Why, the profit forecast is for £320 million, (down from £360 million). so hardly on their uppers.

and the component parts of the group are attractive in their own right, if they hive off the loss making French bit then they could see £1.20 a share by this time next year.

The big risk is the coming Ski season, so far it's not looking good weather wise (or should I say the weather is looking too good), it's certainly one of the less risky investments I've been looking at in recent weeks.

It had also merged its high street travel business with the Co-operative Travel - and there were reports at the weekend that the company plans to shut 200 shops, putting 1,000 jobs at risk.

Adding to the dismal year, Thomas Cook is expected to report a 31% slide in underlying profits to £191.1m.

not buying the shares for the dividend though.

If you are looking at investing in shares you must think long term, some companies have some great shareprices for trade at the moment, LTSB for example at 22.86p from £11.52 odd 4 years ago.

The way to look at it is if you have money you can afford to lose and don't mind waiting 10-15 years for a return I would suggest banks being a great option.

The are few short term wins presently, unless you get wind of something special about to happen to a company, lots of share prices are moving up and down a few pence presently on a downward trend.

remember, only throw in what you could afford to throw away and do it long term.

already have LTSB and Barclays shares for longer term investment, likewise BP, M&S, all bought at roughly the "bottom" of their respective markets,every penny I invest in shares is seen as "gone" from the moment I invest it, means I am rarely that disappointed with things. The only real cast iron investment I have is my premium bonds, and I can safely say that it doesn't matter if you've got small amounts or your full allocation, the £1m prize is as elusive as bigfoot!

I don't think Thomas Cook is an exapmle of a long-term investment.

I don't see where anyone has suggested it is.

Did you buy the shares?

Thomas Cook shares up about 17% today.

Should be able to calculate how many Standee bought then!

Not the sort of share I'd hang onto for more than a week or two. I would guess the most likely scenarios will be either:

1. Conversion of debt to equity (diluting shareholders interest); or
2. Rights issue (shareholders throwing good money after bad) ;or
3. Selling off the company cheap (if a buyer can be found); or
4. Banks to put into administration to maximise their return and administrators to flog off profitable bits (with shareholders wiped out).

All scenarios, [uIMO[/u, look bad for anyone who does get in and out quickly.

Indeed, half way to their target gain before I bail and move on to something else.

I don't trust spotty faced investment brokers. Have you ever thought of investing in wine? Buying and leaving in bond. I invested in en primeur Burgundies four years ago (8K) and have seen a 35% increase in value. Of course somebody has to buy it to realise the money. A similar level of investment in three 1st and second growth bordeaux has produced around 60% increase in value over the last 7 years.

If nobody buys it I can always sup it.

IMO the markets have lost their excitement at the moment. From late '08 to late '09 there were many opportunities to make big returns with relatively low exposure, a great time for short-termers. I bank with RBS and use their trading platform for ease of money transfer, it's realiable and charges the almost standard £15 a trade. Plus, they have recently released an iPhone App to allow trading 'on-the-go', it looks slick although I've yet to use it.

My prefered stocks are small medical research companies. The ones with tiny market caps, ready to be swalloped up for £Xbn by a big pharma when the breakthrough comes

I use iii.

Of course there's still money to be had in trading. I used a demo account this time last year with £10,000 free money (you can take big gambles and try things when it's not your own money) I have made £1,650 pretend profit. In and out is the best way imo, but as mentioned, you need big bucks to make that worthwhile it would seem.

As for the penny shares, I followed a company called Monitise and if you stuck with them all the way through from 12p to 38p, you would be laughing now. I believe it will go higher, and will follow even more closely when it breaks through the 40p. But for one of those companies, there is always one where some get there fingers burnt.

Sainsbury's looks a brilliant long term share, with the generous dividend. In my opinion of course.

Best thing you can do with surplus money at present is spend it.

One thing to think about If you are purely in it for the short term and are purely speculating, then you could benefit from leveraging your position through one of the many providers out there. This will allow you to increase your exposure to the underlying asset without having to stump up the cash upfront. Leaving you free to spread your portfolio around a bit. As long as you remember that it can go both ways and any one investment could lose you more than you initially invested then it's a good way of making money if things go your way.

[url=http://www.cityindex.co.uk/range-of-markets/shares-cfds.aspxThese guys[/url are reputable and offer CFD products on the equities products.

I'm not recommending this is any way (I'm not CFA registered so wouldn't dream of it!) just thought I would throw the idea out there!

An alternative option. Granted it's something you would ideally have an interest in to begin with. video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000058391 video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000058390

An alternative option. Granted it's something you would ideally have an interest in to begin with. video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000058391 video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000058390

in Dally world maybe

I hope you went on your own feeling Standee and didn't spend all the money like Dally suggested.

Thomas cook up again 25% today. Don't know how long you intend on holding for, but hope you enjoy the profit.

He'll be selling today I should think.

not selling just yet
and the profit will go on the next shares

Most retail investors aren't bright enough to use leverage sensibly, I'd avoid.

Yeah, if you want to be exposed to losing more money than you have. If you're that mad you might as well have a play in the FX market.