IN usual style, the past year threw up an interesting flotsam and jetsam of stocks in the list of top 30 performers of the year.
Takeovers were behind most of the top five, with interesting property deals and a fair sprinkling of new listings making up the rest.
In the bottom 30, there are numerous tales of woe and investment stories that seem to have had a sorry ending.
The performances of Public International and Tung Wing Steel are linked to takeovers by mainland Chinese enterprises with Mr Li Ka-shing, to secure what are effectively ''back-door'' listings.
Mansion House, Chia Tai and Sing Tao have seen good financial results or are planning to make inroads to China.
Among the more mainstream companies putting in returns in excess of 60 per cent were new listings Giordano, Goldlion, Fairwood and Wo Kee Hong, providing long-term investors with satisfactory returns.
They are generally regarded as well-run operations in the buoyant retail markets for clothes, fast food and air-conditioners in China.