Quickstep for man, giant leap for Pottsy

Locally, so unconstrained was the joy at the ASX that everybody there decamped to the pub to enjoy a well-deserved liquid lunch for a handful of hours.

Bless 'em. Let's just hope those fellows at Chi-X are as merry a bunch.

Pottsy certainly knows how to party and he leads the conga line of capitalists at the end of week one, showing off some fancy footwork with a 48 per cent return from aerospace materials manufacturer Quickstep.

Next in line is resident chart whisperer Richard Pritchard, who won big with respiratory medicine developer Pharmaxis.

It was looking like an old-school shares race trifecta but busting into the top three is reader Garry Scott, after a trio of his stocks - Fortescue, JB Hi-Fi and Rio Tinto - all jumped more than 10 per cent. But Garry must be able to hear the flapping of astrologer Doreen Daze's cosmic robes, so close is she behind.

The best of the rest is year 7 student Rafael Ungar, who beat the market to stay within reach of the top three. So sensible, so prudent is this young chap, he invested his shares race play money in a dentistry business, 1300 Smiles. The rewards may not be apparent yet but we're sure he'll have a cavity-free portfolio by the end of the four weeks.

Nurse Denise Borthwick and retired valuer Jim Gracie are neck-and-neck behind Rafael, while Dartboard picked three companies that actually lost money. Sheesh.

Patrick Commins