This is a company listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange and the price of the shares is currently €39,39.  It has a PE ratio of 27.3.  The company’s price shot up from €30,00 in August to €40,00 by October on the good news, for the company, that its E-toll project in South Africa would go ahead.  It has subsequently traded as high as €45,00 but due to a write down on the project, they are back at €40,00.  The write down relates to opposition to the project in Gauteng and as a result they received less compensation from the project than they anticipated.  I think that this is a perfect illustration of the role of a Stock Market and how, with a well researched opinion, you can ultimately make money – but it also illustrates how nothing is certain.  Just as some people may feel that the E-toll system is guaranteed to succeed and buying a share is now a sure bet on good profits, there will be others who will tell you that collection of the money that has to be paid will prove impossible, that opposition to the system will eventually make it fail and that they would never buy the share.  Time of course will reveal the answers for everyone and with hindsight, everything always does look obvious.  Building a share portfolio, slowly buying into shares that you believe are going to do well, as Warren Buffet has shown, can certainly lead to wealth.  It is a little bit harder to buy international shares, but all online brokers in South Africa do provide an off-shore facility for their clients and for example, for R10 000,00 right now could buy you 17 shares of the company.  Let’s see how it is doing in 18 months.