I really hate chicken pox. Badly!
Anyone with a toddler will probably realise what a time I've had. They're not really that sick yet you can't really go out much.
Not because he's contagious anymore.. it's the looks you get from other parents taking out your child with the pox. And I can't really let him near other kids, just in case.
Sharing whole days with an active child who can't go out is hard work. Trading is simple in comparison!
With Mrs NT away in Ireland for a family reunion it was just the boys.
Lucky for us we have a small private swimming pool in the flats we're in so I took him swimming. He loves that and spends about half an hour in the shower.
By Sunday he and I were stir crazy. And fed up with endless Peppa Pigs. Why is Daddy Pig so hopeless?
I sneaked him down to the rubbish park that no-one likes and lucky no-one was there.
On Monday I decided it really wasn't going to be possible to trade so I gave up and I took him on the bike for a ride out.
We decided to go to the Wetlands Centre.. a kind of bird/duck/animal sanctuary which also has an adventure playground.
So I cycled him around the river and was just about to cycle down the pathway to the centre, but shock: it was closed for repairs. I went down a different path and it wasn't long before we were lost.
Yes, lost in the wilderness somewhere between Putney and Barnes. Three paths and no signposts. Got loster and loster.
Luckily we came across a nice lady who pointed us in the right direction and eventually managed to find my way to civilisation and the wetlands centre.
Even better it was really quiet there were no other children around the playground area.
Christopher showed me around then we had some snacks in the cafe. Scones and jam for me, jelly for Christopher.
Then I had to find my way home. I don't know how I did it because we got kind of lost again. I'd just got onto familiar territory when, guess what. A flipping puncture!
So I had to walk the bike and Christopher the rest of the way home.
Well, it was all an adventure enjoyed by the boys. Who wants to be sitting at a desk when you could be having fun?
Mummy is now home and I retired to my office on Tuesday to catch up with all the emails!
My dentist examined my teeth last week. He sucked in his cheeks and made the same sort of look as a car mechanic does when you bring in your old banger for a service. The look which says "This is going to cost you"
I knew it was going to be bad when he said he'd "write to me". The upshot when I got the letter was that I needed all kinds of major roadworks including two root canals and it was going to cost me between £5,000 and £8,500!
Lucky for me I have a friend who's a dentist who I met at one of my seminars a while back so tomorrow I'm off to his surgery for a second opinion. Here's hoping!

My congrats to pupils at Wellingborough School in Northants for winning the Shares4schools competition:

Teacher David Williams explains:

"It involves a team of 12 Lower Sixth pupils investing a real £1500 starting fund from October until first week of June. Beating 49 other schools we made a profit of 134.9% and over £2000. Among the stock held in this period were Dragon Oil and Heritage Oil which have performed brilliantly as well as doing well with Taylor Wimpey earlier in the year. It is a great way for kids to get involved in and begin to understand investment.

You will be pleased to know that your book and website have been used at various times during our weekly meetings. Just shows how they can beat those who we pay vast sums to invest money on our behalf!"

Well done David and all the star pupils and it's great to see the beating the "professionals"
My June 26th seminar is now sold out! I'm just starting a waiting list in case of any cancellations/transfers. Let me know if you want to be on that if you can make it at short notice.

But don't despair! Normally I would not hold another one till September but there is an extra "holiday seminar" this year on Friday July 24th close to Heathrow Airport.

It's specially for anyone who missed out on the June one or who finds it difficult to get a weekday off during termtime.

If you want the details mail me at robbiethetrader@aol.com with
"holiday seminar interested" in the subject line.

There is currently a decent early bookers discount.

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, it's for a max of 20 only.

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

MAY 15TH SOLD OUT!

Fancy spending a day with me, learning all the ways I have learned over the years to find good shares and play the markets? Well, you can at one of my seminars!
Booking is still open for the next Naked Trader seminar on Friday June 26th. 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 "June seminar interested" in the subject line and I will send you full details of the event including comments from those who have come to previous seminars and you can then decide whether you would like to come. See you there!

One seminar attendee Clare wanted to write a testimonial about her experiences at the seminar which follows now!
"I've just come back buzzing from one of Robbie's seminars. What a day! He's just brilliant, and manages to pack an awful lot into one day, and with his enthusiastic and humorous delivery the day just flies by. There are no gimmicks, no sell, no "˜get-rich-quick' promises, just his own solid, sound approach which he has learnt over the years and which works.
He shows you how to minimise the risks and maximise the profits and points out the banana skins on the way. Where the seminar really comes into its own is when he teaches using live level 2. Hearing him talk through his thought processes and reasoning is invaluable, and really brings home everything from the book. He has endless patience answering peoples' questions, and really seems to care that everybody understands.
On top of that, you meet some really nice like minded people and swap e mail addresses, you're plied with
chocolates and coffee all day, have a great lunch and spend the evening getting tiddled with Robbie in the
bar afterwards! You might even get to see the amazing crocodile boots . . . .

Don't worry about the cost, it's easily worth it, and you'll soon make it back with your new-found investment skills, and in what you're no longer losing. If you're thinking of going along to his next seminar, whether you're a novice or an experienced trader, don't hesitate ""just go!
Thanks Clare, did you want the tenner in cash, or will a cheque do?

Exclusive One Point Spread, £250 Cashback Offer

Still a massive response coming in for the sensational 1 point indices spread offer plus £250 cash back on losses - my mail box continues to be full of enquires - don't miss out!
I have arranged a deal with a spreadbet company that gives you just ONE POINT spreads on all the major indices and very tight spreads on everything else. A one point spread is just amazing and you can use it on the FTSE, DOW, Nikkei etc...
Not only that, I can offer those of you interested a fantastic £250 cash back on any realised spreadbet losses made within your first 8 weeks. That means you get back any losses up to £250 which could come in extremely handy.
If you'd like the details of this offer just mail me at robbiethetrader@aol.com with "£250 cashback offer" in the subject line. This really is a great offer which will have a limited lifespan so if you want it, get cracking!

. Mf Global Spreads is one of the few companies that offers spreads on smaller companies valued at just £6m or more, including AIM stocks. And you can trade them online too.
So now you CAN deal in small companies without having to actually buy the shares in the market and you can deal in them on margin if you wish.
Every naked trader reader who opens an account with them though me will get a completely free £2 a point bet on the daily FTSE on a day of your choice.
As you can imagine get it right and this free bet could be worth a few quid. The bet cannot be a loser, because if you lose, it is as if you never placed it!

And MF now also offers £100 refund on your first bet if it becomes a loser.
So here is your chance to open an account to spread bet the smaller companies - of course you can deal in the whole range of usual spread betting with them too including the bigger companies and indices bets as well.
To take up what I think is a brilliant offer, simply cut and paste this link into your browser and sign up online:

http://tinyurl.com/c524ku

I've started using Tradefair for spreadbetting - I like the auto generated stop losses which help to maintain discipline and that's good for beginners I think. And exclusively for Naked Trader readers they upped the offer to £100 credit!

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

To get the offer, click here:

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

What is going on? Lord Sir Alan Sugar!
Much as I like The Apprentice hasn't this gone a bit far?
I mean, is he really that great shakes as a businessman? It's great he founded Amstrad but as we all know the products were mainly "toot".
The set top boxes were known to be poor. And what about the "emailer phone" as featured in the first edition of The Apprentice? A terrible idea. How much did it lose?
And in the end Amstrad was only worth £125m - next to nothing in stock market terms.
Sir A is fine producing an entertaining TV show but in a serious role like this? I think maybe he has been dazzled by a peerage...
Yet again Gordy is trying desperately to use "people off the telly" to ramp up his dismal ratings. It's so transparent.
He survives again. It's unbelievable though. If the UK was a company, Gordy would be out. How many chief execs do you know that would stay put if a good percentage of the company he worked for expressed no confidence in him?
The few militants in the train drivers' union that have caused untold chaos and damage to London this week are a disgrace...
Most of the train drivers don't want to strike - it's over nothing. Let's remember a lot of these drivers get paid extremely well and get up to 8 weeks holiday.
It's all to do with politics. A strike should always be a last resort. They ought to take pride in running an excellent transport service not running it into the ground.
Businesses are the ones that suffer. For example I had a table booked at a restaurant in town with a friend. That had to be cancelled so the restaurant doesn't get the cash we'd have spent - now multiply the numbers not coming in. It just isn't fair.
As I suspected Yasmina won the final though if truth me told Kate was better I think. More done as a twist more than anything else.
Yasmina's a bit ropey in some areas especially presentation but Kate hasn't put a foot wrong.
Anyway it was a really entertaining task and they both did well to come up with any ideas at all in the chocolate industry where I am sure all ideas have been done in the past.
Big Brother. Oh dear. The bits I've been have been so contrived. The participants tedious show-offs. With viewing figures at an all-time low it's time the show was ditched though the celebrity one should be kept going.
I'm sticking with my spreadbets on Rodrigo and Norin, up a little on both at the moment, don't know why because like you, I'm not watching!

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.

Theresa writes:
I was interested to read your comments on TV. We didn't get broadcast TV until my son was 9. I finally got it so he could watch the first Fedora / Nadal wimbledon final and so that he could watch Dr. Who. He went all that time without questioning that he didn't watch TV - he used to listen (still does) to loads of stories and poems on tapes / cds. It hasn't done him any harm at all. Now we watch a little TV together selectively at the weekend and we are all happy with that! I know I can't possibly prove it, but I think he has benefited very positively from not watching TV. He has always got on with other things instead - and there's just so much for young ones to do.
School fees - that's one of the main reasons I started trading! So expensive, but sadly I am sure it's worth it. Sadly because no-one should have to buy a good education. But I went to my local school in Stevenage and am afraid I had a very unhappy time - a negative and unstimulating environment. Much to my amazement I find myself buying into the private system. So far (aged 11) I think it has been fantastic and worth every penny - not so much for the academic side of it which is good helped enormously by the small class sizes, but for the positive energy and range of things they get the chance to be involved in. Lucky them.

Hi Theresa. I agree. We're very keen for Christopher not to be stuck in front of the TV all the time. Luckily for us he's really active and we spend evenings playing and swimming and not watching TV. Agree with schooling too - the schools where we live in London are terrible. I do feel lucky and privileded to be able to afford private schooling. It shouldn't have to be this way but it is.

Ed writes:
I need the money to pay for a porn movie, a plug, some manure for my garden, a patio heater, a repair to a pipe under my tennis court, a chandler and various other bills I have for my second home. Luckily, I've done a bit of a fraud and still claim single person's discount on the community charge while my firm pays the whole whack. I'm hoping to decorate it, at their expense and then pretend it's actually my main residence. That way, when I sell it, I don't have to pay capital gains tax ! Am I clever or what !?

The only worry I have is that somone at the firm will notice my 'holiday home' is actually only a few miles away from my real home. If they do, I might have to work out how to justify my travelling expenses. Still........

Good luck with your plans Ed. I think it's marvellous you should be thinking about following in the footsteps of the honourable members of the house of commons..
David writes:
I know you are really busy with too many e-mails to deal with each day, but I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed your seminar last Friday. The time just flies past and I got the impression you would have stayed up all night talking if you could have done! (well, if you could have been provided with G'n'T's in the room of course!).
I don't know how you do it, you looked completely knackered when I left the bar late on, but you were still happily chatting to all and sundry - it's obvious that you love what you do and that enthusiasm shines through.
Anyway, all in all a great learning day and it was fun talking to lots of other people there too, so a big thank you from me!
Please also say thanks to Elizabeth for quietly getting on with everything in the background, truly the unsung hero of the day - doesn't she get bored in the morning though, sat at the back listenening to you, or do you always tell different jokes?
Thanks David and glad it worked for you - of course I use different jokes every time!

Bode writes:

Robbie what do you do with your shares when you are away from the country and can't track your investments as readily as you would like. Do you simply close your positions or do you just deploy stop losses everywhere? Or do you simply avoid being away when the market is active?
Hi Bode..
I'm afraid I'm a saddo and I take a laptop with me. Then I usually dip in a couple of times a day. I try not to trade but know I can exit something if I need to. As I'm more a medium-term holder, a holiday can usually pass without me needing to do much. I do check likely results on anything I own so I do a little pre preparation for anything that might catch me out!

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

Well, the ftse remains in that 4,300 to 4,500 range, any breakout either side could be quite significant.
The portfolio continues to rise and while it does I'm in the main just sticking with everything and enjoying tea and toast days!
However I have added one share, that's Booker (BOK ) getting 10,000 shares at 34. Target 45 stop 28.
I know Booker a little: when I owned a cafe we used to go down there to get stuff wholesale to sell. Of course the share price has been buffeted by the recession. However a firm uptrend has just begun.
But what interests me is the company is moving from AIM market to the main in July. I always like companies that do this. The move will propel it straight into the FTSE 250 in September so with funds buying in I think there is limited downside from here but potential very good upside. I expect to buy some more for my Isas once it transfer over to the main market
I sold the rest of my Carclo at 96.05 after looking at the results. It looks to me like a pretty good very long-term share.. but the price looks up with events for right now and I feel I cam get in again at a similar price later this year. It seems to struggle to get past 100 and that really is about the price it's worth for now. I do expect to be back in it though soon enough as it does have tremendous potential.
I banked a profit of £1,577 for the website to add to the £1,000 plus banked on this share last week.
Elsewhere it continues to be excellent.
Recent buys still going fine. Anite has seen a nice rise - as usual whole numbers cause a problem - but if it can break that crucial 40p area that would be brilliant. Office2 Office remains roughly where I bought it, be interesting to see if the broker is right about abroad interest. One to be patient with for me.
Optos has managed a nice 20% gain so far with some good buying continuing. Innovation Group also going well up about 10%.
Hardy Oil holds nicely at much higher levels. Fenner's moving nicely but 100 seems to be resistance - still any break up would be very bullish. Heritage is very volatile on return to the market after its outline deal to merge with Turkish company Genel Enerji. There are still risks (mostly political) and there will be profit takers here but it reminds me of the £30,000 plus I made on Burren Energy by staying with it. Having bought at much lower prices obviously helps and I expect to hold onto most of my stake for now.
A few shares that have just held steady are starting to move. Porvair is seeing some renewed buying and is on the up again.
Microgen sees some buying coming in today - I'm hopeful it night start to rise again in the run-up to results.
Asterand too is beginning to move after stabilising.
Trebler Barclays is coming up on the rails again after the Abu Dhabi exit. As is RBS.
New Brit is looking strong any rise in Palm Oil. Petrofac too with excellent profits there.
.
The big question is whether the FTSE can break up over 4,500 or not. It's tried again today even getting over 4,500 but as I write has fallen back again. A real sustained move over could be really bullish but it could also slip back to 4300 again, I wish I knew! In the meantime while it works itself out in the main staying put.
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!