captain

Good work. HER are on my "watch" portfolio which is: ALTONA ENERGY PLC /ANR/ALTONA-ENERGY-PLC 13.5 16:30:04 1.25 10.20 13.25 13.50 13,990,193 12.25 12.25 13.5 12.05 8889 11.25 £ 1,000.01 1,200.02 1,200.02 200.00 20.00 111.11 11431473 1934343 ATLANTIC COAL PLC /ATC/ATLANTIC-COAL-PLC 0.745 16:30:05 0.07 11.19 0.72 0.77 27,970,621 0.64 0.67 0.752 0.64 136986 0.73 £ 1,000.00 1,020.55 1,020.55 20.55 2.05 143.84 20289112 1924810 BEACON HILL RESOURCES PLC /BHR/BEACON-HILL-RESOURCES-PLC 18.25 16:30:03 -0.25 -1.35 18.00 18.50 7,218,740 18.565 18.5 18.725 17.25 6349 15.75 £ 999.97 1,158.69 1,158.69 158.73 15.87 -20.00 25950789 1942090 BOWLEVEN PLC /BLVN/BOWLEVEN-PLC 393.5 16:35:19 -3.50 -0.88 392.50 393.50 1,587,668 399.0 397.0 400.0 387.477 251 397 £ 996.47 987.69 987.69 -8.79 -0.88 -13.81 10886332 1946764 CONROY DIAMONDS & GOLD PLC /CDG/CONROY-DIAMONDS-GOLD-PLC 7.375 16:30:06 -0.13 -1.67 7.25 7.50 18,073,384 7.645 7.5 8.25 6.75 0 0 £ 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 9452745 1968000 DOMINION PET /DPL/DOMINION-PET 6.32 16:35:08 0.12 1.94 6.30 6.34 17,614,072 6.34 6.2 6.58 6.1 17242 5.8 £ 1,000.04 1,089.69 1,089.69 89.66 8.97 -3.45 16324941 1942102 EDENVILLE ENERGY PLC /EDL/EDENVILLE-ENERGY-PLC 2.445 16:30:04 -0.08 -2.98 2.42 2.47 87,814,312 2.51 2.52 2.51 2.3 42826 2.335 £ 999.99 1,047.10 1,047.10 47.11 4.71 -27.84 27099177 1924808 ENCORE OIL PLC /EO./ENCORE-OIL-PLC 139.5 16:35:10 -3.75 -2.62 138.50 139.50 7,821,781 144.5 143.25 144.5 138.25 749 133.5 £ 999.92 1,044.86 1,044.86 44.94 4.49 -37.45 11604169 1924800 ENEGI OIL PLC /ENEG/ENEGI-OIL-PLC 22.25 16:35:18 -1.00 -4.30 21.50 23.00 366,905 22.65 23.25 22.9 22.0 4124 24.25 £ 1,000.07 917.59 917.59 -82.48 -8.25 -16.50 22210203 1924805 HERENCIA RESOURCES PLC /HER/HERENCIA-RESOURCES-PLC 3.5 16:30:02 -0.33 -8.50 3.45 3.55 15,186,790 3.835 3.825 3.835 3.45 26845 3.725 £ 999.98 939.58 939.58 -60.40 -6.04 -89.93 9454055 1939208 HERITAGE OIL PLC /HOIL/HERITAGE-OIL-PLC 486.0 16:35:21 3.00 0.62 485.90 486.00 667,848 481.0 483.0 497.7 479.105 223 448.7 £ 1,000.60 1,083.78 1,083.78 83.18 8.31 11.15 22380632 1942097 ITHACA ENERGY /IAE/ITHACA-ENERGY 169.5 16:35:26 -4.50 -2.59 168.00 169.50 243,448 172.0 174.0 175.0 167.25 589 169.75 £ 999.83 998.36 998.36 -1.47 -0.15 -14.73 14955119 1937306 KEFI MINERALS PLC /KEFI/KEFI-MINERALS-PLC 7.025 16:30:06 -1.40 -16.62 7.00 7.05 6,993,637 8.325 8.425 8.325 7.005 15504 6.45 £ 1,000.01 1,089.16 1,089.16 89.15 8.91 -201.55 16403757 1924798 MAX PETROLEUM PLC /MXP/MAX-PETROLEUM-PLC 21.75 16:35:07 -1.00 -4.40 21.75 22.00 24,496,739 24.0 22.75 28.75 21.25 5479 18.25 £ 999.92 1,191.68 1,191.68 191.76 19.18 -123.28 13183134 1942101 NYOTA MINERALS /NYO/NYOTA-MINERALS 29.0 16:35:03 -0.25 -0.85 28.75 29.00 2,090,674 28.95 29.25 29.2675 28.25 3448 29 £ 999.92 999.92 999.92 0.00 0.00 1.72 9453301 1924789 ROCKHOPPER EXPLORATION PLC /RKH/ROCKHOPPER-EXPLORATION-PLC 372.75 16:35:08 -0.25 -0.07 369.75 372.75 2,508,420 376.5 373.0 377.0 368.288 272 367.5 £ 999.60 1,013.88 1,013.88 14.28 1.43 -10.20 12658042 1924782 SIRIUS MINERALS /SXX/SIRIUS-MINERALS 12.25 16:30:05 0.00 0.00 12.00 12.25 9,849,317 12.1 12.25 12.4 11.5 7407 13.5 £ 999.95 907.36 907.36 -92.59 -9.26 11.11 12603238 1937303 SUNKAR RESOURCES PLC /SKR/SUNKAR-RESOURCES-PLC 41.75 16:35:03 -1.00 -2.34 40.75 42.50 395,423 43.75 42.75 43.75 41.0 2381 42 £ 1,000.02 994.07 994.07 -5.95 -0.60 -47.62 23577978 1935100 WEATHERLY INTERNATIONAL PLC /WTI/WEATHERLY-INTERNATIONAL-PLC 13.25 16:30:02 -1.25 -8.62 13.00 13.50 6,240,761 14.51 14.5 14.55 13.006 6716 14.89 £ 1,000.01 889.87 889.87 -110.14 -11.01 -84.62 9228601 1961201 WOBURN ENERGY PLC

1. Don't spend anything! Register at http://www.shareprice.co.uk and build a dummy Portfolio of 5-10 stocks and "buy" £1,000 of each stock. Watch your choices for a month and see what happens. All for free. 2. There are loads. Google "self-trade stocks and shares". Some are http://www.hargreaves-lansdown.co.uk. 3. No tax! Buy ISA-able shares and it's tax free. You can invest £10,200 this year and £10,680 in April. PS - Read the whole thread as I've answered these queries about 3 times before.

The last few years have hardly been normal circumstances though, for example the FTSE 100 was at 6500 ish in 2008, dropping to 3500 in 2009 and is now back up to around 6000. I'd be very cautious about planning investments on the gains you've made recently. Wise words. The reason I started was because of the crash and I guessed that there would be this sharp rise. Strategy will change later this year and move to less risky stocks.

Happy to oblige. You need to work out a few things: 1. How much to invest. This isn't the same as saving. You can lose a large % in a day - see BP. 2. Attitude to risk. You can buy shares in Tesco, Vodaphone, Scottish Water etc. and look forward to a nice 5% dividend and a marginal share rise each year. Or..............you can buy shares in fledgling oil and gas explorers on the AIM market and make 1000% in a year - or lose it all when they go bust! A balanced portfolio is most adviseable. 3. Whatever you do, ensure that up to £10,200 of your investment is put in a stocks and shares ISA because it's free of CGT. 4. Length of investment. My plan is to retire by 55 at the VERY latest. This gives me 8 more years to build a susbstantial fund. If you are younger and plan to retire later, your investment strategy may be different. You might want to "day-trade" (buying and selling shares within hours/days) on spikes and troughs. In my experience this is very tricky unless you are "in the know". Looking back at all the shares I've sold over the last 18 months, the vast majority are now worth more than when I sold and I would have done just as well by holding. If you answer these questions then you should be able to work out a strategy.

Thought I'd resurrect this thread as the last 18 months panned out pretty well (135% up compared to 0.5% in a savings account ) so I'm happy to share experiences if anybody's interested. Please ensure you read the disclaimer from the mods and understand I am NOT a qualified IFA and I am NOT giving financial advice.

Unfortunately Dave...........you are absoultley spot on. Another part of the world that has been ruined by letting the entire cast of the Jeremy Kyle show have access to too much money. The worrying thing here is everyone who we spoke to said 'oooo what a shame we were at the Sandals next door and it was lovely' Where the hell do these cretins come from!!!!!! Sandals could only be described be described as "lovely" if you have just left prison and you think Iceland provide all your nutritional needs. This is lovely. Les Orangers Beach Resort in Tunisia: http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Revi ... mamet.html Went there in March. Will be going again.

Should have gone to Sandals next door. I was there a month ago and here's my letter of complaint which is being "investigated": To Customer Services Airport It was very difiicult and stressful to locate the Rep at the airport. It took about 10 minutes as she wasn't holding up any placard or making herself known in any way. We only located her by looking over her shoulder on a sheet that said "Captivating Cuba" and seeing our names on there. If we hadn't done this I imagine we'd still be there. There was nothing identifying her as the "Best At Cuba" Rep. She then took us outside to, we thought, put us in a taxi to Sandals. She proceeded to speak to a man who rushed off and we were left alone for 10 minutes not having a clue what was going on as the Rep disappeared after speaking to him never to be seen again. I eventually went looking for the man and found him and he said something in Spanish I didn't understand. After a few more minutes a taxi turned up and we got inside. Taxi The taxi had 5 warning lights including brakes, airbags, engine management lit on the dashboard and smelled of petrol when accelerating and rubber when decellerating. The rear suspension was on the verge of collapse so the journey was as stressful and uncomfortable as could be possible. The promised 90 mnute journey was well over 2 hours. Check-In After the long flight, poor service at the airport and the difficult taxi transfer we were looking forward to the "personalized welcome and private express check-in" we would get as Concierge guests. Unfortunately nothing of the sort happened as we waited behind a coach party for about 20 minutes to be checked-in. The welcome was curt and brief and frankly, pathetic. After check-in we we told a bell-boy would be there to collect our bags but nobody came so we angrily trudged off to try and find our room. This was impossible given the size of the complex and the near-darkness of the whole site. So we had to walk back to reception with our bags and join in with another coach party who were loading their bags on to a golf buggy. We were then led around the site with 15 or so another people by a man who would shout and point at blocks of buildings when we shouted out our room numbers. Personal and private? No. Food The food was a terrible standard throughout. A combination of cold, stale, under-ripe, over-ripe, over-cooked, under-cooked, watery, unseasoned, unavailable rubbish. It would take me a day to list all the faults. The "a-la carte" restuarants were pretensious in the extreme by attempting silver-service and then serving up the same food that I'd seen 10 hours before at breakfast. Las Morlas was so cold people were leaving the night we went or wearing coats and in the El Caribe the waiter siad I couldn't leave until I'd paid for a rubbish bottle of wine (I thought this was all-inclusive?) until I pointed out that their own menu said "wine ordered will be charged to the room". Drink All the cocktails were made with cheap imitation spirits which had been watered down. They were made badly and often the staff didn't have basic ingredients (mint/cream) to make popular drinks such as a Mohito or White Russian. The glasses were generally dirty. At the beach bar, beer was served in plastic tumblers which held about 4 fluid ounces so you had to call the bar man over every 5 minutes to get a refill. Or get your own. Coffee The coffee was diabolical and tasted like burnt electrical cable. I could just get it down but my girlfriend couldn't. The coffee served at breakfast at the table was the worst and when we asked for fresh coffee from the machine we were made to feel like we were putting people out. On lots of days the various coffee machines around the complex didn't work. Wi-Fi Having wi-fi is a pre-requisite for all of our holidays for business reasons. Unfortunately the advertised wi-fi didn't work despite trying 4 different w-fi capable devices every day (laptop, Blackberry and 2 smart phones) in the lobby. The internet room did not open until 09:00 but this was too late as I needed it at 03:00 every morning when the London Stock Market opened. Gym Another pre-requisite. Unfortunately after visiting and finding half the equipment we wanted to use was broken, (step machine and bike) we didn't return. Tennis Another pre-requisite. However, only used once as the person who gave us the useless raqcuets and worn out tennis balls told us to avoid areas of the court (which were so worn they had gone through to the black backing) as they were dangerous. Difficult to have a relaxing game of tennis when you have to watch where you are stepping Dangerous Walkways It rained on a few days. The tiled areas around the main eating/shopping area became like an ice rink. Room The room was in a nice position away from the noisy central area but several things let it down. There was a mound of cigarette butts in window box outside bathroom which stayed there for the entire 6 days. We couldn't open any external blinds to let light in so it was like a prison. The fan in the toilet stayed on continuously unless we opened the door to the balcony?! As the weather was bad it was quite cold but there was no way of heating our room and there was no offer of additional blankets etc. The television had no BBC or “English†channels but did have channels for German, French, Russian and Canadian guests. It didn't matter though as the TV was unwatchable as the picture was always fuzzy. Also, the only way to change channel was to hold the remote 1" from the front of the TV. We enjoyed using the mini-bar but not having to wash up after ourselves every day. Some torn toilet paper was left on floor after cleaning for several days. Check-Out Again as usless as the check-in and the rep. No enquiry about our holiday and no "niceties" at all. I needed to settle the 25 peso bill for the wine from El Caribe so I changed some English money to the value of 84 pesos and about 60 cents. I expected 59 pesos and 60 cents change but was given 55 pesos. The receptionist had already screwed up and thrown my exchange receipt thinking I would just pick up the 55 pesos and leave. When I queried where my receipt was and the rest of my change she reluctanltly took it out the bin (blaming me for not asking for it) and then said I owed her 4 pesos. Eventually she accepted I was right and gave me 4 more pesos. I was so fed up by now I'd lost the will to live so you've still got my 60 cents. Overall The site was tatty with standards of food, drink, services, amenities and staff which were all similar to a British holiday camp like Butlins or Pontins. The services that we paid for that were essential (w-fi, tennis, gym, TV in room, good food and drink) were all either absent or unusable. At no point did we feel "on holiday", which is obviously what we paid for. Before I take the matter further I'd like your comments and what you propose to offer me and my partner as compensation for our loss, which we consider to be the total cost of the 6 days in Sandals.

+1 X 1,000,000,000 That is a 10/10. I'm sure Cayman S is my next car if I want to spend £25,000 or if I chicken out, one of these at £17,000:

Being snowed-in at the in-laws chateau isn't a problem! Getting there maybe.

What would your call be then Lexx? I'm leaving at 10:00 tomorrow morning giving me 22 hours to get the 8:20 Chunnel on Thursday. Staying in Folkestone Weds night.

If I get to Calais, I'll fly the rest of the f**king way!

Second time lucky for me. Went to Cuba on 1st December and took 9.5 hours from Somerset to Gatwick. 8 hours on M25 stuck on Reigate Hill. We could always take the "sensible" car - MX-5.

Oh yes - aren't I sensible. Driving from Weston-super-Mare to Poitiers via M5, M4, M25, M20, Chunnel, Calais etc. etc. Anybody on the route got a weather update and what should I be taking to make the journey easier? (Not counting heroin)

Arrived yesterday.

Oh yes, that is very cool. Here's one back at you - but not quite as good.

How long is a piece of string? Canon lenses go from £100 to £7,000-£8,000. The lens will pick itself based on what you want to photograph and your budget. The one important thing to remember is that you'll change the camera every few years but your glass is the most important. Get something 2nd hand off e-bay with a fast aperture and you can't go far wrong.

Done.

This any good?

still in primer awaiting its top coat of sunset orange Then it will crack the 3 second mark. So true..................

Any time Heath.

Here it is for the camera pervs: Can't recommend it enough. £1,000 is a lot of dough but because most second-hand Nikon gear goes for about 70% it's original price (more for lenses) then upgrading every 2 years is pretty painless. Oh, and it does 1080p video.

Neat Image! If you are in to photography, the pro version is only £50 and worth every penny. Cool I will look into that, never used any noise reducing software yet (assuming thats what it is). Yep. The best. What I also forgot to say was that the above photos are crappy JPEGs as the D7000 is so new, the NEF files can't be read by any of my software. Can't wait to work with 14-bit NEFF files and see how good they are. Here's a collage from the day:

Do you reckon the bags of plaster in the boot had something to do with it?

Neat Image! If you are in to photography, the pro version is only £50 and worth every penny.

I know. My Nikon D200 couldn't really deal with anything above ISO 1600 but I suppose that's what 4 years of advancement in sensor technology does. This camera can now be only really be beaten on noise by the FX cameras, D700 and D3, and they cost £1700 and £4000 respectively. The D7000 is £950 but seeing as I'll be getting back £600 for the D200 and grip, it's a pretty cheap upgrade. I tend not to take "full car" shots because these images are availbale online any time. I try and capture the details I like and how I feel about the cars. Glad you liked them.