So.. a bizarre 'elf and safety row with no less than Starbucks!
I was meeting a friend and ordered a couple of short cappuchinos with wholemilk as usual.
Remember always order a "short" size in Starbucks. Don't ask for "small" because you still get a big cup mainly just hot milk. A "short" is the real small and way cheaper. It's not on the menu but the short cups are there!
Anyway the server said she only had skimmed milk. As I explained cappuchinos made with skimmed taste horrible - it's like white water. Yuk!
I said as a top coffee shop they ought to have proper milk. So I popped to the shop next door and bought a pint of wholemilk!
On handing it over she said she couldn't make me coffee using that milk because of "health and safety". I laughed, unbelievable.
The manager arrived on the scene. "Yes," he said. "Health and safety". As if that explained everything!
"So, I said. "At last I get to meet someone from the elf and safety nonsense brigade. "

You're a young guy, do you really want to be so ridiculous? Do you want to be one of those people that everyone despises?"
"It's health and safety," he explained again.
"Can I ask you what could possibly happen?" I ask.
"Have I poisoned my own milk which is sealed anyway.. is the barista going to slip over my milk and die? Or once made do you think I'm going to throw the drink all over myself? How can this possibly be anything to do with health and safety."
"Um," he said. He couldn't come up with anything.

"If you don't use this milk, " I added helpfully. "I shall stand here getting crosser and crosser and this is not going to be good for the store..."
He caved. "Ok," he said. "Make the coffees..." He caved even further and gave me a voucher for a free coffee next time..
"Do you want the rest of your milk?" asked the server after she made the coffees. "Well," I said. "I would hate to put the health and safety of your other customers at risk...."
I then suddenly remembered after all the kerfuffle I hadn't paid! Well, sod it I thought. I deserve these free now anyway.
Nice one - three free coffees including the free voucher.
But I could hardly believe my luck on sitting down and opening the top of the paper cup! Yes, oh joy.. there was a hair in it!!!
I bounced back to the counter. "Talking of health and safety," I said. "There is a hair in my coffee!"
The barista looked at it. "I don't think it's mine."
"It can't possibly be mine," I countered. "Given that I'm bald!!"
I can't tell you how much I enjoyed saying that!

The manager apologised profusely though what he thought about me could probably be put into one word, you know the one.
They made me another one and I got another free voucher!
So, I can safely say the final score was: Robbie 4 Heath and safety department 0. (After extra time)
Talking elf and safety, councils are apparently wasting millions doing "topple tests" on gravestones. And removing those they consider unsafe.
For goodness sake - have you ever heard of anyone being hurt by a toppling gravestone?!
Aren't the long sunny evenings brilliant? We've been getting up and about on our bikes in the evening with Christopher.
Now he can ride a little with stabilisers it's so much fun. He gets thirsty though so we have to stop off at pubs for orange and water!
A very kind reader who happens to be a Fulham FC season ticket holder has invited me to the Aston Villa game on May 9th - of course I accepted with pleasure!
Many thanks for the invite - you know you are.. look forwards to it as we beat AV 2-1!
Tomorrow's going to be interesting - doing a follow up seminar with a small group of you who've been to one of my previous seminars.
Even better is I don't have to do all the work this time as I'm doing it with an excellent professional trader and we're looking at shorter-term trading.
I hope it will be an interesting and fun day and I hope to learn a few things myself.
See you all there around 10am. I've met most of you more than once already so looking forwards to seeing many old friends again.
Sadly the hotel doesn't do a hot meal on Saturdays but they promised a decent "working lunch". Hopefully if the sun shines we can eat it out in the nice little garden they have.
Anyway, see you folks who are coming tomorrow and hope it's going to be a fascinating day.
For those of you who've been to a seminar of mine if you're interested in one of these smaller follow up events let me know as I might do another in the autumn.
Thanks for all the lovely feedback about the last normal seminar, I'm blushing. I would print them all but I think it would possibly look a bit sick if you know what I mean but I print one today.
Usually I wouldn't do another seminar till the end of June but I've added an extra May seminar his year as there seems a lot of interest - so it is only 3 weeks away - on Friday May 15th.

At current rate of booking it will probably be sold out sometime next week so if you are interested don't leave it fr too much longer!

Mail me at robbiethetrader@aol.com for details with "Seminar interested" in the subject line if you're interested in coming along.

It's designed for beginners, dabblers and improvers and deals with everything from how to look for winners, how to research, spreadbetting, level 2 use how to time trades and short, how to use advfn properly and run your portfolio without having to spend money on systems and tipsters.. and tons more.

A lot of the day comes directly from the live markets and I show you many of the tricks I use to get good prices live. And there might even be the odd live trade or 2!

There is more detail on the seminar below.
Thanks for the great spreadbetting stories - winning and losing stories for my upcoming spreadbetting book welcome at.. thenakedtrader@aol.com (spread stories ONLY to this address please!! -please use my normal address for anything else).

Did you lose spreadbetting? Why and what happened? Or have you found it easy and you're a winner? Tell me! Anyone whose story I use gets a free copy.

Hurrah! Spreadbetting firm Tradefair (Betfair's sister) has upped its offer exclusively to Naked Trader readers to a £100 credit!
I've been using them for a few weeks to check that I'm happy with the service. As you know I don't take ads or allow referrals on the site unless it's a company I've used and I feel confident about.
What I like about it is it's easy to use, spreads are surprisingly tight on the smaller companies and interestingly an automated stop loss is applied to each trade - so beginners know what their max loss is from the outset.
Anyway they now offer a £100 credit as long as you deposit £100. You get the credit after you placed 2 trades (non equity)

If you'd like to open an account with Tradefair and get the freebie and try them out e-mail me at robbiethetrader@aol.com with "Tradefair" in the subject line and I'll send you info on how to claim the new £100 credit.
Still with BT for your phone line? Why? Move over to Utilities Discount Warehouse under me and pay just £8.99 for your line rental, and deal with a nice company. I get commission and in return you get my e-mail - this site into your mailbox at every update!

You could also add energy, guaranteed cheaper than the top 6 suppliers and get the lot on one bill every month. Mail me at robbiethetrader@aol.com if you fancy it. Easy to do!

I'm glad to say MF Global has improved its offer to readers....
First you get a free £2 bet on the FTSE.. and secondly when you place your first bet with them they will cover the potential loss of up to £100 if the trade moves against you.
I use MF Global myself for spreadbets on the smaller companies as they have more online than anyone else and offer spreads on pretty much everything.
To take up the offer either click the MF banner you should find somewhere on this page, or cut and paste this link into your browser and you can sign up online:
http://tinyurl.com/c524ku
Terms and conditions obviously apply, check them on that link.. I think those are good offers.

Many of you enjoy the cheap advfn toplists bronze deal through me as do many of you with the cheap level 2. However many of you say you want a half-way house to include real-time share prices always on.
So I'm pleased to announce I've managed to seal a new deal with Advfn for its "Silver" service - that's always on real-time share prices for a good saving (Bronze toplists etc are included in this).
The deal is via me you can save £30 for your first year by paying just £138.06 inc vat via me instead of £167.47.
Just mail me for full details if you'd like it with "silver" in the subject line.
The money - real money - is already coming on from my own internet shopping site which is at www.ei42.com/nakedtrader.

In fact I've already made £1,000 - that's in a very short time and as this grows I think there could be a very good income there.

YOU can make money out of this too - by simply doing your online shopping as normal but via your site (it costs nothing) and then tell friends to open their shopping site using the link from yours - you then get commission on their buys!
Have a look at this link:

http://www.ei42.com/Nakedtrader/

So for free you can sign up and get this site for yourself.

Everytime you buy anything yourself on your site you get commission.. So if you normally shop online anyway it's a no brainer: just use your own site instead of going direct and get some commission every time you shop.
Then you just get some friends to sign up and get their own site too - when they do online shopping using their mall, you get commission too. Simple as that.
It's all explained on the site top right.. just click "Make money with your own shop find out more" and it's all explained. Or click here

http://www.ei42.com/?10850514
So you just shop away as normal - but now you earn commission - and there's also decent money off coupons too on top of that!

They've just re-published "The Zulu Principle" by Jim Slater who's written a 2008 update at the beginning.
This is a brilliant classic book. Reading this is a real pleasure and it was a great idea to republish.
Jim believes like I do the best gains can come from smaller stocks and in an easy to read style takes you through how to evaluate smaller companies that are about to become bigger ones - he uses some excellent examples.
Really this is a must read for all more longer-term investors or anyone looking to grow their money... a number of you have also written to me about this book and praising it.
Here is the link to buy it:

http://books.global-investor.com/books/167207.htm?ginPtrCode=10453
Here's a very topical one: The Little Book of Bull Moves in Bear Markets by Peter Schiff.
The book is all about how to keep portfolios up in a down market. He focusses a lot on how to play commodities and win with some sensible advice especially on natural resources and precious metals. He is very much a realist and there is no rubbish here: some straight talking and some interesting strategies.
Everyone who invests should think seriously about keeping portfolios up in bad times so this book should be read.
Well worth picking up at this link:

http://books.global-investor.com/books/271958.htm?ginPtrCode=10453
To order my new book Naked Trader 2 for next day delivery click this link... or the cover of the book top right!
http://books.global-investor.com/books/27120.htm?ginPtrCode=10453
I've had heaps and heaps of praise from many of you regarding The Financial Spreadbetting book.
The book really seems to have helped a lot of you understand spreadbetting a lot more than you did. You say it's really helped you with ideas too. The writer deserves commendation. With the ability to go short so important in these volatile markets, it's a must read. To order click this link... http://books.global-investor.com/books/23307.htm?ginPtrCode=10453
Several people have asked me for a recommendation on a book which shows how to study accounts in a reasonably easy way. The one I like the most is http://books.global-investor.com/books/15717.htm?ginPtrCode=10453 by Robert Leach. Ten crunch questions to ask before buying any company.
It' s a decent easy-to-read book with several key chapters and it's highly recommended. It's one I keep and dip into from time to time. To order, click this link... http://books.global-investor.com/books/15717.htm?ginPtrCode=10453
The best book on charting and easiest read on the subject is http://books.global-investor.com/books/15618.htm?ginPtrCode=10453 by Alistair Blair. Click here -> http://books.global-investor.com/books/15618.htm?ginPtrCode=10453
Another good one is the second edition of http://books.global-investor.com/books/23792.htm?ginPtrCode=10453 by Peter Temple. Included in this one is how to use spreadbetting, CFD's warrants and trackers to reduce risk. And there are some decent trading strategies too.
This is an excellent book for new investors and also experienced ones. It explains all the things you may not be sure about in the markets and will explain the tools that are there. To order The Investors Toolbox by Peter Temple (new edition) click the following link for delivery in 24 hours... http://books.global-investor.com/books/23792.htm?ginPtrCode=10453

Fancy spending a day with me, learning all the ways I have learned over the years to find good shares and play the markets? Well, you can at one of my seminars!
Booking is still open for the next Naked Trader seminar on Friday May 15th. Price is £495 plus 15% vat. However there is a large early booking discount available!

That includes three course lunch, Starbucks coffee, parking etc. And most importantly it covers choc bars and fruit gums too.

The seminar is mainly aimed at beginners and dabblers though improvers are welcome too.
Topics covered using live market feeds all day include: Market psychology, level 2 - a simple guide to how to use it for better timing; how to value companies; finding companies that are about to rise. I will also cover techniques for handling events such as the recent meltdown and volatility.
Spreadbetting: How to use it to gain an edge and go short. Market makers - how they work and how to beat them; how to stop losing money and make it instead and plenty more.
How to plan trade entries and exits - how to research companies and understand reports, plus all those niggly questions you always wanted to ask. How to set stop losses and targets. Charts and how to use them.
Also covered: Market maker tricks: How to spot tree shakes and use them in your favour, How to tell when NOT to buy a share. I use live ADVFN all day with lots of level 2 and looks at all kind of live market data.
The idea behind the seminar is SIMPLICITY. I don't use jargon or fancy words - everything is in PLAIN ENGLISH! No question is too stupid and the event is held in a friendly relaxed and supportive environment.
The idea is you will come away from the event I hope a wise and better investor with lots of new ideas. I try and translate complex topics into easy bite size pieces. I also aim for it to be entertaining as well as instructive.
If you are interested please e-mail me at robbiethetrader@aol.com with "May seminar interested" in the subject line and I will send you full details of the event including comments from those who have come to previous seminars and you can then decide whether you would like to come. See you there!

One seminar attendee Clare wanted to write a testimonial about her experiences at the seminar which follows now!
"I've just come back buzzing from one of Robbie's seminars. What a day! He's just brilliant, and manages to pack an awful lot into one day, and with his enthusiastic and humorous delivery the day just flies by. There are no gimmicks, no sell, no "˜get-rich-quick' promises, just his own solid, sound approach which he has learnt over the years and which works.
He shows you how to minimise the risks and maximise the profits and points out the banana skins on the way. Where the seminar really comes into its own is when he teaches using live level 2. Hearing him talk through his thought processes and reasoning is invaluable, and really brings home everything from the book. He has endless patience answering peoples' questions, and really seems to care that everybody understands.
On top of that, you meet some really nice like minded people and swap e mail addresses, you're plied with
chocolates and coffee all day, have a great lunch and spend the evening getting tiddled with Robbie in the
bar afterwards! You might even get to see the amazing crocodile boots . . . .

Don't worry about the cost, it's easily worth it, and you'll soon make it back with your new-found investment skills, and in what you're no longer losing. If you're thinking of going along to his next seminar, whether you're a novice or an experienced trader, don't hesitate ""just go!
Thanks Clare, did you want the tenner in cash, or will a cheque do?

Exclusive One Point Spread, £250 Cashback Offer

Still a massive response coming in for the sensational 1 point indices spread offer plus £250 cash back on losses - my mail box continues to be full of enquires - don't miss out!
I have arranged a deal with a spreadbet company that gives you just ONE POINT spreads on all the major indices and very tight spreads on everything else. A one point spread is just amazing and you can use it on the FTSE, DOW, Nikkei etc...
Not only that, I can offer those of you interested a fantastic £250 cash back on any realised spreadbet losses made within your first 8 weeks. That means you get back any losses up to £250 which could come in extremely handy.
If you'd like the details of this offer just mail me at robbiethetrader@aol.com with "£250 cashback offer" in the subject line. This really is a great offer which will have a limited lifespan so if you want it, get cracking!

. Mf Global Spreads is one of the few companies that offers spreads on smaller companies valued at just £6m or more, including AIM stocks. And you can trade them online too.
So now you CAN deal in small companies without having to actually buy the shares in the market and you can deal in them on margin if you wish.
Every naked trader reader who opens an account with them though me will get a completely free £2 a point bet on the daily FTSE on a day of your choice.
As you can imagine get it right and this free bet could be worth a few quid. The bet cannot be a loser, because if you lose, it is as if you never placed it!

And MF now also offers £100 refund on your first bet if it becomes a loser.
So here is your chance to open an account to spread bet the smaller companies - of course you can deal in the whole range of usual spread betting with them too including the bigger companies and indices bets as well.
To take up what I think is a brilliant offer, simply cut and paste this link into your browser and sign up online:

http://tinyurl.com/c524ku

I've started using Tradefair for spreadbetting - I like the auto generated stop losses which help to maintain discipline and that's good for beginners I think. And exclusively for Naked Trader readers they upped the offer to £100 credit!

So there's now a £100 credit on offer for anyone opening an account via me. You get that after 2 spreadbets (non equity).

To get the offer, click here:

http://promo.tradefair.com/nakedtrader100/

One thing I wonder: How do people like Darling and co end up so... BORING?
Sitting there in their crumpled suits, must be the parents I suppose. Anyway Darling has now left the country for a few days. A good time to go after the worst budget in our lifetime.
if the UK were a listed stock market company I'd be shorting it like crazy.
What a disastrous debt. How Darling and Brown have even the nerve to face us incredible. oh but they blame it on a worldwide thing. It was nothing to do with them and of course nothing ever is their fault.
We now realise new labour was build on a whole pack of nothing. And mostly Tony Blair who must be having a good laugh now.
Not cutting public spending and forecasting a return to growth is pure stupidity.
And putting the top rate up to 50% is a bad move.
people who earn a lot of money spend it - they employ a lot of people. Perhaps gardeners, cleaners etc. What do you think they'll do? yes, that's right they will let some people go.
Not only does this top tax rate raise little, it will mean even more jobs will go and be bad for the economy. Much better to have put up vat to 20%.
What isn't in the headlines is those on 100k plus will lose their personal allowances and end up paying nearer 65% tax in all. Not much incentive to work hard is it?
Oh dear. Another couple of terrible performances from the Apprentice teams.
The worst was obviously the Wake Up Call Cereal with Mr Pants. How can anyone have thought a campaign with the name "pants" in it was going to be anything other than.. well.. pants?
They managed it though. Have you noticed now every time there is a loud-mouthed villain who seems to get away with it?
Phillip should have been fired for the pants idea but of course he is needed to bring a villainous air to future episodes. None of this matters as long as you realise the whole thing is just entertainment and nothing to do with business or a "job" with SirA.
The first team had a better idea with the pirates, well except presume it was filmed before all the furore going on with real pirates right now.
Anyway great fun as usual to watch the useless loudmouths bickering with each other over how one was more useless than the other. Real business people are of course too busy doing real business to appear on the show and let's be honest, a real businessman to be wouldn't really want a job with Sir A.
You get the feeling it's better to finish second or third and pick up a lucrative media career for a while than actually get the job.
If you want to bet on sport here's the sign up link, very large free bets for newbies: To open a Sporting account click here:
http://www.sportingindex.com/?tpid=6755
Do remember if you do bet you ought to treat sports spreadbetting as entertainment - and expect to lose! Also with spreadbetting work out what your max loss could be and make sure you can afford it! In other words if you say backed the favourite at 15 for a fiver and they come nowhere your max loss is £75.

Rodger writes:
Good to read that you are doing ok in these financial turbulent times.
Take a daily aspirin! They help to avoid heart problems!
Life has thrown me a curve ball. I have just come out of hospital having. I suffered a heart attack and me only 56! Looks like I will make a good recovery and will be able to lead a full life. No particular reason for it. I reckon
I was just one of the 0.5% who are likely to get a heart attack despite all having all the right boxes ticked in the health check list etc. So, now I have 6 - 7 weeks
to get back up to speed and I will be popping a few pills now for the rest of my life. Hey ho.
The time off work will give me a chance to get my portfolio sorted and make some life changing decisions. Life is too short to hang around waiting. So, plans I be a making to do some travelling and see some sights soonerrather than later.

Hi Rodger.
So sorry to hear about the attack at such a young age, it could happen to anyone. I suppose we al ought to imagine the same had happened to us and live each day as well as possible. Life is indeed to short to hang about waiting.
My wife's dad had an attack a couple of years ago at 68 and is living life to the full. And it sounds like you're going to do the same. All the best for seeing the sights and let us know how you get on..

Sue writes:
I hope your voice is recovering and you are feeling better after persevering till late with your epic trading seminar last Friday.

Wow what a day that was! I can't remember the last time I went to an event where my eyes and ears were glued to the presenter for the entire day. Even the graveyard slot wasn't a problem for concentration and that is a real first! Thank you for such an educational, enlightening and inspiring seminar, for sharing your methodology, your tips and your encouragement with passion and great humour.

I found your book a real eye opener, but your seminar has since given me the confidence to take charge of my own investments and armed me with knowledge of the tools to do the job. My heart sank when I read your book and realised that I was guilty of so many of the mistake / loser scenarios in your book. I now see those mistakes as hard earned and costly lessons, but know what I must do to put them behind me so I can move forward, away from my so called advisory broker.

It feels as if I turned a corner on Friday and this is the first week of my new trading life! I wish I had more daytime hours to devote, and will work towards getting some. I setup a virtual portfolio containing one share from each of those on your shortlist. Unbelievably, every one of those stocks finished the day with a change in blue yesterday! You are awesome, thank you.

Thanks Sue - this one is representative of some of the many mails about the event - thanks to all of you who wrote in and I've replied to you all personally. It is really personally rewarding for me.

Richard writes:
Re The Apprentice "Madge" had as much go as a flat battery, tha'ts why he went. I'm not a betting man but my money, at the moment, is on the Estate Agent as either in 1st or 2nd place.
The female team leader came across as somewhere between a witch and a bitch. The female who did the sales pitch on the gym product seems like a really nice person but has no image, not her fault, but there it is.
"Ben" - can't believe he is even in the programme at all, he's no talent.
Male team leader was a very nice guy but totally out of his depth.
Agreed Richard!!

Keith writes:

Just finished reading your book, and I must say I enjoyed it immensely .So much so that I am going to read it again immediately to confirm that some of your ideas have stuck . Not only was it a good read , but it also confirmed that I am only doing a few things wrongly , not everything as unplanned as I thought .
One question though if you don't mind , where can I get relevant information regarding Aim listed companies which are moving up to the main market ? I don't seem to be able to find this info so far , and I wonder if you could point me in the right direction ?
Hi Keith..
There's no easy way.. I usually scan news items on advfn at 7am, a move is usually highlighted there - but there are only about 5-10 moves a year!

I have 3 great offers from ADVFN. First great deal: If you want level 2, though me it is only £299 for your first year including VAT!
This compares to £360 PLUS vat from ADVFN direct (£423) so this deal saves you over £100! ADVFN level 2 also includes all the live trades made through Plus Markets which I find invaluable.
To accept this great deal just e-mail me at robbiethetrader@aol.com with "Level 2 offer" in the subject line and I will tell you how to get it. Level 2 for only £299 for a year (including vat), or under £25 a month!!

Deal two is ADVFN's bronze subscription - normally £60pa - available from me for only £40! That's a saving of £20! You get access to the premium bulletin board which contains my discussion forum with direct access to chat to me and some very good traders.
Plus you get ADVFN's premium top lists which I talk about in my book and think are a must for finding great stock picks. That includes great lists like ex dividend dates, market maker buys plus chart breakouts and downs.
To take up the offer, e-mail me at robbiethetrader@aol.com with Bronze in the subject line and I will tell you how to claim the deal.

Deal three is ADVFN's silver subscription - for those of you who want all the benefits of Bronze AND always on real-time prices.. no more using the back button and getting frozen out!

The deal is via me you can save £30 for your first year by paying just £138.06 inc vat via me instead of £167.47.
Just mail me at robbiethetrader@aol.com if you'd like this deal with "silver" in the subject line.

Want to try out broker Selftrade superb trading system for no risk? You only have to trade once to get £50 bunged into your account!
All deals are just £12.50 with no funny small print. So it's a no lose situation! Follow this link...

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Well, I don't know what to make of it. Economies are still in trouble yet the markets appear to be going up - not only that but nearly all the shares I have continue to boom ever higher.
So though I'm glad I held onto them rather than selling too early I'm getting a bit nervous for how long can the rises really keep going?
Are there going to be a whole band of new buyers coming in?
Just now I nearly decided to go through the whole lot and bank everything. Then greed stopped me. And fear will make me take the profits too late after everything's gone down!
Still with some shares having doubled it won't matter that much if I let a bit of profit slip.
Anyway I'll shut up and here are recent trades.
Galiform ( GFRM) has been a superb performer. Bought at under 20 it's now at 27 which is more than 30% profit already. I do like topping up on winners so bought a further 10,000 at 25.9. Target 40 stop 20. I hope The Times suggestion that Travis Perkins might make a bid isn't just hot air and would be hopeful of 40p. I also topped up on the spreads with £100 at 26.
I hate Celsis (CEL). Everytime I buy and sit on it it goes up a little bit and then I get bored and sell it and make about a tenner! Anyway like an old fool I bought it again, 2,000 at 176 because I saw a big buyer at 174 and followed in. I expect to sell at 178 in about a month to take another tenner. Target 200 stop 150. Maybe this time I can be more patient.
After my success with Heritage I've been looking around the fully listed oilers trying to find another winner/bid target and came across Hardy Oil (HDY) and bought a very speculative 1,500 at 234.9 and £15 on the spreads at 233.
I think Hardy looks like it's been overlooked a bit in the recent upturn for the smaller oil companies and I can also put it in my ISA. Interesting as it's one of those like others that could suddenly soar up - I'm targetting 350 with a stop of 210.
I've got a buy order in on the order book for another 1,500 HDY at 235.25 - those of you with level 2 should be able to see it, placed at 13.52 today! Hoping I will get them! (Good for today only) Of course if the order vanishes today it means I did get them, ie buy at the current "sell" price..
I re-bought Charter CHTR on the spreads as it headed to the bottom of its quite clearly defined range and got £20 at 471. Very pleased with it so far but this time unless it goes straight through, I hope to take profits in the 550 area. Target 555 stop 450.
North Midland was never going to be a great buy and I'm out at 155 (not bad as the published sell price is 140) for a profit of £50. As sod's law has it it's gone up 5p since I sold and will probably soar on Monday!
Well, the portfolio is still packed full of winners and I remain delighted but confused on the profit-taking. I almost wish the market would tank to make the decision easier.
Anyway Heritage remains the biggest winner, more than doubled on the first lot and the other positions look good too. It's stalling just before the 400 area which isn't surprising but still hoping for a fiver. If it can crack 400, that would look bullish and hoping for a bid at 500 or more.
Alterian remains on the march upwards - interesting to see whether it can crack 100 and good profits building here. Profits in Scott Wilson good too and it's found support at 70.
WSH Group looks good and strong - 250 support there now, if it can crack the 300 I wouldn't be surprised to see it get up to the 350 area. Good company and very good profits for me there.
My bid target favourite from the last seminar Microgen is quietly but surely heading back upwards. It's the quiet little risers than often end up producing the best profits.
Chime's still ringing the bell on profits, can it get above 100 though? Workspace remains in good profit but still a seller around. Morse produced a pretty horrible statement today and I was about to sell but it's been going steadily up all day, so I'm a bit bemused.
Huge profits now in New Brit Palm Oil, as prices climb looks like it could get past 400. Dragon, Petrofac, also great profits.
Goodness me I've nearly trebled my money on Barclays! Quite amazing and something I never expected.
So all in all remain delighted with the huge profits sitting there. However they are all only "on paper" and maybe I continue to be crazy not to press the take profits button.
I do rather suspect once I press one take profits button I'll probably sell most of them, bank and have a nice summer with my money already made for the year. Then again I do love trading so I guess I'll always have something on the go!
I've been getting e-mails regarding my use of direct market access and who I use. I've tried a few and for me the easiest system for me is here:

http://www.igmarkets.co.uk/?QPID=1079&QPPID=1
Direct market access means you can place orders directly onto the order book bypassing brokers and market-makers with a chance to buy at the "sell" price. I would suggest you ensure you know what you're doing first but IG does provide much education with its "tradesense" educational tool which comes with it.
I also use its spreadbetting service too along with other firms like Tradefair because it now provides trailing stops which to me is a pretty sensible way of trading. Link is here: -
http://www.igindex.co.uk/?QPID=1078&QPPID=1

that also includes a pretty decent educational programme. As usual before opening accounts please read all the warnings on the sites. You can lose a lot of money if you're not careful so pay close attention to them and make sure you always understand what you are doing and what your potential losses are.

I've also started using Tradefair for spreadbetting - I like the auto generated stop losses which help to maintain discipline and that's good for beginners I think. And exclusively for Naked Trader readers they upped the offer to £100 credit!

So there's now a £100 credit on offer for anyone opening an account via me. You get that after 2 spreadbets (non equity).

To get the offer, click here:

http://promo.tradefair.com/nakedtrader100/

If you want to get the contents of The Naked Trader website into your mailbox instead of waiting for the update to come through, plus exclusively news on the progress of my SIPP from the old Sunday Times column inc new higher risk Aim buys made for that, e-mail me at robbiethetrader@aol.com with SIPP in the subject line for details of how to get it.

Want to quit the rat race? Try and start a new source of income so one day you can tell the boss to stuff it? You could do what I did to escape my grotty office job and become an independent distributor for the Utilities Discount Warehouse.
You get to sell great broadband, phone packages and energy to friends, relatives, contacts and anyone else you find and you get cash for each sale but more importantly you get a cut of their spend EVERY MONTH for as long as they are a customer!
It's called residual income and is a far better way to enjoy a ripe old age than relying on a pension. Because even after you stop selling the money STILL comes in!
I still get paid EVERY MONTH for sales I made back in 1999! Every time a customer uses broadband or the phone or switches on a light you get paid.
It's a great business and backed by a stock market company (Telecom Plus), a dedicated team of advisors.. and me to help you on your way!
Not only do you get paid out every month for each customer you can take on distributors. encourage them like I do and get paid on their sales as well.
One day, say you could made redundant, needed a year off or wanted to retire early can you imagine what joy it is to have the regular income coming in. It's wonderful.
You have to work at it, but if you do genuine repeat wealth could be yours. I did it. You can too. For full details, why not email me at robbiethetrader@aol.com.
An overview is also available at http://www.telecomplus.org.uk/fabdeal you can sign up directly there but do tell me!
****
Trade tables follow! Trades are current open and recently closed trades. Closed trades feature the closing price and the amount I won or lost. All others are open. Trades get updated a little later than the narrative. Trading costs are ignored, however I also do not add in dividend payments and with the kinds of companies I buy, dividends tend to equal or outweigh costs. Spread rollovers ignored for web purposes. Tables as accurate as poss however a mistake or two can creep in and very occasionally if I forgot I sold or bought something it will be added at a later time.

Trades first reported Weds and Fri afternoons under "Markets" section.. afraid I can't do live trades as that would turn me into a tipster and I'd have to be regulated!