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Well, there is absolutely no need to make such a meal of it, as our dear old Mum used to say. In the case of giant multi headed catering company Compass, however, there is every need in the world.

Crime doesn&#39t pay! Telling that to a petty villain. They are more than likely to end up wearing a &#39Peckham Rolex&#39 - or electronic tag to you and me. Someone&#39s got to make them and the software, and someone&#39s got to wear them.

If you thought the near collapse of one of the largest companies in the world was averted by unconnected intervention from the US Federal Reserve, then think again. It was much funnier than that. So, iBall brings you - The Dragon&#39s Fed.

Bradford & Bingley would have been better off staying as a building society in, well, Bradford and Bingley, to be honest. Sorry about that bald statement but there it is. And we are equally sorry about having to lay upon you a negative iBall.

Few companies have capitalised on the celebrity culture and the fame game as First Artist. And let&#39s face it, they aren&#39t going away, even if they are properly famous. Besides, the only thing worse than being talked about, is not being iBalled.

Bond: You know Goldfinger, if you kill me I will only be replaced by another, someone even more prepared to short the price of gold. Goldfinger: In that case I could rewrite the script so that my laser actually does burn off your... Enough. Please.

Over the years, class rooms have become a familiar environment to us. Even when we are well into our working lives we still can&#39t stop it, and this is a legacy which looks to create good growth for educational companies like EDD.

The French stink. Forgive the lazy racial stereotype, but now we have got that off our chest and can get on with the investing. In this case though it is completely true. Veolia is French and its business is rubbish. Waste management that is.

Buses, as the old cliche goes, keep you waiting for ever and then all come along at once. So do carbon sensitive bus companies apparently. So, here's the story of Optare. And by way of a special treat, there's some serious investment wisdom too.

With a billion people all consuming agricultural products it stands to reason there are surplus agricultural products about. Like rice and cotton. So instead of wasting it, why not make electricity out of it and sell it to the state?

When we first drew attention to this sunny company the shares were about £1.25. So full of ourselves are we that we are saying it will go even higher than the £1.75 it is today. Tuck in.

We all know the stereotypical image of the vacuous, bubble-headed PR girl with a nice line in blanket enthusiasm. But do we also know that in times of downturn a well-run PR outfit is good value for marketing money and might well be worth a punt.

The days of filling out a pools coupon have been consigned to a sepia-tone history along with music hall and coal mining. However, one company has sneaked round the back of the historical bike shed and is in a bold bid to relaunch the pools.

The rest of the house building sector might be in bigger trouble than the man who went for sneaky fag in the Hindenburg, but hey... Someone has got to be making some money somewhere. After all bricks and mortar is a British obsession.

National Express has come along way from trundling up from Taunton for a tenner. Now it has buses, coaches and trains. It seems to think that where most other firms have failed it can make some money from British trains.

Disgrace! Is this programme fit for human consumption? We blame the government. No. Actually it is migrant workers. No, the inner cities. Wrong. It&#39s the left I tell you. The great thing about the Daily Mail is that it reinforces our prejudices.

MessageLabs, despite being born of that legendary tech breeding ground of Gloucestershire, has made a massive impact on the computer age. Especially if you are worried about your bald spot, your sexual performance and the dimensions of your genitals.

OK, OK so we're not strictly talking about genetically modified foods here, more genetically manipulated. But if you think we are going to miss out on an excellent opportunity for a few Frankenstien gags then you have another thing coming.

Photo booths have been a part of the high street for decades and they have had many troubles with the digital era. But as photo ID becomes more and more demanded, we think it is more than a flash in the pan.

The FTSE is about as familiar to all of us as a faithful hound or the smell of fresh cut grass come May. But familiarity is a fickle mistress and as soon as one feels comfortable that one is going in the right way...

If it is good enough for the BBC and ITV well we can do it too. To celebrate the holiday season, here&#39s some of the highlights of our last year. The best of our shows about banks...

If it is good enough for the BBC and ITV well we can do it too. To celebrate the holiday season, here's some of the highlights of our last year. The best of our leisure company shows...

If it is good enough for the BBC and ITV well we can do it too. To celebrate the holiday season, here's some of the highlights of our last year. The best of our energy company shows...

If you have got kids or you are a shoplifter you know exactly what the value of high street favourite Woolies is. But if you are an investor you might be shaking your head in horror right now. Well, we still love Woolies...

Not sure where the saying sweet as a nut comes from, but we think it is time for doing something sweet nonetheless. We would not be the first ones to tell you that sugar appears to be too cheap. Perhaps Tate & Lyle would agree.

How about this for an idea. If the housing market and the credit crunch are so bad, there is one thing people will need. A place to stash their belongings while they sit it out. Just because storage does not go anywhere does not mean it is dull.

If you have got young children you will know exactly what keeps them quiet in front of the old electric nanny. Lassie, the Lone Ranger and as many classics as you could wish for. Hey, maybe even Mum and Dad will be watching out for their stock...

When a company&#39s name is an abbreviation of Everything But the Music you are going to suspect that it is all about young people. Just because youngsters can buy the apparel of their favourite pop stars does not mean it is a bad thing.

Who says iBall is not a divers stock selector fair to big, small, fat and thin alike. Sometimes even we do the really esoteric. Who would have thought a company which makes sausage skins could look like such a good bargain.

Ah those purple heather covered hills, the smell of the Highland mist. Perfect for setting up an oil firm. OK, so most of Cairn&#39s oil comes out of Rajasthan but you can indulge us for a moment, because Cairn really is a Scottish company.

There is a sign on the iBall fridge which says, Take an old bag shopping. Well, we did but she toddled off to Mulberry and bought a new one. And how much did it cost? Now say that again. HOW MUCH DID IT COST!?!

Now come on, it is a very exciting company. I mean any company that publishes the Financial Times must be. Perhaps the excitement of Penguin Books might. No? Oh well, at least you can be safe in the knowledge that Pearson is, well, safe.

Like most massive great big things which are so large they often hard to see, Bunzl frequently disappears into the background. That is because it makes some of the most famous household brands you could ever wish to see.

For those of you who do not remember Ofex, it filled the gap between a stock market and a business angel. Plus Markets, its successor, still fills that gap but is a proper exchange and is well placed for an investment Europe post Mifid.

There are some people who find train spotting too exciting and love to stand on foot bridges watching out for lorries. And not ordinary lorries, but Eddie Stobart ones. So, perhaps us investors should be getting the binoculars out as well.

What is a girl to do. As she has got older it has all started to go south. So how does she find a soul mate? Frankly who cares if she has got a GSOH or penchant for the outdoors and a love of small dogs?

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises are a central plank of the economy. But it is very tough for them out there in the big wide world what with banks compressing credit, taxes and so on.

OK, so it is quoted in France. But then again it would do because EDF stands for Electricite de France. Those damned Froggies heh. Spent years fighting the blighters to keep them over the water and now hey have their fingers on our light switches.

One sniff of the black gold in a part of the earth hitherto unheard of before the prospectors landed there is what oil exploration investing is all about, but the real question is......where on earth is it?

Now we can all make money when the oil price is rising. However, can they really do the same old dig it out of the ground and flog it to the punters... Watch this show and find out...

IPOs are the lovechild of many an investor who can watch their progeny grow from small beginnings to great endings. Here, Nick Dyne, co founder of Logicscope, tells us the good and bad of the process of taking a company to flotation.

As media companies go Ten Alps is quite hard to quantify. It does telly, internet, publishing, contract publishing, you name it. Mind you, the most fun of this company is that it is in Sir Bob Geldolf&#39s portfolio. Absolutely. F***ing right!

Better known as JD Sports on the High Street, like most retail sports stores it is subject to the same outside pressures as its competitors. However, JD Sports has been getting the results it needs to storm its way up the table.

If there is one thing we can be guaranteed is going to become more abundant in the coming years, it is elderly people. You as investors can act on this by buying the shares. Then, perhaps it will be time for a cup of tea and a nice sit down.

So you thought the milkman and his trusty milk float were as much of a part of a bygone landscape as empty motorways. Well, 1.6 million households in the UK would beg to prove you wrong.

Peter Temple began his city career almost 40 years ago as a breweries analyst for a number of large and well known brokers. Here the journalist, author and professional investor tells us how he runs his successful portfolios.

A stalwart of High Streets up and down the land, the shop that was once called Dixons is now a three letter word for many investors. Recovery is in progress. So, like a Chinese telly, we think DSG could be good value. Or is it....

Money makes the world go round, as the old song goes, especially if you actually print it yourself. Why not then? When times are hard and value is hard to come by De La Rue could be the classic defensive stock.

May Gurney is a huge steaming pile of rubbish. No really. It&#39s so used to its own stink it has worked out how to make money out of it. Since we will never, ever be short of refuse, what better place to consider throwing away your investment cash.

Carluccio&#39s, the achingly trendy Italian cafe chain once backed by the legendary eponymous chef, may be a place to park you cash as well as your buns.