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Maven has also topped up with 150,000 at 35.5 to add to the 2.25 million. I guess it may be a call option type of buy, i.e. if the deal goes through you get your money back. If a white knight comes in you make a bomb. The downside risk is the deal fails to go through and ALK drops back to 22-25. Something similar just happened with RSA and Zurich Re!

I hope you're right about the rally to 437, and I agree about the market overreacting yesterday. It always does - most sudden big drops are followed by a bounce. I don't agree about the rate rise damping down equities anymore. What rate rise are we talking about here - maybe 25 pips to 0.75 per cent? Do we really think that's going to drive cash out of equities yielding 2-3 per cent and finally coming out of seven years of tough times. On the contrary I think a rate rise shows the B of E is confident about future growth prospects.

I'm not a chartist but if you look at the RSA graph the equivalent high over the last five years is around 700 (140 in pre consolidation terms) which was almost five years ago. Since then we've been in a slow but steady decline, especially since the one for five consolidation. The truth is investor loyalty was bought not because of growth prospects but because of the dividend, which proved unsustainable. I bought because thought Hester might turn it around. His last results were promising but I think we have to wait till the next results to see if real improvement is on the cards. Insurance stocks are like put options - great when not much happens but there's always a sudden downside risk. But if I had any spare cash right now I'd be topping up here.

The problem with RSA is that it cancelled its strong dividend last year and reinstated it this year with half percent yield payout. That's not going to attract new institutional investors to the RSA story just yet. Hester still has his work cut out selling off dud assets, re-building the balance sheet and driving in cash to increase the divvi. The Zurich interlude will have been a distraction. All we've done today is to drop back to pre-Zurich levels from where nothing has changed. There may be a climb from here but new investors are going to need a new story.

Good advice Walkley. You're a long term holder too so you know ALK's potential. I would be very surprised, and disappointed, if there wasn't a counter offer to take it into the 40s. And given that the current bidder seems to be a scratch company set up for the sole purpose of buying ALK - presumably to sell it on again shortly - I don't understand why the current Board, which has been managing ALK very well for the last five years, sees the need to sell out. Even a share swap deal with a bigger firm in the sector would be preferable.

Any chance of a white knight, perhaps another energy firm in the sector, coming in with a better bid?

Well done somebody for spotting ALK was seriously undervalued but I think selling out at 36p because of a recent drop in price is a mistake. The big crunch in UK energy markets is just around the corner, possibly this winter but certainly next. ALK's been 50p. 36 is cheap.

The boss has just shelled out a quarter of a million quid on his own stock. That's nailing his colours to the mast fairly firmly! I take that as a clear signal that he reckons there's good money to be made out of the takeover of BWIN.

I've always thought ALK's PR was a bit lightweight. Fine piece in the Yorkshire post but where's the FT story, or Telegraph, Mail etc. If you check the ALK Share News button above there's hardly any press coverage. Yet it's such a good story. Not sure about the Rugby World Cup half time cuppa surge though Martinu. More likely a great hiss from the thousand of fridge doors opening as we reach for a half time beer.

Like these numbers. ALK has managed to increase revenue and profits but with only a small increase in underlying costs. Good stuff. PS Note 3 in the accounts says there's no significant seasonality, but a long cold winter must surely lift their standby generation revenues if they are called on. But even if it doesn't this management seems to have steady growth as their main aim and they do it well. Personally I'm surprised we're down at the low 20s from nearly 50p.

Many fund managers are not allowed by their setup rules to invest in AIM stocks. But a main market listing and with a continuing strong yield the main market fund managers should want a piece of GVC. Expect much more institutional position taking once the deal has gone through and the listing achieved. If the board can assimilate BWIN with the efficiency of other takeovers then GVC should shine.

Anyone want to know where EPO might be headed should read this. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2015-09-01/blythe-masters-tells-banks-the-blockchain-changes-everything . Blythe Masters was a mega star at JPMorgan for a long time but there's an interesting reference to Earthport half way down and a direct quote from Hank. Well done to Bloomberg for making that connection to EPO.

I agree 7p is a useful baseline target for top-ups.Sling a few hundred at it when 7 is offered and in a year 's time it should show a very tidy profit. Definitely one for the long term ISA. Some better news on the clinical trials would be useful though. There seems to be a lot going on at Phase I/II but what we really need is something a lot further on with imminent commercial potential.

Well I thought the interims weren't as good as I was hoping. It seems the Novartis payments and operating income are all going into capacity expansion. The summary indicates that will continue into the second half. The balance sheet is sound. Stick em back in the bottom drawer and wait till next year I think.

That didn't last!

Marvellous! I've got one blue arrow in a sea of stonking big reds on my watchlist - and it's good ol' OXB! God bless its little cotton socks.

Would someone please explain to the army of PIs who are trading very small lots in BWY down to under 2300 that China has nothing to do with a UK housebuilder which is performing very well in a strengthening economy. And even if the BoE hikes interest rates by half a percent later this year so what!

The board and senior managers are defined as insiders and are not allowed by law to buy or sell during the time between the end of the reporting period and the publication of the results. That's true of all listed companies. Have faith till the 27th, amuse yourselves with some smart sniper buying at bargain basement prices.

Very interesting move this one. The distributed ledger is what makes Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies work. More importantly, in the last year or so banks and major financial institutions like clearing houses have recognised that unless they adopt some of these operational innovations they could be sidelined by faster, low cost alternatives. EPOs move into this space is really quick. This is a big game changer if they manage it well.

Most of the business seems very small lots at the moment which suggests a lot of PI activity and no institutional buying. One of the jobs of the management of a small, growth company is to interest the institutions in stake-building for the longer term. That way the price doesn't get pushed around so much and we establish a decent base. Anyway, ten days to the interims - we can sweat these low levels for that long then hopefully a re-rating and wider recognition that OXB is a very decent prospect. If I hadn't already topped up at 8.6 I'd certainly be back in now!