THE financial rolling stone may not be moving much but it is gathering Moss Bros.

Members of Ryedale investment Club Holdings decided that although the market had dipped - and their RICH holdings with it - investing in Moss Bros had been a good idea.

They had bought the Moss Bros shares back in June suspecting that billionaire Shami Achmed, chairman of Joe Bloggs Jeans, was buying in.

Now he has declared his hand with a bid for Moss Bros and those shares jumped from 25 pence to 40 pence in just two weeks.

The gains there were in stark contrast to the overall performance which saw the RICH unit price drop from £2.62 to £2.55 per unit.

The only consolation was that this was in line with the market which remains as volatile as ever, although the smart money claims that a recovery is likely within the next nine months - not to the dizzy levels of two years ago, but at least on a higher plateau.

RICH members decided for the moment that they already spent enough on last month's speculation - Marks & Spencer, BAA and Richmond Foods - and would now hold off to allow funds to accumulate again.

Much of the meeting was spent in debate over whether the club with 23 different investments had far too many shares.

It was decided that at the next meeting the Great Cull would begin - and to that end members were asked to nominate six of their least favourite investments, so watch this space.

Meanwhile which shares would YOU cast out, bearing in mind the list of holdings below? Then compare it with what actually happens next month.

The shares are in ARM, BAA. Dixon Motors, Granada, Compass, Express Dairies, Great Universal Stores, Home Entertainment Corporation, Marconi, Marks & Spencer, Matalan, Medisys, Minmet, Morrison, Moss Bros, Phytopharm, Railtrack, Richmond Foods, Tesco, Torrotrak, Trafficmaster and investments in Virgin Tracker and Carnaby Films.

Jim Porteous, chairman, said: "By the way, Carnaby Films invited club treasurer, Tony Kempster, and his wife, Ann, to become extras in the opening scene - at a posh 'literary awards dinner' at the Dorchester so clearly even if it's a financial loser, RICH may have lost money but gained a well-fed star!"

Updated: 10:55 Tuesday, February 26, 2002