Is it Easter? What? How did that happen?
Wasn't it Xmas just last week? There'll be Xmas stuff in the shop in just 12 weeks.. where is the time going? Help!! Am I that old now? How did that happen?
Maybe I'm having a crisis. Anyone know a counsellor? £50 an hour! Forget it!! Anyway obviously I'm not updating on Easter Friday and will be back as usual on Wednesday.
We're off to Ireland for a couple of days over Easter to go and see grandma so Christopher gets a plane ride.

Meanwhile Grandpa will stay at ours to look after the aged cat. And we're also having a good spring clean done as there's dust everywhere from the builders..
I'm sure the plane will be fun, at least it's not Ryanair! I guess we'll have to face all those security queues.

I still think there ought to be security lanes but those of us who hate them could get on special planes entitled "I'll take a chance"...
We'll be staying with Grandma and at a hotel and I get to smell that fresh Irish air though bet it rains - I've never been to Ireland when it hasn't.

But it's such a lovely place - the people genuinely warm and fun. Well, look I married an Irish girl so I am obviously quite keen.
I do often feel a bit sleepy there, it's the lack of pollution. My body is going where is the pollution, I can't function without it...
Meanwhile tomorrow I'm off to celeb hangout Nobu for lunch (hark at him, show off) with Shed Simove (Ideas Man). I'll let you know if I spot anyone exciting. Hope the food is as good as it's supposed to be..
Anyway I hope you all have a cracking Easter - don't eat too many eggs now! Forget about shares and money for a few days, relax and have some fun!
The weekend was spent child entertaining. Which as some of you are aware is much harder than working for a living.
Indeed one or two parents I spoke to were looking forwards to Monday so they could "get a rest at work".
Christopher spend Sunday charming yet more girls and now he has three who want to marry him.
His current favourite remains Mary, Indeed he asked: "Can Mary come for a sleepover"?
He picked out a pot of tomatoes and one of strawberries to see if we could grow them after we visited a garden centre next to the park.
With a huge budget for doing up the small city garden we have (it's gonna be done soon) we're going to have lots of fruit and veg growing pots - should be fun. Ps just to confirm I'm not a hippy honest (despite what I'm wearing today).
Hey, I made £200 from sales of the Chinese version of the first edition of NT! Looks like I'm big in China.

There is also a Lithuanian version. China went for a cartoon character balancing on a tightrope for their front cover (conservative).
The Lithuanians went for something racey and, well, part of me with no clothes on on the front of their edition. And they want sales? Something wrong there...
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.
Yes, my voice is back, and I'm feeling lot better thanks..and again glad that so many of you came away feeling you now had some decent tools to make some of your own decisions.

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 6 weeks away - on Friday May 15th and booking is now open. Some of you have booked already.

Mail me at robbiethetrader@aol.com for details with "Seminar interested" in the subject line if you're interested in coming along. There is a decent early booking discount available.

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/6lrpbs

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/

Easter is actually quite a tricky time for families - it lasts for weeks and unlike Xmas there isn't a day to look forwards to etc and loads of families have kids stuck at home.

There was a report that young kids are getting more and more violent because parents just leave them in front of computer games and some even watch TV into the night, seeing disturbing images.

It's just lazy parenting! We're not especially amazing parents and we will plonk him in front of the TV for 15 minutes occasionally to get a break but that's about it.

The rest of time we try to engage him in doing things and he loves it! We bought some tomatoes and Strawberry plants and his job is to look after them and help them grow.

It's not surprising youngsters get violent when their parents do nothing except watch stupid soaps leaving them with no interests. Afraid in the end it is all down to the parents. And there are some shocking ones about!

Oh dear another rotten "idea" from Jaqui Smith our useless Home Secretary.

She's tried to grab a headline to stop the continued discussion regarding claiming the porm on expenses...

Naff idea number 457: 15% B and Q vouchers to increase your home security in a fightback against burglars.

I could easily write a long essay about this rotten idea. She hasn't got a clue!

It's great PR for B and Q and nothing else (bet they came up with the "idea")

She must be bonkers if she really thinks a couple of new locks will stop a burglar. if they want to get in, then they do.
And why are they happy to do so? Because they know full well the chances of being caught are next to zero.. because the police are bogged down with government red tape, paperwork and targets.

And we all know now if we get burgled and call the police no-one comes round until maybe a few days later and no-one is really going to investigate it.

When we were burgled a few years ago I even knew the house into which the burglars had gone back to. No interest at all!

The only way to stop burglaries is if the burglars begin to believe something will be done, they will get caught and put away.

And B and Q vouchers is a silly headline grabbing thing which sums up a government completely lost at sea with no decent ideas and no clue. God help us!
Of course one way to cut burglaries by 70% would be to legalise some drugs.. I'm just saying it's a fact.. but it'll never happen.
Yet more and more comes out about MPs expenses - the papers obviously has a sackload of them for our entertainment in the days ahead.
The growing anger towards MP's continues because we now all realise they actually get at least double their reported salaries.
Jacqui Smith did herself no favours claiming she was picked on "because she is a woman". What nonsense. Oh, she claimed £500 for a shower head. Was it gold plated?
We've realised politicians really are in it for themselves (aka Tony Blair) and any pretence of wanting to help the people is palpable nonsense. If only things could change.
Looking forwards to The Apprentice tonight!
If you haven't caught Mad Men yet, give it a try and get the DVD of series one, series two is currently on. Watch the first two episodes, you'll be hooked. It is superior and wonderful.

Sadly all our TV companies seem to manage is dire shows like Chris Moyles Quiz Night, representative of the really low standard of "humour" coming from UK TV makers right now. Bereft of any decent ideas, it's very sad.
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.

Kamran writes:
What you said in your update about the G20 and the cost is EXACTLY what I was thinking: email & video conferencing. Even if they used dedicated satellite channels to video conference it would be cheaper. They spend all those millions for grandiose functions and to massage their pathetic egos.
Agreed Kamran!!

Tony writes:

Having destroyed the company he has worked for, having made big losses on last year's accounts (even bigger losses predicted for this year,even worse
next year) and run up the biggest debts in the company's history do you think Gordon Brown should forgo his pension as he has advised fred the shred?
Hi Tony!
Well, to be fair to Gordon that's probably a bit unfair. But having said that politicians have fat cat pensions, along with cheap booze and "expenses". Time for them to take a cut maybe considering the mess they've made of things.

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

Well, it's all very well having a bunch of shares with a paper profit, the real puzzle is, when should the profit be taken and it is a real puzzle this time.
Of course it all depends where the market is going. People are closing before the holidays and who can blame them? But what if the market starts on the up again after the holidays? Would be just be better to hold on? If only I knew the answers and I don't!
So usually I'm quite decisive but I'm not feeling at all decisive, must be that pesky fear and greed thing taking hold. However in the main I think to myself: Whatya worrying about? You're just deciding whether to take profits, so what if you lose a few of them?
I know this sounds silly but I reckon it's more stressful sitting on big profits than on losses. With losses, it hits the stop, you sigh and get out but it's done. With good profits, it's.. just harder to take them. I decided I'm great at taking losses but rubbish at banking profits! Having said that though some of my best gains have been made by being brave enough to keep on holding for longer so could be it's the right move. I have often regretting taking profits too early in the past.
Anyway I'll stop bleating (this site is great therapy for me and saves me £50 a week I would have to spend with a counsellor) and get on with some trades.
I bought Alterian (ALN) on Friday as it was rising strongly, with good buying volume ahead of a statement today. Of course I might have guessed it would fall today on the statement even though it was decent as that's what happens in the markets these days. Despite this morning's fall it's still higher than when I bought it so I'll stay with it especially as there seems to be nearly as many buying in on the statement as there are profit takers. I got 5,000 at 59.9 and 4,000 at 60. Target 85 stop 53. I've bought with a medium-term view.
I bought another from the seminar shortlist, XP Power (XPP) sadly a bit higher than it was on seminar day so I missed quite a few pence of a rise already but I still think there is more there and I got 1,500 at 164.85p Target 200 stop 145.

It's got good markets, debt is within my perameters and it's also a company I always thought had the chance of being bought up. Longer-term view here and it currently hasn't moved at all since the buy.
I've bought back into Fenner (FENR) - it looks a bit risky given recent statements but having said that it's now got a very low rating - more of a quick gamble possibly than anything else but I'll see and collected 4,000 shares in a couple of lots for an average of 46.85. Target 56 stop 43. Looking for a quick bounce.
WSH Group (WSP) saw an almighty tree-shake that pushed it back down to my original buy so I topped up with a spreadbet of £20 a point at 229. It'll probably continue volatile but the uptrend is there and I'm looking for about 300p, possibly more.
I sold Lancashire out of sheer boredom of non movement at 476.26 for a profit of £104. It never really looked like being a winner though did hit 500 at one point (hindsight's a great thing).
Elsewhere the whole portfolio is packed with big profits and as I said, that makes me nervous. So why don't I take them? You know what? I'm just undecided! I suppose I think if the markets turn back up after Easter there is more to come. Maybe I should take half profits on some of them.
I've nearly doubled on Unite and itching to take the profit there except the order book looks strong still on the buy side and if it could push through 100, there could be more in the (students) locker. Sits in the early 90s with strong support at 90 and resistance at 95. Any push through 95 could be significant for further gains.
Heritage - that one too I've nearly doubled on the original buy - but then again it looks like a bid target.. a good price for a disposal achieved today. Any break through 350 will look even more bullish.
Aveva soared higher but was brought down to earth by 50p today by nothing more than a broker comment! Amazing what power they have to move a market. Trading statement soon so hopeful.
New Brit has been going very nicely and some good gains showing now. Some big buying coming in today so it looks exciting.
My housebuilder play Persimmon also a nice 70pts or so higher than my buying price. Only one real yellow card right now which is Mears, typically I thought was defensive. However its reports were good so give it some more room. I don't want to brandish the red card unless I really have to.
Morse remains in play as a bid, nicely higher than the buy in there and with the papers saying a 15p bid was rejected I'm hoping for around 18p.
Fantastic profits from the two banks - but really honestly I have no idea how to play them (never have with banks) and they move crazy amounts on any comment. Maybe I should have taken profits already. Nearly doubled on Barclays!
Dragon Oil is nearly 100 pts higher than the recent buy. So yet again great paper profits but they are not banked! Microgen keeps nearly all of its recent gains which is pretty good news as I expected a few profit takers. It's one of those that stays calm and then suddenly and hopefully moves up again!
SDL now in a really good profit more than 50p higher now and it looks like it's trying to get above current resistance around 325. My 350 target is coming into view.
Still not had the 215p cash for the Dmatek bid that made me over £5,000 - hopefully it will arrive in my account in the next week or so!
An good report from Carclo this week, just getting into profit now - an overlooked company but the statement saw some buyers and it's gradually moving higher. I've seem it jump 20p in a day before now so I'm hoping!
So to sum up: giant gains sit there. Market is still near a low. For right now holding on but it probably wouldn't take much to make me hit the take profits button which maybe I should have hit aleady!
Oh, to those of you who came to the seminar.. remember when we went through some screens live and we came across Pace? Remember how interesting it looked when we went through it? Would you believe it today it's up 50%! Oh why didn't I buy some! As you know I so nearly did! Shucks!
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!
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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!