Who said that the Wood Tycoon couldn't hack it?

Wood merchant Paul Smith stays at the top of the tree and collects his second daily Supershare prize from the competition sponsors Walsh Lucas, the independent financial advisers of Micklegate, York.

But he recognises that there is a long way to go yet until the end of March, when the overall winner of the £2,000 first prize and £1,000 runner-up prize is announced.

Paul, 49, who signed his entry , "the Wood Tycoon" said at his home in Cawood Road, Stillingfleet: "I'm amazed I stayed up there. The market was so volatile that I was convinced I'd be knocked straight out of the Supershare Top 100.

"I told myself that it didn't matter, though. I'd achieved what I wanted by zooming to the top. My formula had worked and now it was time for a rest.

"When I walked into the Cross Keys at Stillingfleet over the weekend there was a lot of backslapping of congratulations and I even earned a couple of celebratory drinks for the honour.

"Now I'm up there again and it's a real boost for my pride. It's too much to hope for a hat-trick now, particularly as the Budget is bound to cause a reaction."

His twice-a-winner portfolio was Safeway (£1,000), National Grid (£500), WH Smith (£3,500) and Spring Ram (£5,000).

Every single entrant in the top 100 chose Spring Ram from the Yorkshire Sector of our grid and 77 per cent backed it with the maximum £5,000 from their fantasy £10,000 stake!

Another point to ponder: Julie Rudkin, of Burnholme, is a mere £8.83 from overhauling Paul's total Supershare portfolio value of £11,289.14. Julie, a full-time mother, is taking a Higher National Diploma in business with tourism and loves following the shares.

She knocks Sue Helliwell, the Red Cross organiser from Husthwaite out of second spot into third place.

Eighty five entries in the Top 100 yesterday continue to bask in the glory, with only 15 brand new entries elbowing their way in.

Yet Barrie Bluck of stockbrokers Redmayne Bentley reports: "The stores sector was particularly badly hit, with Debenhams, Kingfisher and Next all down 9.5 pence at the close, and even WH Smith dropping nine points.

"But Kingfisher's final results on Wednesday are expected to show between £450 million and £500 million pre-tax profits against £390 million in 1996."

Morrisons supermarket chain's results on Thursday are expected to show profits at around £150 million as against 135.8 million in 1996.

Meanwhile Claire Loates, of West Thorpe, Dringhouses, who filled out 400 entry forms for her six year-old daughter Stephanie through "friendship power", with contributions from friends, neighbours and relatives, has the distinction of having the worst-performing portfolio of all 13,000 entries! Her £10,000 fantasy money has shrunk to a mere £9,118.25.

But she does have one entry in the Top 100.

Claire said: "A bit of damnation plus a bit of glory to balance never hurt anyone. It's just a bit of fun."

Buy your Evening Press to join the Supershare rollercoaster. There's still plenty of time.

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