Thank AduK,
Yes, I'll freely admit to being naive (in this game anyway). I dabbled in 3 AIM stocks recently and have got burned. Completely my own fault. Stupid. Didn't even know what the difference between AIM & MM was until a few months ago. I'm dumping the other shares this week.
HUR is the only one I started to research, learn more about the market and take my time building a holding which is, for me, pretty big and scary. However I am reassured by all I've read and the loss wouldn't kill me.
Thanks for your take on the Main Market, that's helpful. I shall treat it as a bonus if it comes but not fret about it.
Forgive me in advance if this is a daft question.
I can see there are differing options about how good a deal, or not, the Spirit farm out has been.
I'm wondering, does it possibly help HUR to make a move to the main market? Does it put them in a better position to meet whatever regulatory, financial bona fides are required?
Genuine question.
Yes, I've had similar thoughts along the lines of "who is this AIM malarkey actually for?"
Is it for people who want to invest in emerging, small-medium companies or is it an ever replenishing trough for various parasites to scoop up cash from hapless, non professional investors? Hmmm.
I'm also beginning to suspect (not from HUR but other co.s I was dumb enough to invest in) that AIM may provide certain well connected and wealthy individuals with a lucrative career starting companies and paying themselves and their pals a healthy salary until, oops!, all the investors cash is gone. Move on and start another co.
Still...supp with the devil, use a long spoon and all that.
Seems the rise in SP has soothed a few nerves and made everyone more playful. Thank goodness.
A plea that we don't return to the "he said, she said.." of the last couple of weeks. The bickering means it takes ages for this newbie to trawl through posts to extract useful info and comments.
I say all the above in a spirit of gratitude to those very knowledgeable (but sometimes rather grumpy) posters who have helped my learning curve on this company and the O&G sector over the last few months.
ifonly1,
Your posts seem to show that (like me) you are relatively inexperienced in share trading. Or maybe just AIM stocks?
Anyway, someone on here recommended Robbie Burns's book "The Naked Trader" to me. I'm now reading it it and finding it worthwhile. Even just to understand some of the jargon and the way SP's can move. Might be worth buying it.
I've no intention of becoming a trader, but it is good to learn more about how markets behave and where to find sources of research information.
PS: Having said all that Mr Burns doesn't seem to buy or rate AIM stocks.
Excuse my ignorance (new to this) when brokers upgrade their "target price" do they have a particular date or event in mind.
I mean, if they are saying, in effect, "an investor can reasonably expect this SP to reach 85p", do they mean that is an expected maximum ever, next year, after holding for x years etc etc. Seems strange to have a target but no timeframe?
Jimzi,
Your comment aimed at me? (hard to tell on this board, it's unclear who's replying to whom)
If so, yes, stupid of me. New to this and got carried away with +ve sentiment from someone who had jumped onto another board to big VLS up. Painful but I'll learn.
Still, I'm relieved to be out of it. It's worth it. Good luck to you too.
Mikemine,
I agree. Totally in the dark here about what is happening. I've bailed out this morning at a 27% loss. Just fed up with no information. Feel like I'm being strung along when me, and many others like me, are paying their wages. Good luck to you all for the future. I've kept a very small amount of VLS shares as a souvenir.
If the SP ever reaches £1, I'll get my losses back. Here's hoping.
Thanks for the replies.
I will check RNS when I get a chance to sit down. Was keen to hear from "eye witnesses" as it were.
Can anyone tell me what happened around 12th January '18 when the SP dropped from 27p to 10p ?
Hello Nige,
Thanks for your reply. I suppose the fact that I'm lurking here suggests that I haven't entirely given up on AGM. If the SP takes off, I shall of course, be kicking myself but c'est la vie with shares.
They do seem cheap now and I could use some of the 20% uplift from VRS to buy some of these again. I did like the prospect of scaleability with AGM seemed to promise.
I'm not willing to punt more "new" cash into this. I do see it as gambling and I have to be careful how much of my savings I risk. ("Savings" ! who am I kidding? Yorkshire BS interest dropped to 0.1% on one of my accounts recently)
This company has rewarded me with a 20% uplift since I invested recently so I like them. Clearly that could disappear, but it seems a better run company than AGM, whose shares I dumped to buy these after several years of slow decline.
I'm keen to have a little foot in the door in the graphene business, more out of technical interest than plans to get rich. I don't have enough invested for that.
There are many companies out there working on graphene related products and thousands of new patents being created. I'd be interested to know what makes other holders on here think that VRS have an edge over other companies in the graphene business? The news about graphene being used in tyres, bottles, plastic bags, roads etc. is very welcome, but who says that VRS will be supplying it?
If my post implies laziness and your response is DYOR, fair enough. I'm new to this and not sure where to start. On-line share related articles mostly look like click bait junk.
Hi Nige,
I held and held (must be a few years now) and there was very little sign of anything happening. Just a slow downward drift of my investment. I agree, little point in selling and that's why I held. But I just got sick of them sitting there and thought VRS looked a much more pro active company in the graphene business. So I took the hit and bought VRS.
I've only recently discovered there was any such thing as specific share bulletin boards, so there was very little news over the years. Even this BnB has been a wasteland for long periods of time.
I hope you are right, the share price rockets one day and best of luck to you. It does look cheap now, I'll grant you, compared to what it was and what I paid.
I wonder if graphene is a bit like the early days of any new disruptive technology, lots of horses in the race at the start but only a few will last the pace and win a prize. AGM might be one, VRS might be. Maybe both will fail and Samsung will dominate the graphene world as some say.
My investment in AGM was very ill informed and knee jerk. My dabble in VRS only slightly better informed, so I can only blame myself for losing money.
I bought these at around 280p. It's been a long slow decline ever since. Dumped them, took the (huge) loss a few months ago and bought Versarien (VRS) shares with what I had left from AGM.
The VRS seems a much better bet. This co. never seem to do anything useful. Fishing rods and racing car tailgates? Aye, that'll set the world on fire.
Thanks for that. Interesting article and also slightly disconcerting. The idea that we act impulsively and then invent a rationale as a cover story for ourselves.
I'm happy with my (for me) large purchase of HUR. It seems a well run company with little hyperbole from it's leader. Measured and rational progress and each promise fulfilled or milestone achieved as planned (so far).
Might there be a book or article which explores the potential pitfalls and successful strategies in the mind of the investor?
I have noticed some interesting mind games being played out in my head as the price of my shares rises and falls. I fear some of the impulses are not wise. I can see that the mixture of skill, judgement and sheer dumb luck can be compulsive.
As the price of HUR has dropped recently (now close to my average buy in), I've gone from a confident "these are going on the back burner for a good long while" to "My wife's going to kill me if I lose our money".
Thanks for the tips JK and SXX, I shall explore further.
"Understand a balance sheet", hmmm, always found those hard to fathom but I suppose its just practice. It looks like there's no substitute for leg work and diligence. I use Halifax for on-line trades but their research facility went sideways a couple of months ago and I haven't used it since.
If this were an easy and predictable way to make a profit then I guess everyone would be doing it and the returns would be low, so can't complain.
I'm kind of forced into stocks by the miserable returns from my savings. When I planned my "downsizing" escapade, the building societies were offering up to 8% on savings. That all went pear shaped in 2007/8.
As a new entrant to the world of stocks, I'm fining it very difficult to find sources of information that feel credible. I often use an app on my Mac to check share prices. Double clicking a share ticker brings up more detailed charts (via Yahoo Finance) with numerous articles below about that particular share.
Thing is, most of the articles look like junk and very generic in that they have a headline which has an "insert name of share here" look. I sometimes wonder if the articles are written by robots or someone with a strong angle to push.
So, my question is, where do folks on here find a reliable source of financial/share reporting or information source?
Thanks for any help.