DOT.COM fever has engulfed the British investing classes to such a degree that Barclays Stockbrokers has been forced to suspend registration for its telephone share dealing service because it can't cope with demand. "Queue up to buy your shares" seems to be the new rule for the investorati keen to get in on the Internet and ecommerce bull run.
And Charles Schwab - king of the on-line brokers - has been so overrun by the demand to get in on the techno share bubble that it is taking on 400 more staff at its call centre in Milton Keynes. It hasn't quite got to that stage in Ireland yet, but ask stockbrokers privately and they will grin with glee about the new breed of punter who really couldn't care less about bluechips like AIB, Bank of Ireland, CRH, Smurfit et al. This new breed are all about making quick gains and that means buying into the likes of Trintech, Baltimore, Horizon and Esat.
But how clued in is the typical new techno-investor? Is he/she aware of the likes of CBT (sorry, Smartforce), Iona, Icon etc - all of which sank like a stone on Nasdaq after making stunning debuts.
There's no suggestion that the current go-go stocks like Trintech, Baltimore or Horizon will go the same way, but there is still a fear that some Irish investors are getting carried away with the potential gains of investing in high-tech shares without paying too much attention to the pitfalls.
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