Member Info for nickyg

Having been here before, I always get the same feeling that FTO could simply dissolve away to nothing, yet every time it bounces back, never very much, but always by a few pence. The Stockbrokers cannot take it seriously, and neither should any of us. It is there to irritate and provide holiday money each year. Come the summer, it ought to be up at 10 or 12 pence again.

6.50 approaches, and it is time to buy in again for a good profit later on in the year. God bless Mr Woo!

There is no dividend, but old timers were exceedingly happy to receive a considerable one off divi some year or so ago. It made up a bit for all the irritation suffered over the many years. I doubt that will ever happen again, but I am waiting for the sp to go down to 6.5 pence, and will dive in again, as has been done so often before.I have no faith in the company, other than its regularity to drop back to 7p or so every year, and then gradually go up to 12p or maybe more. It is a duff company, so treat it with the disrespect it deserves, and go for the regular pocket money. Thank you Mr Woo.

As anyone who has been involved with this share for 20yrs plus, could tell those who have recently bought in, hoping to make a killing, it simply will not happen. It has always been possible to make money on the basis that the share regularly goes down to 7p, or thereabouts, and gradually goes up to 10 or 12 p, and sometimes even higher, and on a holding of 200000 shares, it is worth a go. It is regular money, but the share will never soar. The owners will not let it happen. Old long term holders are content to make a few thousand every year from this irritating company, regular as clockwork. However, there is always the worry that it could mysteriously disappear as if by magic.....

What on earth is all the fuss about? Azn share price has been mostly up in recent times, and it is a brilliant company, so if the sp drops back a bit, so what. I am 50% up on my holding, and the dividend is great, and there will be countless others in a similar situation, I am sure, so can we have a little less of the panic and running about like headless chickens. Shares go up, shares go down and good shares pay dividends whatever happens. As for Pfizer, who knows and frankly who cares.

Brinkerhoff deal off, and share price way down. In my simple mind, I had hoped to get back some cash on the back of the sale of Brinkerhoff.. BBY is beginning to look like a very poor choice of share for me, and I am beginning to regret buying in. To make matters worse, Carillion has suffered hugely from its association with BBY, and their shares have plummeted too, although their are other reasons to be taken into account.

Just a little more drop, and time to buy in again as the same old pattern is emerging; maybe by the new year another 3p/share profit, which is very nice on a holding of 200000. It is becoming as regular as clockwork with this irritating company, and who cares if the shares never really go up very much, just as long as they go up and down by 3 or 4p every year.

I expect,( because I have seen it happen so regularly), that the share price will dip below 9p for a short while, and that will be the time to have gamble on it going up to 12p again. It would be foolhardy to expect this share to behave in any normal fashion, and it seems that usual rules don't apply here. At least, they seem not to have done since I first bought fto shares in the early nineties. That does not mean that there isn't money to be made on a regular basis.

Mr Chiu is just like Mr Woo, and we could lose our shirts as well. Fto has never been taken seriously as long as I have known of it, and was never worth more than a flutter. That is not to say that I havn't had a summer holiday on the back of Mr Chiu for many years, for I certainly have. Regular as clockwork. The share price will go up again for certain, but not by very much. 3p is good enough if one has 100000 shares.

Below 9p, what a buying opportunity and I cannot wait. This has happened quite frequently and is always worth a go, as the share has always gone up again in the same way it goes down. Useless share really, but I have made more than £20000 over the past 20 years dipping in and out, and long may it continue. I hope that 1000's of other's are doing the same. There aren't that many shares that are so predictable.

I read chris 911's message, and can only suppose that he is now the same sort of age that I was when I had such a good feeling about fto, so many years ago , when I was young. Sorry to be depressing, but it would be foolhardy to pin any hopes on a retirement bonanza. It simply will not happen, as the big boss won't let it happen. I don't know why, anymore than anyone else. I cannot see any chinaman wanting huge numbers of foreign punters to become wealthy on the back of his business, however successful he is. It isn't in the chinese way. Keep it in the family.

Like a few others, I have held shares in fto for 20 yrs or more, and seen a few pence swing and the frustration of lack of any real movement. The only advice I can offer, is to keep a 100000 shares or so, which anyone might amass simply by selling and re buying, and leaving it to the next generation, and the grandchildren may benefit. No point tearing one's hair out.

Absolutely bang on, though it took longer this time. Time to buy in again below 10p. FTO never fails, and another profit to be made from a duff company.

What happens when it is no longer possible to access goods to sell at £1? Does the name change to £2 land. It doesn't have quite the same ring, and one thing is certain, the price of third rate baked beans won't go down, and you can only subsidise the goods people want by selling grotty paintbrushes and other rubbish up to a point. Meanwhile, what a very good share, but when to jump?

I originally bought these shares on the advice of a parent of a friend of my sons. His name was Gowrie Smith, and was the big boss at the time, having named it after his daughter, Skye. I must say that he came across as a fat cat, rather pleasant but quite brash, turning up to see his son in a metallic blue rolls. I bought shares on his recommendation... They went from bad to worse, and the last time I looked at my holding of !000 shares, 2-3 yrs ago, they were around 40p, having been swopped in as part of some clever deal some time before that for £1 per share. I never expected to see any profit, so imagine my astonishment when I looked today, and saw them at £2 plus. I bought 10000 at 10p in feb 1996, and they were converted into 1000 shares at £1per share, many years later. I lost track of Gowrie Smith, just as I lost track of the shares. Some times things go right, and I am probably selling out. Maybe one of you who has been following this share could give me a good reason for holding on, as long as his name isn't Gowrie Smith.

I recently sold out a large chunk of my holding at 12p, which seemed sensible at the time, but I have tended to expect the almost eternal pattern of FTO, which crawls up and gives everyone,( save the hardbitten old timers, who have been in from the start), a feeling that something is finally moving in the right direction, only to plunge back to 8-9p, where I throw up my arms in joy, and buy back again. Were the shares to go up to 20p, which is possibly unheard of, would I wish to buy`? I would have to think hard before buying maybe 200000 shares, whereas at 8-9p I wouldn't hesitate. Fto is like that. It used to be the Moaming SPM which was an invitation to invest in the share, now China gas. It would be tempting to say that we have seen it all before. I keep 100000 shares just in case it all happens.

Rather amusingly, I was looking at a purchase transaction I made for FTO in early april 1997, when I paid 13.5 pence per share. It suddenly makes me feel old.....

Yes cortis38, I won't get too exuberant about astra, as it dropped back today. However, i'm sticking with it for the moment and it does seem to have performed quite well over the past three years. Sensible advice though!

Excellent views of the flood effects on aviva shareprice. The laying off of risk is a major point, and the strengthening of premiums,( if people can afford them). I may hold on a bit. Any good news on Tate and Lyle very welcome. Parachikka Chlorates seems to be out of favour at present.

Why not stick to the share in question, boys, or should I say boys and girls? Aviva, not Tate and lyle. Any views on Aviva at the moment... Might the fairly high claims for flooding affect the price, or would it be considered too small an insurance loss to worry about.