The Beginners Guide to Investing in Stocks and Shares

Author: Derek Offord
Sep 4, 2008
I have 934 shares in Ferrarris Plc. I was advised thjat they had been taken over by Bionostics plc who in turn have been taken over by Nav Bidco Can anyone confirm if this is the current situation. Do these shares have any value.

ANSWER 4th September 2008 Hi Derek, that seems to be about right. Ferraris PLC changed it's name to Bionostics PLC. There may or may not have been new certificates issued. About January 2008 there was a cash bid of 30p per share by NAV Bidco Limited. The bid was effected by way of a Scheme of Arrangement which was no doubt sanctioned or approved by a Court of Law. This usually means there is no acceptance required by the shareholders and the cheques in consideration are just posted out to shareholders, in your case £280.20. There was an Unlisted Share Alternative but this would have to have been accepted under a Form of Election. Now did you receive this money around that date? If not was there any change of your address about that time that would have made contacting you impossible? If you definitely did not receive any notification at the time or the cheque then I would imagine the money is being held somewhere awaiting your claim. I did find some contact details for NAV Bidco from the internet but the first suggestion is to contact the Registrars whose name should appear somewhere on your certificate for the Ferraris shares. If you need further help please contact me on the Shareworld contact page and I will get some numbers to try.

Author: Brendan
Sep 1, 2008
I was wondering if you could give me a fair argument to why the Stock Market would be a better investment than say property or other forms of investing. You see my mother and father invest in property and want me to do the same and I really want to get into the stock market. I would love if you could give me a list of the good points of the stock market and why it is better than other forms of investing. This will help greatly in my case of using my inheritance to invest where I want to invest. The Stock Market excites me and seems like it could be something I could do on a daily basis Whereas the property market seems more like long term and that means I would have to get a day job.

Looking at the residential property market, in particular the UK, it has proved a remarkable investment from Post war to current day, inspite of the occasional ups and downs and crashes.

As for stock market investment this is all about selectivity and can produce equally impressive or better returns over the longer term.

For a detailed explanation of this subject please read our article on stocks versus property.