fell from around 130p to 110p around 15% fall) the graph is very positive. A 15% fall from AIE recent high would take it down to around 127p. Main concern generally, affecting ALL holdings is the nightmare on Elm Street i.e the fiscal cliff in the U.S. Really not sure how that is going to play out near term but think there will be a lot of nervousness going on. Makes me consider setting stop losses, particularly if the U.S market starts falling back. Need to keep our eyes open. What are your thoughts on the matter?. Totally off topic - have you discovered anything missing from the sheds?. Our dogs are trained to find missing people, not missing objects and are pretty friendly although old Vinnie (a huge German Shepherd) was a pretty fearsome looking beast. Use to joke, "What has 4 legs and an arm?", answer "Vinnie!". Use to be told by his handler that if Vinnie got too close to thump him!.......yeah.....right!. Poor old Vinnie......a gentle giant......once you got to know him and he use to get to know who was in charge!. Anybody else got ideas of where they see the market going?. Regards CM