John Foster's share price has begun to rise in anticipation of further developments away from textiles and property. Last month the chairman confirmed that the company is "seeking opportunities to further enhance shareholder value by acquisition".

There are many companies now seeking to obtain a stock market listing in order to grow their business - especially in technology. Perhaps John Foster will acquire one of these businesses in a reverse takeover, and change its name - surely not "John Foster.com".

As we go to press the company has announced that a Dr H Hanif has increased his shareholding from a modest 50,000 shares to a substantial 475,000 shares, or 3.78 per cent of the company.

Filtronic's price is now over £20 - not bad for a company whose share price was less than £4 two years ago, and has just announced a dip in its interim profits. However, the market is looking ahead to future profit growth that will leave all previous results far behind.

Meanwhile shares in Kelda Group, which were above £5 last summer, have recently dipped below £2 and now stand around 230p. Many readers may see the swings of the stock market as perverse, but major investors appear to have been caught by surprise in recent months by the potential growth of the IT/telecoms sector. As a result they are now busy switching vast funds across from "safe" sectors such as banks and utilities to the growth areas. If past experience is any guide, these mood swings tend to exaggerate the relative prospects for each sector, and Kelda Group is now very unfashionable, in line with many other utility companies.

However, the company has indicated that the proposed higher dividend to be paid this year "will form a base for future growth", so with a prospective gross yield of over 10 per cent many smaller investors, as well as some larger income fund managers, are beginning to buy the shares at a perceived bargain level.

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