Supershare '98

Over-the-weekend winner, Barbara Gray, 46, of Larkspur, Whitwell-on-the-Hill, was twice the Supershare bridesmaid. Now she's twice the bride! The best of around 21,000 entries.

For the second day running she receives the £50 daily Supershares prize and now is in poll position to strike out for that winner's bonanza of £2,000 or even the £1,000 runner's up honour from competition sponsors Walsh Lucas & Company, the independent financial advisers of Micklegate, York.

But Barbara is the first to recognise that she has bought celebratory Champagne more in hope than expectation that tomorrow's market will favour her. "I genuinely thought that profit-taking would undoubtedly bump me out of top spot. And I still have that feeling. Should Iceland thaw, should there be one rumour, one drop of confidence and I've had it. Even at this last moment it is absolutely anyone's game"

True, her £10,000 fantasy shares actually appreciated yesterday to £12,321.90 with her portfolio Iceland (£5,000), British Gas (£500), Dixons (£4,000) and Dewhirst (£500).

But still staying just behind her is Graham Winship, of Fulford Road, Fulford, who was ousted by her into second place but whose total is now a mere £21.32 from hers.

And third can you believe it? - is STILL Dudley Williams, 61 of Copmanthorpe.

This is the fifth time in succession that Dudley, who used to run the works study department of the old TSB, now closed, in Tadcaster Road, York, has been at No. three!

Both men look poised to pounce but let's not rule you, the reader and web browser, out of the final reckoning. We have extended the deadline for receiving final entry forms at the Walmgate offices of The Evening Press until midnight tonight. So buy your papers now.

The vagaries of tomorrow, Wednesday's, market could still send any new entry soaring to the top and ultimate glory as Supershare victor and don't forget, you will have the advantage of knowing how today's stock market has fared by the time it closes today, Tuesday, at 4.30pm. A quick look at mid-prices on Teletext will give you an informed guess.

And here is another titbit based on the principle that what goes down could very well go up.

A number of Supershares fared badly over the course of the month of the competition. They include Asda, which by yesterday was down overall by 5.75 pence, a drop of 2.84 per cent; Halifax, down 50.50p, a 5.17 per cent drop; National Power, down 35p, a 5.73 per cent drop; Debenhams, down 57p , a 13.63 per cent drop; Next, down 258 pence, a swingeing loss of nearly a third, or 32.62 per cent; and Premier Farnell, down 27.25p, or 6.64 per cent.

Barrie Bluck, of stockbrokers Redmayne Bentley reports that yesterday's market closed down overall - 27.4 at 5,911.

He notes that Iceland, the share chosen by all the Supershare Top 100, moved up yet again after one of its directors bought 25,000 shares at the then market price of 194p. By the end of the day it was 199p.

Other gainers were WH Smith which moved up 5p to 542.5 on news that shareholders were going to get back around £250 million.

National Power was up 28p to 612p, the best in a rising sector.

Next recovered 16p to 549 after last week's battering, but Abbey National was down 23p to £11.62.

So...it's last chance to make up your mind and the executives and inputters at the Walsh Lucas offices in York will be standing by for the final deluge of entries. Could one of them zoom to the top?

Go out and buy The Evening Press. Fill out the forms. Get it to us. Good luck. And may the force of tomorrow's market be with you!

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.