Alistair Darling looked pretty sick in the run up to delivering the Budget.
And I've never seen anyone looking so not confident about being confident about the future. All his forecasts have been wrong so far so I don't see how we can have any confidence in his optmistic forecasts for next year.
Apparently our debt will fall... erm... in 2015...
The one thing I noticed is for the first time booze and fags increases were flagged in percentages rather than pence.
Why? Cos 2% on booze and fags sounds a lot less than 5p on a pint and 12p on a packet!
If we can get £2k to scrap our old car and buy a new one how about getting £200k to demolish our old houses to build a new one? Good idea?

He could have been bold and got the ecomony moving. Like simply abolishing stamp duty on houses altogether. After all he's making bog all from it right now.
However great news for ISA fans like me is from next year it's going up to £10,200. I have to heartily agree with this and for share buyers it is very good news enabling us to buy more shares tax free.

A boring, useless Budget with no new ideas - just emphasised Britian really is broke, more below somewhere!
I'm definitely a coward when it comes to health. The moment I get anything I'm convinced I'm on the way out.
I got a small black ulcer in my mouth - looked it up and the first thing I found was a story about someone who got cancer from an ulcer.
Indeed, I spent hours thinking of all the things I had to plan before my imminent demise and whether I should come out of all my trades now?
By bedtime it had gone. Phew. I realised I might fight to live another day.
I'm sure doctors are fed up with people coming in to their surgeries armed with info picked up off the net. Next time I'm just not going to look anything up.
At last! A British film to be proud of! And that hasn't happened for quite some time.
I'm talking "In The Loop"...you've probably seen the good reviews and they are well justified.
What a great movie, hilarious from beginning to end and a cutting satire on the state of our politicians both here and in the USA.
It's a thinly veiled attack on the "sexed up" Iraq war dossier showing what probably goes on..
So many good lines especially from the ruling party's top spin doctor (obviously based on Alistair Campbell).
For a film made before the Jacqui Smitjh debacle it was quite remarkable.
The minister is in a hotel room and complains he has to watch a documentary on sharks because if he watched a porn film it would show up on his expenses!
One of the best bits is when the head of spin gets angry when being briefed by somone "who should be in school". "The US government is like Bugsy Malone but with real guns". Anyway go and see In The Loop!
Oh dear. We were looking forwards to our crash three hour dancing class. But we couldn't go.
Poor old Chrisopher got a bad ear ache overnight and we spent a lot of the night comforting him. He was fine by the morning but given we had no sleep 3 hours of dancing simply looked too daunting - so we went out for lunch instead. Grandad was here for the weekend and he took the lad to the park.
We were in the heart of a rich area - Sloane Square and were surprised to be pretty much the only people in the restaurant which wasn't that dear. In fact it was all very quiet.
Maybe the recession is biting the rich too...
I don't mind junk mail that much. I read it with a kind of fascination. And people have to sell things so I can live with it.
But I really hated this one:
"3 reasons to read this letter!!!
1 - I am NOT trying to sell you something
2 - I am giving you something for free!
3- I am ... chairman of blah blah wealth management... etc
It's so transparent! It means, I AM trying to sell you something. What is offered free is probably b-s. Oh you have to send an attachment with your email address and phone no.
So the moment you send off for the free b-s you know you'll be inundated with cold calls and and spam mail. Anyway that got binned. Especially as "wealth management" companies have mainly been responsible for diminishing the wealth of their punters recently! Oh and taking hefty commission!
Some mag was asking its readers for their funniest TV moments.
The one for me and it doesn't matter how many times I see it is John Prescott punching the egg thrower.
It gets me every time. From the look of mischief on egg throwers face beforehand to Prescott's smug look and then the amazement as he throws the punch.
Just superb. And the only politician ever to punch a voter. And we all know they'd really rather punch us than kiss our babies...

Oh I forgot about my Starbucks Heath and Safety story, well it can wait till Friday!
Thanks for all the lovely feedback about the last 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 4 weeks away - on Friday May 15th.

It's filling up fast and at this rate it's going to be sold out soon.

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/

Mps have shot themselves in the foot again! Yes, they're getting yet another week of holidays this year - up to 12 week summer break!
Never mind that the country is in the sh1t! Who cares! We want a longer holiday so let's give ourselves one. Hurrah!!
Add to this the four weeks at Xmas, two weeks at Easter and the jobs are almost part-time..
But it's ok, Gordon's come up with a new exciting plan on MP's pay and expenses, now they'll get £150 for.. well, erm, turning up for their jobs. On the few days they have to work.
And he talked about this on, erm YouTube as Gordon's spinguys have obviously decided now it's time for super cool, with it Gordon, who smiles. Link to the embarrassing broadcast:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/pda/2009/apr/21/gordon-brown-web-video
That awful pretend smile, then he forgets, then he remembers again, the faux matiness. I can't take it any more I tell you! And there's still a year to go!
The Budget was very political - the 50% rate hardly raises anything. It's to try and pretend they are taking money from the rich to give to the poor. It's nonsense - ID card scheme on its own costs four times more than the money raised from a 50% rate.
And the trouble is it acts as a disincentive for high earners, often the people who create jobs. Many companies have already said they will simply leave for other countries.
If they are going to cut the speed limit to 20mph - then it must be also raised to 40mph at off peak times, say 9pm-6am when kids are in bed and the streets empty.
I also think in general speed limits should be raised 10mph on all roads from midnight to 6am. it is silly to expect you to drive at 20mph when you're the only person around!
I don't think reducing speeds will save many lives and that's bourne out by many reports.
How is Jacqui Smith hanging on? Goodness knows - the speed limit headlines I guess are another diversion.
RyanAir continues to find ways of adding extra costs for passengers. Last time it was £1 for using the loo! Now it's a possible "fat tax" - if you're over 20 stone you pay more.
Actually that seems quite fair. After all it's not much fun sitting next to someone who takes up not only their seat but part of yours as well...
Tried a bit of Hells Kitchen but it still doesn't do it to me. Anthea Turner's husband goes. Boo hoo! She won't see him for 5 days!
It's got to be the Apprentice where tonight it's design a breakfast cereal.
I hope they don't come up with "Credit Crunch". It's already being done! How about YerFired Flakes?
.. each piece of cereal looks like Sir A's firing finger..

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.

Bill writes:
Many thanks for a very informative, interesting and enjoyable Seminar. Having mentioned that I went on a seminar last year costing £2,500, I expected a lot less,

However, you carried on til 8pm showing drive and enthusiasm, proving that you don't have to be ripped off paying unecessary high fees.
Having read your book several times and now attended your seminar, I can honestly say it was well worth the time, money spent....and lunch was good and meeting other interesting colleagues.
I think anyone considering the course should book it, you should easily recoup your investment and learn some great ideas from the experience.

Thanks Bill, the fiver is in the post!

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...

http://tinyurl.com/57hp4n

There's nothing worse than massive volatilty.. because it makes it difficult to decide whether to sell up or keep holding. After all there's nothing worse than selling up then the moment you sold the stocks go back up. Happened to me a number of times and it's really irritating.
So right now it remains quite hard to decide whether to bank recent profits or expect more rises and I still remain confused as to whether I should be taking them. Fear and greed, fear and greed! On balance I mainly stay a holder.
I regretted taking half profits in Alterian (ALN) pretty much as I pressed the button! It began to rise again so I bought back the sold shares at a higher price getting 3,000 at 83. Target 100 stop 70p. I liked the way it showed strength while the main market fell back.
Heritage Oil (HOIL) has been brilliant so far. I've now doubled on the first buy and well up on the other two. With its various announcements, good oil finds and a decent bid play, I think 500 is a likely target and so I bought even more, this time via a spreadbet for £15 at 368. Target 500 stop 330. So my idea is hopefully to sell the whole lot at 500 for a profit of over £10,000. Time will tell!
Goodness, my short in Wetherspoon (betting on it to go down) hit the target of 400 in just a couple of days! I gratefully took the profits - couldn't quite get the exact target price of 400, missed that, but 401.7 will do nicely to bank a profit of £513 just now.
I could have taken a massive profit in Charter at 555 but sadly I didn't! It tumbled along with other 250 stocks and I stupidly didn't get out till 509, banking just £140 instead of £800 or so that it could have been. Looking to buy back. I took profits of £486 in Fenner selling some at 59. It's just dipped a bit more and thinking about buying back shortly. And I also took half profits on the spreadbet (keeping some) at 58 for a profit of £343. (So keeping some and looking to buyback).
Most of the portfolio continues to shine brightly which given the poor performance of the market this week I'm very happy about.
Recent buys Chime and Galiform have gone very nicely especially Galiform up more than 20%.
The Times had a piece today about Galiform it saying Travis Perkins is considering a bid and the BT Pension fund has stopped selling shares, removing an overhang and its broker found buyers for 80 million shares, twice the amount it was offering.
Gamble Workspace continues to do well up nearly 20%. Once the seller is out of the way I hope for a big rise. Still doubled on Unite which seems to find support on the dips though perhaps I should have got out at 116!. Scott Wilson went to 80 and dipped back to 70, still as a buyer at 50 I'm content to wait.
Barclays is such a crazy share.. up and down massive amounts every day. Having bought at 88 I guess I don't mind too much and happy to hold given I've doubled and more.
Microgen produced a pretty decent steady statement today which convinces me to hold for longer. My feeling continues to be that it looks like a takeover candidate and that's one of my main reasons for holding.
New Brit has stormed higher, up nearly 100 pts on my original buy which is nice.
SDL, Dragon, and many others also show major gains. Nothing on a yellow card even at the moment. XP Power is quietly going nicely higher for me.
Despite all the good news I have to think about being cautious and wonder whether to bag more profits. The markets feel on a bit of a knife edge and could easily go either way - I am no good at prediction but if it tumbles I suspect I'll be banking some of the profits.
To those of you who came to the last seminar, remember Velosi! Nice!
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!