Member Info for cynic

MPH - As at 1st December Man Group help 7% of the company ...... I hope they still do, and indication are that they must, for that gives a little comfort to the abyssmal share performance over the last coulle of weeks ...... With luck it is just stale bulls pulling out, and nothing more sinister.

BUR - This quality oil producer has had a quiet couple of weks following a good run in December and early January. It now looks to be coming back to life and IMO it is worth tucking some away, not least as a balance to any holdings in more speculative oil/gas explorers.

CFDs - Quite right .... Just feel your way in gently .... Don't know which company you will be using, but you should be able to build a relationship with your contact there to give you some guidance in all sorts of ways.

CFDs - If you buy a share you are predicting that it will rise! Buying (or shorting) a share through CFDs is no different ...... NO you are not tied in to a timescale at all; you can get out whenever you choose. You are actually dealing in the shares themselves, but in a slightly different format. ZOO - I had a CFD position in those, but got out when I did not like the look of where it was going. Sure it cost me money, but then so would it had I held that same number of shares. ELP - I was short of these, but only held that position for a few days and then decided to take a modest profit. ULT - Again, I have a CFD position in these, but as I said before, it is the same as holding shares except I only put up a % of the total share value.

PRTY - alternative suggestions in the same sector are UKB and EOL, both of which have teased money from my wallet in the lst couple of days

CFDs - This is really like dealing in futures, except that they are open-dated. The good news is that they are geared insofar as you only need to put up between 5% for blue chips and 20/50% for more spivvy stocks. For example, 12500 Barclays @ £6.00 (£75k of stock) requires a deposit of only £3500, whereas 250k of ULT (£4500) requires a deposit of £2375. Obviously, without care, while you can make a lot of money, you could lose your shirt. Fortuantely, you can protect your position by putting in stops (against falls). In some ways, the safest sort of bet is on an index - say FTSE - where you can "bet" perhaps a minimum of £5 per point .... I knwo for sure, the minimum on Nikkei is $1.00 (some stocks or indices are quoted in $ rather than £) ...... Of course, if you think the stock/index is going to fall, you can "go short", which is much harder to do with "real shares" through a stockbroker. However, in the first instance, you will have to be accepted as a client by the "broker" - e.g. IG Index. To do this, they will send you a form to fill in, which as much as anything else will ask you about personal wealth so they can determine what limits to allow. I hope the above makes sense and helps, but please feel free to ask further if you want

KCOM - Lack of interest in any share is always likely to make it droop, regardless of how the rest of the market is performing. IMO, KCOM will stay in the doldrums until there is finally some news and/or until the telecom market in general starts to get excited with other takeovers.

KCOM - this does not look to be happening tomorrow. As far as I can see, Hull have not even sold or agreed to sell their 30% stake yet. Unless and until that goes through, any sale of the whole must be impossible ..... That said, I too am a holder, and will remain so, for it is a racing certainty (those can lose too!) that some time this year KCOM will indeed be swallowed up.

CER - share is very perky this morning .... up 15p and climbing as I write ..... As mentioned earlier, I think this is a good mining share in its own right, but now enhanced by its 7% holding in VOG ...... The world seems to be just waking up to this last fact.

s the post was entitled ZOO, then it would have been less than reasonable for it to have applied to a deifferent company ..... lol!!

TPH - I confess I found the company more interesting than I thought. The full version of trading statement rather than the shortened one shown above, makes rather better reading ...... That said NMS is only 1000 shares and for me at least, I think it is a bit illiquid to be of interest.

ZOO - I am afraid the only dust likely to settle from this company is their scattered ashes ...... I thought that was quite witty for me, though you may not concur ... lol!!

ELP - took your unsaid advice and closed my short, which was a bit cheeky anyway! Still, a nice little profit is a nice little profit, even if dwarfed today by that in VOG which I still run and will continue to do so.

CHP - This company was formerly Gold Mines of Sardinia which, from memory, had a rather chequered history if that good ...... Is it still the same management etc?

CHP - It would be interesting to know who are the actual beneficiaries of Willbro Nominees as they hold 22% of the company ..... Rather more relevant is that this is clearly yet another "blue sky" company, but unlike ELP (even!), operating in bandit-land. KWB - while there has clearly been a lot of buying, is it just "hot" money, or has your research thrown up anything more solid that what is stated in Chaco's interim report etc?

ELP - 20 dma is currently at about 34p but rising sharply ..... 20 dma is often or even usually a (fairly) solid support level, but given the speed of the rise in this stock, it MAY not be quite as valid ...... GOOG would be a similar and even scarier example!

ELP - Shareguru - Is there logic or chart support or similar for you to choose 36p as the level at which you want to get back in, or is it just an arbitrary figure based on it being 10% below you previous sale level?

EOL - Current market fave, PRTY has indeed made huge strides since its less than impressive debut. However, I wonder if sp is now reaching maturity if for no other reason that there looks to be a load of frothy money pouring in. Now, or perhaps after the figures on Friday, may be a good time to consider switching to the likes of UKB and EOL, both of which look to have legs!

EOL - Thanks for pointing me at this sector ..... Bought this morning and already in the money ......Thought I had put up a longer post earlier, but perhaps it is just on UKB which is another you may care to look at

UKB - Current market fave, PRTY has indeed made huge strides since its less than impressive debut. However, I wonder if sp is now reaching maturity if for no other reason that there look to be a load of frothy money pouring in. Now, or perhaps after the figures on Friday, may be a good time to look at the likes of UKB and EOL, both of which look to have legs!