Global Coal Management (GCM.L)- was Asia Energy - Is it a Recovery Stock?

I mentioned in an earlier post that I do like to look for what I think will be a recovery stock.

Asia Energy has been on my watchlist since 2004 when it was tipped to me by a friend. I didn't have spare cash to have a go at it then, but it peaked at about £9.00 + and I was kicking myself for not finding the cash to buy some, then last year it hit the 'pits' (pun intended).

I had paid it no attention at all for a long time and didn't notice the fall, but lately I noticed Global Coal Management on my watchlist (which quite frankly is far too long to properly watch anymore) and i thought.....'now what is that company and who gave me that tip'. Truth is I hadn't known or noticed that Asia Energy had changed its name.

So anyway, I went and had a look at Global Coal Management today and I'm thinking this might be something I'll buy not just watch. I'm away to pull together some info on it and will come back later to update this post.

Fujin Technology (they have an identity crisis lol)

Peter Robinson said...
"Great site Elizabeth - U R now in my bookmarks..!When you have some time, would you have a little look at Fujin (FJN) as it looked soooo promising once upon a time but has now left me sitting on a considerable loss..! Do I keep the shares hoping for another rise or shall I cut and run..? Certain sites reckon they are worth keeping as they seem to be moving into storage and are in a similar position to how they were in their 'offshore telecom' days.Thanks in advance,Peter "

OK Hi Peter

Thanks for the above and I've had a look at the company for you. Now I'm not suggesting you are lazy.....but hey you are lazy!!!! (I'm teasing) LOL. I didn't have to go further than their own company website for all of the following info. Don't take offence I'm the court jester sometimes, we all read into things differently, but here's my take on the situation.

I think the 'moving into storage' as a reason for holding them is a bit of a white elephant really as they are doing so many aquisitions and disposals that any section could be a reason.

I went to iii first actually to have a look at their 1 year, 3 year and 5 year charts. Initially it looked like a scarey decline that they've had after a meteoric rise, but following a visit to their own investors page and reading most (not all) of the investor announcements my opinion altered a bit.

They seem to have a penchant for changing their company name every 5 minutes. Like you said they were Offshore Telecom in 2004, and are currently Fujin Technology, but want to change it again next month to Xploite and have created a new website to go with that www.xploite.com . They intend keeping Fujin Tech for trading activities though. I'll sum up at the end.

Timeline

15.03.04 Offshore Telecom PLC renamed Matrix Communications

29.10.04 40:1 share consolidation effective 01.11.04 - It was just after this that the price started taking a battering.

27.01.05 5,525,000 shares placed with institutional investors. Of this 3750,000 were placed at £2.00 per share raising £7.5million before expenses. At that time there were 35,304,233 shares in issue. Directors provided 1,775,000 of the shares to the institutions to improve liquidity. After this the directors still held 33.7% of the share capital.

22.02.06 Herald Investments had 1,400,000 shares or 3.7% of share cap

24.02.06 Herald Investments increased holding to 1600,000 shares or 4.2% of share cap.

02.06.06 Canada Life following purchase, held 1,150,000 or 3.12% share cap

09.06.06 Result of EGM name change to Fujin Technology

20.06.06 Directors wife bought 42,500 shares representing 0.12% of share cap

12.09.06 Canada Life increase holding to 1,525,000 or 3.99% of share cap

19.10.06 3 Directors topped up their shareholdings

23.10.06 Result of EGM resolution passed to seek High Court to pass reduction of companies share premium account by £10.3 million. company to pay 27p per share back to investors.

30.10.06 Strathclyde Pension fund purchase 375,000 bringing their holding to 1,260,825 or 3.30% of share cap

12.12.06 Share disposal - recalculated due to issue of more shares - price per share returned 26.78p

21.12.06 Total share capital 38,505,617

02.07 Want to change name AGAIN to Xploite Plc to reflect its developing strategy.

12.02.07 Cash in hand £15million after disposals and cash return to shareholders, before tax due on disposal. board intend Buy & Build strategy. Aquisition of Posetiv for £3.6 million and issue of 520,000 shares. (This will bring shares in issue up to 39,025,617


OK - so thats a very rough sum up of whats been going on sharewise, however I have not put anything in about all the company purchases and disposals that they have been doing over the last 3 years.

On the whole I'd say from their figs, which I just glanced at the chairmans statement, they do seem to be a company that is progressing financially. They seem to have turned into a shell for aquisitions, mergers and disposals though in a way, which in itself is not necessarily a bad thing, but if thats not really the type of company you bought into then it could explain why it's not performing as you'd expect. I would always suggest that you know WHY you bought a stock, and rethink that holding IF the company changes direction.

I think your biggest problem currently for whatever you decide to do ie BUY MORE, HOLD or SELL is the lack of liquidity in this stock. There are only 39,025,617 (after the newest aquisition) shares in issue which normally would mean that ANY activity on the share would move the price one way or the other very easily, BUT, and heres the rub..........directors and institutions are holding over 50% of the shares issued and they 'are holding', which means very little activity on the share for you to get a rise out of.

Now the fact that they are holding AND topping up must say something about the company and what they think the results will be. The institutions bought at £2.00 and I haven't seen any notifications of any reductions in holdings, so must assume they are holding not selling, so they must think the price will go back up to at least £2.00.

What is hurting the share price in my opinion is all the aquisitions as they seem to issue new shares each time in part payment, this is diluting the price. Also aquisitons are costly. AND changing their name every 5 minutes must be costing them something of legal fees and re-doing all their stationary all the time...LOL. They have said that their strategy is to buy more as and when they see anything worth buying, so this could go on for a while, but at some point they will stop I guess.

On a positive note, they do seem to be returning capital to shareholders on disposals of companies, so you should be gettting money there if you haven't already. Do they pay a dividend - I didn't look deep enough to see, but if they do, then at least you are getting something there.

You are a bit disabled as a shareholder when it comes to EGMS though, cause between the Directors and the Institutions, they have enough voting rights to pass everything they dream up without you ever having opened the docs to read.

If you were asking what I would do if I were you - depending on what price I had bought in at and what my current loss was sitting at, I would be holding for a bit longer and possibly topping up to reduce my average cost per share (if I had the spare cash). Obvioulsy you may not feel you have time to sit and hold in which case you should take what you need and move onto the next 'big thing'...........which could be just as risky anyway.

I know that sounds like a cop out.......but I'm not advising :o)

Hope that all helps you Peter, but feel free to email me on uvegottalaugh@supawoman.com if you want to discuss this further offline.

Contrarian view - Stock picking

We all have our own way, reasons or not for picking the stocks we decide to invest in.

My own personal method, is usually to look for a company that used to be priced higher than it currently is, see if I can find any information as to why it's price dropped and then search to see if I can find any news or information that might suggest a recovery. Why is this contrarian? 'Cause I'm usually just going into a stock after everyone else has run away to the hills. Ok it can mean you have to wait for a result, but it can be worth the wait and if it never recovers.........well thats the risk and the volume of shares bought should refelct that possible risk.

On the occasions that I have stuck to this method, Ive had some success. eg Tadpole I first bought at 3.5p or thereabouts and it went up to 20+p so I had profits as I bought and sold on its wobbly way up and down. However.......I held more than I sold and am currently down on them to the tune of several thousand, as are a great many. Not to worry though. You don't have a loss until you sell, so I might yet get my stake back there if I live long enough......lol

Tadpole when I first bought it, was a recovery stock. I'm kicking myself 'cause I found another one- Paypoint, 2-3 years ago (different name then) but they had had a massive drop, but they were making these machine thingies so folk could pay bills when they did their shopping.....good idea me thinks........Shame I didn't buy any (didn't have spare cash at the time) as they went up 195% since i put them on my watch list at £2.11. They were actually up more than that but have retraced to £6.22. Oh dear, thems the breaks. I still think they might be worth a punt and might put some of them into my ISA this year, we'll see.

The company that I'm looking at just now is a Blue Chip one, shares currently £34.23 each - ouch I hear you say...but ok So I might just buy 10 or 20 of them but if they go back to the £56.00 approx that they were just over a year ago then hey Bob's your uncle. Who am I talking about - Caterpillar but why.....

Well Caterpillar (CTA.L) did a 2 for one stock split in June 2005, which is why the massive dip in their chart occurred. They pay a quarterly dividend and never miss one, so even if the price stays static, you make something. What I'm most interested in though is that they have just announced another $7.5 billion share buyback (they are just completing a previous buyback early) AND they are moving their Asia /Pacific HQ from Tokyo to Bejing.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2006-11/22/content_739474.htm

China are on a massive ifrastructure spend just now and CAT are right in the middle of it. They were main suppliers of heavy equipment for Hong Kong International Airport, are involved in 3 Gorges Dam (massive) and are placed well for the upcoming olympics requirements.

This might be a buy and hold........wow that sounds a bit safe for me. I'll post some data on Caterpillar soon.

Croma Defence Systems Ltd

http://www.armedforces-int.com/categories/tactical-equipment/zeus-tactical-light.asp

The Zeus Tactical Light
By John Hall, Managing Director Croma Defence Systems Limited , Croma Group plc

The Zeus Tactical Light has been developed by Croma Defence Systems Limited (part of Croma Group plc) in close collaboration with the specialist surveillance unit of the UK MoD, primarily for use in OBUA (Operations in built up areas) roles.

Recent developments in the Middle East have confirmed the importance of such operations, and highlighted the stresses that such roles impose upon the soldier.

The primary application of Zeus is in building and room clearance, where traditionally, this function was carried out by the use of HE grenades and torches strapped to the stock of a soldier’s personal weapon.

Because of the restrictions imposed by darkness, the deployment of HE devices such as grenades can be extremely dangerous. They are very much “double- edged” weapons, and can lead to shrapnel injuries being self inflicted due to thin walls failing to offer the protection initially perceived by the clearance team. Supporting structures can also become damaged, particularly in basement areas, leading to the possibility of building collapse with potentially dire results.

As HE grenades can of course be used only once, the problem of re-supply can be a serious handicap to forces engaged in OBUA. In the case of torches attached to the fore stock of weapons, the major disadvantage is that the beam can be easily traced back to its source thereby compromising the operator’s safety, again with potentially dire results. Together, these two factors can result in a serious reduction in a soldier’s survivability.

A requirement therefore exists for a device which can provide sufficient illumination to detect persons and booby traps etc. in an urban environment, but is remote from the user whilst remaining under their control. Furthermore, on deployment of such a light, the enemies natural instinct would be to take cover, thus it is advantageous for the light to resemble an HE grenade as far as possible to reinforce this aspect.

The Zeus tactical light permits the soldier to control the illumination by means of an RF link. He carries a small hand held key fob sized device with both on and off controls. The device can therefore be illuminated whenever it is advantageous to the user. The link permits ranges up to 40 m. to be achieved within buildings, 100 m. line of sight.

The greatest asset of the Zeus tactical light is its ability to illuminate areas of concern whilst allowing the user to remain in the darkness, resulting in a very effective and user friendly illumination device.

The Zeus power is supplied from an internal and commercially available PP3 cell. Where time permits, Zeus can be recovered and reused thereby overcoming another of disadvantage of HE grenades. Zeus not only offers operational advantages but economy as well.

The OBUA environment can be very demanding; the Zeus has therefore been designed to offer the very highest levels of mechanical and electrical reliability even when, for example, it is thrown against concrete walls, down stairs and against cave walls etc.

Although the light has been primarily designed with the urban warfare environment in mind, it offers several additional features which render it invaluable in other scenarios such as;

Perimeter and local area protection
Emergency landing lights
Route markers
Ambush lights
River crossings, ( the Zeus devices can be immersed with total confidence)

In these roles, the Zeus can be mounted remotely on a ground spike at ranges up to 100 m. from the controller. An external trigger facility permits trip wires etc. to be connected to the device resulting in automatic illumination upon activation. The Zeus lights can also be activated in this mode by Remote Ground Sensors such as seismic, infra-red and magnetic transducers.

The Zeus light is also available with IR emitters, the advantage of this variant when users are wearing NVG’s are obvious, particularly in its external activation mode.

The Zeus has also been proven to offer advantages of distraction, and therefore offers operational advantages in such roles as hostage rescue operations. To further enhance Zeus for use in this role, an audible alarm feature will shortly be available on the device.

In conclusion, Zeus lights are adaptable to a wide number of theatres in addition to the primary function in urban warfare roles. Due to the uniquely severe environments in which the devices are likely to be used, the Zeus devices are manufactured to an extremely high level of robustness, and can therefore be used with total confidence in any environment world wide. The devices are extremely simple to operate, a most important consideration in the highly stressful OBUA environment.

Company Information - Croma Group plc
Croma Group plc is a group of companies devoted to the design, development and marketing of high performance surveillance equipment for civil, military and government agency applications.

Croma Defence Systems Limited manufactures and markets a wide range of surveillance and counter surveillance products including Zeus, a remote light source for urban warfare. The Wotan long range lens system, a comprehensive range of thermal reduction suits, covers and nets and the TDI range of superior arms accessories for use by elite army units and special law enforcement agencies. Croma’s range of “Keyghost” keyloggers now includes their new “Radio Keyghost” that can access a target computer from up to 200m.

R&D Design Services Limited designs and manufacturers a range of video enhancement monitors for use in airborne or maritime surveillance applications. R&D’s unique MIST video enhancement system allows targets to be viewed in weather conditions that would otherwise render target identification impossible. The company also gains significant competitive advantage from its ability to develop “black box” solutions for customers that allow various on board systems to talk to each other.The Shawley division of Croma is a renowned manufacturer of robust and reliable CCTV pan & tilt units, external and internal dome units plus a full range of ancillary equipment.Shawley is able to meet customer requirements technically and operationally.

Go Beau!

The power of the shareholder can never be underestimated as can be witnessed over on the Tadpole bulletin board on iii (Interactive Investor) http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail?code=cotn:TAD.L&display=discussion&it=le.

Beau62 - a mouthy git (his description not mine...LOL) has been very vocal in his disgust at the inability of Tad to keep their company websites updated with current links to partners, and clients websites, a vital resource to the company. Truth is that a great many of the shareholders have been the same, but our Beau62 shouts long and loud till they hear him and respond.

Nildes, Beau and some others (thanks guys) formed an action group to try and elicit some changes and I believe the board got a bit of a surprise at the level of feeling against them at that point. They did get some recognition in the press for it too (nice pic Nildes) and paid personally for legal costs relating to it.

You see our (tadpole is ours) directors read the BB. Sometimes they even pick up the phone and tell you off for posting something they don't like, don't they David :o). When they do that though, sometimes they get a flea in their ear and have to go and do something about what you have critisied them for.

My biggest bugbear has always been the publicity or lack of with regards to tadpole and David got a right earful of that last Friday when he called me to tell me off and ended up getting a right telling off himself......lol. I understand that having spoken with both myself and a fellow shareholder (who is a pressman or former pressman) things are about to change in relation to publicity.

Sometimes it pays to get involved at the top level of a company you are invested in to get the changes required for the progession of it. Obviously I don't think the BT's BP's and the likes would take your call, but in a penny share you'd be surprised just how hands on you can get.

Now I'm not suggesting that you pile in to every share with the intention of getting that involved, but tad is a special case - it's family isn't it guys.

Croma Shawley - Homeland Security

I recently started emailing a group of Tad shareholders to share tips and see if we could find something to make money out of while Tad languishes in the doldrums (Nildes the sailor, have you been there?) and this is one that took my eye and did a bit of research on and shared with them. Here it all is so that you can have a look for yourselves and see what I do before I dip my toe into a company.

Firstly I'll explain how I found this share. I receive emails from a share tip newsletter,(which I used to subscribe to but don't anymore, but they send them anyway) and every now and then they want to sell you 'special information' on 'special tips' via a report of some sort. In this case they wanted £14.99. Thing is they blether on so much about why you should buy this special report that for a googler like me they let slip enough information to find who they are talking about by just doing say 30 minutes digging around in the internet. The bit of info that they gave that eventually found it on google for me was that the company had 185% rise in turnover in the six months to December 2006. Impressive isn't it. They also won government contracts worth over £1million in January this year. So what do they do. They never mentioned the name of the company, but from my research I feel it is Croma Group.

For any of you who read charts they used to be in the 8p region but fell, but recently they have risen over 100% and the reason I bought is that their last drop was a higher low on turning than previously. Here is the info I've found out so far.

I'll paste some of the info in here, but you really should use the links to go and view the web pages yourselves for further info. Please feel free to share this info with anyone you want, it is all readily available on the internet anyway.

The directors have been buying and one has transferred shares to his wife (confident obviously)

There are several company names, hence group.

Croma Shawley Links

• Croma Defence Systems Limited http://www.cromadefence.co.uk/ (site under construction) For Information Telephone 01432 373030
• Croma Photobase - Biometric Access Controls http://www.photobase.co.uk/ http://www.photobase.co.uk/Testimonials_H%20M%20Prison%20Bedford.aspx HM Prison Bedford, West Yorkshire Police and Monarch Airlines have all given this gem of a company ringing applause.
• Croma R&D Design Services - Avionics www.rdds.co.uk
• Croma Vigilant - Asset Management http://www.vigilantsecurityservices.com/http://www.shawley.com/cromagroup.php

Croma is a specialist in the design, development and production of overt and covert surveillance, security and defence related products. Croma Group plc was created as a result of the acquisition by Asquith Motor Carriage Company plc of Croma Optical Equipment Limited in June 2000. Asquith was renamed Croma Group plc.

The Group obtained a trading facility on Ofex in June 2000 and was admitted to the Alternative Investment Market on the 18th December 2003. The Group has VCT and EIS status and is supported by a number of leading institutional investors including Artemis, Calculus Capital, Framlington and Noble Fund Managers

http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail?code=cotn:CMG.L&display=news&it=leLONDON (AFX) - Croma Group PLC reported a 185.8 pct increase in its first-half turnover due to an improved performance from core businesses and recent acquisitions, and said it remains confident of the outcome for the year.The AIM-listed surveillance, security and homeland defence specialist posted revenue of 2.597 mln stg for the six months to Dec, 2006 and said it believes there will continue to be a steady increase in terms of turnover.The company also said it has agreed to acquire a "leading privately-owned manufacturer and distributor of CCTV products".Croma will make an initial payment comprising shares at 6.5 pence - a significant premium to the current share price, it added.The company said it expects the acquisition to be completed in February, around the time of the group's interim results, and should strengthen Croma's capabilities and geographic reach in the CCTV marketplace.

newsdesk@afxnews.com tsm/rwCroma Vigilant LimitedCroma Vigilant Limited ("Croma Vigilant") announces that it has secured new contract wins to the total value of #980,000 for the provision of services in relation to asset protection and security in the commercial, industrial and public utilities markets. Of these, the most significant is the contract signed with the Ministry of Defence, worth #530,000.

The Board is also pleased to announce that two further contracts have been won by Croma Vigilant with Homebase and a Scottish Local Authority.

Croma Shawley and Croma Biometrics The Board is pleased to announce wins secured by Croma Shawley and Croma Biometrics totalling #125,000. Croma Shawley, specialists in the design and development of CCTV Products, has received orders from Kuwait, Israel, and a UK Local Authority. Croma Biometrics, developers of biometric access systems, has won a trial contract with Oxleas NHS Trust.

Trading & Strategy The Board expects these contract wins to have a positive impact on the Group's overall trading during the latter part of the current financial year. Today's announcement follows on from the Group's 15 January trading update for the six months up to December 2006 - which reported both an increase in turnover of 185.8% and the signing of a Heads of Agreement. The ongoing policy of the Group will be to continue to accelerate the growth of the current businesses and to seek compatible acquisitions to enable it to further consolidate its position in the sector. John French, Chairman and Chief Executive of Croma, comments: "The Board is delighted to be reporting today's news so soon after the Company's January Trading Update, and is pleased with these new contracts and the continued success of Croma Vigilant and its contribution to the Group as a whole.

"The Management team at Croma Vigilant has created a standard of service for its customers reflecting the highest levels of integrity and discipline much of which comes from the fact that the majority of our operatives are sourced directly from the Armed Forces."The new business for our CCTVDIRECTOR HOLDING The Board of Croma, the AIM listed surveillance security and homeland defence specialist, was informed on 2 February 2007 by Sebastion Morley, a director of the Company, that he transferred 1,500,000 ordinary shares of 5p each in the Company ("Croma Shares") on 2 February 2007 to his wife, Mrs Victoria Morley, for nil consideration. Following this transfer there is no change to Mr Morley's beneficial interest in Croma Shares, being 5,953,846 Croma Shares representing approximately 4.02% of the total issued share capital of the Company.

THE INFO FROM THE EMAIL I RECEIVED IS BELOW.

This one company is now a major player in the FOUR main areas of security:. In March 2004 the group exploded into the avionics industry winning major contracts with leading helicopter and fixed-wing producers. It's now the approved supplier under the UK Home Office Framework Agreement for UK Police Air Support Units.. In the same month the company took over a key player in conventional and wireless CCTV systems for the security of commercial and public sector businesses.

New product developments are just waiting to be released into the market, including wireless technology.. A take over in February 2005 established them in the asset protection market and as a result they've increased turnover by more than 22%... and the unit is continuing to secure additional business from both existing and new customers....

Its next acquisition into biometrics in February 2006 marked the start of the company's domination across the security sector. It designs, installs, services and maintains the systems that detect fingerprints, eye retinas and irises, facial patterns and hand measurements. HM Prison Bedford, West Yorkshire Police and Monarch Airlines have all given this gem of a company ringing applause.

Just imagine if every police force and prison service in the country employed the security solutions this company can offer......

What is 'Your' risk reward ratio?

This is something you have to think about when you first decide that you are going to stash some cash investing in shares. When you talk to most folk, they would say that their risk ratio is low ie. they want their capital to be safe and make a nice bit of interest on it. However when it comes to investing on the stock market, most of these same people buy 'penny shares'!!!! The highest risk type of share you can buy.

How do you assess your risk ratio. Well I am officially according to my advisor, 'very high risk ratio'. When it came to picking funds for my pension, I think I scared the advisor witless by only choosing Emerging markets to invest in. He kept suggesting safer alternatives for a portion of the funds and I kept saying....no I really want Latin America, Asia and if you can get your hands on it Russia that would be great. This was 10-12 years ago before Russia was even on some peoples radars. Never did get Russia (drat) in there on its own, but guess who has had a good return on their pension fund from the others.

Now - in truth what I have done is actually in a long term pension fund 'low risk' - confused? Well if you think about it the way I did. For someone of 30 (which I was at the time) high risk funds actually provide a low risk of getting a return, by having 35 years to provide that return on the investment. If on the other hand I had been 50-55 at the time, then yes it would have been extremely high risk to put everything into what was considered high risk funds as it wouldn't have had time to have the volitility of these markets and still provide me with a fund to retire on. As I get older I will gradually be moving over to safer funds like property, cash and precious metal funds or the like. Depends on what is considered to be safe by the time I get to that.

Ok so what does that have to do with investing in individual shares. Well a similar thing is true. If the money you are investing is money you cannot really afford to lose then a) forget it....lol or b) you should pick shares that are considered blue chips probably, 'cause your capital is likely to be protected to a degree by the fact that you will get regular dividend payment from these companies. The return might be a longer slower effort, but possibly safer (notice the probables and the possibles - its cause I'm not advising remember...lol).

When I started on the penny shares (and I do this if I go to the casino or bet on the races - no, I'm not an addicted gambler folks, although sometimes I wonder. lol) I looked at what my disposable income per month was and decided what I could afford to lose and that I would use half of that to try the markets.

With penny shares you can quite happily buy only £100 - £200 worth of shares in a company and still make a really good return. I paid for a holiday for 2 to Italy from a £1500 return on a £200 investment. Thanks Bulmers! (they got bought over). Shame all my investments weren't that lucky. Two of the companies I bought into have bitten the dust. RIP you Two. Yes luck......thats what a lot of investing in the penny share market is.

The point is, if you only buy a £100 or a few hundred pounds worth, depending on your disposable income and have already decided that you can afford to lose that money, then its a pretty safe bet really. Some you will win and some you will lose, but you might have some fun in the process. If you then end up buying more and more shares in the same company, as long as it is still with that disposable income then losing it all should never really be an issue.

Never be reliant on the money you are playing the stockmarket with. You are learning remember!! Losses are easy to rack up, but it's your mental attitude to the money that is important. Don't ever bet your family's lifestyle on the stockmarket.

Effective Googling

When investing in any share, you should never jump in because someone else said so. If they have given you some research on it - read it, but don't stop there. If you are about to put your hard earned cash into a company DYOR - Do your own research and then when you are comfortable that you've got the right one for you - take the plunge.

Whats the best way to use google to your advantage. OK lets use Tadpole as the example.

If you type - Tadpole into the search bar you currently get:- Results 1 - 10 of about 2,940,000 for tadpole

Type - Tadpole Technology in and you currently get:-Results 1 - 10 of about 776,000 for tadpole technology

As you can see, by putting in more you get less, but more defined results, however......

If you type "Tadpole Technology" (note the inverted commas around the search item) it turn it into a phrase being searched for and not just 2 seperate words and therefore refines your search even more and you get:- Results 1 - 10 of about 47,100 for "tadpole technology".

Putting the inverted commas around what you are looking for knocks out all the hundreds of thousands of sites and links that just have the word tadpole in them that dont relate to the share and also the sites that mention technology that bear no relation to what you are looking for. Believe me it can reduce the amount of time trying to hunt down information by hours by narrowing the results of the searches.

You can narrow down the results even further if you are looking for something specific by putting in a double search, we'll use tadpole again as the example.

Type in "Tadpole Technology" "Endeavors Technology" (remembering the inverted commas around both phrases seperately)
Results 1 - 10 of about 1,650 for "tadpole Technology" "endeavors technology

Admittedly sometimes the broadest search criteria is best IF you have time to dig as you may unearth something hidden in a page behind a page by digging through the links.

Cant See What you are looking for on a page?
Another thing to note is that sometimes there will be a result comes up that you just can't find on the page where what you are looking for is mentioned. In this case if you press the cached link - www.businessweekly.co.uk/directory/profile.asp?company_id=1001 - 22k - Cached - Similar pagesit will highlight the search word throughout the article.


Click on this link to show the highlighing
example:- http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache:LGZW0BjmIZcJ:www.businessweekly.co.uk/directory/profile.asp%3Fcompany_id%3D1001+%22tadpole+technology%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=uk


Use Google Alerts
If you want to be updated on anything new hitting the internet be it news, blogs or investor BB's that relate to the company you are interested in, then use google alerts. These are simple to set up and can be a simple alert or comprehensive alert.

On the Google main search page click more :- Web Images Groups News Froogle more » an this will take you to all the google services and the first one on the list is:- Alerts Receive news and search results via email.

Ok well I think that kind of covers it for searching, but will update it later if I can think of anything else.....happy hunting punters!!!

Tadpole takes the blame

I think it was about 2002 that I took my first step into the wonderful world of share dealing online. Like a lot of us newcomers, the internet has opened up a whole new way to get our hands on the stock market. I doubt I would ever have gone to a broker to buy shares as it seemed the preserve of the old school tie brigade with oodles of dosh who were willing to take someone elses advice on what to buy and also were prepared to watch the newspapers for snippets about what they held.

The new breed (as I would refer to us) like to do our own research, talk to other investors, and learn off of each other by our blunders as to how to make or break the piggy bank with a punt. The share that really got me 'into' talking to other shareholders was Tadpole Technology which incorporates Endeavors Technology and Geospatial Division (GSD) and my god it has been a rollercoaster ride of a share. It's a company that has been to the edge and back on many an occasion but through thick and thin has held a faithful band of followers commonly referred to in the press as 'The Tad Army'.

This share has been a huge learning curve for many an investor in how not to fall in love with a share...lol. However it has also been very good learning curve in how to make friends online with a similar interest to yourself and to gleen knowledge from a wide variety of different sources.

I guess my particular skill is in researching a share and have spent many a long hour in Google world, digging through the depths of links from one page to another till I find the information I'm looking for.

Tadpole are a particularly secretive company when it comes to informing sharehoolders with every bit of info having to be prised from their vice grip at the very last moment - ie the annual results usually popping up on the last available day. They also like making deals with companies who insist that their name is not announced with the deal, which doesn't really help the shareprice much, but with a huge amount of googling you can usually unearth anyway....PMSL.

A tip tadpole.......save us a few hours and just tell us straight!

Anyway, having met and made many a friend through this share I thought it only appropriate that it gets the top spot (after the hello what am I doing here post) but it doesn't stop there. I will be posting on other shares I am researching or am hearing about from other investors and if you behave yourselves I might even invite some others to post, creating a team blog. We'll see how it goes. I'll create a side list of shares being talked about as time goes by and hopefully some links to their websites so you can research them yourself.

If there is anything you'd like me to look into (no promises) gimme a nudge and I'll have a look when I have time. in the meantime..........I have several spreadbets open and I need to go check my profits :o)....or losses. I'll be back.

Well Hello

Right Martin, this is down to you so where do I start.............lol Gotta go have a think about this for a bit me thinks.