Soop Dogg

No s*!t Sherlock!

Whoa there buddy! Who said to 'ignore the mathematics'? I simply said that "mathematics doesn't always rule the markets" which is a fair thing to say. In fact, mathematics-wise, if you take a long enough view, shares (as a whole) will appreciate - eventually. That's why building a portfolio across enough companies/sectors reduces risk. If it was so obvious that things were going to come crashing down round our ears, why is anyone at all buying shares today? By the way - today is actually a blue tick day for me, so I'm happy with my stock. Almost everything else out there is a sea of red - currently there are 'No Winners' in the FTSE 100!

Like I said earlier - I'm not 'trading'. I'm particularly invested in a company that owns multiple mines containing copper and gold. It has funding in place already to achieve it's targets, has little or no debt and is sitting on massive assets that are considered to be a 'safe haven' in such times. I won't invest in management companies, exploration companies etc. Only companies that are sat on resources that are actually worth something. I won't deny that the current times are challenging, but it may not play out to be as apocolyptic as some would have us believe. 2008 was bad, but I'm still here and I've made money in the last 18 months, mainly in companies that own basic resources. Some shares I have sold for over 15 times what I paid for them. The money I have invested now is staying put. I can afford to lose it - just - but to sell now would be insane considering the point at which these projects currently are. Oh - and mathematics doesn't always rule the markets. In the last 18 months the worst times are due to sentiment (read 'panic') ruling the markets. At times like that it's sometimes better to sit on your hands and wait out the storm. (depending on the sector you're involved with - banking sector wasn't a place to be if you bought your shares during more 'normal' times) When sentiment rules the markets, logic goes out the window. Opportunities can present themselves at such times, and bargains can be mopped up - not without risk, but if you spread the risk well, fortunes can be made. The only Mathematics that I employed in making good money in late 2008 and 2009 was to buy into companies underpinned with lots of resource, with funding sorted out and little debt. I bought the shares low and those I sold, I sold them high. You can't buy them cheap in a boom time...

When things are pretty low - as they are now - it's exactly the time to be in the stock market. However, you do have to be very careful and do lots of research before picking a stock. Also - NOT being a trader is where I am now. I'm investing - not buying today and selling within the same month for a quick buck - that's how many 'traders' lose millions. Someone once said that the stock market is a mechanism for the transferring of wealth from the impatient to the patient. Never a truer word spoken!

As far as my AIM shares go, I gave up on setting stop losses as the market makers can walk a price down just to trigger them. Then they get to mop up cheap shares. Different situation with FTSE shares obviously, where market forces drive the price to a much greater degree. Take a look at the book 'The Naked Trader' if you're thinking of trading as a second income. It's interesting stuff, but to my mind, I've turned to becoming more patient with stock. In my first year I tended to overtrade and would have been a whole lot better off if I'd hung onto some shares for longer. You can get some good tips on how to research different companies and on general terms etc in the stock market.

Storage: 'BikeBox' I'll have to think about the rental bit....

http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/showthread.php?t=215622

Go Bloggo Mining!!! I'm hoping it'll pay my mortgage off too.

.......and then they SOLD out of panic. If many had held on, they would have eventually made money. If you're buying/selling shares, you need to decide if you are a trader or an investor. Trading is much more difficult to make money at. (ask me how I know that....) These days I consider myself to be an investor. I'm fully invested just now in AIM stocks that I'm hoping will pay off within the next 3 to 5 years. But I can understand those who want to make money faster than that. It's just that if you hurry things, you're likely to lose money.

You and me both, Ian. Inchcape rose after the car scrappage scheme came into being last year. I had some for a while, made a fairly quick buck and got out again too. In retrospect, I'd have done better to stay in for a few more months, but sometimes you decide to move on to other things. They are a actually a pretty massive company.

Or posses'ive?

oops! I stand corrected, JP. Aahh - yeah...that's what I meant....

Layar (Augmented reality search thingy) Mileage (for recording fuel spend in your cars. Does cool graphs and stuff) SportyPal (Uses GPS & Google Mapsto log running/cycling etc) Gmote (use your phone as a remote for playing music on your pc) Shazam Google Voice Search ShopSavvy (Barcode Scanner) Google Sky Maps Hi-Hiker Pro Decibel (Sound meter that can be calibrated) Last.fm Advanced Task Killer (for stopping running apps - you'll need this to STOP it multitasking at times!) Traffic4England beebplayer (BBC iPlayer) Movies (Movie news/reviews/trailers/local cinema times/what's new on DVD etc) Just search for stuff you might find useful - there's probably an app for it out there!

No - he wasn't very high - but then he didn't have much of a choice in the matter as he was where he was when his engine conked out. Don't get me wrong - I love flying and would live to fly microlights or light aircraft - it's always been an ambition of mine. However, since speaking to a mate's brother who works for the Air Accident Investigation Branch, I think I'd be far more likely to go for light aircraft. The worst record by aircraft type is paragliders. Microlights actually aren't that far behind! The problem when comparing cars with something like this is you need to consider the peril - not just the risk. The risk in this case was the engine cutting out. Now, in a car, you can coast to the side of the road, so the peril (being stranded by the roadside) really isn't that bad, so we accept the fixed amount of risk without a thought. In a microlight, the risk of engine failure might be no worse, but the peril is that you'll fall out of the sky (which can hurt quite badly, I'm lead to believe), so it's needs to be given a little extra thought, that's all.

1. AC(?) Cobra 2. Moggie Minor 3. Ford Capri 4. 5. Hillman Imp 6. Jensen Interceptor 7. Renault 12 8. ? 9. ? 10. Porsche 928 Series 4 11. Rover P6 12. Triumph 2000 13. Renault Alpine GTA V6 14. Ford Mondeo? 15. 16. Ford Sport Ka 17. Landrover Discovery 3 18. TVR Sagaris 19. ? 20. Vauxhall VXR8

Didn't take many seconds from engine cutting out to being on the ground, though. I can't find the original of that, but the chap broke limbs, ribs and punctured a lung in that crash.

Looks like fun! [YOUTUBE]kOhr-GUbDXE[/YOUTUBE] Ermmm.....I'll give it a miss, thanks.

Apart from the fact that most cemeteries these days are owned and run by the local council. But feel free to blame whoever you like. I blame the police. They should be cracking down on things like this instead of dishing out speeding tickets.

Sorry - didn't mean to tread on the toes of any experts in hairdressers cars... (I'm certainly no expert in that field, hence the '?')

Just to add: 1/ Corvette ZR1 3/ BMW Mini 4/ Ferrari F355 Spyder 8/ MK1 Fiesta XR2 10/ MGB GT 12/ BMW Z4?

Info at the time from Toyota claimed 4.9secs manual and 5.1secs auto.

I remember watching this F1 crash live a number of years back. Lots of the drivers were running back to the pits to get into the spare cars before the race would be restarted. Total chaos! [YOUTUBE]qlMv5U6baz0[/YOUTUBE]

Did Toyota themselves ever actually call a colour on the Supra 'Anthracite'? It stikes me as odd because anthracite is actually a type of coal which is almost jet black. It's what they sell as 'smokeless coal' as it has the highest carbon content of any coal (it's almost pure carbon at over 90% carbon content and so doesn't produce much at all in the way of carbon dioxide.) Can't figure out why they'd use the name of something that's very, very black for a colour that's grey. Just my thoughts

Steve Manley used to get a great discount on Uk spec brakes. Have you asked him for a quote?

Sorry - most of the pics so far do nothing for me. There can be only one (plus my wife of course! *cough*) Gwen. http://entimg.msn.com/i/gal/GwenStefani/StefaniGwen_NK003_400.jpg