Excuse the pun. And my question may be naive. But book retailer Ottaker's is causing me conern. I'm new to shares & investing but I did some solid research before buying up a portfolio and at the turn of the year Ottaker's was tipped as a BUY by numerous brokers. And shares magazine. Furthermore this BUY was reitterated just before Ottaker's Xmas sales figures were released. So I bought. At 391p. 3 weeks later and the shares are hovering around the 350p. Do I panic and cut my losses ? Do I hang firm for a while ? Is it a good idea never to listen to buy recommendations from brokers ? Help. Please ! I'd like your advice as I'm on a very steep learning curve and my knees are starting to wobble.

Ottakar's in talks on possible offer from private investors, directors group

AFX



LONDON (AFX) - Ottakar's PLC said it has noted the recent movement in the company's share price and confirms that it has entered into discussions in relation to a possible offer being made for Ottakar's by a new company to be formed by private equity investors and certain directors of Ottakar's including chairman Philip Dunne, managing director James Heneage and finance director Michael Hitchcock.

The board has formed a committee of independent directors comprising John Thornton, David Adams and Mark Fane.

Ottakar's stressed that these discussions may or may not lead to an offer being made for the company.

newsdesk@afxnews.com

slm/



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.... Interesting bit about "certain Directors" among the takeover group I thought!

Ed: Price up around 10% at 310p 8.15 am.

Any holders out there?

Hopefully you may be getting lucky if the latest news progresses

I am far from being an expert but one thing is absolutely certain... As far as tipsters are concerned the timing goes something like this

1..Company XYZ is tipped up either online or by newsletter @ 360p
2..By the time you are able to get to market, you are competing against other 'buyers' and also the cream has been taken off the top..eg..a couple days before the tip reaches your eyes, the share price may have been 360p
3.. All the hype means that you now have to pay the upped price , plus the spread ( buy could be 425p and sell 390), which means you now have to buy at an inflated price of 425p, plus your dealing costs which indirectly adds another few pence onto your price, so hyperthetically your overall cost of that share is 435p.
4..A couple of weeks later XYZ share price, is sell at 380 buy at 400 ( 390 middle) and the broker claims....'recommended XYZ here at 360p now 390p another 10% profit'....whereas in reality if you are selling at 380p you have made approx a 12% loss on your outlay.

Whats my own view...


a..do your own research..this is the key to your success and as in any industry you need to have an edge over others
b..look out for news that may affect share prices....eg...when Millwall got to Cup Semis a couple of years ago, it was obvious this would have a big impact upon share price ( revenue from Cup Final and also getting into Europe) and yes you guessed it shares went up 70% in a few days...and then droped by 50% few days later...alternatively if there is a trend in a particular industry,(eg On Line Poker Sites) then see if you can find one that has not yet reaped the benefit of the growth

c...finally then make your assessment


If you are getting into a Blue Chip...you should plan to hold it for a lengthy period of time...reap the didvis and just let it grow ( hopefully)...
however if you are getting into a small gambling share, decide before you buy that once it reaches a certain level you are going to cut and run

Be Lucky

pb

pb

some good old fashioned common sense.

you had to be very fast this morning to make any meaningful money out of this one !!