When Wall Street crumbled on Monday, Denis O'Brien's sale of 200,000 shares in Esat Telecom at $31 each last July certainly appeared to have been further evidence of his golden touch.

At the time he disposed of the shares, some thought that the Esat chairman might have mistimed the sale given that the stock soared to an all-time high over $44 not long after the secondary share offering. That rise in the share price meant that he missed out on a potential $2.2 million (£1.6 million) gain.

But when Esat shares were decimated on Nasdaq on Monday - down $7 to $22 or 24 per cent - O'Brien had effectively saved $1.8 million (£1.3 million) by selling in July.

Swings and roundabouts prevailed, however, as the share price recovered on Tuesday.