Well, Christopher was completely wrong!

The birthday present from Mrs NT did NOT begin with J. It began with I. Although I is just before J so Christopher can be forgiven.

It was an I Pod. But not just an I Pod. She'd spent months finding out all my favourite tunes and she's downloaded them all for me.

So when I go out for a jog no longer do I have to spend the whole time avoiding "I'm Every Woman" which seems to play on every radio station at 10am.

I was rather impressed Mrs NT had put so much effort into the pressie and it certainly made me feel loved! She'd managed to go through a lot of my CDs and downloaded stuff she thought I liked and got it spot on!

Christopher's favourite "I like to Move it, move it," is on there so he is eyeing up my I Pod...

Talking music, one vicar complained about the music played at funerals such as My Way. I tend to agree with him, surely My Way is a bit egotistical to play at your funeral.

So I have gone for "Shuttup your face" by Joe Dolce.

Part of the present is I can give her a list of things I like and she'll do all the downloading for me. Neat!

Now my jogs around the river are going to be a lot of fun.

My other present was a night out at one of Gordon Ramsay's restaurants The Boxtree.

A lovely evening but we both felt it wasn't as good as the other Michelin restaurant we like which isn't a big name but has better food.

The food was good - but not outstanding - and you can kind of see the profit margin built into each dish.

One or two empty tables around so you can see why his chain of restaurants appear to be losing money at the moment and why he had to sell his flash car and put millions in.

I guess without the TV shows they would have gone bust. Which is quite ironic given his TV shows are mostly about.. erm .. how to ensure your restaurant doesn't go bust ..

We had a great time attending the first night of the new play on at one of my sister's theatres the Vaudeville. "The Rise and Fall of Little Voice"

It's a good laugh all the way through and if you want a good night out I can recommend it - more details at my sister's website www.nimaxtheatres.com

The lead part of Little Voice is brilliantly played by last year's X Factor runner up Diane Vickers.

She has an amazing voice and to perform like that in a top West End show at just 18 is truly remarkable.

We went to the aftershow party which was very grand. Excellent canapes including fishcakes and bangers and mash.

Sadly being parents no longer could we stay till 2.30am - we had to get back for midnight for the poor old babysitter.

The play's had a number of good reviews and an excellent one in the Telegraph. Go for a good night out!

It's half-term week which as I'm sure other parents reading this are aware of - how the hell do you entertain the little ones for a whole week?

We don't have family back-up of any kind so there's no-one to help us.. makes it a little hard for me as I work from home but in the end I'd rather spend the time with him that worry about losing a few quid on shares. The few quid doesn't matter but he does!

However I am currently writing this from the depths of a massive playcentre - Christopher is busy going up and down a giant slide while I look at the markets. It's crazy here and I'm going to have to take an aspirin in a minute!

If you ever lost money spreadbetting, take heart. You could be financier Nick Levene who told the papers he has lost "Between £50m and £70m" on spreadbets due to a gambling addiction.

There. Told you you'd feel better. But when us ordinary folk lose we have a rough idea of how much. A £20m "not sure" is some going!

We're all very excited because tomorrow afternoon we're off to see the Moscow State Circus!

Can't wait and we're sure Christopher is gonna love it! Full report on Friday!

The number of emails to me is nearly reaching saturation point and I'm struggling! I'm getting 100s which is lovely in a way but killing me in another.
The main problem is the length of some of them, indeed some run to the length of novels, so, please, help save my eyes and please keep mails to under 150 words.. you can do it! It's close to the stage where I am going to have to say I will answer all mails but those over 200 words will get deleted. Keep them short and sweet, please!!
Also, it's possible the answer you seek from me is already in FAQ's. And do remember I can't discuss individual shares with you as it would be classified as investment advice which I'm not authorised to give.
If you missed last Friday's seminar there is one more left this year.
Booking is open for the very last seminar I intend doing this year - it'll be on Nov 27th at Heathrow.

There is a decent early bookers discount for that one! However that is about to end, so last chance saloon.

If interested in details mail me at robbiethetrader@aol.com with "November seminar interested" in the subject line and I will send you details.
My seminars are 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!
Spreadbetting firm Tradefair Spreads has upped its offer exclusively to Naked Trader readers to a £100 credit. This offer is exclusive to me and not available anywhere else...
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 (Terms and conditions apply)
If you'd like to apply for an account with Tradefair Spreads and get the freebie click this link:
http://promo.tradefair.com/nakedtrader100/
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!
MF Global offers a free £2 bet on the FTSE to all readers.
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

****NOVEMBER 27TH SEMINAR BOOKING NOW OPEN**(OCTOBER SEMINAR NOW SOLD OUT)
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 now open for the next Naked Trader seminar on Friday November 27th
Price is £495 plus 15% vat. But there is currently a decent early bookers discount on offer!
That includes three course lunch, coffees, snacks 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 "November 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!

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 (terms and conditions apply)
To get the offer, click here:
http://promo.tradefair.com/nakedtrader100/

This rubbish government continues to criminalise as many people as possible for minor offences while allowing the real villains to get away with it.

Record numbers of middle-aged people are being "˜criminalised' by target-chasing police.

The number of over-40s receiving a first conviction or caution has increased by half since 2001. After decades of abiding by the law, people are being punished for crimes such as motoring offences or refusing to pay wheelie-bin fines.

Police are trying to meet the targets imposed by Labour and give the same weight to catching a speeding motorist as to snaring a rapist or paedophile.

Parliamentary answers show the number of first-time entrants to the criminal justice system who are over 50 increased by 46.3 per cent between 2000/01 and 2007/08, from 16,400 to 24,000.

In the 40-49 age group, the leap was 57.4 per cent, with 32,900 previously law-abiding people being criminalised.

The increases in the middle-aged groups far outstripped the general picture. In the population as a whole, there was a rise of just 18.6 per cent.

This is all pretty sad. If you say, get burgled these days you pretty much kn ow that no-one will bother to investigate.

But stray into a yellow box junction and you'll probably be surrounded by four police officers.

Let's hope the upcoming new government scraps targets, stops harrassing the middle classes to get money off them, and go after the real criminals.

From a reader:

Our government is trying to introduce legislation that will meanthat if a motorist is accused of an offence and is taken to court
by the police, in future, even if that motorist is acquitted and found not guilty, he or she will still be liable to pay all their own legal and court costs.

Up to now the system here in the UK is that the loser in a legal dispute pays the costs - as it should be. But apparently, with 400,000 cases each year being found not guilty, the government is concerned that its legal costs are too high.

So rather than instruct the police to target real crime and stop trying to keep their statistics up by going after the easy target of motorists - or, and here is a novel idea, prepare their cases
better - they have come up with this silly and downright onerous solution."

I thought the Warren Buffet programme was very interesting but didn't give much insight into the stock market.

I didn't realise that Buffet really made his money from buying up companies and turning them around.

A lot of his rules make sense especially "Never be afraid to break your own rules."

Interesting that he decided what a company's valuation should be and buys if he thinks too low. He takes no notice of market commentators and things like Bloomberg. Rightly, he ignores Market Noise.

Enjoyed the final Peep Show. It's really improved - catch it on the net if you've not caught it yet.

And Curb continues to delight - More 4 on Thursday evenings.

Wouldn't it be great if the gruesome twins win the X Factor? Just to see Simon Cowell's reaction. Go on - vote for them - you know you want to!

If you press "Sports" there is a preview of the weekend's sports betting action and a look at the weekend games.
Get to grips with sports spread betting by opening an account with Sporting Index. . Click the link below to find out more.
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.

Mark writes:

Thanks for the Seminar on Friday it was by far the best use of a day I have had for a very long time (admittedly most of the previous seminars ones have been I.T. related !) .

My main goal from the day was to see whether your book and approach was really a scam (or at least
more difficult than it seemed , and whether it would simply be a 'selling at the mugs' day, as it were... if it was , I missed it !, as I was extremely impressed by your approach , your honesty and generosity
in explaining your ideas and processes.

Thanks Mark, one of many nice mails, glad you enjoyed it.
Andy writes:
Just read your latest update in which you mention the Vetting and Barring scheme, covering children/vulnerable adults and volunteers and your opposition to it. I couldn't agree more and I am becoming increasingly concerned at the Stasi like nature of this government. Are you also aware that the government are now proposing that anybody who wants to rent a room out in their own home, even if this is to a friend will have to register on a national database. Incredible.. As a former landlord and tenant, I like to think that I can see both sides of the landlord/tenant arguments but I fail to see what a database will achieve other than reduce the amount of accommodation on offer. As I understand it, landlords won't have to be vetted before they sign up so I can't see how it will benefit the tenant. Far better to have a database of landlords who have already been convicted of bad management coupled with a database of bad tenants. I am quite sure that this control freak government will soon be trying to attend our children's birthday parties with a clipboard to ensure the right food is being served and that there is the right ethnic mix etc etc. It really is time that people stood up and said enough is enough.
I have been discussing the Vetting scheme with my partner's mother who is a former teacher and in favour of the scheme. She says it won't apply to informal arrangements between parents but only to a situation where, for example, a parent is used regularly by the school to perhaps drive children to events. She mentioned an example of where a parent who did this at her school turned out to have been banned from driving and another one was caught speeding on a couple of occasions. I suppose there is some merit in her argument but I still consider that (as usual) the government are using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
I have no intention of registering either so I guess when the time comes, I will probably be joining you in Wormwood Scrubs - as long as I can bring in my laptop and they have internet access, I don't mind.
.
Thanks Andy, see you in the Scrubs - I expect we can get wireless in return for some cigarettes..

Greg writes:

"A little toast story for you. I had the dubious pleasure to going on holiday with my mother-in-law, flight out of Gatwick at 6am... So we decided to use one of the airport hotels (which are very cool because you can leave your car for free in the hotel car park).

M-i-L got her toaster out at 4.30am and started making toast in her hotel room, next thing she knows the silent fire alarm goes off in the hotel and 2 massive night staff blokes bundle into her room..... To investigate a fire!She had the shock of her life!! Toast was great though."
Thanks Greg - could have been worse - the hotel might have been evacuated. Maybe she did it on purpose to get 2 massive blokes into her room?

Julia writes:

Thanks so much for a wonderful seminar on Friday, everything about it was brilliant. I can now see why some people keep coming back again. Have spent this morning raving about you and it, so may well end up sending a load more people your way .. Thanks Julia.. erm but too many please!

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! You get £50 and I get £50.
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Although results in the US seem ok, the markets seem to want to go down, at least short-term.

I kind of think a really savage and quick sell off would be good in a way as it would bring in a whole load of new buying opportunities and the "buy when everyone is fearful" cliche could work out again.

But for right now with the markets looking weak it seems sensible to be wary of buying anything too much until some kind of new uptrend establishes itself.

In fact if there is a really sharp sell off I shall be in there buying with glee!

As usual we just follow the US so data coming out of there over the next few days will be giving further direction.

The last 3-4 weeks I've been slowly taking profits and adding only the strongest stocks. Even then, if the market establishes a new strong downtrend I have to be careful not to lose some of the big paper profits. So I've also entered a few small shorts to balance up the long portfolio and hedge a bit.

However one is going very strongly and I added some more Centamin (CEY) for another £30 at 124 ahead of its move to the main market. I do like stocks that perform well in a weak market which is why I topped up. Having said that, it can be very volatile so some nerves will be needed! Target 170 stop 98.

You may remember I've shorted Wolseley (WOS) a few times because I feel it is well overcooked and I went in for another attempt getting £5 at 1423. This has worked out very well so far. My main reason for shorting is given the massive debt, the market cap looks too high after brokers talked it up. Target 1250 stop 1485. There is little reason apart from broker notes for the big gains.

In the same sector I also shorted Travis Perkins (TPK) for a fiver at 829. Again combination of a big debt and a too high market cap combines to make me believe this will fall a bit. Target 700 stop 850.

A short I made a lot out of - Yell, looks shortable again and I'm in for £50 at 57. A little risky as the banks are about to make a decision on it - but it does need more refinancing which could possibly still come at a cost to shareholders. Target 40 stop 65. Remote chance of a bid makes this a guaranteed stop candidate. Corin (CRG) appears to be in poor state and shorted there for £40 at 80. Target 65 stop 85.

And I made my first FTSE short for a while getting £4 at 5248. Main reason was the simple fizzing out in this area several times - no stops or targets, afraid I am a suck it and see merchant on these. It goes well for now. For those who know about these things I also bought 30 in the SUK2 short for the ISA at 6892.9.

For me in general I look on shorts as a more short-term thing and if the trend starts to go against them I tend to get out quicker. However, if the down trend were to continue, I'd stay with them for a bit longer.

For newcomers to the market a short means I win if the share goes down but lose if it goes up. My birthday started with a surprise poor drilling report from Hardy. I was really surprised because there had been so much heavy buying I was expecting a really good report. So it was a shock that one of its wells hadn't produced. That is the trouble with oil stocks - one barren well can lead to a big drop. They must always be viewed as risky and speculative. I do what I always do when question marks come up and sell asap. Of course I was lucky in that most of my buying had been done in the low 200s so even with the big drop I still banked a profit. But it must be viewed as profits lost.

On Thursday, I must have had profits of something like £10,000. Within half an hour on Friday these were savaged and I ended up banking a profit of just £5,587. Spreadbet stop losses really came into their own and I was stopped out automatically at 374.4 and 371. Sadly these were not guaranteed ones so for example the stops at around 440 were not honoured. On normal trades, I sold half rightaway at 370 but then waited on the rest in case there was a bounce. There wasn't - I waited for a bit which proved a mistake and sold the rest at 351.5. One point to make here is it shows how important it is not to be too exposed to any one stock - especially a risky oil one.
I mentioned last time I felt it may be time to cut Templeton quickly because of the Brazil tax and I decided to cut at 486 for a quick small loss of £69. I find it better sometimes to cut something fast before a small loss grows into a large one.
I've cut or topsliced a few of the recent topups, mainly spreadbets.
I topsliced Spirent on the spreads - closed at 90 for a profit of £640. Happy to keep hold of the very profitable normal share buy. And while happy with my long-term hold of Heritage cut the spreadbet on that at 484 for a profit of £130. Seems to be short-term weakness. I've been having a good run with Photo but cut half at 41.2 for a profit of £320 on the last position, leaving the rest to run. After topslicing Barclays last week, I sliced off another 1,000, this time at 350 for a profit £2,624. I'm now left with my last small lot for old time's sake!
Total profits banked for the site today are £9,232. Which is nice but those would have been a lot more a few days ago!
Quite a few holding up well in the current weakness. Star share must be Chime where I've now more than doubled and it just keeps going.. strongly over 200 now and still holds well in the melee.
Small oil stock Aminex produced an interesting drilling report which showed some promise and gave the shares a boost - sitting on a nice profit now and with patience, looks worth sitting on for more to come after that. At worst they look at least fair value and with what looks like some decent assets could see the outside chance if a bid.
Batm has fallen a little from my entry price but sticking in for now - it was always possible I was getting in near the top but prospects here still look good so will give it a little more leeway.
Creston couldn't quite hold 100 but is still doing well and tempted to top up on any weakness.
Also holding ok today is Eaga which continues to look underrated and could easily swing up to the 200 area. It holds quite well today.
Int Tel Sys is holding onto its recent huge rise well. Huntsworth remains a disappointment given the share buy backs and Workspace remains dull to say the least.
Recent top up Microgen, Alterian, Dialight and Dimension Data all hold pretty firm in the poor conditions. Profits in Alterian around £7,000.
More than trebler Dragon Oil holds onto good recent gains well giving profit of over £12,000 - and considering other oil stocks are weak, a good performance. Doubler/trebler Petrofac has been sold off but given the prices I'm in at I'll hold.
BTG Group and that's paying off with a huge profit now - but can it sustain the 200?
Where is it all going? It would neither surprise me if the market bounced back by the next time I write or if it tumbled further.
This is a very tricky time indeed for private investors - I think the main thing is these conditions is to stay calm, try and make rational decisions - but above all anyone sitting there with more money in the markets than they can really afford should be very careful - and spreadbets on leverage should be carefully managed.
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 (terms and conditions apply).
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!
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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!