Investors loaded up on these shares this morning.
For the second day running, Borders & Southern Petroleum (LSE: BOR) was the share most frequently bought by stockbroker TD Direct Investing's individual clients between the market's opening and 12 noon.
The reason? A 71% fall from Friday's close of 62p to 18p yesterday, with a further fall of 6% to 17p at the time of writing.
A bargain priced to go -- or a falling knife, set to spear investors foolhardy enough to reach out for it?
David Kuo's analysis yesterday laid out the facts regarding the dry well south of the Falklands that Borders has now abandoned, and also highlighted which fellow Falklands oilie could be a beneficiary, thanks to taking up Borders' now un-needed oil rig.
So perhaps we shouldn't be surprised, then, to see that very company -- Falkland Oil & Gas (LSE: FOGL) -- ranked second in the list of shares most bought by TD Direct Investing's individual clients between the market's opening and 12 noon.
And TD Direct's clients sensed bargain prices among the big boys, too. Barclays (LSE: BARC) was the third most-bought share this morning, as testimony from Bank of England governor Sir Mervyn King painted a damning picture of former Barclays boss Bob Diamond's time at the helm of Barclays and Barclays Capital.
According to the BBC, the FSA's Lord Turner and Sir Mervyn King had regarded Mr Diamond as "the individual most responsible for an unacceptable culture at the top of Barclays". "The Barclays board... was deeply reluctant to face up to [our] concerns," Sir Mervyn told MPs.
Just behind Barclays, Aviva (LSE: AV) was the fourth most-bought share this morning. Investors, seemingly, are brushing aside concerns over the sustainability of the dividend, and are hoping that asset sales and end to the reign of former CEO Andrew Moss will herald a turnaround in both the business and its share price.
Finally, out of nowhere, Yell Group (LSE: YELL) makes an appearance as the fifth most-bought share this morning.
Why? With no results being issued, no RNS, and no brokers' or other news, it seems that bottom-fishers are sensing that a share on a forecast price-to-earnings ratio of 0.3 -- and which has lost 99% of its value -- may have only one direction to go.
Are they right? Time will tell.
Finally, what are super-investors Neil Woodford and Warren Buffett buying today? We can't tell you that, but we can tell you the names of the shares that they've been buying in the recent past -- and why they've been buying them.
So download this free report to discover the shares that interest Neil Woodford right now, and this free report to learn the name of the blockbuster British share that Warren Buffett has been buying recently.
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> Malcolm holds shares in Aviva, but has no interest in any other of the shares listed.
Disclaimer: The TD Direct Investing (www.tddirectinvesting.co.uk) list of Top Ten Buys should not be taken as a recommendation to buy or sell any particular bond or stock, and is not intended as any form of advice. Instead, it is simply an indication of the general buying trends among TD Direct Investing customers during the period stated.
