17.British Telecom, the first utility to be privatised, had listed in 1984. Many early punters had come and gone, leaving shareholders in 1997 bearing the burden.
19.They all laughed again at that, and waved us a pretty farewell as the punters set them over toward the other shore, and left us standing on the bank beside our boat.
20.The slick graphics explained how IPO shares are allocated, and reassured punters that-as is not the case at other brokers-order size, assets and the age of the account would play no part in whether a bid was accepted or not.