Question to the Money AM people - When viewing the trades for
a particular company a ? can come up instead of a buy or sell.
OK so even I can work out this means it's an unknown matter,
but how do these ? trades come about and when does the ? get
verified as what the unknown was??

Bunny Girl,

To confuse you even further, nobody verifies whether any trade is either a buy or a sell.

am (and other websites) simply allocate a trade to the buy or sell column according to whether they're closer to the bid or the offer at the time the trade is published. Mid-price trades are allocated to the ? column.

However, and this is the confusing bit, larger trades in smaller SEAQ quoted companies are often reported after a time delay. During the period that they've been delayed, the bid and offer might have moved and, when they are finally reported, they can consequently appear in the wrong column.

Generally speaking, if a price is rising the buyers are in control and vice-versa if it is falling. Unfortunately, there are exceptions to this too which are probably best left for another day.

Thank you yet again Hilary - you are a true mine of information!
That is worth knowing - been watching these for a while
and meaning to ask!! ;.)