Money Observer's Investor of the Year competition 06/07

[KaKaMyPants]

How are things going Mr Spittles. Oil/Gas/Mining has taken a bit of a battering this week. I have lost £300 since the start of the new competition lying in the low 2700's positionwise, Mrs KaKa still lying 2nd having gained £3060 since the start. Very early days yet but as last years winner I would be intrigued whether in general the modest gains so far this year, were on average a lot lower than for the same period last year? I would also be interested to see how all the other Fiso entrants are getting on since the start. Hope you do well again this year and good luck for the coming months. I noticed that BBC Working Lunch are doing a guess the footsie closing price competition on their website offering a yet to be determined prize. Buy low, sell high.....

[bspittles]

I'm in position 1732, considerably higher than this time last year! I'm really playing for an Investor of the Month prize, as I can't see myself being so lucky again.

I currently hold shares in Regus Group, a worldwide office space and conference facilities supplier. At about £1 per share, it's small enough to get me a sudden 30%+ rise yet big enough not to knacker that rise with a big spread.

That's about the only conditions I have for selecting a company.

Good luck!

[mongoose]

Crawled back upto 4th overall last week, but my resource shares have taken a battering - down over £1000 in the last week. Now at position 338, but at least still in a bit of profit.

[KaKaMyPants]

Good luck to you both, no doubt we will come back to this as the competition progresses. I have copied the link to the Working Lunch competition if any Fiso members would like a crack at the guess the footsie close in December comp...closes tomorrow.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5316056.stm

[KaKaMyPants]

Not sure if Mrs KaKa (ShareTippersInc) has again done well enough again to win a monthly prize, probably not, but the overall leader, RolyB, has definitely won something, coming well off the pace to get top spot in the last few days. Good luck Mongoose and Mr Spittles, hope you had some good gains this month. My gain was so poor its hardly worth mentioning.

September 2006 EOM Top 20 chart (40% thru competition)
1 RolyB £15,472.74
2 ShareTippersInc £14,438.58 (Mrs KaKa) +14.5% gain approx
3 millwall £13,874.41
4 Bunburyman £13,050.33
5 Emma Darwin £12,979.87
6 waynesmith_1 £12,886.33
7 MrBongo £12,728.07
8 nick ward £12,626.10
9 MagicO £12,601.83
10 Tump53 £12,480.48
11 molsknee £12,425.66
12 IKW £12,424.59
13 joci causa £12,379.32
14 evansgwyn74 £12,365.66
15 Sailor £12,362.78
16 Jo G £12,336.18
17 David Ross £12,328.70
18 paddocks £12,327.99
19 Blue Star £12,323.28
20 chancer £12,311.66

Selected others :
832 mongoose investing £10,765.87 (Mongoose Investing)
1447 Pink Fluffy Dice £10,436.24 (Mr Spittles)
2307 FIFAWORLDCUP £10,057.44 (Mr KaKa)

[bspittles]

I was hoping to get a prize last month, so didn't swap shares until the beginning of September. I've just swapped again (to ensure I get a full month without taking a hit on transaction charges).

Without the charges, I'd still be in the 800s but I don't see RGU continuing to rise next month. WPP is the one I've plumped for.

[bspittles]

Looking down at the bottom of the table, gecham only has 11 below him - and he won the monthly prize a couple of months ago!

[KaKaMyPants]

Average gains for Mrs KaKa this month, not sure if I have even made a gain this month.
Both of us switched shares yesterday, the Mrs in 2 footsie stocks, mine alot more specualtive Small Cap company.
With Corus shares increasing just over 20% since the beginning of the month and this being a widely held share, I predict a gain of at least 25% will be required to win a prize this month. Alas, nowhere near. Hopefully better luck Messrs Spittles and Mongoose Inv.
Month end table to follow at 6.40pm ish.

[bspittles]

I was 10% up on the month until Friday when WPP crashed

[KaKaMyPants]

Unlucky Mr Spittles. The Mrs could have taken an even nicer tidy profit on her Spirent shares having held them for 2 months, at one point they hit 62p and her portfolio was worth in excess of 17K, never mind. At least she had the sense to dump them yesterday as they fell another few % today. Taking a profit and running and paying dealing fees on new
portfolio is never easy. Better luck during November and well done Mongoose for climbing back into the top 200, take care...

October 2006 EOM Top 20 chart (50% thru competition)
1 RolyB £18,223.66
2 ShareTippersInc £15,538.86 (Mrs KaKa)
3 David Ross £14,862.48
4 GordanGekko £14,331.37
5 Tansy £14,280.77
6 millwall £13,934.41
7 waynesmith_1 £13,738.22
8 MagicO £13,587.31
9 ktktkt £13,553.91
10 Piggy Bank Tycoon £13,548.33
11 Sailor £13,531.24
12 Emma Darwin £13,526.15
13 bloodymary £13,459.66
14 Ally C £13,314.59
15 aston1960 £13,197.49
16 sprout £13,143.43
17 joci causa £13,113.69
18 molsknee £13,046.17
19 ptm84 £13,018.89
20 Bunburyman £12,991.84

Selected Others
197 mongoose investing £11,918.04 (Mongoose Inv)
1673 FIFAWORLDCUP £10,637.30 (Mr KaKa)
2376 Pink Fluffy Dice £10,270.37 (Mr Spittles)

[porgey]

Wow. I've won a £100 monthly prize for October.

A bit embarrasing really, as I am still on the last standings screen....

[KaKaMyPants]

Well done Porgey, Mrs KaKa won a £100 a few months ago.
If memory serves right, expect a nice cheque after about 3 weeks.
Keep up the good work!

[KaKaMyPants]

Mrs KaKa is not best pleased!
Having trailed well behind my good lady for so long I have passed
Mrs KaKa (ShareTippersInc) and shot up to 2nd :-

2 FIFAWORLDCUP (Mr KaKa) £16,994.11

She is not talking to me

Only 4K-5K behind the leader now but at least I have an outside shot at a prize this month depending if I manage to lose thousands between now and end of November, which I am very capable of....

31st October standing 1673 FIFAWORLDCUP £10,637.30

[KaKaMyPants]

November 2006 EOM Top 20 chart (60% thru competition)

1 RolyB £21,435.16
2 FIFAWORLDCUP £17,032.13 (Mr KaKa)
3 Tansy £16,797.45
4 GordanGekko £16,243.02
5 SADIM £16,216.92
6 ShareTippersInc £16,078.13 (Mrs KaKa)
7 jonut £15,984.29
8 Piggy Bank Tycoon £15,733.12
9 valuepicker £15,446.51
10 AJYEE £15,051.99
11 Highbury Grove £14,997.21
12 IKW £14,888.97
13 David Ross £14,862.48
14 Emily Rosina Carey £14,715.43
15 bloodymary £14,668.19
16 serendipity £14,645.61
17 sprout £14,588.94
18 PollyClark £14,587.85
19 ptm84 £14,533.93
20 furbi £14,498.01

Selected others
93 mongoose investing £12,919.25
I couldn't find Pink Fluffy Dice but I expect Mr Spittles can update his position, despite checking the names twice.
I do apologise but checking through 4000 names takes a long time and my eyes are stinging through working long hours this week.
Anyone playing feel free to add your name and overall position.

Myself, having gained an increase over the course of November of around 60%, I should hopefully win a prize this month.

Mrs KaKa will overtake me no doubt as the month of December progresses.

Take care one and all and lucky stock picking....

[bspittles]

November 2006 EOM Top 20 chart (60% thru competition)

Myself, having gained an increase over the course of November of around 60%, I should hopefully win a prize this month.

I should hope so!!!

My chances were scuppered when Sky bought 20% of ITV. Without that intervention, I reckon ITV's shares would have risen 20% or so.

Ah well, DDT for December...

(I'm on page 9, BTW )

[porgey]

November 2006 EOM Top 20 chart (60% thru competition)

1 RolyB £21,435.16
2 FIFAWORLDCUP £17,032.13 (Mr KaKa)
3 Tansy £16,797.45
4 GordanGekko £16,243.02
5 SADIM £16,216.92
6 ShareTippersInc £16,078.13 (Mrs KaKa)
7 jonut £15,984.29
8 Piggy Bank Tycoon £15,733.12
9 valuepicker £15,446.51
10 AJYEE £15,051.99
11 Highbury Grove £14,997.21
12 IKW £14,888.97
13 David Ross £14,862.48
14 Emily Rosina Carey £14,715.43
15 bloodymary £14,668.19
16 serendipity £14,645.61
17 sprout £14,588.94
18 PollyClark £14,587.85
19 ptm84 £14,533.93
20 furbi £14,498.01

Selected others
93 mongoose investing £12,919.25

4208 Londinium Holdings £4,129.09

Quite a good example of how not to play this game. Unless of course you just want to luck into a monthly prize and win £100....!

[KaKaMyPants]

Nothing wrong with your strategy Porgey.
You won a monthly prize so you must be doing something right.
You have joined the hallowed hall of fame of players that have won prizes.
Mr Spittles is top man having won the overall 1st prize last year, as well as a monthly first place, Mongoose Investments has won a monthly prize, you have as has Mrs KaKa.
I have received notification that I have won the 1st prize for November with my 60% gain last month.
A big thumbs up to this message board and even bigger one for Mr Spittles. Long may we all continue to win something.

[KaKaMyPants]

Well with just 3 months to go before the competition finishes the leaders will take some catching or hopefully make some mistakes before March 31
I am not panicking yet and I will try as hard as I can to try and finish in the top 3.
Mrs KaKa will also try and keep up her excellent record of having been in the top 10 overall since July.
My £1000 prize for November came in very handy. Good luck fellow investors, keep chasing them monthly prizes and Happy New Year.

December 2006 EOM Top 20 chart (70% thru competition)

1 RolyB £23,003.58
2 Tansy £21,165.16
3 jonut £20,360.08
4 valuepicker £18,523.44
5 FIFAWORLDCUP £18,159.82 (Mr KaKa)
6 ShareTippersInc £17,400.56 (Mrs KaKa)
7 Rory £16,683.09
8 Fran's Genius £16,392.79
9 GordanGekko £16,374.08
10 IKW £16,369.72
11 PollyClark £16,319.33
12 Emily Rosina Carey £15,917.70
13 Piggy Bank Tycoon £15,780.99
14 ptm84 £15,654.87
15 sprout £15,608.28
16 dragonfly £15,586.31
17 Highbury Grove £15,557.35
18 David Ross £15,494.92
19 Gino\'s Genius £15,491.73
20 serendipity £15,430.81

Selected others
228 mongoose investing £13,002.00
2725 Pink Fluffy Dice £10,414.55 (Mr Spittles)
4199 Londinium Holdings £4,342.67

Any potential share tips with a potential 60% return in 3 months, feel free to mention.

[el_pappje]

I've not been playing this game so I don't know the rules and regs and how it impacts your dealings.

In general market terms I will say this however: Q1 tends to be a dtrong period in markets over the years, and particularly so for cyclical stocks. If this trend holds for 07, and I believe it will, you may want to try and jump into some mining/industrial/emerging market exposure. I don't know whether you can use AIM penny shares or not - and I don't have experience of these kind of names - but the likes of London-listed Russian & Kazakh names may be a good place to look. One thing to note for the first week of 07 is that the Russian domestic markets are shut for public holidays, so all trading volume is channelled through those who can invest in GDRs. Last year Russian stocks went bananas in the first week, and it could happen again - they have finished the year particularly strongly.

Hope that's of use.

[bspittles]

We're restricted to FTSE 250, but thanks for the advice!

[KaKaMyPants]

1 RolyB £23,750.44
2 Tansy £22,361.99
3 jonut £21,511.39
4 valuepicker £20,719.88
5 FIFAWORLDCUP £17,801.93
6 dragonfly £17,434.46
7 Rory £16,791.41
8 ShareTippersInc £16,660.27

Mrs KaKa and I both took a hit on share commission by trading today.
The Top3 are starting to pull away so both of us have gone for highly speculative shares so if we both disappear out of the top 10 so be it.
Good luck everyone.

[el_pappje]

Hmmm....my mining call wasn't very clever was it....sorry chaps.

However, I might suggest doing some homework on Cairn Energy. It has been a dog recently and its partial float of Cairn india went down very badly.

However, some info I saw today suggested that Cairn India's valuation will look very cheap when it starts trading next week given that the Indian market has done well since Cairn India's price was finalised. With the maths involved Cairn [listed in London] is apparently therefore at a big discount.

Obviously all resource areas have had a bad week but this could be exploring over the weekend.

[porgey]

Redstone is a low value, volatile stock that has had some movement in recent months.

Just as likely to drop in value as rise, but check the notes on their recent bids for new acquistions and it might be good shout over the next month or so - if you want to take the risk....

[KaKaMyPants]

Redstone is a low value, volatile stock that has had some movement in recent months.

Just as likely to drop in value as rise, but check the notes on their recent bids for new acquistions and it might be good shout over the next month or so - if you want to take the risk....

Cheers Porgey
I am not sure what share the missus has switched to but alas I made my switch before 6pm on Friday. I would tell you what the share is but I dont want to drag you down when I go into freefall.
Take care and good luck in winning a prize and to fellow fisoers may they kick ass.

[KaKaMyPants]

January 2007 EOM Top 20 chart (80% thru competition)

1 RolyB £26,289.77
2 Tansy £21,732.08
3 jonut £19,436.61
4 ShareTippersInc £18,228.29
5 Rory £17,533.07
6 FIFAWORLDCUP £17,482.62
7 valuepicker £17,435.74
8 IKW £16,756.42
9 hamad £16,205.20
10 David Ross £16,127.37
11 GordanGekko £16,090.22
12 Adrian £15,803.65
13 sprout £15,766.74
14 Emily Rosina Carey £15,746.98
15 Sailor £15,627.77
16 LPT £15,559.77
17 Emma Darwin £15,443.99
18 stephen hindmarch £15,417.26
19 Fortunnato £15,396.32
20 Highbury Grove £15,381.08

Selected others
59 mongoose investing £14,394.76
2598 Pink Fluffy Dice £10,474.23
4206 Londinium Holdings £4,200.28

[KaKaMyPants]

Monthly winners for January 2007 just announced today...

simcox1 74.9998%
The Hoopoe 74.9996%
willettsio 51.4703%
NFG1 43.5728%
Tony1 28.7160%
PW Investments 26.4610%
What are shares 26.0567%
Swiss Adele 22.0727%
Billy Bons 21.7342%
David Nickerson 21.2921%

You have to feel sorry for The Hoopoe having lost out by 0.0002% in the race for the months highest riser.

That 0.0002% has cost him a whopping £900 difference in prize money!

[NFG]

Have I won something? or is it just the top team.

I'd forgotten about this game.

[KaKaMyPants]

Have I won something? or is it just the top team.

I'd forgotten about this game.

WELL DONE NFG!!!!!!

Coming 4th during the month means you have won £100

If past performance is a measure of how quickly they email you to say you have won a prize, it will be mid Feb when you hear from them and anywhere between 22 Feb - 28 Feb when you receive a cheque for £100

Yet another Fiso winner.....

[NFG]

Cheers KK

That's a pleasant surprise.

I'd better go and have a look to see how I did it.

[redrum]

I am currently placed

306 tulips £13,198.72

have not even looked at this since i made my initial purchases ... actually had to reset my password to enter the site after i saw you lot posting on this thread.