07 June 2007
Congrats to GreyDesk on his decisive TT victory. So GD, how does it feel to be Top Trader this week?
I'm delighted. I knew I was in with a shout as I'd traded reasonably and I had both weekend win bonuses. But you never know what others around you have got; whether there is someone else who's going to burst through and take it. Opening the browser first thing on Tuesday morning and seeing the number 1 there was marvellous.
Also with five wins under my belt, I finally feel that I can take a seat at the top table of Sportdaq alongside the likes of Sue, Nij, Rao, Jimboww and Joe. Pretty much the only milestone I've got left to achieve is getting disqualified from TT for winning twice within 30 days. So I've got until the beginning of July to pull my finger out...
We'll be watching. What was it that set you apart from the rest of the players this week and meant you got the silverware?
A solid divi strategy last week with Steve McClaren laid the foundations for the week. I don't normally go for expensive football shares, but with all the brouhaha over Beckham's recall to the England team it seemed like a good week to make an exception to the rule.
After that it was strategy of patient and considered play. Avoiding making hasty decisions means that you avoid making expensive mistakes. I even spent two longish periods on Sunday and Monday sitting in cash waiting for the market to settle down.
Act in haste, repent at leisure. Or something. Now what's been your most important buy or sell this week?
That would be the pair of short Italians I bought at the weekend. Both of them were favourites for their races, but both of them gave me some nervous moments on the way to their wins. Valentino Rossi was the worst when he dropped to about 8th place in the first couple of laps at Mugello and I was sitting here cursing myself for having not bought into Dani Pedrosa. Then the little fella worked his way up through the field and took the win. Wonderful!
Do you reckon Lewis Hamilton has any chance of finally clinching first place in Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix?
It's still early days for him. He clearly is the real deal in the way that Button and Coulthard weren't. It isn't just down to him having the best car. He will win and win many times I'm sure, but right now Alonso has got something to say in the matter and it will be him that will go on to win more races this year and to retain his championship.
What will fill the football-sized sporting hole in your summer viewing? Can anything?
I don't really watch much football on the telly. For me it's always been a case of either I'm there, or I don't bother with the game. So to that end there isn't much of a hole to fill.
One event that I will be avoiding though is the London to Brighton bike race. Those 27,000 guys and gals ride more or less right past my front door and boy-oh-boy do they smell cheesy after 50 miles in the saddle. Though I suppose I shouldn't whinge too much as they do raise tons of cash for the British Heart Foundation and it's only one day of pong and traffic chaos to put up with.
Be brave GD, it's all in a good cause. And what do you make of the fuss around the new London 2012 Olympics logo?
No. No, it doesn't work for me at all. Right now there are a number of spoof versions going round, some of which are highly entertaining. There's an excellent one based on David Brent from The Office and his 'monkey dance' – that one is really funny. There's also an unspeakable one I've heard of involving Lisa from The Simpsons, but the less said about that the better.
Quite. Finally, take the chance to talk about any sporting issue close to your heart. Try and keep it brief.
It's not only close to my heart, it's also close to home. It's the second revision you introduced to the Daq dividend calculation.
The first revision extended the range of shares that would attract a dividend. This was a good thing which I heartily applaud as it makes the game more attractive to the average player (ie the people whose participation justifies the game's continued existence.)
The second revision however merely increased the value of the dividends paid. Now couple this with the potential dividend figures that are in the RSS feeds on Monday afternoon, and one's strategy is settled. With this increased dividend payout and the knowledge of where it's going, the decision whether to day trade or go for dividend is now redundant: you always go for dividend. This means for the better players the game is dead for two days a week, and that's getting boring.
Can we please go back to the first revision of the dividends system?
As our mums always used to say, "we'll see". But seriously, if any other players have thoughts on the matter we'd be interested to read them. Emails to the usual address. Thanks for that GD and congrats again.
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