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Scratchcards in China were a huge hit before being withdrawn during the 1990s after concerns over fraud.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

It has been quite an interesting week on the market - anyone any views on where it may go this week??

It has been quite an interesting week on the market - anyone any views on where it may go this week??

Don't say you weren't warned!!!!!


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.

"...few dawns have proved as false at that of January 3, 2001.
That was the last occasion on which the Federal Reserve cut US interest rates by half a point.
Wall Streets response was euphoric: the Dow Jones industrial average surged 300 points, or 2.8 per cent.
But only two months later it had lost nearly 1,600 points, or 14.2 per cent.
Over the same period, the FTSE 100 fell exactly in line."

Read full article here

Your all fun and games e t, you must be great fun to live with.

Sorry jimmy but it doesn't get any better I'm afraid.


Wolseley, the FTSE 100 builders' merchant, has warned that there are no signs of an improvement in the US housing market.

Read full article here