Stanley Gibbons Share Discussion Threads

[moneybags] 30/5/2006 09:38

Looks like it's on the move again.

I would be interested to here other peoples views on the way stamp prices are rising just now,even since the Spanish thing.

Regards , Moneybags

[diogenesj] 29/5/2006 13:03

Forum is a German fund manager.

[gregory0106] 26/5/2006 16:48

Who /what is 'Forum European Smallcaps GmbH'?

[cambium] 26/5/2006 14:13

The Company was notified today that on 24 May 2006 Forum European Smallcaps
GmbH had increased its holding in the Ordinary Shares of Stanley Gibbons to a
total of 4,280,000 shares, which represents approximately 17.06 per cent. of
the issued share capital of the Company.

[moneybags] 26/5/2006 10:57

tole.....It all helps.I just topped up with another 5,000 shares and they put the sell price up a couple of pence the second I bought....!

From what I can see, The price of stamps is still going up.E-Bay prices still getting stronger for good material.
I don't think the Spanish thing is hitting stamp prices one wee bit and I didn't think it would do anyway.
The Spanish thing was nothing to do with stamps prices,It was to do with a firm who weren't doing things quite right...!
Stanley Gibbons is a differant kettle of fish as they say.You can't compare the way the Spanish firm was going about things to a well run company who has been around for 150 years and traded on high merit.

Regards , Moneybags

[tole] 26/5/2006 10:41

Maybe the fact I dipped in for some more first thing :) .....wishfull thinking.
Has been someone picking up a 50k and 60k lot over the last few days - maybe back for some more?

[gregory0106] 26/5/2006 10:28

Up very well today (so far) - anyone know what prompted the sudden rise?

[njp] 26/5/2006 09:55

As ever, one wonders if they're not making too much of this. Surely those seriously involved in stamps and the people they deal with aren't affected. This scam may rattle non-experts thinking of having a dabble in the stamp market, but anyone with serious money to commit would ensure that they dealt with reputable dealers such as SGI. Indeed, as someone has already pointed out, it might prompt a 'flight to quality'.

Will no doubt be some short-lived impact on prices, as this will no doubt be used as an excuse and / or some investors may hold off buying for a while, but I can't see this as being other than very short term.

There must always have been scams in the fringes of stamp dealing, albeit not as large and well publicised as this, and the market has coped in the past.

Words of a non-expert in stamps, though I'm pretty expert in seeing through '9 day wonder' news in many other arenas.

[tole] 26/5/2006 08:48

Starting to move back now - though recent article relating to Afinsa does highlight the uncertainty in stamp prices.



"The scandal looks set to undermine stampcollecting worldwide. News of the allegedswindle came at a time when investment inrare stamps was increasingly seen as a lu-crative 'share' option, accompanied by risingprices over the last 20 years. Recently,Stanley Gibbons (which has nothing to do withthe alleged scam) launched a number of in-vestments to take advantage of non-experts'increasing desire to find alternative assets toshares and property. The move helped to drivethe company's profits up by 65 per cent lastyear. But now, following the recent scandal,sources at the Universal Postal Union in Swit-zerland revealed that a global fall in the priceof collectible stamps was almost certain"

[roly12369] 24/5/2006 13:26

not likely

[gregory0106] 24/5/2006 10:30

Yes, looks like the slow clime back up is under way here.

[tole] 24/5/2006 08:38

Reckon a fund or two are taking advantage of the recent weakness and Infinsa over-reaction to accumulate a few - that 50k yesterday and it looks as if another buy order in place today with online limits only allowing you to buy 1500 at full offer whilst MMs are after 25k at 128p.

[tole] 23/5/2006 16:33

Ends the day 3v1 (125-128) with that protected 50k buy.

[tole] 23/5/2006 10:42

Good value again at this level imo.

[abergele] 22/5/2006 17:40

I posted weeks ago over the share-price,that the pattern would be replicated as other times of highs and lows have shown.It was nice to buy low and sell high, as some have, but I said £1.30, would be a sensible figure.

To the stamp collector, I can see the "Fund" as a viable thing, yes as the article from the Times says ,stamps dropped during a period, but this is not unlike shares and property.

Gibbons fund would no doubt be of the highest quality,and a resale value would almost be guaranteed by the wealthy collectors that are out there in the world today,if nothing else its a form of currency trading, with no big attache case full and heavy with cash.

The chart shows it at a realistic trading level again, stop the talk of a reratings of S/P,there are better companies out there ,and they do not dither on the brink of a colosal price rerating. This stock has always been a little iliquid, and prone to swift movements on starvation or glut of stock.

Yes the Fund is ok in offering the 5-7% a year over a longish period, I would be pleased myself.

I can only speak from my own experience of serious collecting from when I gave up smoking 1989. The money saved not going up in smoke went into stamps, and I can see by current values against what I paid coming forward in time still makes me a tidy sum. Two and Three times what I paid being realised.

I know Gibbons writes their own prices into the Bible, as I call it,The UK,Commonwealth and World stamps Catologues, but its based on their 100 or so years in the game, and its never been far out.

Fred, above says it all, and with 30 million collectors world wide,there will always have a buyer about,I hold some stamps from the Roosevelt Collection that was sold off,so anyone and everyone with money can invest,one way or another,

Only a real collector (FRED)will know what I am on about ,when others ,men/women are watching a film in the lounge, and the collector spends hours fiddling away with his /her stamps.......

These sells ill be mopped up by the Gartmores ,etc, they know a good thing when they see/hear it.

[gregory0106] 22/5/2006 17:36

Very large buy late on today. Seems like someone has decided the worst is over & can see a bargain - just wish I had liquid funds to top up at these levels.

When the market resumes the upward trend in the next few days, this will recover the drop very quickly.

[robsy2] 21/5/2006 22:15

Good article
The stamp fund looks vulnerable.The circular nature of the whole thing has always seeemed a bit ropey to me,frankly I can't see this fund making that much headway but it wouldn't need to do much to have a positive effect on profits. On balance I am holding and am vaguely bullish and will be interested to see how the company plans to respond to all this.The Spain issue is not a storm in a teacup,it raises all the issues that SGI need to address. I am expecting the road to get a bit more bumpy in the meantime.

[mr mole] 21/5/2006 11:38

Further article in Sunday Times today

[fred123] 19/5/2006 21:56

That's the current investment dilemma in a nutshell Robsy2. I've collected stamps all my life and just look at, say, a George V standard issue and you'll see and smell beauty and greatness. Who could fail to love them?
Well, equity investors that's who.
I'm in both camps and although I've never sold a stamp (although in my youth swapped a few) I've made a few bob on SGI's recent meteoric rise. But, as they say in the newspaper trade, the dynamics of a falling ciculation is down.

[robsy2] 19/5/2006 17:20

Fundamentally SGI looks a good investment though I have some worries about the imperfect nature of the stamp market .Here in Spain,Infinsa were selling stamps at 10 times the "market price", to unwary investors.I don't suggest that SGI do that but what fuels the business of stamp collecting is that the stamps are a good investment, if people loste confidence in stamps as an asset class then that would be a very serious problem.
All very negative but the good news is that there is opportunity here for SGI to ensure that it's prices are in line with the market prices elsewhere eg ebay and that they are very careful to make sure that they do business with the highest standards of integrity.

[roly12369] 19/5/2006 14:50

may not be a recovery

[rrr] 19/5/2006 09:18

Post 459 seems to have got lost.

[gregalbo] 18/5/2006 22:14

One step forward and two steps back...and even some big leaps
both ways seems to be way of it lately. So when I found this I was
so impressed I'm passing it along!