Thought Id start this one going because its rather dead on this board at the moment and I suppose all my usual muckers are either at the Stella tennis event watching Dim Tim (lose again) or at Henly Regatta eating cucumber sandwiches (they wish,...NOT).

Anyway please feel free to just talk to yourself blast away and let it go on any company or subject you wish. Just wish Id thought of this one before.

cheers GF.

It's time to read the TALK thread! ;o)

The worrying thing is the number of job losses....firms going under....really bad !, and a crazy government with no control over spending with no ideas and endless nonsense jobs being created for an army of no goods......how about some decent road signs for a change instead of huge signs everywhere.....I'll give you an example : you are driving along a motorway and the turnoff will say the A1067 (I've invented these numbers) or A1022.....you are doing 70 miles per hour, you have crossed the country... and you come across that ridiculous sign !...mental !.....why not a destination...a name of a city, town !,.....who are the brilliant minds that think up these road signs ?, they want sacking !.

Another is that as long as you are on a motorway the signs should be blue....and the turnoffs should be white....as long as it is blue you are on a motorway...you turn off and it should be white not green, blue, white ....what a mess !.

RFget the wife to buy you Sat. Nav. For Xmaswhen you come to a roundabout and she says take the second exit big boy you tend to listen!

A big advantage with a Sat Nav is that it will sometimes relieve the boredom of a long journey by taking you down obscure country lanes and through raging rivers to add a bit of excitement! ;o)

And the traffic lights!

Approach the lights at a pedestrian crossing and they do the opposite thing to the traffic lights at a junction!

The order of the lights is different for each type of motoring experience.

And yet the motorist has only two decisions to make - whether to either stop or move on.

Aaaaargh!

Kim only if you say.. avoid all tolls.not Welsh are you?

Tabby, indeed I am boyo! So I'm used to obscure country lanes and raging rivers!

I know mate .just having a Giraffe!

It's nice being Welsh. We don't need an excuse to keep sheep....it's natural! :o)

Subject: Investment tips for 2008


With all the turmoil in the market today and the collapse of Lehman Bros and Acquisition of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America this might be some good advice .

For all of you with any money left, be aware of the next expected mergers so that you can get in on the ground
floor and make some BIG bucks.

Watch for these consolidations in later this year:

1.) Hale Business Systems, Mary Kay Cosmetics, Fuller Brush, and WR. Grace Co. Will merge and become:
Hale, Mary, Fuller, Grace.

2.) Polygram Records, Warner Bros., and Zesta Crackers join forces
and become: Poly, Warner Cracker.

3.) 3M will mer ge with Goodyear and become: MMMGood.

4. Zippo Manufacturing, Audi Motors, Dofasco, and Dakota Mining will
merge and become: ZipAudiDoDa .

5. FedEx is expected to join its competitor, UPS, and become:
FedUP.

6. Fairchild Electronics and Honeywell Computers will become:
Fairwell Honeychild.

7. Grey Poupon and Docker Pants are expected to become:
PouponPants.

8. Knotts Berry Farm and the National Organization of Women (NOW)will
become: Knott NOW!
And finally...

9. Victoria 's Secret and Smith
&Wesson will merge under the new name:
TittyTittyBangBang

Well! I am at an utter loss with this one! I'm not sure which one to give to.

Any ideas?

1. Bus Poster 1

2. Bus Poster 2

With the Stock Market a very chancy bet at the moment I have decided to put some money on a cert bet (an accumulator).
Hull FC to win the league (500 to 1), snow at Xmas (8 to 1) and this government to get us out of the financial mess without totally bankrupting the country(1,000,000 to 1).
OK I except the first 2 are very possible, and the 3rd! well miracles can happen (just look at Hull's position) and the odds although a bit short might make it worth a gamble.

Just when I thought things can't get any more unbelievable.
Who said this government were soft on Extremist who have been banned from entering the UK (terrorist).
The Government will announce next week that these people will be Named and Shamed. No! this is not a joke and is meant to be taken seriously, so please stop laughing.
Extremists such as Omar Bakri Mohammad (the past head of Al-Muhajiroun) who could only be referred to by name under current rules because he spoke about himself can now be officially Named and Shamed.
OK we do need to know who these people are but anyone who believes Naming them will Shame them is living on another planet.
Mind you as most politicians don't actually live in the real world, it probably does make sense. To them anyway.
Now if they do sneak into the country, especially if they are caught wearing a hood (you know of the hoody type) and drinking alcohol in a public place, I hope they are dealt with by issuing a very strict ASBO.
That will really deter them.

Hi got stopped out this morning by capitalspreads on a trade with ARM holding at the price of 65.3p pence...My stop price was at 80p did anyone see the price drop to that low level? cheers capitalspreads :( Appears these are the ones to avoid.

Caser @ 8:08am the price was 65.1 on capitalspreads

......but about 78p mid on the market.

Whilst I appreciate that companies do need to make profits, BP have just announced yearly profits of 148% increase over their previous financial year.
According to BP they could not help making these increased profits due to the increase in oil prices, IE we had to put our prices up in order not to loose money, so this is why we made even more profit (anyone understand that explanation, because I sure don't).
They continually state that they had to increase the price of fuel due to the cost of product spread along the line from oil well to pump.
I appreciate the oil markets are very complex, and that I don't have any expertise in this area, BUT what I do know is with such a massive increase in profits they could reduce the price at the pump.
No doubt Shell's results will show a similar huge profit increase, and whats the betting that when the power companies report, they will also show huge increases in profits also siting the fact that their profits are mainly due to the increase in costs of production.
Companies in other field who's raw material costs increase have to try to absorb percentages of these increase as if not customers cut back on buying. These companies usually in times of higher production cost or/and increases in raw material costs end up struggling to make profits matching previous years, so the reasons put out by BP don't add up.
Even allowing for the vast amounts of profit these companies require in order to put back into their companies future it is about time they were bought to heel.
I wish I had a license to print money, as they have.

Speculators had previously targeted VW... borrowing shares in the company to bet that the automaker's price would inevitably tumble due to slumping demand.... Oh dear
Hedge funds grizzling that there should have been a limit rule on Volkswagen
.whatever nextIm going to sleep a happy bunny tonight!

Hi Tabasco,

Yes caught really short with their pants down.
It goes to show that shorting can falsely inflate the price of a share not just the usual of dragging it down.
A top hedge fund manager tried to justify the shorting of shares by using the example of bank shares.
He stated that since the temporary banning of shorting such shares the SP's had in general gone down. Of course he did not mention that one of the main reasons some banks share nosedived was initially because of the huge percentage of their shares being shorted had a negative sp effect.
I have nothing against those who short shares as if there is a way of dealing in shares that is legal then I blame the legislators not those who use the allowed method.
It is a fact that those who agree or disagree in the method must surely admit. Naked shorting, and I am on about what people generally refer to as shorting takes a huge amount of transparency away from the SP, often giving a false impression of value to a company.
Your example of the current shorting of VW proves the point.