I suspect trading tomorrow will probably answer this conundrum, but I know there are some far wiser owls than me that contribute to this bb & I would be interested in their opinions.

My question is this: the chart below looks to me like a pullback of the uptrend (ie when it went north through 14.00) however I am unsure as it has now broken down through 14.00 whether this is trending up or down :-(

So what do you think - up or down, or should I just flip a coin :-)) ?

Thanks for chart cynic was away on holiday wish I'd stayed away! Think this one has been hammered because of it's hedge fund connections. Hope you're right XS.

share Buy-Backs have wasted money!

Why do they do it?
(OK 149m, isn't much compared with the Mkt Cap....but it sure buys a lot of investment which could help improve their average investment levels - now that would make sense)IMHO

Av price 4.95 (see RNS), - and today?
2.75 - chuck out wasteful Management . . . desperate to secure their bonuses at any cost.....today as this waste is exposed the sp fell 30% Ooo-er.

Stay out could fall sub 200p.

Current broker target is 560p though, for what it's worth!
Also support at 220p which is the 52 week low.
EDIT - Apparently not - Now 210p!

Now closed at 189p I think they could fall to 40/45p in the next 12 months.

Goes ex-divi on the 26th Nov '08.

heading to the important 200p level.

Considering that this is a sector currently out of favour & also EMG went ex-divi a while back, the sp has held up well (currently 252p). Graph is looking positive, but 300p level may be tough to break.

I agree Harry its looking great considering.

Almost 300p today Harry I never would have thought it.

I'm out at 279p. Have divi plus profit (pumped in to IEC), so will now watch for a dip. Expect 300p to be a resistance level. As you say, amazing considering this sector is considered the bad boy, with customers wanting their cash at any cost.

Well done Harry as you say 300p big level will it break it.

244p the low today. Glad I got out, but maybe worth getting back in again for another go at the 300p level?

Back to 200p more likely.

EK has been short for a while now. Are you also shorting this hlyeo?
I only really bought this for the divi, so probably won't get back in until next divi is due.

I got in too early at 300p on the collapse a few weeks ago so I've held on for the sp to recover. Fortunately I was able to get out this week at the same mark.

From today's Times ...
Re. Man group due diligence
Horlick claimed that Madoffs advisers said the firm had been subjected to a full-scale investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission twice in the past two years. She also stressed that international accountancy firms had been auditing funds with exposures to Madoff.

She added that Bramdeans investment performance had been very strong, aside from the potential Madoff losses. Bramdean was about to redeem some money from the Madoff fund when the scandal broke.

She continued: I never met Madoff he didnt meet any investors. All contact was through these feeder funds that supplied him with the capital. The strategy we were supposedly buying into was very conservative.

There was extensive due diligence being conducted on the funds by our advisers, who are part of Man Group. He must have been matching the amount of money he paid out to what would have happened had he followed the strategy that he said he was following.

Mitzy, can you put a 50 & 200 DMA on that graph, otherwise not much to go on?

Man Group, the London-based fund manager, had roughly $350m lodged with Madoff via its RMF operation. Bad luck.