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Even a few of our detractors have now come around
Hello, Share Monkeys. In this weekend’s lesson I look at the possibilities when finding yourself with a share where the price is rising rapidly. Should we sell, hold or buy more? It could depend on the qualities or failings of the individual share. But more likely it’s the momentum, timing and your own personality which are the more important considerations.
Hello Share Springers. There’s a share in my portfolio which I keep forgetting to check. It’s the National Grid (NG.) This is a big mistake, as we should all monitor our babies at least once a week.
Hello Share Scrimpers. I think all those dire predictions for the end of high street shopping have been overdone. The internet may be scooping up a lot of the Christmas custom. But we should never forget that tons of that profitable traffic is linked to the big retail stores anyway.
Hello Share Shufflers. I've been a bit wary of Marks and Sparks (MKS) on this scintillating website before now. But I'm beginning to change my mind. I still find its clothing range a bit bland. Though I'm, not a fashion expert, and maybe what I see as a bit bland is really exciting new fashion.
Hello Share Spoolers. I've said a few times before that I feel confident investing in British insurers. As financial ventures they are in prime position to benefit from the long, slow rally from the credit crunch of 2008.
Hello Share Swooners. I've been saying that the pre-Christmas affect on shares would influence some stocks more than others. Among the possible winners, I thought were holiday purveyors. Coming to mind were Tui (TUI), Thomas Cook (TCG) and Carnival (CCL) the big cruising firm.
Hello Share Squirters. About six years ago I bought some shares in Morrisons (MRW). And I immediately regretted it. And that was before all the hoo-ha about Lidl and Aldi taking the customers of the big British supermarkets.
Hello Share Sprinters. I trust you made a packet out of Royal Mail (RMG) when it was privatised. I sold my shares fairly quickly, and did very nicely. My wife held onto hers and is still in profit.
Hello Share Trillers. When I think of that well-known British name Whitbread (WTB), I think of pubs and beer. As I am a red wine man, this does not always thrill me.
Hello Share Smashers. If you’re looking for an ethical share, I’m not sure you can do much better than having a peek at Biome Technologies (BIOM). Let me begin straight away by saying I’ve lost money previously backing this lot. Quite some years ago now, the share went wrong . I seem to remember this lot was called Stanelco then. And they were big favourites among penny play armchair tycoons like you and me.
Hello Share Trippers. Oh dear! The price of crude oil drops to less than 40 dollars a barrel.That’s really nasty and we can blame OPEC for refusing to cut down on the amber nectar it has for sale.
Malcolm First: Hello Share Squirmers. There could be pressure on people like me who write about shares. We could be approached by PR people who want us to write about their clients. Which means that they expect us to give positive reports to companies which issue shares.
Once again the money markets behave in a totally balmy and yet predictable way.Towards the end of last week, the Dow suddenly fell like a super charged stone. British shares followed in their usual obsequious way.
Hello Share Soupers. The price of ITV (ITV) shares has flattened out recently. It’s a stock which tends to do this. Nice steady increases day by day, if on the tiny side. Then comes a brief period when traders lose interest in the shares.
Hello Share Surfers. The old Footsie fell 2.5% on a day which began rather well. Why? Well, according to the media, the European Central Bank 'failed to deliver on market expectations for an increase in monthly asset purchases.’
Hello Share Shooters. It’s quite some time since I wrested your attention towards an interesting play with its potential in India. You’ll be aware that India is being vaunted by some - well, at least by me - as the new China.
Hello Share Twiddlers. There’s going to be a big vote in the Commons. It is the type of vote which is so important that it impinges on everything we hold dear in this country - including our shares.
Hello Share Trudgers. Having met some successful fund managers at the fabled Gold & Bears show, I’ve decided to start my own investment fund. After all, they just seem like ordinary blokes and lasses to me.nBut my venture will be based on an almost sure recipe for big money success. While its risks will be almost non existent.
Hello Share Swashers. There were some real heavyweight stars talking about shorting, mining, gold investing and the general state of the economy at the fabulous Gold Bears and Traders Show at Westminster at the weekend. The turns were all brilliant in their revelations.
Hello Share Smoochers. Even an eternal optimist like moi has to admit that it’s all a bit depressing at the moment, even if we’ve just had a couple of fairly good days.
Hello Share Shakers. I’ve interrupted my packing to write this piece. Where am I going? To the big Gold, Bears and Traders Shebang at Westminster this Saturday, of course. Anyone who hasn’t attended any of Tom’s share shows is missing a big treat and I hope to see some of you at this one. I shall be on the main stage all day.
Hello Share Shapers. I could cheerfully kick RSA (RSA) the old Royal Insurance company in the teeth.
Hello Share Trundlers. The big Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA) and BG (BG.) merger has been the elephant in the room at many a big discussion on current share trading.
Hello Share Muddlers: In an earlier piece this week, I opined that we should not be fearful of investing in airlines, just because murderous terrorists are at large. The argument was that there are so few airline incidents that the chances of being embroiled in one are more or less nil. And yet airline shares have suffered in the last few weeks. Ever since that crash of the flight from Egypt to Russia, to be exact.
Hello Share Masters. So the Government has accepted £13 billion for selling its mortgages with Northern Rock to the Americans. Yes, that's not a mistake,13 billion pounds!
Hello Share Pitchers. Royal Insurance, or RSA (RSA) as it’s been known for some time now, is going through a very funny period.
In my humble opinion - and I know this will bring a deluge of detractions - oil prices will now recover. And with this happy circumstance, of course, so will the very depressed share prices of some of our old favourites.
Hello Share Shapers. Let’s take a look at the general situation facing ordinary share buyers like us at the moment. Volumes were down in August and September. They always are , due to the big traders preferring to spend more time with their holidaying families.
Hello Share Changers. I seem to remember that Uncle Tom doesn’t particularly like IQE (IQE) a firm which has, once or twice, been described as the new Arm Holdings (ARM)
Hello Share Bunnies. There was some interesting share movements after all the good news came out for Feedback (FDBK), the minnow capitalised at a mere £5 million.
Hello Share Thrashers. It’s not my custom to return to promising shares I’ve brought to your attention in the recent past. I normally wait at least six months or so - with only a few exceptions.
Hello Share Smashers. It was Harvest Festival at our church. The stress this time was on feeding others. We were urged to do something for hungry refugees, rather than gorge ourselves on junk food.
Hello Share Masters. It’s not often I pen a piece which is not optimistic about a company. Being bullish is a trait I’ve had since I started the great game in 1987.
Hello Share Swappers. I’ve previously brought a little surveillance firm to your attention. It's called Indigovision (IND). This was quite some time ago and of course the story in Crazyland is always changing.
Buon Giorno Share People. I spent last week testing the Italian power of recovery to revitalise the Eurozone and so invigorate the UK economy, particularly, as always, the value of our shares.
Hello Share Fellows. You may have noticed that I’ve not been posting my usual observations for a week now. That is not because I’m in dark despair. But I’ve been in Italy investigating the financial situation there.
On Thursday night Malcolm Stacey attempted to gain entry to Jeremy Corbyn’s last campaign rally but was foiled and failed to meet the bearded one. Does that mean that his search for Corbyn’s Money Tree is at an end?
Good news. The Quest is hotting up. Getafix is worried. His potions based on cuttings from the money tree do not seem to be working. Why are shares in Advanced Oncotherapy not at 50p despite being featured here twice a week? Why is the FTSE 100 not at 8,000 as predicted? Perhaps the Money Tree he has been using in the depths of the Welsh forest is a fake or has lost its powers. Fear not…for another old fool (sorry we meant respected druid) has emerged in North London and Malcolm seems to have tracked him down.
Getafix is worried. His potions based on cuttings from the money tree do not seem to be working. Why are shares in Advanced Oncotherapy not at 50p despite being featured here twice a week? Why is the FTSE 100 not at 8,000 as predicted? Perhaps the Money Tree he has been using in the depths of the Welsh forest is a fake or has lost its powers. Fear not…for another old fool (sorry we meant respected druid) has emerged in North London
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Hello Share Smashers. Uncle Tom has already alluded to my lesson for today. And that is that we should buy when the market has been weakened by topical events. Yes, I know the advice is pretty self-evident. So why does everyone do the opposite?
Hello Share Rattlers. There are some shares, dear chums, which we wish we’d never heard about. I bought stock in Ross Group (RGP), an electrical set-up, 21 years ago. They were 20p each then. What are they today? - less than one and half pence each.
Hello Share Freakies. May I offer a few opinions on the way the world economies are going - and, to adapt the famous line from Harold Wilson - their effect on the shares in our pocket.
Hello Share Campers. I’ve got an awful admission to make. I am an addict.
Hello Share Bottlers. I’ve held shares in Centamin (CEY), the Egyptian gold miner for some years now. Given the dramatic events that have shaken that interesting country, the share price has followed rather a boring path.
Hello Fellow Share Bashers. The other day I told you how I’d picked five companies for my 21- year-old son Jack’s first share portfolio. But I was a bit miffed when he went off on a ten-day holiday to Denmark, without lodging his first £1000 with the broker. So far my fantastic five tips have gone unused.
Hello Share Sprigs. I become fed up with the number of people who tell me I should stop trading shares and invest in houses instead. A family member even told me this week ‘House prices never fall.’ But they jolly well do, don’t they?
This article by Malcolm Stacey appeared in the July issue of UK Investor Show Magazine. The August edition was published yesterday and can be accessed HERE. Now to the 10 Golden Rules
Hello Share Followers. Totally (TLY) is a small whose main function is to arrange self-help coaching for seriously ill patients once they leave hospitals. It was at one time, maybe still is, a favourite of Uncle Tom*.
Hello Share Floggers. The old shares are settling down a bit now. It’s not so much that the Greece fandango has been resolved. Or indeed that the falling Chinese stock market has been stabilised. It’s just that the big American traders have got impatient with waiting for something dramatic to happen. So now they’ve stoped holding their horses and they’ve started buying again.
Hello Share Plungers. We’re told by the International Monetary Fund that Greece will never be able to pay back its big debt and that creditors should be willing to take a haircut. Sense at last, but with the Germans in a bloody frame of mind towards the Greeks, that short back and sides will not be forthcoming.
Hello Share Sweepers. As we’re all still feeling pretty nervous about our shares, I would not advocate doing much trading at the moment. The Chinese stock market and the Greek tragedy are both taking their toll on our confidence. So it seems to me we now have a good opportunity to drive home two glittering lessons which are especially useful in difficult times like these.
Hello Share Mashers. Let’s turn to Dragon Oil (DGO) again. I do so because the’ve issued some news that its oil production has hit a new record. Yes, the highest its ever been. Production for 2015 is likely to be up by 15%.
Hello Share Smoochers. If I continue with my usual policy of only pointing you in the direction of companies in which I hold shares, there are only so many firms which I can bring to your notice. The ones with a really chance of putting on weight, anyway. So I return to an outfit now who really do continue in life’s upward journey up the hill of profits. I refer to Photome (PHTM), one time darling of the bully boards.
Hello Share Swingers. It seems ages ago that I first tipped Feedback (FDBK) the life science company. It was during all the excitement about another medical punt, Advanced Oncotherapy (AVO). I think I said something optimistic along the lines that Feedback could be another Advanced, which is a multi-bagger..
Hello Share Monkeys. I’ve written about RBS (RBS) and Lloyds Group (LLOY) lately. But I’ve neglected the biggest UK bank of all, Honkers Bonkers (HSBA).
The Summertime Blues seems to have hit shares again. That old adage about going away in May is no longer true. But the fact remains that the old share game goes off the boil between June and August.
Hello Share Munchers. Let’s have a look at the world economy and the British arm of it in particular. Knowing what is happening on the biggest scale helps us to make choices on the very smallest scale ie: which shares to buy or sell next.
Hello Share Shakers. Perhaps I did not express myself clearly enough – if so, t’were a grievous fault (Shakespeare’s Marc Anthony) – yet I’m stuck with it. But I happen to agree with almost all Tom said here yesterday.
I think it was six years ago that we all thought low interest rates would not last. They have, and there is no sign, as far as I can see, that they will rise any time soon. They may even continue to bump along at their present lowly level for another six years.
Hello Share Tweekers. I recently wrote about RBS (RBS), the old Royal Bank of Scotland, observing that the share price now is still only 4% of its previous high. That previous high was over £9 and was reached just before the bank crisis of 2007/8.
Hello Share Chinkers. There are some strange things going on in the world of mergers and take-overs. It ain’t right, mister.
I got rid of my Marks and Spencer (MKS) shares a few years ago now. They were among my slowest moving stocks of all time.
Hello Share Mates. As we flounder along in a rather pedantic time for shares , apart from the pennies and rogue firms hat always provide a bit of excitement on the bleakest days, it’s time to reflect on a few illogical paths that await happy share-shifters like us.
Advanced Oncotherapy (AVO) is one of the most talked-about shares on the net at the mo. And it’s not just the army of private bloggers who are desperately trying to talk up the share by making fortune teller predictions.
Hello Share Chuckers. An armchair trader asked God if it was true that a minute to Him was like a million years.And also if a million pounds was like a penny.‘Both perceptions are true,’ agreed the Lord.
I have not done this before but I want to add a note about my recent Advanced Oncotherapy (AVO) share tip
There is a lot of heavy stuff on this smasherooni website at the moment. You may think you need a first in finance from the London School of Economics to make use of it.
Hello Share Munchkins. It’s not been so long ago that I was trumpeting Advanced Oncotherapy (AVO). But the fashionable biotech firm is beginning to get interesting again.
Hello Share Squidgers. Just where is the Lloyds share going? May I humbly opine that it will go a lot further than it has already done in the last week or so – even if the latest rise in value has been pretty remarkable.
Hello Share Ploughers. Let’s have another look at Tertiary Minerals (TYN). After a long fallow period, well, slow decay to be honest, the shares are stirring back to life again.
Hello Share Swingers. There’s still no proper upward movement on BG (BG.) And yet Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA) has put in a bid which has been estimated at being worth £13.50 in cash and shares
Hello Share Jigglers. It’s not easy to collect readers for my modest column at the mo. What with all the current excitement on this glittering website.
Hello Share Pootlers. It’s nearly always the same when the big companies put on a huge spurt, the penny shares suffer. Not all of them, of course, but there is a definite downward drag.
Hello Share Splashers. There’s been a lot talk – including on this dazzling website – about bubbles. Commentator after commentator keeps banging on about the dangers of economic bubbles bursting to embarrass happy share-shifters like us.
Hello Share Fans. When I was just launching into the golden game after the Big Bang of the eighties, a very nice chap, who became a big cog in organising the last Olympics, suggested I buy Dragon Oil (DGO).
Hello Share Spikers. There are a lot of us still awash in oil shares. Remember that Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA)is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, companies on the biggest of all British share clubs, the Footsie.
Hello Share Trimmers. Investors in Advanced Oncotherapy (AVO) are in a peculiar situation. For though our shares are now trading at just a touch over 8p, they could be worth a lot more.
Hello Share Monkeys. The most common question I was asked in the Blogger’s Café at the legendary UK Investor Show was: where exactly is the Punter’s Return?
Hello Share Swillers. I happen to know there are a lot of BG (BG.) shareholders reading this splendiferous website. That’s because we get a lot of interest every time the natural gas giant is mentioned.
The big city puts a lot of reliance put on growth figures. And it isn’t always justified. Britain’s growth, or GDP growth as it’s known, has knocked shares for six in the last few days. Though the latest figure shows that Blighty’s economy is still growing, it’s not moving up as quickly as shown last time.
Hello Share Smashers. I drew your attention a while back to Creightons (CRL). It fashions toiletries and things which make your car smell nice. The very popular Lidl is an outlet for its produce.
Hello Share Munchers. I’ve been getting a little bit nervous over the many penny shares I hold. Should I be waving bye, bye to some of my more risky stocks? Normally, I shrug off such spooky feelings, unless I have good reason to believe a penny dreadful is indeed dreadful.
Howdy Share Seekers. When I first started writing for the newly-formed Sharecrazy website in 2000, the world and his wife were trading shares. I could not take a taxi ride without the driver expressing an opinion on his portfolio. The secretaries at work were swapping stock market ideas. The milkman had a pretty thick portfolio of stocks.
Hello Share Dribblers. I’ve had rather a dispiriting week. We all get them from time to time, even when the Footsie holds up very well, as it does now.
Hello Share Shockers. I’ve regaled you in this modest column before with some of the best advice you could ever pick up. That is: to track down and invest in those star companies which grow their profits every year that comes round.
Hello Share Breakers. Well, the strain was too much for me. I said earlier that I had turned a lot of my shares into cash. It seemed I had moved overnight from being a bull to a bear.
Hello Share Pickers. I told you I usually pick up some decent tips from the UK Investor Show which we were all treated to on Saturday. I’ve now had time to research a few of these diamonds and the first one I’ve bought is Feedback (FDBK).
Hello Share Twiddlers. So if the Tories get in again they will sell off Lloyds (LLOY) shares to the public at a discount.
Hello Share Swillers. Well, it's almost time. The zappy UK Investor Show 2015 is only one day away.La st year's event was a really happy affair. And yet shares were not doing that well at the time, as I recall (though the old memory is starting to go).
So Lloyds Bank (LLOY) shares have crawled ever so painfully and slowly above 80p again. We have already been in this territory several times.
I've just had a very good day with a few long-held penny shares. They include Zoo Digital (ZOO) up 11%, Enables It (EIT) up 22% and a massive 57% hike by Ascent Resources (AST).
Hello Share Compadres. It is not really expected from me, I know, but I have been getting edgy about the performance of shares lately.
Hello Share Pickers. The fabulous UK Investor Show is coming up. Just a few days to go, now. It will be great to meet you in the Blogger's Cafe. I did time there last year and really enjoyed it. Picked up a few tips, too – like City of London Investment Group (CLIG) and Galliford Try (GFRD). And shares on both are still doing well.
Hello Share Munchers. They've been telling us that the election run-up was going to send share prices down. The markets, after all, hate uncertainty.
Hello Share Tweakers. The BG (BG.) takeover story started very well with a rise of 40% on the share price of a few days earlier. That was because Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA), one of the biggest companies in the Footsie, seek a juicy merger.
Hello Share Chippers. For the last few months, I've felt a bit of a fraud. I've been telling you about some companies I thought were good investments. Some have gone onto to new all-time highs. Inmarsat (ISAT). Legal and General (LGEN) Compass (CPG) Arm Holdings (ARM) have all done really well.
Hello Share Shakers. My daily article at the start of the week reminded you that I am a momentum trader. That is: a private dealer who watches which shares move sharply upwards, and then jumps on the apple cart in the educated hope that the stock will keep on a rising for another day or two.
Hello Share Sliders. Never over-estimate the great British public when it comes to making sensible choices. They are about as likely to be able to single out the best shares as they are to pick a good telly programme. And we all know how rubbish most of the popular shows are these days.
A year ago, I had three beautiful cats. Now I have only one. In between, came some agonising trips to the vets to try and save two lives. It was not possible in the end, though of course my family did everything they could to postpone the inevitable.
Wind farms and solar energy are achieving a much higher profile these days. The rather beautiful white giants are springing up in windy corners everywhere. Vast banks of solar cells are beginning to spread. And even though the present government is cutting back on subsidies for solar energy suppliers, it still looks a reasonable bet.
Not that long ago a five-year-old boy called Ashya King made the news in sad circumstances. He was taken away from an NHS hospital in Bristol and then grabbed by the police in Spain where his parents were arrested.
Hello Share Takers. First of all let's not forget the real meaning of Easter – and it's not to take advantage of the closed markets to review your portfolio.
Hello share sharpers. I don't think I will be alone in saying that my share portfolio has been decimated by the falling oil price. This is because the Footsie is dominated by big oil shares – BP (BP.) BG (BG.) Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA) et al.
Hello Share Chisellers. It's almost too late. And yet it can make a big difference. I'm talking about the annual job of selling winners and losers over the year to try and balance the books and avoid paying too much capital gains tax on our share profits.
Hello Share Mates: I only rarely consider punishing a share on this glittering website, but even I, occasionally, succumb to a negative frame of mind.
There was, a few years ago, a big thing about the Bank of England failing to stick below its annual inflation target of 2%. Now everyone is getting worried about the latest inflation figure of zero.
I've bought cheap shares in a small company, only to see them sink even lower. Stupidly anxious to save face, I can't bring myself to cut my losses. Many more like me refuse to sell. But nobody else wants to buy such a no-hoper.
One of my star performers is BT (BT.A). It's been rocketing through new all-time highs for some time now.
Hello Share Swallowers. It's that time of year again. We must think about selling enough shares to take advantage of our annual capital gains tax break.
Hello Share Primpers. One of my three 2014 tips on this smashing website has made a one day leap of 75% as I write this.
Hello Share Fans. I hate the expression 'no-brainer', so I won't use it in the context of buying shares in Barratt Developments (BDEV).
Hello Share Fiends. I've never been a fan of airlines as an investment. It always seemed to me that the risks of everyday running were too high.
Hello Share Mongers. While still on the ceiling at the marvellous news that the Footsie had finally sneaked through the all-time historic marker of 7,000, I listened to Tom's Saturday Bearcast HERE. He thinks the share world will soon meet its Waterloo.
Ineffectual investors follow the herd. The crowd may be right some of the time, as they're all following the same obvious pointers to success. But if everybody is correct about a situation, and puts their mouth where everybody else's is, profits won't be worth hollering about. It's a bit like everyone being guided by current form to pick draws on a football coupon. If the chosen teams all draw, everyone wins the pools, but the cash prizes are laughable. It's only by being right when most folk are up the creek that you can ever hope to win enough for a private island, a Rolls Royce and a small jet.
Hello Share Stabbers. We've all been waiting for so long that now it has happened I just can't believe it. The big Footsie index has finally broken through its very all-time record to reach above the fabled notch of 7000!
Hello Share Trekkers. I wonder if you've been following my desert adventures as outlined by Uncle Tom over the last week or so.
The token deluded lefty on this website, Comrade Malcolm Stacey is taking a well-earned break on a desert safari searching for the mythical money tree which he and his fellow lefties both worship and believe in. On day 6 we hear that Malcolm has still not found the great Money Tree but inow faces a cash crisis. Why will these folks in the desert accept is Oxfam gold Amex card or his Co-Op Visa Delta? Why do they demand cash only and why will they accept only wicked US dollars not Malcolm's beloved Euros? This is all a conspiracy by the evil bankers and Malcolm knows who encouraged that sort of thing. It's all the fault of Thatcher. In Malcolm's absence we bring you a few words from his timeless classic, The Armchair Tycoon.
The token deluded lefty on this website, Comrade Malcolm Stacey is taking a well-earned break on a desert safari searching for the mythical money tree which he and his fellow lefties both worship and believe in. On day 5 we hear that Malcolm has still not found the great Money Tree but is now stranded. He insisted that the car he hired be electric so as to combat global warming but can find nowhere in the desert to recharge it. Malcolm has written to his MP demanding a windfall tax on bankers in Burkino Faso to pay for recharging points across the desert. We need more foreign aid, it is all the fault of Thatcher and the wicked Tories. In Malcolm's absence we bring you a few words from his timeless classic, The Armchair Tycoon.
The token deluded lefty on this website, Comrade Malcolm Stacey is taking a well-earned break on a desert safari searching for the mythical money tree which he and his fellow lefties both worship and believe in. On day 4 we hear that Malcolm is confused as he meets a tent dwelling nomadic tribe. Why have these fellows not got permanent homes. This is clearly the fault of the Evil Tories and their Bedroom tax. Taxes must be increased to pay for a massive programme of council house building. Malcolm has told the nomads that they will enjoy living in a tower block but they seem a bit confused. Malcolm blames the lack of social housing in the desert all on Thatcher. In his absence we bring you a few words from his timeless classic, The Armchair Tycoon.
The token deluded lefty on this website, Comrade Malcolm Stacey is taking a well-earned break on a desert safari searching for the mythical money tree which he and his fellow lefties both worship and believe in. On day 3 we hear that Malcolm has had angry words with the owner of the only coffee shop in the desert. Not only does the fellow not have an equal opportunities affirmative action staff recruitment programme but he also serves no fair trade finest Nicaraguan special roast. What is the world comng to? Malcolm blames it all on Thatcher. In his absence we bring you a few words from his timeless classic, The Armchair Tycoon.
The token deluded lefty on this website, Comrade Malcolm Stacey is taking a well-earned break on a desert safari searching for the mythical money tree which he and his fellow lefties both worship and believe in. On day 3 we have heard from our Guardian reading friend that there are some very poor people wandering around the desert with only a tent to their name. Malcolm thinks that this is all down to the wicked Bedroom Tax imposed by the Evil Tories back in the UK. Once again he blames Thatcher! In his absence we bring you a few words from his timeless classic, The Armchair Tycoon.
The token deluded lefty on this website, Comrade Malcolm Stacey is taking a well-earned break on a desert safari searching for the mythical money tree which he and his fellow lefties both worship and believe in. On day 2 we have heard from our Guardian reading friend that it is very hot in the desert. Malcolm thinks that this is all down to global warming and for this he blames Thatcher! In his absence we bring you a few words from his timeless classic, The Armchair Tycoon.
The token deluded lefty on this website, Comrade Malcolm Stacey is taking a well-earned break on a desert safari searching for the mythical money tree which he and his fellow lefties both worship and believe in. On day 1 we hear that Malcolm has been trying desperately to get hold of a copy of the Guardian Newspaper, can’t find it (the desert has some attractions) and blames Thatcher! In his absence we bring you a few words from his timeless classic, The Armchair Tycoon.
Hello Share monkeys. I've alluded to this before. But it has stuck in my mind as one of the acutest observations made about modern stock markets of the world.
Hello Share Swingers. When it comes to larger companies, their share prices often seem to be on a pair of kitchen scales.
Hello Share Movers. Let's take a peek today at Shareland's really big picture. Usually, we share shifters look at the much smaller picture of British shares and the national economy.
Hello Share Chums. The Footsie dived 40 or so points at the end of last week. This was a real pity.
Hello Share Smudgers. I get so fed up with the way the broadcasters treat share-shifters like us. I'm particularly critical of my old employers the BBC.
Hello Share Students. There is some serious action currently transpiring on this legendary website. Tom is really in the thick of it – yes, even more than usual.
For what it's worth, one of my main strategies, if not THE most important to me, is to keep my peepers peeled and my ears finely tuned.
In spite of a bit of polite opposition on this stupendous website, I ventured 45 days ago that Impellam (IPEL) was worth a punt.
Hello Share Shovellers. As a fairly frequent traveller in Europe, I am cheered by the new value of the pound against the euro.
Hello Share Swaggers. It's always nice when a company recommended by your Yorkshire correspondent on this splendiferous website rockets to the top of the winner's board a few weeks later.
It seems I was right when I last tipped Photo-me (PHTM) the company which owns, rents out and services 25,000 little tardises all over the world.
Hello share swaddlers. I've been an investigative journalist most of my working life. I was Roger Cook's producer on Checkpoint and BBC TV. I've brought to book loads of dodgy enterprises.
Hello Share Shovers. I have lots of rather eccentric hints about profitable share trading which I never see highlighted anywhere else.
Hello Share Skimmers. It' a bit of an odd feeling when you take a position which is the opposite of that which a lot of writers you respect are currently holding.
Hello Share Pals. Those good people who continue to say share prices are too high and destined for a nasty fall are just plain wrong. And yet they continue to attack the Footsie's stellar performance, even over the last few days on this very website.
Hello Share Plodders. When you've a minute, gang, just look at those wonderful figures just issued by Standard Life (SL.). I'm talking about its annual results for the whole of 2014.
Hello Share Pushers. It's intensely annoying for us to see the Footsie repeatedly approach its all time high and then draw back. As I write this, the old target of around 6950 has still not been breached.
Hello Share Swashers. Galliford Try (GFRD) has got more going for it than an odd name. To begin with, it is a house builder – and you may be aware that I've been supportive of the British home-making industry for some time.
Hello Share Smashers. I'm fairly sure a load of our readers are still invested heavily in oil. I know I am.
Hello Share Drivers. I fancy most of you will be pretty uncertain how shares will react this week, and indeed, for the rest of the winter.
Hello Share Pals. You like me, have probably got a few shares which are mouldering away in a bottom drawer somewhere. If you've not forgotten about them, they will still be out of mind, anyway.
Hello Share Pushers. Let's return to the City of London Investment Group (CLIG). Since I last brought this dynamic company to your attention the shares have been putting on steady value, given the odd minor glitch along the way.
Hello Share Stackers. I looked at the list of big risers today and was gratified that San Leon (SLE) the oil and gas outfit, was up by a third. Wonderful, I thought. Which is always my reaction when I see one of my penny shares towards the top of the 'massive gains' list.
Hello share smackers. Arm Holdings (ARM) is a very successful and pioneering techno company which has made a lot of money for a lot of people. I am lucky to be among them. The share price has just reached an all-time high.
Hello Share Peddlars. Quite a few of my favourite shares are tickling new highs. If it were not for the fall of oilers and the continuing problems of banks, the Footsie would now be far higher than its all-time zenith.
Hello Share Munchers. If you look at any old graph in Shareland, you will see that sudden massive dips are almost always followed by a recovery.
Hello Share Plinkers. It's absolutely freezing around here. And there's an icy blast thrusting through this ancient house, which makes it even chillier.
Hello Share Comrades. Let's have another look at one of the nasty situations which is said by the gloomsters to threaten our chances of making really big money out of our shares this year. And once again I seem to be picking a fight with TW - see below.
Hello Share Codgers. Probably the best way to tell if your favourite shares are going to do even better in the future is when they burst through their 12-month highs.
Hello Share Changers. My recent support for a couple of big British firms has been criticised by Uncle Tom this week
My esteemed colleague comrade Malcolm Stacey is nothing if not consistent. The great Money Tree worshipper is perennially bullish and once again that is his message today (HERE). But is the Footsie "flying?" I compare it to a 1916 Wisden and it is clearly not. And I point out why even if it breaches 7,000 there is every reason to be bearish rather than bullish.
Hello Share Sweepers. As previously predicted by this old codger, the bull market is well and truly on track again. So far none of my detractors has acknowledged defeat, but when the old Footsie target of just short of 7,000 is breached, I expect some concessions on that front.
Hello Share Chirpers. Let's have a look at the ideal company to invest in – one that ticks all the boxes.
Hello Share Swingers.There was a ripple of scepticism when I wrote in my modest column that I thought Wetherspoon (JDW), Britain's biggest high street pub chain, was worth a little look.
Hello Share Shovers. It's not often I bring to your attention a share which I don't own. I think its only fair that if I advocate a stock, then I ought to have previously put my dosh where my gob is.
Hello Share Fans. There is a mighty purveyor of drinkipoos based in the UK which is well worth putting money into. Perhaps not for the in-and-out trader, but almost certainly for the longer term.
Hello Share Plinkers. What is the most reliable way of telling if a company will keep on piling on share value and doling out ever fatter dividends? Wouldn't you like to know? Well, we all would.
Hello Share Nudgers. So I was right for a change. The Greek election, though going the way of the anti-austerity left wingers, did not cause a drag on share prices. Or only a very slight one, anyway.
Hello Share Scramblers. The general election is creeping up on us like a fog around Dracula's castle. As a result we can expect some turbulent days for the old share prices.
Hello Share Truckers. One of my biggest ever killings came about by my having hardly any work to do. It was the amazing rise and rise of British Gas.
My investment in a little firm called Creightons (CRL) sometimes raises a smile among my friends.
Hello Share Shiners. There's a lot of worry among UK share shifters about the way the Greek elections on Sunday will go.
Hello Share Twisters. I opined a few weeks ago that the best course, given the disastrous fall of oil and mining companies, is to focus on firms which don't sell the black stuff or minerals.
Hello Share Smackers. As I write this modest little column, my IQE (IQE) shares have leapt on the day by 12%. This is jolly good because I've been ambivalent about this investment.
Hello Share Bashers. It's rather nice being the only bull around this strapping website. Because when the Footsie rockets through the old 6,900 barrier later this year, I won't have to share the credit for being right with anyone.
We are facing deflation in the UK. At the moment, the rate of inflation keeps on kicking in below the Bank of England's target of 2%. It's now not expected to exceed that barrier until 2017 at the earliest.
Hello Share Followers. Happily, the number of people in work is rising in the UK. Nearly every time the official figures are announced, it seems to take journos by surprise that there really are more work opportunities flying around.
Hello Share Spinners. With shares in such an iffy state at the moment, it's time we looked at how they pay their way in another important area than just watching their values grow.
Hello Stock Trundlers. Yes, it's a stodgy old time in the share market swamp. Even the companies in the most fashionable areas are no longer seeing reasonable gains.
Hello Share Choosers. As I've been completing my tax form. I've been wondering why share fans like us get such a raw deal from all quarters.
Hello Share Bouncers. A wedding guest once asked me for an opinion on a football game. When I said I couldn't give a fig for sport, he asked incredulously 'But what do you do with your spare time!'
Hello Share Poppers. I am steering clear of all shares with heavy business links to the rest of Europe.
Hello Share Stirrers. It's that awful tortuous time again. We suddenly realise we've done nothing about our tax returns. And now we have only three weeks to get the flipping thing sent off. (You have to do it on line now, as the time for paper returns – without a penalty, anyway - is past.)
There are some who frown on the concept of a 'system’ when used in relation to share investment. It smacks too much of gambling. Racing fans and roulette players use systems. Analysts and other posh people in the City use strategies. Here then are a few investment strategies which have proved to be heartily robust although of course nobody can speak for the future.
In a fair world shares in companies would steadfastly ascend if their earnings improved year after year. But some lucky firms attract more investment than their profit-and-loss accounts deserve, because of the sort of things they make or services they provide. These fortunates may be worth investing in because of their 'hidden assets'. As we'll see, some of their attractions wouldn't be at all alluring if we lived in a sane world.
Hello Share Swizzlers. In the new year, shares took an alarming lurch into the red abyss. Did this bother me? Not a bit.
Hello Share Shakers. Up-to-the minute research suggests that developing most cancers is a matter of bad luck, rather than lifestyle or diet.
Hello Share Streamers. While I am not totally dismissive of the chartists, I do have a few reservations about their ability to predict share success.
Hello Share Funsters. At the risk of boring you so early in 2015, I'm returning to my drum banging for Ashtead (AHT).
Hello Share Shakers. You are probably being entertained by the current up-and -downer on this scrumptious website between Uncle Tom and my fellow scribbler Mark Howitt.
Hello Share Treaders. The year 2014 ended with the Footsie lower than it was at the start. How disappointing is that? Especially as we were always being told that the bull market was about to come crashing down.
Hello Share Peddlars. It's that time when we make New Year Resolutions. They make jolly good tools for imposing a bit of discipline on our share dealings.
Hello Share Swampers. It can't have escaped your notice that the population seems to be getting dozier. There are people who watch television for eight hours a day.
Hello Share Twiddlers. When I first bought into United Utilities (UU.) energy and water prices were uncontrolled and rising. Therefore, this electricity and water supplier for the North West of England seemed to be a double golden egg – it was making a profits and, being an arch-defensive share, seemed fairly safe.
Hello Share Switchers. I saw an alarming sight in Swansea on a freezing wet Boxing Day night.
I always like a niche company. A niche you'll remember is a useful hole in a wall. The niche is useful, yet is small and discreet enough to be overlooked.
Lloyds (LLOY) is a bank which deserves a better share price. Its shares reached 86p in 2014, which was a huge improvement on its best performance in the year before.
Hello Festive Frolickers. We have a Christmas Card competition in our house. The best ones are put on a shelf and judged. Sad isn't it?
Hello Share Mince Pie Munchers. They say there is not much that is predictable in the crazy world of shares. Otherwise , we would all be millionaires, right?
Hello Share Babes. I don't know what I would have done without Tesco (TSCO) this Christmas. Well, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration. But it certainly beat most firms I've dealt with so far this Yuletide for super service.
Hello Share Sorters. There are two companies in my bag which are almost certainly going to do better others this Christmas.
Hello Gang. It's nice to be able to benefit from a bit of good news these days. But my rather large – most would have said too large – holding in Fortune Oil (FTO) has paid off.
Hello Share Moochers. There's little guidance I can offer at the moment in the great game of share dealing
Hello Share Pushers. I know for a fact that you are probably stuck with a load of oil shares. I know I am. Like banks in the olden days, we were under the illusion that we are safe with oil. This was for one overriding reason – that so many things depend on it.
Hello Share Muddlers. The old Stockmarket is still stodgy. But this is not the time to sell shares, in my humble opinion. As I've tried to say before recently, the reasons for the slowdown are not very good ones.
Howdy Share Cowboys. This is a disruptive time of the year, gang. I don't have to tell you that most minds are on other things than their humdrum day job.
Hello Share Tweakers. So shares aren't doing too well at the mo. All those of us who expected a Santa rally to squeeze in before December 25th have so far been disappointed. We got an early Yuletide splurge, but it wasn't much of a fillip was it?
