Wow what a holiday and how weird to be back!

What happened to the weather? It's horrible! I'm off back to Greece! Catcha all in October!

Oh, I can't be bothered to travel again....

So much has happened... Getting up at 3am and driving to Gatwick was a bit grim...

And even grimmer with a two hour fight delay!! All I can say is avoid Viking airlines - delays all week apparently and a rickety old plane with a horrible landing..

They ran out of everything on the return leg.

"Sorry we sold all our sandwiches on the way over.." was what they said. What a way to run a business!

All they had was some "Fruit Shoots". Which pretended to be healthy by having "No Added Sugar" in big letters on it.

What it should have said was "144 added preservatives and chemicals!" No wonder the kids on the flight got hyper.

The landing felt like it was being handled by a trainee - it was all over the place. My life flashed before me and it was a bit sad that I thought "Why did I buy those stupid Coffee Republic shares in 2001?" We bumped hard but survived.

We found out later one of the toilets had been out of action for half an hour because the captain was inside!

Did he have to make a landing with dihorreah? Which reminds me I could never spell diao... Where's the spell checker.. oh never mind.

Anyway we ended up at a Mark Warner resort in Kos, Greece. With two good friends, Espen and Helen (who we met at one of my seminars!) and their two little girls.

Both are Bridge champions and play all over the world.

We get on very well with them and I guess it rather helps that Espen is similar to me in that he makes money from markets but in his case he makes money from sports spread betting, especially tennis.

As you can imagine with a sports better and a shares better deprived of their usual delights you can guess what happens next.

"Fancy a gamble on the time of the next plane to come over?" I suggested as a plane came over on the first morning in the beach.

"My spread is 13-16 minutes.. long or short?"

Espen went long for a Euro a minute. Lucky for me a plane came over at 12 mins giving me a four Euro win.

Sadly my profit didn't last too long. Later that evening after 3 glasses of wine Espen set a spread of 28-32 mins for the next plane.

I was convinced it was a short. So I shorted but lucky for me we agreed a stop loss of 40 as there was no plane to be seen for flipping hours! I lost 8 Euros. Moral: Don't try and win anything off a champion Bridge player!

It was hot hot hot out there - about 34 degrees but none of us got burned or bitten. We spent lovely days by the pool and the beach - Christopher enjoying the company of Espen and Helen's two girls.

Evenings were spent eating BBQ food and drinking wine and having a laugh.

The funny thing about a Mark Warner resort is that it could have been anywhere - it's a bit like the show "The Prisoner".

It's impossible to find the way out and with kids you are literally a prisoner in there even though it is a very nice prison indeed.

I have the impression if we tried to find our way out we would have been met with a Prisoner style giant bouncy ball stopping us from spending money elsewhere.

It was quite tough to find anyone Greek at all, in fact I didn't hear a word of Greek the whole time.

Mrs NT and myself usually prefer to go off the beaten track a bit so it was a bit odd - but with small children it is ideal!

Clever pricing in the hotel. They decided not to rip off on a bottle of still water (1 Euro) but cokes were 3 Euros. I heard one family arguing about their 850 euro bill - it was nearly all coke ordered by the kids!

Next time I'm taking a case load of coke cans, undercut the hotel by a Euro and pay for the entire holiday.

There was a brilliant kid watching service at night so all adults could go off and get a meal - kids are all fed separately earlier..

Christopher and the girls went to the kids club every afternoon where they went on boats, sang songs, drew and all kinds of things - they all loved it.

Which meant the parents had three hours adult time every afternoon. What happens during adult time of course is confidential!

There was an adult pool for some quiet time. Though plenty of volleyball to disturb the peace.

Kids club finished on the last day with the children performing a Grease Megamix dance. Ah, we are all so proud.

Espen is a superb tennis player of a very high standard - a top club player - he easily won the singles "championship" at the hotel.

He came over one morning and told me he'd entered us in the doubles championship despite the fact i'm crap at tennis and last played in the park 6 years ago..

Despite some protests I was hauled to the courts for some practice. I had to stand at the net and try and hit balls Espen smashed at me at 100 mph. I mainly got out of the way before they did me some damage.

Later that day we discovered there were only two other teams and because we were the number one seeds because of Espen's ability we got a bye through to the final.

Which was on the last day. Me and three excellent players.

"They will all try and hit the balls at you," said Espen helpfully. (He's Norwegian which means he gives it to you straight.)

Yes, I realised they would see how crap I was in seconds and I expected to be targetted. In fact I couldn't see how we wouldn't lose 6-0 once they realised my crapola status.

How did I get on? Find out in the next update!

Christopher's verdict on it?"The best holiday ever!" Which is good to know as it was really a holiday for him. But we did enjoy it too.

He loved collecting shells on the beach and came back with an excellent collection.

We all came back happy and suntanned. And as none of us have "proper" jobs we could all come home without having to worry about "the boss" or "work" the next day.

Nothing worse to come back to work and finding out your replacement did a better job!

So we are back safe and sound and looking forwards to our next holiday which is a big one - two weeks in South Africa in December!

I'm gulping when I look at my email inbox - there are lots in there and it's going to take me a while to clear them - I will do my best but if awaiting an answer from me please be patient. With a seminar this week I am answering those first.

Unbelievably I am doing a seminar on Friday! Honestly I just did the last one four weeks ago!

But this one is the special one for those who missed June's and for those who can't make a termtime one.

There have been a whole lot of bookings while I was away and I think I managed to book you all in from Greece. If you think you booked but have NOT had confirmation from me or the venue details please get in touch urgently.

Also incredibly and unexpectedly it is nearly full. I can probably just about squeeze one or two more in if you think you can come at short notice - let me know if interested and you can come and pay at the door.

Mail me asap at robbiethetrader@aol.com with "holiday seminar interested" in the subject line.

Looking forwards to meeting you all on Friday.

With many unable to come to the holiday one (because you are on holiday!) I have just booked a seminar date for the autumn - that seminar will be on Friday September 25th at Heathrow.

If you can't make Friday's and want details of that one mail me with "September Seminar interested" and I will send you details. A good early booking discount for that one.
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!

Finally seminar wise there'll be a follow up seminar for any of you who've been to a previous one sometime this autumn - based on Technical Analysis with top trader Susan Marmor. Again let me know.

Spreadbetting firm Tradefair Spreads has upped its offer exclusively to Naked Trader readers to a £100 credit AND a Moleskine trading Diary! This offer is exclusive to me and not available anywhere else...

I've been using them for a few weeks to check that I'm happy with the service. As you know I don't take ads or allow referrals on the site unless it's a company I've used and I feel confident about.

What I like about it is it's easy to use, spreads are surprisingly tight on the smaller companies and interestingly an automated stop loss is applied to each trade - so beginners know what their max loss is from the outset.

Anyway they now offer a £100 credit as long as you deposit £100. You get the credit after you placed 2 trades (Terms and conditions apply)

If you'd like to apply for an account with Tradefair Spreads and get the freebies click this link:
http://promo.tradefair.com/nakedtrader100/
Still with BT for your phone line? Why? Move over to Utilities Discount Warehouse under me and pay just £8.99 for your line rental, and deal with a nice company. I get commission and in return you get my e-mail - this site into your mailbox at every update!

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

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

**JUNE 26TH SOLD OUT EARLY**
Fancy spending a day with me, learning all the ways I have learned over the years to find good shares and play the markets? Well, you can at one of my seminars!
Booking is now open for the next Naked Trader seminar on Friday July 24th.

It's an extra seminar for those who missed out on the June 26th one that got sold out early and for those of you who find it impossible to get weekdays off work during termtime.

Price is £495 plus 15% vat. However there is a large early booking discount available!

That includes three course lunch, coffees, snacks etc. And most importantly it covers choc bars and fruit gums too.

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

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

To get the offer, click here:

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

You know the nice thing about being on a Greek island?

No speed cameras, road humps, health and safety, petty bureaucrats and best of all? No Gordon Brown on the TV!!

Thanks to reader Richard for sending me this:

Residents at council flats in Stoke will now be convening to discuss the "˜door mat' ban with elected members.

It was reported a couple of weeks ago that the council had decided to ban door mats due to their posing a "˜health and safety risk'. This caused a furore in the local and national press,and obviously with occupants who recognised the new rules as utter claptrap, dreamt up by bureaucrats who appear to reside on Button Moon, entirely detached from the real world and probably petrified of their own shadows.

Now, predictably, time, effort and money will be wasted raking over the finer details of the regulation which also specifies that pot plants, carpets and other personal items should be removed from porches lest they might prove obstructive during an emergency.

Oh dear - yet again another symptom of out of control health and safety legislation.

Good news; The MPs are all off for their mega holidays - obviously there is nothing for them to do till October and we shan't miss them.

It's obvious we are now in the silly season and there is no news around which is why we have to put up with the endless drivel about swine flu.

The point is; it is just a mild illness, like flu - done and dusted within a week. The papers and news are putting out scare stories because it sells.

As it's the only story they've got expect to see lots more madeup cobblers predicting the end of the world as we know it.

When we arrived at Kos we were all scanned for high temperatures on arrival - we all passed!

I can't say I missed TV while away as it's all total rubbish right now - but I do see Dragons Den is back and I'll catch it on I-Player.

I see 5 new idiots have gone into Big Brother to try and improve the dire ratings. Time it was dumped - or else the prize money put up to half a million to get some interesting people in.

I think we've really all had enough of vacuous non entities pretending to get off with each other to earn lucrative deals with OK mag.

If you want to bet on sport/Big Bro 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.

Anthony writes:
I am sure that by now your inbox must be bulging but I had to write to thank you for the seminar. I have followed your website for a few years now so had read a lot of the comments made by those who have attended but I have to say that you really blew me away with how enjoyable the day was. How you kept going so long without losing your voice was very impressive and also I am amazed that you are not twice the size you are with all the chocolates you eat!

I only wish I didn't have to leave at 8.15 as I would love to have had a drink with you and the other attendees. I know that everyone I spoke to throughout the day was also thoroughly enjoying themselves. The atmosphere was really buzzing from very early on. I have to admit that I was a little concerned about the cost but very quickly those fears disappeared and I left feeling that we all have got more value than we could ever have dreamed of getting from the day. Your humour was infectious and you were true to your word that no question was too stupid. I know that we have all come away feeling that we are so much better equipped to trade more effectively.

It was also a great pleasure to meet the lovely Mrs NT. After reading all the superlatives I have read I can only add that she is even more lovely in reality than people can convey in their letters. We spoke about Cape Town as I went there in December 2007 with my wife and children and will send Elizabeth some of our itinery which hopefully will be of some use. We had an amazing time and hopefully you will too.

Hi Anthony - glad you enjoyed the seminar. Yes we are off to South Africa in December.. can't wait!!

Gwen writes:
Just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed your seminar I came to on the 26th .

I did the fancy expensive traders course a couple of months ago and they were very heavy on the charting side of things ( even got us doing things like drawing trend lines on the charts in our manual over and over ) - they gave us the idea that all you need to do is look at charts, see all the "squiggly" lines are going the right way and you will make money easily.

What they didn't do was to tell us that while charts are obviously part of the decision there's more to deciding on a share than just finding a "nice" chart , there was very little mention of all the research on the companies that you showed us you do or about using L2 either.

I really wish I'd read your book and gone to one of your seminars before I did that other course , I know I will still make mistakes but at least I can see now where I've been going wrong !
Again many thanks for a very enjoyable and a very useful day.
Gwen glad you enjoyed it! Charting does have some value but imo not on its own.
Janice writes:

While sitting in the private banking room waiting to be serviced, I was looking at theCNN tv screen at Adrian

Finighan doing a report on trading. There you were being interviewed and talking about trading etc. I took down your information on the envelope that I had in my hand and made a mental note to check out your website. You did look a bit odd in your casual wear but I was impressed by the information that you gave during the interview.

I thought I would let you know that you were being viewed on tv "" on the tiny island of Trinidad in the Caribbean.

Thanks Janice - I usually avoid TV but Adrian is so nice I did it. re my attire I suppose wearing a heavy metal TV shirt when I'm not even into heavy metal was a bit odd - I guess I was trying to help as everyone else they interviewed was bound to be wearing a suit.

I don't even own a suit and have no intention of ever wearing one ever again! That's the joy of being free! Bbut next time I do anything for CNN I shall wear my favourite T shirt with birds on it. Then I can look like a crazy hippy instead!

Jim writes:

I just wanted to let you know how much i enjoyed your seminar on Friday, the day was
superb.Your energy and determination to fit in all of your subjects has to be applauded
its easy to see that you love trading and every thing connected with it. I now feel more
confident about selecting possible shares to trade, I can't thank you enough.
Many thanks to you and Elizabeth for a lovely day.

Thanks Jim and thanks to all of you who came who wrote nice things. Made the day very rewarding for me.

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

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

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

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

Want to try out broker Selftrade superb trading system for no risk? You only have to trade once to get £50 bunged into your account! You get £50 and I get £50.
All deals are just £12.50 with no funny small print. They also charge £35 plus vat pa for all accounts. Follow this link...

http://tinyurl.com/57hp4n

It was quite handy my net connection in Greece was a bit rubbish so I didn't go on that much. Delighted with progress while I've been away with some of the good winners continuing upwards.

The markets have been very strong while I've been away so lucky for me no scares while I was out of it!

It's always odd coming back to the markets after a holiday - takes me a while to get back into the swing of it again so I tend to be a bit cautious. This time it doesn't matter much as the portfolio climbs well with no need for much action from me.

I haven't done much but the little I have done is mainly before going on holidays dumping anything that looked too weak especially anything making a loss.

They were: Anite at 30.5, loss £390, Wellstream 530.02, loss of £71, PVC at 79.5, loss £222.

But I bought back Wellstream (WSM) 700 shares at the lower price of 484. Target 550 stop 460.

I took profits on Xaar before Greece at 102.45 to bank a profit of £1,022. They suddenly shot up but with sellers coming in fast at 105 seemed a good time to bank profits before jetting off.

All of which profit and losses taken adds up to a profit of £339. I took the unusual step for me and averaged down in Asterand (ATD) buying 10,000 at 21.9. Looks to have a great future so taking a chance there. Could blow up for me but I think it is worth the risk.

Elsewhere profits in some of my winners have boomed while I was in Greece. In particular Petrofac has shot up on a great statement and I now have profits of roughly £7,000. A winner that really has been worth holding onto! And it has turned into another doubler to join the others.

It's joint second winner in the portfolio currently with Barclays which too has soared well over 300 giving me profits of nearly £7,000 as well. So £14,000 profit from just two shares. People ask me why bother with ISAs. Well, if I did not hold just those two in ISAs and sold them now I would be paying tax on those profits!

Winner of biggest current profit is still Heritage where I sit on profits of nearly £10,000.

Some other excellent profits sitting there too - Both Alterian and Microgen are both at around the £3,000 profit level - Alterian has doubled and still going strong while Microgen reports shortly. Alterian has announced what looks like an excellent acquisition.

Celsis is looking very good now - it's soared today and it if can break 200, that would be marvellous.

The remaining Dragon Oil position has profits of just under £4,000 there. Chloride's been disappointing though it has paid out a dividend in the meantime. Long-termer Telecom Plus released a decent statement while I was away- a big dividend is also on the way to me and website profits of over £15,000 there.

Recent buy Intel Telecom (ITL) has soared since my buy and some handsome profits there as it heads up hopefully towards my 100p target.

Right I am knackered now and need to go to bed -still on Greek time!! Incredibly happy with the portfolio gains - the only problem now is: when to bank profits? And can the market continue this upwards progress? And can the FTSE get above 4,500? Can it get any more exciting?

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 AND a moleskin trading diary!!

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

To get the offer, click here:

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

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

Want to quit the rat race? Try and start a new source of income so one day you can tell the boss to stuff it? You could do what I did to escape my grotty office job and become an independent distributor for the Utilities Discount Warehouse.
You get to sell great broadband, phone packages and energy to friends, relatives, contacts and anyone else you find and you get cash for each sale but more importantly you get a cut of their spend EVERY MONTH for as long as they are a customer!
It's called residual income and is a far better way to enjoy a ripe old age than relying on a pension. Because even after you stop selling the money STILL comes in!
I still get paid EVERY MONTH for sales I made back in 1999! Every time a customer uses broadband or the phone or switches on a light you get paid.
It's a great business and backed by a stock market company (Telecom Plus), a dedicated team of advisors.. and me to help you on your way!
Not only do you get paid out every month for each customer you can take on distributors. encourage them like I do and get paid on their sales as well.
One day, say you could made redundant, needed a year off or wanted to retire early can you imagine what joy it is to have the regular income coming in. It's wonderful.
You have to work at it, but if you do genuine repeat wealth could be yours. I did it. You can too. For full details, why not email me at robbiethetrader@aol.com.
An overview is also available at http://www.telecomplus.org.uk/fabdeal you can sign up directly there but do tell me!
****
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!