The all new edition of my book Naked Trader 3 is out now !!!

Markets change so I have learned a lot since 2007 and it is all in the new edition.

But lots of new strategies including my top 20, lots more mistakes to avoid, loads of new trader tales, cartoons and a bit of fun too.

Those who bought NT 2, there is plenty of new stuff in it for you and if you are a beginner, you can buy NT 3 without having to buy NT 2.

I hope you all enjoy it - and can tell I put a lot of effort into it and I really hope if it just stops one person from making the mistakes I did it will be worthwhile.

Indeed I hope the book is worth it even if you read about other people's stories, it is amazing how so many make exactly the same mistakes.

Anyhow if you buy it I hope you enjoy it! Click here:
http://books.global-investor.com/books/818560.htm?ginPtrCode=10453

** My book about spreadbetting , you can order it here:

http://books.global-investor.com/books/401334.htm?ginPtrCode=10453

It's just not fair. Just a few days ago I was lying by a pool in the sun. Enjoying summer.

Now all of a sudden I'm in the cold. Boo.

You could say poor old you going on expensive winter hols in the sun, boo hoo, why are you moaning?

And you're right so I'll stop.
As you can tell it's tough to be back. From being used to long balmy summer days lying in the sun to be back in the winter isn't easy.

It was a fantastic holiday from start to finish... we had our Xmas Day on Xmas Eve leaving for the airport on Xmas Day. That was great, little traffic, very easy.

And an excellent start with an upgrade from business to first class!

Which was pretty good, though I would say there is no way it's worth paying thousands more to travel in first rather than business or premium economy,

In fact there wasn't a massive difference between business and first except a bit more room and privacy and some excellent food. And some scary looking serious people.

With some very serious books. That is right. No I Pads in first!

Anyway I wouldn't personally pay for first!

And before you think smug git travelling in business anyway let me just say it is my indulgence, nice holidays. I'm not into buying cards or bling or anything much else but I do like to spend money on experiences..

After the night flight we had an,erm 6 hours drive ahead of us! With little sleep on the plane this wasn't going to be fun and it wasn't!

We shared the drive but it was tough.

Imagine having to drive to Scotland from Brighton after a night's flight with no service stations along the way..

Eventually we made it along the South African "garden route" to see our friends who live in South Africa. Lucky they had a BBQ and a bed waiting for us.

Spent some time with them, they have an amazing house overlooking a valley and river with some spectacular sunsets.

The only drawback seems to be the wild baboons which occasionally turn up - a family of six. Someone usually yells "Baboons!" And we scuttle into the house. Lovely animals but they are wild and so a bit dangerous and it's best to keep out of their way.

I feel a bit sorry for them, after all the baboons were there before humans were.

After visiting friends we drove to a wonderful hotel which has just 12 rooms, or rather small houses! There is tons of room and an upstairs bedroom, of course great for kids!

Soft drinks, tea and cake are free all the time which is a nice touch and a wonderful kids club which Christopher loved. Kids simply had the run of the place and could runaround whereever they wanted.

I enjoyed many kids club games of football - I even scored a few goals. We lounged round and had a wonderful relaxing time.

But we also did venture out as much as we could. The highlight was probably the monkey park, really fascinating. Highlight for Christopher was the water park where he spend all day on the water slides!

The hotel did pretty well keeping cans of free fizzy pop away from the kids but available to adults by putting them on a higher table in the lounge areas, nice for us adults to have some but of course none of us wanted kids to be guzzling cokes!

The funniest bit for me was when I was using the toilet in Christopher's room one afternoon. I suddenly heard a whole load of kids being led into the room by Christopher.

I could hear him opening the little fridge in the room and enthusiastically announcing to all the kids:

"What would you like guys? Coke, diet coke or lemonade?"

Yes the crafty lad had smuggled some bad stuff in and was using it as leverage to improve his standing with the other kids.

I never said anything - I thought it was a nice move! Reckon he might make a good trader, perhaps he could take over the website when I go senile.

We left that hotel sadly as we'd had such a good time, we even extended our stay there by three days and we were sad as we finished our last free tea and cake on the terrace.

Don't ask how many pieces of cake I ate while we were there. It's back to the gym for me to run it all off!

However we made a bad mistake by leaving at 3pm. We'd just given out loads of thank you tips to the staff and were getting into the car when... the shifts changed and we ended up with a massive queue and had to dole out loads of new tips to arriving staff, using up all the cash left. Oh well, never mind they need the money more than us.

After that we meandered along the garden route to hit Cape Town. On the way found a lovely town called Wilderness and had breakfast at a cafe on a currently disused railway line, very atmospheric. The Beejuice cafe, it is called.

Trains last stopped there five years ago after floods closed the line. There is hope for the line to be reopened in a couple of years, I would love to travel that route.

It was strange entering a city like Cape town after days in the quiet peace of our hotel... but it was back to the hotel we've stayed in a few times.

The welcome was amazing. How on earth did the staff remember Christopher's name? Incredible.

Would you believe it as we got to the pool who was there but someone from Christopher's school. Small world eh?

Also had a good time in Cape Town enjoying the city life for a change. Always love the hotel's giant tortoises, again this year the male ones were all sexed up and there was a lot of humping going on. (Very slowly).

The female tortoises aren't too happy with this and run away from the males. One poor female ended up cracking the bottom of a door's window after an enthusistic male overdid it.....

Crazy flight on the way back .. last chance for getting kids back to school so it was packed with screaming kids, I felt sorry for anyone on the flight who didn't have kids, must have been a shock...

Right. That's enough about my holidays! But put it this way .. we're going to be booking next Xmas's holiday in South Africa next week!

I hope you all had a decent start to the year.

January there is no doubt is a horrible month. Xmas is over, weather is horrible, credit card bills are due and for us self-employed the tax cheques have to be in by the end of the month! Just waiting for my accountant to tell me how much it's going to be...

HOW MUCH??? Time I got a new accountant I reckon.

Just remember how fast last year went so given it's already the middle of January I suggest you get on with it and try and enjoy it!

I really enjoyed the last seminar and bowled over with the feedback.

If you missed that one there is still time for you to spend a day with me in a couple of weeks on Friday January 27th.

For details, email me at robbiethetrader@aol.com with "seminar interested" in the subject line. I'll send you everything that I cover and all about the day itself. In a few days you could be (I hope) enjoying a day with me and live markets.

Beginners and improvers welcome! Come and spend the day with me, the markets and some lovely people - and of course, lunch!

If you mail me I will then send you details and a full agenda of what is covered. Also more details below somewhere.

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!

For those of you who've been to one of my seminars already and would like to improve further, there are two follow up seminars planned for next year.
Follow up with me is on March 9th where we do level 2, research and stock picking, timing and placing live trades all day. Always an interesting session. The last one went really well. For details mail me with "follow up" in the subject line.
Technical Analysis seminar: on Saturday Feb 18th learn with top trader Susan how to use TA to take the emotion out of your entry and exit points - I am there too all day to back up with a bit of fundamentals! It's always best to learn from someone who really trades not a rip off merchant in a suit who doesn't! And Susan has been trading successfully for more than 6 years. Email me with "TA seminar" in the subject line for details. There is a special offer if you'd like to book both. Mail me for that with "both interested" in subject line

Want to know what my last monthly elec/gas/phone/broadband/mobile phone bill was for me and Mrs NT?
What so you reckon? £250? £300?
Nope, wrong. Nothing at all. In fact, a CREDIT of £67 on my bill!
How so? Well, Utility Discount Warehouse offers 10% off your energy bill every year as long as you have 1,500 Telecom Plus shares.
But how do you fancy getting that same whopping 10% discount off the whole of your energy spend for the whole of your first year? Ie your last month will probably be free! You don't need to own any shares, just sign up with UDW services and do it via myself, and you also get my weekly email which is the website stuff direct to your inbox PLUS exclusive higher risk trades made for my pension!
All you have to do is take four services - choose from homephone, broadband, electricity, gas, mobile phone and the amazing discount and my email is all yours. AND you can't lose as there is a "double the difference" promise. That is you are guaranteed to save money by swiitching or they will give you back double the difference.
So by signing up you get the UK's cheapest home phone, homephone and broadband bundle, mobile tarrif and cheapest gas and electric. AND instead of getting loads of different bills from different companies there is just one bill for the lot!
And if you think switching is a pain in the bum, think again. It's easy, a few clicks on a website. On top of all those savings there are loads of other ways to add even bigger savings too.
Want to go for it? To sign up via me and get all those benefits and my email go to this web address only
www.utilitywarehouse.org.uk/fabdeal

and sign up directly there - you can also read about alll the services and how much you might save!
Once you have signed up, just let me know and tell me what your customer number is (they will send you your number) and you get my email! I get ongoing commission in return, you save money!
I use all the services myself, and have done for many years. You get a UK call centre with calls answered quickly and a monthly bill.

I get quite a few mails asking what magazines or news services I subscribe to etc. Well, hardly any!
However I do take (£8.99 a month though take the yearly option at 20% discount to that) a daily email which is my main source of news about such things as broker upgrades, main news items, analysis of stocks and markets, forthcoming company statements and events, stock recommendations and targets from the top brokers, what kind of earnings expected from companies and a whole heap more useful stuff.
I sometimes get ideas from this for companies to watch or monitor or even buy. And it's handy to get a summary of what the brokers are saying and looking at future earnings etc.
It usually arrives around 5ish every day.
I contacted the people that put it together and they offer a free 14 day trial of it to my readers - so you can cancel after 14 days if you don't feel it's useful enough.
Once you cut and paste this link into your browser, click "uk 14 days free trial" then I would go "yearly option" which gives a 20% discount making it just over £7 a month, as you can still cancel seems worth it. Hope you find it useful like I do. It's one of the few paid for news services that has really impressed.
http://bit.ly/eBPXuG

I do also get the Investors Chronicle delivered by the newsagent every Friday. It's always worth a read and brings to my attention things I may have missed.

An interesting email from a reader. The thrust of it was he was going to buy a share after doing a lot of research but then it went up 12% and he hadn't bought it yet. So he felt angry.
How does he stop/halt the feelings of anger?
Well, you have to take the emotion out of trading. Which isn't easy.
I suggested he should read this book.. by Jason Zweig
http://books.global-investor.com/books/256158.htm?ginPtrCode=10453
This is the one to read on psychology. Great read.
Fancy getting the naked trader updates direct into your inbox? And a bit before it gets updates on the net including news from my pension trades made from my SIPP?

All you have to do is take a phone or energy service from the Utility Discount Warehouse at www.utilitywarehouse.org.uk/fabdeal.

I get some commission and you get the service! On top of that you ought to make some amazing savings on your phone, broadband, or energy use or all! There's even an internet phone where you can make free calls from wi fi hotspots!

Prices are guaranteed lower than the top 6 suppliers but even better you can get huge discounts on your energy/phone bill if you shop at places like Marks and Spencers, Boots, Sainsburys and a whole load more. 5% of your spend comes directly off your billl. Many are saving a fortune from their energy bills.

So save a few quid, and get my stuff in your inbox! A win win? Mail me at robbiethetrader@aol.com with "mail service" in the subject line and I'll send you details.

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 5 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://www.tradefair.com/promo/spreads/nakedtrader100/

I use IG Index for betting on the very small companies, the only spreadbet firm I can find that does the smaller ones making it possible to trade AIM cos tax free.

To sign up and get an excelllent weekly education programme use this link:

www.igindex.com/nakedtrader

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 £145 inc vat via me instead of £173.71
Just mail me for full details if you'd like it with "silver" in the subject line.

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
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

**** BOOKING FOR FRIDAY JANUARY 27TH NOW OPEN

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 open for the Naked Trader seminar on Friday Jan 27th

Price is £550 plus vat. There is an early bookers discount available.
That includes three course lunch, coffees, snacks etc.
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 "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?

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

Hmmm, so famous chef Worrall Thompson has been done for shoplifting.

Serves the shops right for making us do the work for them with those damned self-service tills. What do they expect? It puts terrible temptation in the way of people.

What they will gain in cutting staff costs they will lose in lifting and good. These tills should be taken out. Shops should give us a proper service not expect us to operate a checkout till too - what a con!

In South Africa the supermarkets and other shops serve you with little waiting and someone packs your bag for you. Fat chance over here.

Instead of being served, someone who is supposed to be serving us points us to a till.. "Go serve yourself!" I refuse to use them, so there.

It's stressful enough having to shop in the first place. Now I have to check myself out too? Pah!

The growth of self-service tills is ominous and going to cause all sorts of social malaise for the weak. and worse cut jobs and service.

Isn't it time Labour put Ed out of his misery? He just gets worse and worse, even Gordon Brown was better.

I suppose it's good for them, give him another year then get someone else in before the election. It's not just the awful delivery: do any of us have a clue what Labour stands for anymore or what they would do in power?

I don't have the foggiest. But surely I ought to have some idea?

Nick Clegg I've given up on. I really don't have a clue what he's about and I'm not sure he does either. His "job" really appears to be some kind of hobby.

Nice results from our next door team Fulham over Xmas, the Arsenal win we watched live from South Africa. Those in the next room were Arsenal supporters!

I see poor old QPR have taken on ex Fulham's Mark Hughes. He said eighth placed Fulham wasn't ambitious enough for him. So QPR is more ambitious?

More like he thought he was going to get the Chelsea job and the offer never came. So now he takes anything. I would be worried if I was a QPR fan. They ought to have kept faith with their manager and given him some money to play with.

I see Celebrity Big Brother is back. I tuned in yesterday but I was puzzled: It looked like a normal Big Brother. Where exactly are the celebrities?

I didn't recognise one of them. Who are they? The programme makers seem to know this and have to caption the names of some of them.

I don't get why anyone would watch it anymore. The format is over and there was nothing there of interest at all.

I remember the days they had Michael Barrymore, Vanessa Feltz etc, at least they were interesting people with fascinating stories. No-one in the current house has lived long enough to have interesting stories.

Halfway through watching the Downton Xmas special on Sky Plus. Bates guilty! Yes!!!! Great news.

Except I have this terrible feeling when we watch the next bit tonight that he will he amazingly cleared by a new piece of evidence right at the last minute. Booooo!!!!!

I see Tescos "Big Price Drop" has worked wonders for them, that certainly was a big share price drop yesterday..

The spreadbetting firm I use for sports betting is here:
Via this link Open a Sporting Index account and there's £100 cash offer - please check terms and conditions which apply.

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.

Chris writes :
Glad you all enjoyed yourself in SA, sounded like a mega holiday. Your blog was a great read again thanks. I have to say, I do really enjoy them.

I'm going to join in your rant about self-service tills.

I found out that Tesco staff are targeted on how many people they can push through those horrid self-service tills. They are just trying to justify an incredibly poor investment in my opinion. Britain needs more people like us to voice our disapproval with the whole concept.

There, that's me finished. Andy and I will try to get on another seminar later this year.

Thanks Chris,
well of course I agree, those self-service tills are a joke and should be removed. Indeed I think we should definitely not use them, perhaps we could start a campaign.. SUSS... Stop Using Self Service!

Duane writes:
Wanted to say a big thank you to you and Mrs NT for an amazing day of learning and fun at your seminar.

The way you explained the share trading from start to finish was understandable and really interesting, well worth the seminar fee!
It was great to hear such down to earth and honest assessment from a successful trader like yourself. The way you explained everything was good revision from your book and gave further insight into successful share trading.

I particularly liked your live trades and going through your accounts when you gave snippets of why you invested in certain shares and why you kept/dumped them. Also helpful was the way you searched for prospective shares and within minutes discounted them or put them on a short list for further examination and correct entry points. Amazing!
You could really tell that you loved doing what you do and your energy levels to keep going till 10pm was well....... I had to leave at 9pm I was shattered!

Thanks again Robbie I am keen to put into practice what you have taught me. Even though you make squillions from your trades and I am sure don't need to do the seminars for financial gain, but please keep doing those seminars for newbies like me!

Thanks Duane! Don't expect to be doing them foreever but very rewarding for me to help people so expect to carry on for a while longer.
Gabriel writes:
If you are reading this, you are perhaps considering going on one of Robbie's Seminars. You maybe asking yourself (like I did) the testimonials are all well and good but once the euphoria and excitement of attending a Seminar has died down ..... and I am back home in my normal routine and faced with the "graft" of putting it all into practice... will I become a better trader and be financially better off?
Let me tell you that in my case it certainly has!
Book your place pretty sharpish....... is what I say !

Thanks Gabriel!

Terry writes:
Fantastic seminar.

I have always been sceptical of the public testaments you see on web sites
saying how great an event was. Now I'm one of those people!. I
genuinely believe that the tips and techniques as well as the overall
approach you demonstrated will radically improve my trading performance

Thanks Terry, well all the testaments are real but know what you mean and glad you feel it was worth it!
Stephen writes:
I read your book and did the course - and I wasn't sure if I'd recoup the cost, it's been 2 years and I've made £38k + saved a loss transferring a Jupiter ISA heavily invested in BP. I can't tell you how important this is or how grateful I am. That's just me, who knows how much people have made with your help and saved by not making mistakes. I wanted to get into shares as they recovered after the crunch, but I assumed I had to put a large amount in one company I thought would make a big jump.
But what happens when you make £1m on the website, will you still do courses? I don't know how you do your ISA and SIPP investments, write the website, books, courses and answer e-mails. But please don't give it up. Couldn't you do the courses and have a standing website which gets updated with your trades say once a month so people can see what you do..

Stephen thanks so much for such a nice mail and much appreciated! Dunno about the future, I feel like I'm getting jaded. It's possible I might just reduce it all at some point to twice a month after going weekly - that would probably help. The other problem is other people's angst is getting to me and the email workload becoming overwhelming. I think after ten years it might be time for me to quit. Anyway good luck with your trades and hope you make a lot more.

I have 3 great offers from ADVFN.

SAVE OVER £120 !
First great deal: If you want level 2, through me it is only £350 for your first year including VAT!
This compares to £473 direct from advfn inc vat so this deal saves you over a whopping £120! 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 gives you access to all the market maker positions and the order book and I would not trade without it!

More on level 2 in my book and I spend hours on it at my seminars. So if you get level 2 and want to learn how to use it properly live, book my seminar!

Deal two is ADVFN's bronze subscription - normally £74 pa - available from me for only £50! (inc vat) That's a saving of over £30! You 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 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. All as explained in the book.
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.

Bronze is included inside the level 2 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 nearly £30 for your first year by paying just £145 inc vat via me instead of £173.71
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.
All online deals are just £12.50 with no funny small print. Charges for phone deals are higher, check terms and conditions. They also charge £35 plus vat pa for all accounts. Follow this link...
http://tinyurl.com/57hp4n

MARKETS
Well, lucky old me. The markets were in good spirits the whole time I was away which means I made money while away without having to do very much.

Don't ask me where I think they are going this year as I have not a clue. But... it is all doom and gloom at the mo so I do wonder whether we might actually get a good year! The market looks ahead and it is possible we could pull out of the doom and gloom by the end of the year.

Also experts always get it wrong so bearing that in mind it might even be a bumper year! Markets are down today, probably someone downgraded something, what do you think?

I checked on the laptop 2 or three times a day and tried not to deal too much, after all it was a holiday. But lucky for me there were no panics, indeed nearly every company I own that reported reported encouragingly, so that was great and I made a lot of money since I last updated.

However I did make a trade or two while away and since I got home so without any further mucking about here is a summary of those..

I picked up some more CML Microsystems (CML) getting 2000 at 210 yesterday. I liked the look of the buying that has been coming in this week. I think this one could have a very good 2012, there are plenty of hints in the last statement we could see some interesting developments and some bigger buyers on the scene make me think something good is on the way here.

I bought SVG capital (SVI) not my usual type of share but after big falls it looked rather attractive and well supported around 2 quid so I lobbed on a spreadbet of £20 at 206. I'm targetting an initial 250 on it but I think there is potential for 300 this year.

I bought some Flybe (FLYB) 5,000 at 52.9. I don't normally buy companies that offer up dismal statements but I wondered at such a low price whether another airline will snap up Flybe and put it out of its misery. So call it a small punt if you will. Which is all that it it. A tightish stop on it. A trade that could take off, or crash.. The Investors Chronicle says sell so that's got to be a buy signal?

Dialight (DIA) had to be topped up on straight after it put out an excellent trading statement. Strangely it hardly moved for a while after the statement and I snapped up another fiver at 700.

You should always look at the full picture of a share and I was quite amused at a "chartist" at a magazine called Dialight a sell at 680 (whoops) because of a "death cross" (Lol).

I picked up some Howden (HDWN). I got 3,500 at 100.9. It looks pretty cheap with sales in line but I am more interested in this one as a bid target with someone like Wolseley perhaps giving it the once over, after all, it takes make decent profits and would be an excellent buy for a number of rivals. Pure speculation on my part of course.

It was almost impossible to resist a top up in Kentz (KENZ) even though I already have a lot as it fell to 420. That was a crazy price to me for a company with such a massive cash balance so I grabbed a new spreadbet on them for £20 at 422. Already made a nice sum on these and I think there is a lot more upside for these this year. Especially if it uses its big cash balance wisely. Trading update due Monday next.

And I picked up a spreadbet in Pace (PIC) - it looked due for a bounce after the recent sell off and bagged £50 at 84.

Ocado reported yesterday so I decided at 60p to take my final short profit of nearly £5,000. However I made some tea and read the paper came back and it had shot up to 70p. Hmmm, I thought and waited and read through the statement. Then I thought, well the stats are okay but where are the profits coming from? So, well... I shorted some more, another £30 at 73! Am I crazy? I'm now waiting for a move back to the 50s to finally take the last of the brilliant profits shorting Ocado made me in 2011! Or am I silly and just bank the final profit? Answers on a postcard please.

I'd love to short some Carpetright but getting a short on seems next to impossible. Most of the spread firms don't allow it for now as they can't borrow stock. One firm allows it but only for £2 a point, hardly worth it. I'll keep an eye on it and will get stuck in when more stock comes on the market.

I sold part Volex at 253. Been a lovely one with mega profits banked in it over the last year. In fact given me some tremendous profits over the last couple of years - the closed positions for the site bring in a nice profit of £5,550. It's been sold off and begins to look cheap again so potential for a buy back there.

The Halfords short hit the target nicely and profits taken at 289 to bank a profit of £390.

Okay total profit banked for the site then is £5,900.

Portfolio highlights:

Nearly all the companies in the portfolio made some kind of statement since my last update and pleased to say in the main they were all pretty good!

In fact I think I'll go away on holiday more often....

I'm thrilled with the progress of so many of the shares...

Star award has to go to Coastal Energy which has now officially doubled and more for me - I have the tenner I was after but this good news story just keeps getting better and better and I am now looking for well over a tenner here, perhaps up to 1400 now - I've now pretty much doubled on the first buy not that long ago and nicely up on the topup. Fantastic share which reported yet more good news while I was away.

Second biggest winner long-term superstar Dialight put out an excellent trading update a few days ago couldn't ask for more and so staying with it. Well, I have been patient all the way from 150p to 750 and as those of you who have to my seminars have seen from my accounts my profits in real life are something like £70,000. For the website profits are more than £40,000 - and of course there have been dividends on top.

As I said loads of shares have moved a lot higher for me.

Sporting bet has given me a very lovely 20%, been hard not to take profits but resisting that for now as a break over 37 would be very bullish.

Gamble Filtronic has proved a great gamble and has come up with a nice 30% already but 2012 could be its year so holding fast! Also some good buying there. Could it be a trebler?

Wow is all I can say with Gulf Keystone up more than 100 points since my buy with bid rumours circulating all over it. I am really mighty tempted to sell it and nearly done it a few times as the profit is well over £2,000 quite quickly.

Supergroup's results were all right I thought, a nice trade from the last seminar that I took part profits on and well up on the another lot. I can't decide whether to take profits on the rest but it seems steady so holding for now.

Nichols put out another superb statement and very good profits on that one now.

Alternative Networks has been a top notch share for me, again doubled on it and made a lot of profit on this one but expect to continue to hold long-term for a decent capital gain and nice income too. In the meantime some great dividends to come. It's also nicely defensive.

IP Group is having a nice run since I bought it, looks good for up to 100 from here unless something not good happens.

Yule Catto put out a good enough announcement, when the economy picks up this one is going to leap and I still think a bid target potential here. Some nice profits building on this one.

An unsung long-termer in the portfolio is Aggreko, just continues going up over time, a lovely one! Bought at 11 quid ish and now nearly doubled at 21, fantastic share and another producing a very decent statement.

BTG has bust out well over three quid since I have been away and remains a nice doubler for me this year. A nice long-termer and another I'm keeping hold of.

LOQ has been a tremendous share in 2011 and another doubler. Potential for more in 2012 and up to nearly £2 while I've been gone.

And Microgen has been a lovely winner, first bought this one live at a seminar a couple of years ago and it's done nothing but rise and trebled for me. I reckon more to come.

Biggest three winners in the portfolio remain: (rough profits!)

1. Telecom Plus profit £92,000
2. Dialight profit £43,000
3. Microgen Profit £27,000

So where to now? Goodness knows, let's see how January pans out, it's a good start... however of course the world's economic problems haven't just gone away so would be no surprise to see the volatility return. Monday should be quietish as the US is closed.

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. Also with this link there is an excellent education programme and it offers the biggest range of smaller shares.

www.Igindex.com/nakedtrader
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 5 spreadbets (terms and conditions apply).
To get the offer, click here:
http://www.tradefair.com/promo/spreads/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 Wednesday afternoons under "Markets" section..