Member Info for Davius

It would have been good if it had been release during trading hours, but many of the affected stocks have been very difficult to trade today. I tried several times to buy AL at 740-750p but gave up and bought back into WNG instead. Nice jump in AL at the close there though. No news yet on US interest rates I presume, a cut should see a further recovery in banking stocks tomorrow I think, but have not been checking the news feeds so don't know if the decision has been taken either way yet.

Yes, eventually managed to pick some up, but in 4 seperate transactions at an average of just under 16p. Had planned a quick turnaround but as difficult to sell as to buy so stuck with them until tomorrow at least.

18-18p for a few seconds there, CAUP at 18-19.5p, SEYP at 16.5-18p, SEYP ticked up a quarter penny so now 18-18.25p and back into positive territory today. Buying these shares was like getting blood out of a stone, or a rebate out of the tax man. Difficult.

I presume that this was a delayed reaction to the recent large contract wins. The shares are quite difficult to trade with only three market makers and limits are small, typically 5K of shares. Generally fairly low volume, prior to the recent rises anyway. Market cap is now £4m at 15.5p (mid). The deal with EHM is reported as being worth £1m in the coming year and they also announced the extension of a contract with the Mall Corporation for a further 3 years. The latest news appears to have saved a company which looked to be on borrowed time in August, when they were struggling along on their overdraft facility causing the shares to crash, bouncing off 1.5p. A little hard to value I'd have thought, it partly depends on the margin of this £1m deal, but if they can keep winning contracts then a significant rerating even from these improved levels must be possible. The issue appears to be short term capital, fundraising via a placing is a possibility. Although with contracts the banks will no doubt view them more favourably. A large number of delayed trades appearing now, and further buying has brought the SP back up from 13p.

Had my fill or kill at 730p gone through I'd have actually made a profit on it today. But with the shares crashing to 600p yesterday I'm not disappointed as inevitably I'd have sold out at any price during the collapse. It seems the late fall yesterday afternoon was caused by false rumours that the Alliance & leicester had had to go to the BoE cap in hand. Now I wonder where that started... I think AL would probably have bounced in any case, but the government intervention has brought the whole sector back up. I did try buys early on in both AL and NRK but no joy, it's proving difficult to trade with ANY indication of share price. 'At best' is just too risky I think.

The Alliance and Leicester is down in sympathy with Northern Rock, but although very exposed to the money markets is not in the same precarious position. I did view the shares as a good short term punt and managed a modest buy at 728.5p, which was exited at 756p later in the day. Thinking they may drop and rebound I've had a fill or kill order at 730p waiting for over an hour now, which I finally cancelled a few minutes ago as TDW had been unable to fulfil it. Have to say I'm not disappointed in this case though, as the shares have tanked again in the last 20 minutes and are now below 670p. I think that this demonstrates the risks of banking shares in the current conditions and reminds me (as if I needed reminding) not to retain any position overnight. (I have closed all short term positions today with the exception of a T20 on PET). AL down again as I've been typing, now at (wow) 625-630p...

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Shares in Paragon were the FTSE 250 index' top fallers in reaction to Northern Rock's profit warning this morning and against a backdrop of falling house prices outside of London, prompting KBC Peel Hunt to reiterate its 'reduce' stance. At 8.40 am, shares in Paragon were 41 pence or 11.5 pct lower at 316-3/4. In a note to clients this morning, KBC Peel Hunt said the latest Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors housing survey was in parts in line or in other parts worse than it had indicated in its commentary over the past six weeks. It added that Paragons management and shareholders should be very concerned about the quality of mortgages in their warehouse, adding that investors prepared by buy mortgaged-backed securities should be wary. It said there are many differences between Northern Rock and Paragon: the most noteworthy is that Northern Rock takes deposits and is a Bank, while Paragon does not and is not. It noted that the BoE will not support originate and distribute mortgage lenders. KBC maintained its 'reduce' rating for Paragon in anticipation of a cautious outlook statement and downgrades to earnings estimates.

Just exited at 67.82p. Despite large numbers of small buys, and two very large buys earlier on today, the SP has failed to break through 68p. Level 2 now 2-1 at 66.5-67.75p (4.8K-2.5K) with buy volume of 25K and sell volume of 92K (although 55K of the sell volume is a prices above 74p). There have been 300 plus trades today, and mose of small buys in the 200-300 share range. It looks like stakebuilding but trying to keep under the radar.

In line results yesterday caused a decent bounce from recent lows. The share price has been subdued for a few months now, but this morning Credit Suisse issued an 'outperform' note with a 90p target. Further improvement in the share price today on some decent buying. As with many similar pharmaceuticals profits are still some way off but they have a number of very good drug prospects and have plenty of case and a large debt facility in place. I'm a little wary of pharma stocks having taken a hit on SKP, but I think that these are worth a go so am in today (probably short term if it recovers quickly) at 65.45p.

Quite possibly, but a very thinly traded share and since it's MM and not SETS the SP is entirely MM controlled. The spread can be as high as 2p when the MMs line up on price. A buy this morning at 8.5p would be in profit now (spread of 8.5-9.5p but trading at 8.71-9.34p) but the previous flatline on the SP (due to lack of trades) suggests that this will tick along, perhaps slowly recovering. The prospects for the next few months look relatively poor though: "This is forecast to fall further by the year end as some of the sales expected have not materialised in the period under review and two significant orders were lost."

Anything from break even to a small loss is expected I believe. Of far more importance though, will be a trading update for the start of the new season, and some guidance on the current years figures. 160K delayed sell just gone through well under market rates at 9.75p, so someone wanted out. I think we may be stuck with this one for a while longer before the profits start to push the share price higher.

When I spoke to Mullins in August he mentioned that previously he'd suggested (in October last year) that it should be sorted within 8-10 months. This time round he says they should have to wait nothing like that amount of time, and with the tie in with a Phillipines business it ought to be well on the way by now. My feeling is that we'll get something this year, probably October/November, but of course that's only an educated guess - and not particularly well educated either ;) If the SC finally gets signed we should see an immediate jump in the SP. It's probably worth a small medium term punt but I wouldn't advise anyone to try to trade this share. (O/T take a look at IFL now recovering, also in and out of ARTA today)

Interim resulsts out, they start with "Production now at the rate of 6,400 bopd - exceeding stated target set for this time of the year." Everything looking good for IEC except the share price. If the support around 895p holds then it's possible that they may just start to bounce from here, the prospects are looking very good. Production is expected to hit 10000bopd by the end of the year, increasing to 25000 by end 2008.

The proposed MBO has been terminated today with the withdrawal of Alchemy Partners, supposedly due to Imprint's exposure to the financial services market. The company also released results showing a 5.5% rise in first half pre-tax profits and an 11% rise in revenues. A broker note from Landsbank said the results were in line with expectations and reaffirmed its "buy" rating, citing the exposure to the financial services sector as a depressing influence on the shares. It said "all this and more is already in the share price." Imprint has received another preliminary offer approach from an unrelated party which may or may not lead to a new bid, rumours suggest that this could be a previous bidder returning for a second try at a lower price. The shares, down 20p at 156p offer a good Investment, EPS for the half year of 10.3p and an interim dividend of 1.5p make them attractive. Forecast EPS for the full year is 22.88p, putting them on a forward P/E of 6.8. Without the prospect of a bid they are a sturdy hold, and currently appear to have no bid premium in the share price.

3-1 at 28-30p currently. Buy volume of 151K and sell volume of 251K. Buys today 224K, sells 300K. The buys on the system are practically all MMs though, just one other with a 10K order at 26p. Seems likely to drift until we get some news I think, now the traders have lost interest.

A good increase in the SP this afternoon, now up to 33-33.75p. Just had what appears to be a delayed buy of 650K shares at 33.75p gone through.

It was a share consolidation, 1 new share for every 10 old shares, it can make the price more appealing to investors.

Gone into auction at 262.25p now. I tried to buy back in at 253p but it kept returning an error so gave up. Will stay out for now as have taken a small punt on AAZ instead.

Getting a bit over extended what with a punt on CFM today so have decided to close out this and my TAN T20. Exited at 240.085p, 9.8% after costs is a very respectable return. I wish those staying put well, and good luck with you're long term recovery Vlad.

The question now I suppose is whether to take that quick profit or hang on for more and risk it. If the share hangs on to its early gains this morning then no doubt BB will change to a 'Buy' after the close which could bring in a few more punters. The Ambrian 400p target has no doubt helped, and there may be further short closing to come. The share price has been testing 240p, worth hanging on a while longer I think.