All about IPOs

New issues, or IPO's as they are called - are they worth going for and are they worth having? Well, almost certainly yes, if you get the right ones.

Years and years ago when Mrs Thatcher was privatising everything, and also in the 90s, IPO's were all the rage - remember the British Gas float? Oh, are you that young? How annoying - must be me that's past it then.

In those days, there were huge ads in the papers and you could get shares in new issues before they reached the markets quite easily. Recently, it's been a lot tougher to get your hands on some shares before they hit the market and, in some cases, they go up quite dramatically.

I managed to get hold of some Sondex pre-market, but it was hard work I can tell you, though I've doubled my money on them over the last year. I also got hold of some Dignity (the funeral parlour chain) and they did well for me too. But generally it's been quite difficult to buy into shares at the same price as brokers and funds. It takes a lot of phone calls and harassment, and even then you might not get any.

So I really do welcome ADVFN's announcement that they've got FSA approval for their IPO site - www.allipo.com.

Why is this good news? Because ADVFN has opened the door to us ordinary mortals to get on a level playing field with institutions and get in on the ground floor of some new issues. All you have to do is register with the site and they'll send you e-mails and news about IPO's. You can then, if you wish, take part and buy shares online.

Did you know there have been 263 IPO's already this year? How many did you get your hands on? Yes - bugger all, like me. I certainly intend to be registering on the site and suggest you do too.

Of course, there's a word of warning here. IPO's aren't a guaranteed method of making money - there will inevitably be some stinkers, and you must do a lot of research and decide for yourself which ones are worth having. So I suggest registering with the site, and see what comes your way. This really is a big bonus for private investors. The ability to browse through IPO and private investment opportunities online must be welcomed.

Haven't the markets been amazing? Burren continues to make me thousands more in profit every week. Over 800p - I can hardly believe it, and I'm glad I held on all the way from 241p! Elsewhere, my portfolio is rocketing and I'm sure many of you are enjoying the good times!

My best winners this week are Gyrus, Hunting, T Clarke, and Fisher and Son - among a whole lot of others. Let the good times roll - but they never last for ever, do they? So I await to take profits once the market turns!