........especially for those putting their faith in unknown companies of unknown value and unknown management in far-off unknown lands;


Times Online . April 18, 2007

Betex shares suspended after two senior staff arrested

Chinese lottery firm suspends sales of its software nationwide following police action
Robert Lindsay

Shares in Betex, the Aim-listed Chinese lottery scratchcard and gaming software operator founded by former banker Peter Greenhill, were suspended this afternoon after two of its senior staff were arrested by Chinese police and a third appeared to be on the run.

In a statement, Mr Greenhill said the company had suspended sales of the software product across China: "The Company has received information that two of the senior staff at its Beijing operation have been detained and that a further senior staff member is being sought by the Chinese police authorities in the province of Jilin."

He said the company was working with its legal advisers to try to obtain more information and was assisting the authorities wherever possible.

Betex said it believed the alleged illegal activity "relates to conduct by these individuals and does not call into question the legality of the Company's software product, or the conduct of the Company."

It added: "Owing to the uncertainty surrounding the situation, and the significance of these operations to the financial performance of the Company, the Company has requested a temporary suspension of trading in its shares on AIM pending clarification of the situation."

Betex's business is almost entirely dependent on the Chinese market. Its shares have collapsed from a high of 80p shortly after flotation a year ago, hit by fears over a clampdown on online gambling. They were suspended at 32.5p.

At the end of last year it unveiled a plan to begin selling lottery scratchcards in partnership with lottery authorities in Hebei province.

Scratchcards in China were a huge hit before being withdrawn during the 1990s after concerns over fraud.

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Be warned - for this will not be the last such company to disappear down the pan with your hard-earned loot!

nothing to do with the ftse , its the dow which you have to watch and unless it breaks 12k there is no bear market!

'head' and 'sand' come to mind, as do 'horse' and 'water'.

You have to do as you see fit - but if you still cannot see the signs (that are all too clearly writ large for all to see) then - well, 'hope' and 'no' spring all too quickly to mind.

A region close to 5000 beckons for the FTSE 100 so I'd be very VERY careful if I were you.

6000 on FTSE is key, but quite right to advise great caution

I agree with E T on this one and reckon the footsie is fast heading downwards towards the 5000 range. I can see the footsie dropping by another 400 points this week - probably on monday-tuesday. The sub-prime situation has a long way to run yet and there's a whole lot of heartache ahead for those investors holding on for better times. It just makes sense to sell now and wait for the market to finish dropping before buying back in again.

Read the articles in the next posting as they give a good insight into the present situation.

I've been telling you since May (see post 3) that huge market problems are clearly on the way.
I'll add to this saying the FTSE 100 still has a long way down to go yet - and that it will test
the 5000 mark before finding itself in a position to start climbing again.




US loan crisis set to claim fresh victims
Read full article here


Hedge fund panic was behind global stock markets collapse
Read full article here


Don't plunge back in until Warren says it's safe
Read full article here


We have seen a lot of small fish brought to the surface, but we are waiting for the whale.
That will mark the low point. I would like to see one final shake-out.
Read full article here

certainly only the very brave or foolish (time will tell which) will jump back in tomorrow or even next week ...... for sure there are bargains to be had, but cheap can be expensive and you won't know which until well after the event.

Word is that once the market does eventually hit bottom it will take several years to fully recover.
On that basis it may well be prudent to search out those "bargains" only after great deliberation.

real word is that no one has any idea what will happen at all ...... if we knew that, we could all make the correct decisions and retire tomorow!

Heard the one about the two bulls at the top of a hill.
Little bull says to big bull  "Why don't we charge down to that field and take a couple of those cows"
.......to which big bull answers  "Nah, we'll just slowly stroll down - and then we can take the lot!"

Am only interested in resouce stocks junior mining & oil. CEY, GFM , ZOX, AFR, AFE, KYS, KMR ........ Gold must be a good buy in these markets

As someone wrote a short while ago: If you are going to panic... panic early !

'Rocket scientist' behind Barclays' complicated debt deals quits and disappears as his boss tries to shrug off City fears of a damaging credit crunch...
Read full article here


Bank of China shares fall on sub-prime concern
Read full article here


``The BOE is either going to stay on hold or raise rates, but it's definitely not going to cut,''
Read full article here


FTSE 100   to plunge another 10%   as year-long bear market looms
Read full article here


Record numbers face debt meltdown
Read full article here


Markets fear there is more to come
Read full article here


"...it would be naive to think the worst is behind us."
Read full article here


Hedge funds braced for more pain
Read full article here


History says bear market may have begun.
Read full article here



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The last time the FTSE100 reached the heady heights of 2006 was in 2000.
The chart below shows what happened then. It took the best part of 3 years before it finally hit rock bottom.
From this, you may well deduce that this months downturn could well be the beginnings of something that will last a while yet.
My own feeling is that the FTSE100 won't begin to recover again until it has first breached 4800 - sometime next year.

Recession risk looms large for US
Read full article here

why don't we rename this thread as the "Doom Mongering" thread, in RED!

e t should rename him/her self the Grim Reeper.

It's sensationalist rubbish & overdone, imo. The odd red headline attracts the casual reader. Loads of red headlines means they're all the same & the effect is lost. Attention seeking rubbish. (imo).