ASOS have dropped quite significantly in the past week for no particular reason and I view this as the perfect opportunity to invest as I can see them bouncing right back up to the 5.50p mark in the next 2-3 weeks. STRONG BUY!!

Yes Eric I am in profit already on my latest purchase. 74p close, is green light to add more and I will be doing so tomorrow now that the trading range has been busted (that was my only concern).

capa

Evening all.

Just back from the golf course also Eric and managed to win 1.50, so feeling very satisfied. The TA doesn't look that different now as it did yeserday evening, when I thought we would achieve a Chart Breakout, (he says smugly), but you all probably guessed that anyway. Personally, I think there may be a small pullback tomorrow, but generally the trend is now UP. Anyone want to join in a competition to see where we are by Nov 10, just a bit of fun? I'm sticking with yesterday's 90p.

Regards

PTH

i thought they would hit the 1 after Xmas (ie on news of a successful Xmas campaign)but this could now happen sooner but dont think it will quite make it by Nov 10. Can not help feeling bullish though. Lets go crazy and say 98p.This competition is much better than guessing how much money we are going to lose isnt it?

sorry i have never made a food post before and am sitting here eating massive steak and my favorite wine Ravenswood Zinfandel- you will not get any sense out of me later. Mind you ...you dont get a lot any time. Still am holding MPH.SPS ASOS,PET,FTO,CFP so life's exciting.

That is an exciting portfolio willfagg although I have just been venting my frustration with CFP on that bb. Wouldn't you be better with a good ruby red rather than a pink with your steak. Just had a super dins out at Cafe Moulin - 10 each including glass of wine under the Times scheme; going in weekly at the moment! Nov 10th? Just 2 weeks today. Quite a difficult call. The minimum is probably another week or two of consolidsation in the 70s. Whilst there may be bullish happenings such as bears being forced to close FD positions and just the growing number of people wanting to see a share of the action, suspect the next major news will be six month trading guidance - could just be known in the next two weeks. The mid-point may be a repeat of the last couple of weeks pointing to a price in the 80s, say 85p. That's my bid; happy with a pleasant ramp, ramp, ramp through to Xmas and beyond. Happy to concede the virtual prize if it is 95p or 98p!

Eric

Thanks for the encouragement to top up this morning guys! You'll be pleased to know ASC now represents about 20% of my portfolio. I'll have a flutter as well.....put me down for an optimistic 92p.
Did anyone see my village on the news tonight! The BBC actually came to Porthleven in Cornwall. It's almost low tide now but the sea is still going nuts. There's seaweed all over the roads by the harbour and waves were hitting the windows of the pub earlier. High tide again at 6am so off to bed. What an exciting day.....storms,camera crews, share prices flying and a new competition to boot!!

Morning all,
johngtudor, What are FD positions please???? Down here in Mumbles it was a wild day and last night, beautful this morning though .

SEADOG: Glad to read you have not been swept away down there in Mumbles...by the way it is one of my favourite places with the beautiful Gower walk just round the corner. I trust you do not spend too much time in Joe's! Re my FD comment yesterday...it was a typo and Eric picked it up later...I meant CD's, which as you know are heavily used by many punters to short shares! Anyway it is raining here in London today...and no chnace to see the eclipse of the Moon last night or sunrise this morning!
#
sandrew64: Yes I did by chance see Porthleven on the News last night...fame at last!

Have a prosperous day all. John

I know I have mentioned this one before ....I don't know if anyone has looked into it, but DFD have been rising quite a bit over last few days. Looks like interims due tomorrow or Monday and should be extremely good. Not part of our virtual portfolio but maybe should have been.

Nice of them to let me buy below 74p :-)

capa

Lovely parts of the country. Not so bad down here near Rye. Peaceful morning - I think the depression has passed without incident.

JGT: I think the confusion was that CDs are often called CFDs. Haven't touched them but played with a chap in a vets match who had obviously done very well, particularly during the last bear market. What's your view? Would you consider a buy option with ASC?

Just had my morning fix! Some lovely new ASC shares. Market moved ahead first think on consistent buying, then came down below the opening price. By the time I had logged in to Stocktrade, price was back up but still bought at 75.75p. The weakest link of course had to go; not saying which it was!

Eric

Really aggressive pricing by the MMs. Sellers brought back in, selling around 77.5p. and this has brought day's trading back to parity. Again shows how quickly the share will move when there is actually some good news.

Eric

Eric: Well how nice to be in Rye. We have spent many pleasant Sundays in your neck of the woods...but Car Parking can be a problem!

Re FD's; CD's...you are of course correct, the correct abbreviation is CFD but it is one of many Financial Derivatives around. The key thing to remember with CFD's is that you can increase your leverage many times over but at the same time the downside goes up as well. In the case of ASC, I am actually considering using a derivative, because I see it as a good one way bet.

Glad to read you had an early morning fix in ASC (as did I when the SP dipped this morning), as far as I am concerned it is not a problem to increase stakes in a successful investment, because you can reduce them at will, and that's one major advantage over the Institutions who have less flexibility. At the same time when the weighting approaches 50% of the portfolio it may be time to take a view. But at least you are running with the winner and maximizing gains!!


John

John

Just pursuing the idea of using a CFD. There is quite a good article on p55 of today's Shares. The lowest entry cost route, and perhaps the simplest, appears to be miniCFDs. The website ( www.miniCFDs.com ) seems straightforward. You need only a 10% deposit. Any preferences? companies like ifx (recommended by my brokers, Stocktrade) require a 10,000 entry point and are probably geared to the larger traders and probably have a narrower range of admissable shares, also 20% deposit as opposed to 10%. I see miniCFDs are part of finspreads which is now part of IFX Markets.

Nearing 60% so 50% must be OK! Two large sells have gone through of 200K and 250K, pegging the price back. Buying opportunity again but I have my daily quota!

Eric

Eric

I have used Finspreads MiniCFDs previously, don't really know if they are better or worse than anyone else. However, the amount of deposit depends on the gearing of the stock you are intending to trade. 10% guaranteed for all FTSE100, but may be more for non blue chips. A word of caution, I opened a position a while ago and also set a stop loss. I eventually closed the position and thought the Stop Loss would also be cancelled. This was not the case, the Stop Loss remained in force and acted as a 'Sell Order'. Fortunately I didn't have any funds in the account at the time, so didn't open a position I didn't want. So, just make sure if you do close a position, close any other instructions associated with the trade.

Regards

PTH

jgt, pth

Just following up the CFD issue. Spoke to miniCFDs only to find that they only trade FTSE 100 and 250. What are the options for ASC?

Interesting day for ASC with somewhat above average volume of 1.57m shares, somewhat distorted by the two sells totalling 450K. Not clear whether the price will settle around this level or continue to press ahead. Clearly a steady stream of buyers, but it depends what else needs to be shaken out of the woodwork. You can see from the volatility of the intra-day share price that it could well be attractive to day traders - couldn't get myself to sell though.

Eric

Grabbed some more at 74p

capa

Good morning Eric: Apologies for delay in response I have been adding some hardware to my PC setup and ran into some unexpected issues to resolve. Still all OK now. Re CFD's, I myself have not used mini's. I find spread betting OK for certain situations but you tend to get too large a spread. So CFD's are my instrument of choice if I need leverage. You need to go into all the details for your own circumstances but try Blue Index and Cantor (although I know that Cantor's need a minimum deposit of 25K) my choices. Both have good on-line packages that you add to your set up as required. They will also give you quotes on AIM stocks as well as FTSE Index constituents. Suggest you talk to them both on the telephone and discuss your needs. These are not recommendations...just pointers as to where to go.

As always have a really profitable day!! More later.


John

capa

That's a good grab at 74p: the offer price is already up to 77p. Must be quite likely that there will be a mark up on Monday with buyers in on probable weekend press comment. I'm going against a habit of a whole week and not topping up today, though - just can't convince myself that a weakest link exists in my portfolio.

Eric

Week-end report on ASC Challenge Portfolio

company________ EPIC price,p shares_ shares price_ value_ cap.(m) gain/
_____________________buy____ in issue______ 29-Oct 29-Oct________ loss

ASOS___________ ASC_ 56_____ 67.97__ 8900__ 74.50_ 6630.5 50.64__ 33.04
Civilian Content CCN 16.25__ 41.883_ 30700_ 21.50_ 6600.5 9.00___ 32.31
Yoomedia_______ YOO_ 22_____ 125.538 22700_ 27.00_ 6129.0 33.90__ 22.73
Petroceltic Int. PCI 15_____ 484.975 33300_ 17.25_ 5744.3 83.66__ 15.00
Sterling Energy SEY_ 17.25__ 822.712 29000_ 19.00_ 5510.0 156.32_ 10.14
Broker Network_ BNH_ 77.5___ 15.065_ 6450__ 80.00_ 5160.0 12.05__ 3.23
Marchpole Hold. MPH_ 33.75__ 120.455 14800_ 34.50_ 5106.0 41.56__ 2.22
Stanelco_______ SEO_ 4.5____ 78.225_ 111000 4.50__ 4995.0 3.52___ 0.00
CFA Capital Gp_ CFP_ 0.7____ 619____ 714000 0.62__ 4426.8 3.84___ -11.43
cybit holdings_ CYH_ 1.82___ 988.952 275000 1.57__ 4317.5 15.53__ -13.74
Petrel Resources PET 124.5__ 58.625_ 4000__ 104.50 4180.0 61.26__ -16.06

total_____________________________________________ 58799.6_______ 6.91
Smallcap index____________________________________ 55097.4_______ 0.18

Well, what do you know! ASC takes the lead, by a nose! A good week in which ASC has broken into new high ground, with the follow through from the figure of 85% sales growth in the first five months. Virtual competition above to guess the price at close of business on the 10th Nov. Prize is a mention in this column! CCN has kept in close touch after news of the film programme that they promulgate to complete the year. YOO has had further announcements - see the column as it is becoming clear that YOO is building a broad base to become a major force in the market (not necessarily in time for this competition!).

Interesting time too with the oils. Announcement that SEY is raising funds for a deal with the Mauretania Government: good for long-term growth but price may be held back by funding over-hang. PCI is awaiting results of drilling in Tunisia early-November which could be big for the share price - or a damp squib! Decision on PET's Iragi bids should be November after announcement by Oil Minister; several of us on column believe it to be down to final contract negotiations. If its a win, only one winner on this portfolio.

The others haven't been all quiet either. CYH have made a significant acquisition but the share price, as reported on the IC, is held back by their decision to stop taking revenue credit up-front; this means a one-time hit this year and may hold back deserved progress. pth took the initiative of writing to CEO of CFP (he is keen to win this you know - hush, hush) and got a most revealing and evidently sincere response - they are working 10-12 hour days and haven't had time for things like press releases; he apologises and will aim to do something about it; so keep a look out. Marchpole interims are 9th November and bb folk are licking their lips in anticipation. That's only BNH and SEO that I have nothing to say about, sorry about that!

Well, you know that I am unbalanced and irrational about ASC. Now up to 60% of my portfolio with 10% each in YOO, AZM, PET and CFP. With the benefit of hindsight we should have put 50K in ASC with 5K in each of the rest. Never mind, it is a virtual portfolio after all!

Eric