Pierpont was a mite perturbed. Nothing to speak of really: just a shadow on his mind as he sat in the Croesus Club the other day sipping his third - or it may have been his fourth - Bollinger for the morning. Pierpont was enjoying aperitif hour with Leo Liability, the stockbroker who has never knowingly put a client into a good stock.

"I say, Leo," your correspondent asked. "What's happening to Charters Towers Gold? They're supposed to be digging up all the gold in the world, but the share price has drifted from 70c to 50c over the last six months."