Holders Technology Share Discussion Threads

[barnetpeter] 29/9/2004 20:26

Er yes, mitziz. The 110p level is the top of the range and holders was last at this level in 2001. Next level is 155p.

[mitzis] 29/9/2004 20:21

Dont you mean above 110p bp...?

[miss chief] 29/9/2004 20:18

There were 40,000 shares traded on Tuesday - all declared after the close. I suspect that had something to do with today's rise. It's never easy to tell.

Ade

[barnetpeter] 29/9/2004 20:12

Closed above 100p level too.

[mitzis] 29/9/2004 16:40

The only trade today was a T trade buy at close..is that a cup and handle I see.
Are you still in Manda..?...

[mitzis] 29/9/2004 14:06

Price rise on no volume..?116 to buy and 108p to sell.

[mitzis] 22/9/2004 15:52

Some action at last ..if it is only 9 shares..lol.Bid /offer spread has narrowed too.

[mitzis] 20/9/2004 13:50

Offer price 112p and bid 106.25p.....only 2000 shares traded today.

[mitzis] 19/9/2004 16:37

Boring I know bp but dividends of 4.5p have paid for my holidays this year thank you very much..!

[barnetpeter] 19/9/2004 10:34

"Finding hotspots among the technology dross
By Dan Sabbagh

IT'S BEEN a long time since it was fun investing in technology shares. Last year's outperformance has been followed by a fairly miserable 2004, leavened only by the better than expected debut of Google, the internet search engine. And for anybody who invested during the irrational exuberance of 1999 and 2000, today's valuations are grimmer still.

Sector fundamentals today offer little hope for the unfocused investor. Look at the City's technology sector, and the sector's chronic lack of profitability is everywhere. London is littered with small, sometimes innovative, technology companies that in good years make small profits, and tumble into loss as soon as the going gets tough. Only the same two companies can really be described as substantial global leaders: Sage, the accountancy software group, and ARM, the chip designer. The rest pale compared with US software and computer services groups, and the Far Eastern manufacturers.

It was not meant to be like this. Back in the glory days, investors were presented with research notes that showed profits rising for years to come. That did not happen, and the resulting high-tech sector is littered with walking wounded - companies in which profits will be never more than modest, with growth erratic and dividends unlikely. In a London market full of defensive stocks - boring but profitable banks and so on - investing in technology will always be for optimists.

A cursory look ahead does little to dispel this view. Corporates, the biggest spenders on information technology, are still looking to squeeze their IT budgets. Reed Elsevier, the information giant, to take one example, wants to cut its back office IT costs by 10 to 15 per cent each year, a target that executives confidently believe is achievable in the light of continuing improvements in processing power.

That kind of financial presure does not bode well for the IT services sector, which is in any event struggling to demonstrate value. Corporate buyers are increasingly tearing up major outsourcing deals. This week's decision by JP Morgan Chase to axe its deal with IBM just two years into a seven-year contract is typical; while Santander, the would-be buyer of Abbey National, makes a virtue out of its technology, which was largely developed in-house. The struggling Abbey, meanwhile, outsources much of its IT.

Yet, fortunately, the picture is a little more nuanced. While the likes of Reed will invest only in areas that actually help to increase revenue - specific technologies that, in its case, might speed up searches of its databases - there are also some strong areas of consumer demand. That, in turn, offers a clue. Among the dross, there are hotspots. The trick to finding them is not to look at the technology, but rather where future demand is likely to be strongest.

Three new consumer technologies are worth following. Bluetooth, the short- range wireless technology, is booming, fuelled in part by better than expected sales of mobile phones.

Cambridge Silicon Radio is a market leader in this space. After breaking even in 2003, it is on course to earn just over £30 million this year, and yet it trades at a reasonable 18 times forward earnings. Digital radios and flat-panel televisions will sell strongly over the next two years, playing into the hands of Imagination Technologies. The company, a designer of chipsets that support both technologies, is only just profitable, but is incredibly well placed to benefit as consumers around the world begin to upgrade their sources of entertainment.

And while the private sector squeezes IT spending, the NHS is beginning a substantial modernisation programme. That benefits iSoft, a big supplier, which should nearly double profits this year and yet trades at 19 times forward earnings. If iSoft can build on its growing NHS experience internationally, the stock will start to look cheap.

Investors should not treat the technology sector as a homogenous entity. The quality of London listed companies is too variable to justify such an approach. Instead investors should follow where the money is being spent. Share prices, it may be hoped, would follow".



Yes mitzis. If you look at the sector, so many companies are double Holders cap, have never made a profit and the chance of a divi is small. This stock may not be the most exciting day to day but I am currently getting around 6.5% on my initial investment with every chance of excellent long-term capital growth. You need a few solid stocks in a folio and this is one of mine. Since April 04 when I started the thread, I have had 4.5p in dividends and 40% capital growth. Boring I know! lol

[mitzis] 18/9/2004 09:26

2p divi paid on Tuesday this week.

[mitzis] 15/9/2004 19:39

BP.
I reckon the spike-down mid July at the time of the interims was a great chance to buy in..shook a few weak holders out...!

[barnetpeter] 15/9/2004 17:53

Very interesting. There was always bid possibilities here. The CEO owns most of the stock and he is not getting any younger. If the breakout can hold, then 150p is a fair target.

[mitzis] 15/9/2004 17:27

A three day riser this week ..plus 14p.

[mitzis] 15/9/2004 13:42

Your right there UP....and Ex dividend too..!

[upthepool] 15/9/2004 13:40

mitzis;

need the confirmation first - after the weekend if it is still above 110p then I'll be a lot happier that this is the new support level

good luck all
this is one for the patient
cheers
'pool

[mitzis] 15/9/2004 13:34

Is broken the magic 110p level so where now BP..?
At £4.5m it is still very cheap..should be double the price.

[amarcou] 15/9/2004 11:52

It looks to me that all the trades today were buys but were late reported judging by the time shown .

Price went up after these at 9.45.

[guru11] 14/9/2004 19:59

Believe it rose through 3 trades yesterday of buys, and 1 this morning of a buy at the start, before the second trade came in at a sell. I also believe that the bulk of the stock is tightly held and being a small company the available liquid stock is extremely limited. The MM will not have much to trade, so the price will be sensitive on any trades.
The graph does look good - with possible eps of 13p this year we have a pe of around 8, turnover was up 16% or so, so I am staying with this one. Just before the next set of results may even be worth topping up.

[barnetpeter] 14/9/2004 19:16

Rarely traded so it jumps around. Still, a decent rise so must have attracted interest somewhere. Still v. cheap. Needs to break 110p on the charts though.

[stan] 14/9/2004 17:35

trouble with this stock is that it rises too far too fast and then drops just equally as sharply again...probably little of substance has happened to get the stock moving up like this and it won't take much selling to knock it back down again equally as sharply...have to accept that until something more tangible comes along I guess.

[mandafund] 14/9/2004 17:03

Any thoughts on why the increase over past few days?

[guru11] 14/9/2004 11:04

1 buy of 2k, 1 sell of 2k.
Is looking good though. Do we hold enough?

[wal footrot] 14/9/2004 09:51

Need to close above 110 for confirmation of breakout, but all in all a nice little rise last few trading days.

Long may it continue

wal

[miss chief] 14/9/2004 09:47

Hmmm. On the move again I see.

Divi next week - I was going to reinvest it, looks like I'll be paying more than I expected to. Oh well ;-)

Ade