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Alpesh Patel
Alpesh Patel's columns :
02/07/2005Return Free Risk
01/24/2005What You Need To Know
01/12/2005What You Need To Know
12/21/2004Year End
12/14/2004Of Mountains and Markets
12/08/2004Strong Dollar Policy and Other US Macho Nonesense
11/30/2004Irish Eyes Are Smiling
11/22/2004Oil. Oh it's so last month
11/15/2004Eat my shorts
11/08/2004Big Rally Big Fall
10/31/2004Big Week
10/25/2004Vacuum
10/15/2004Dip and dive or dip and rise: 4600, 4700�4500.
10/11/2004Oil making us boil.
09/27/2004The Trends Re-Appear
09/27/2004Oil
09/21/2004No Retail Therapy Here
09/14/2004Do you feel lucky punk? >>
08/23/2004The Market Wants To Move Higher
08/17/2004August a good swing trader's month
08/06/2004Where are the jobs?
08/02/2004August a good swing trader's month
07/26/2004Takeovers abound
07/19/2004What does Branson tell us?
07/12/2004Well valued FTSE?
07/02/2004Well hello July
06/28/2004Summer aint bad
06/21/2004The Real Hot Stuff
06/04/2004Not bad at all
06/01/2004May was better than April, hows about June then?
05/21/2004Broader Market View
05/14/2004Interest Rates or GDP?
04/30/2004The Run Up To May
04/23/2004Some Big Picture Views

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Alpesh Patel – A weekly look at market opportunities and pitfalls
Alpesh B. Patel is one of the UK's best-known traders and financial journalists. He writes a regular column for the Financial Times, has written seven bestselling books on trading, and makes regular television appearances for Bloomberg, Sky Television, Channel 4, The Money Channel, and the BBC.

Do you feel lucky punk?

09/14/2004

Well, as I said on CNBC and BBC this week, the market seems to want to go higher. Why the reference in the title to the 'Dirty Harry' movie? It's simply that so much remains uncertain still - and our confidence in a rally is shot to bits.

As for private investors, a lot are coming to the market after losses from 2000-2001, many are new and looking for returns.

The FTSE 100 has now risen from 43500 base to 4550. When it has done this in the past few months it has fallen back. So no one is turning positive until it breaks 4600.

Value-Growth

I am getting some decent signals on my proprietary value-growth signals. Alliance UniChem for one. 646p is a base below which the stock should not fall. The gentle upward trend of late is very promising. You've all already had a great return from my ROK Property Solutions mention before the summer.

These signals are based on various criteria I use including revenue and earnings growth, as well as price ratios.

Drop me an email on alpesh.patel@tradermind.com if you would like a free multi-media CDROM and 50 page e-document on 'Investing Better' or order the full 14 CDROM set from the ADVFN online bookstore.

Other key stocks on the radar include: Centrica (no fall below 235p should occur). Again, you've all made a bit of a killing with my Hitachi Capital pick several months ago and it is on the radar. But do keep a tight stop-loss.

Dart Group is a new one for the radar. It has had a very good rally, but it looks like a riser again. Gooch & Housego is another promising looker. 130p is the stop-loss on it.

Crazy Small Stock

On this we have FuturaGene, Tea Plantations, Bisichi. All pure adrenalin momentum plays - not recommendations but simply 'crazy small stocks which may continue steep rises (or turn and burn) - but they almost certainly won't stand still.

M&A Target HitList

Here I want to highlight some stocks in my view with a more than 50% chance of getting some boost from bid related activity. It's speculative and not for the faint hearted. My rational is based on a combination of performance, assets, possible synergies with possible bidders, latent value. Looking ahead: Ultraframe, eBookers, Courts.

Rumour of the Week

I don't usually do the rumour game - but sources tell me Regus looks promising, and looking at the price chart it is accelerating ahead, a break above 80p looks very likely. Any fall below 60p would be an exit point, and indeed before then if there was any bad news on results.

Bewarned, rumours are always risky.


Alpesh B Patel, author of “Alpesh Patel on Stock Futures” available from the ADVFN bookstore.