I have been approached by a firm calling itself St James and Thatcher Associates and have been advised to buy IPO shares in Slipstream Video. Has anyone any knowledge of these firms? They both seem dodgy to me.

Any firm ringing you offering to sell you shares is pretty much bound to be dodgy, whatever their name.

Google is your friend.

Aggravating factors are/would be:

The firm being outside the UK (can't find it on Google so probably a made up name).

The company they are pushing being foreign (a US company according to Google).

The IPO turning out to be a placing of a private company without an associated stockmarket listing, so that you would be unable to sell the shares (no mention of an IPO on the Slipstream Video website).

The reason for the interest shown in you being that the firm have bought a quantity of shares in Slipstream themselves in a placing, and are now selling them on at several times the price they paid, whether or not they are worth that (if there is no stockmarket listing there is little way of establishing a fair price).

Almost all financial products and services in the UK are banned by law from making any kind of cold call, by phone or at your doorstep.
It follows then that if you receive one, it is from outside the UK or is acting illegally.
Either way, would you deal with them???

Do NOT be tempted, fatboy.
Scam or not (which it probably is), it's not worth the risk.
Much better to buy stocks, which you have researched, through a reputable broker.

fatty,

BOTH companies appear as ONE listing on the FSA list of boiler rooms - please see here;

Click HERE


I suggest you add the words Boiler rooms to your title, and we can see who else is ringing posters here.

Thanks boys. I have no intention of buying these shares now. I was told they would rise from the IPO price of 1.75 to 3.50, then rise to 15 in 18 months. St James et al appear to be a couple of barrow boys.

With the name Thatcher involved bound to be something dodgy about it..stay clear.

Stan, you leave my mother's name out of this!

...Well I never -):

I have been receiving a lot of calls form Bishopsgate Capital recently, although they have died down now.

They are NOT on the FSA list, but they come across as Essex used car salesmen, and if you ask a question you can easily catch them out.

City Equities haven't rung for about a month now either.