Read the book but want to see me do it all with live markets? If you want details on how to spend a day with me and live markets (beginners and improvers welcome) email me at robbiethetrader@aol.com with "July seminar interested" in the subject line and I'll send you details, more details below too. There is a large early bird discount on offer.

*****

I've been ancient dad dancing to what's going to be the big hit song this summer, Eez-Eh by Kasabian - to be released in June.

A big number one to be I reckon! Don't listen to it is my advice - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ST6nEvIEY4s

Well, we really didn't want to come back from Spain! Lovely sunny weather, tons to do. However reluctantly we have dragged ourselves back.

Never mind, we are back there in just a month, booked another week at the end of May!

And then we have a whole month away in California on our US road trip to come once school is out.

May is pretty busy for me especially the week beginning May 12th - three seminars, two social dos and a poker night! With all this going on then the next update here will be May 21st.

Our lovely son enjoyed himself as usual and gave it 10/10 - plenty of football and other activities for him to play with other children.

Elizabeth's sister came with us and had a great time.

My favourite time is probably late night swims and jacuzzis with my son. He is such fun and we have such a laugh playing games with balls.

These are the memories to treasure and as with everything the best memories are free. I will remember giggling away watching the clear night sky and the stars. Wonderful.

There are some amazing beach restaurants, just the freshest fish simply grilled. And we went to a treat one up in the hills which served amazing food.

Anyway I am sure it is tedious reading about someone else's hols so I will stop there except...

As you know I think most insurance is a con. I don't take out any insurances unless forced to.

That's because given the amount over a lifetime you'd be shelling out against the chances of claiming more than you shell out is low, it seems silly.

And one example is hire car insurance. We rent probably 8 weeks a year abroad.

I always say "No added insurance, the basic required by law only."

Amazingly this saves roughly £350 per car hire. Now think over a year that's near £3,000 saved.

Now think over ten years! That's £30,000 saved, enough to buy 3 new cars!

In all our time we only had one scrape which we took to a local garage who fixed it for £150 !

The extra "Insurances" are ludicrous, the worse being "windscreen insurance" at £30 !! Have you ever had a windscreen problem? No, it won't happen!

So when we arrived in Spain, I said as usual "no extra insurances" they agreed and that was that!

Well, till I looked idly at the contract two days later and saw they had lumped on loads of extra insurance and charged nearly £400 extra.

Apparently the scam is they highlight the extra insurances with a highlighter pen to show they highlighted the charges to you when they didn't really.

The staff makes most of its money by trying to get you to take out useless insurances so it's not surprising they try it on.

I set the Mrs onto this rightaway as she has fantastic rottweiler tendancies when it comes to being ripped off.

After a few calls she won the day. Initially they tried to wriggle out of it, then even had the cheek to say we had to go into its Malaga office to sign a new contract.

They caved in and refunded everything.

So watch it when you sign your car contract. You are tired and want to get on with your holiday. They know that and take advantage. Check what you are signing carefully. Perhaps even write "I decline extra insurances" on it.

If you have a bump in a hire car always get a local garage to fix it - never take it back for the hire company to fix because they will sting you bigtime!

At the weekend we went on a trip to a potential secondary school for Christopher.

At 10 grand a term it isn't cheap but you can see why they charge it, more on this next time!

We also went to see our team Fulham manage to throw away a two goal lead to make it so they need to win the last two games for any chance of staying in the premierl league.

On the quiet I quite fancy a season in the championship, it will make a change to win some games!

I'll be meeting a few of you readers shortly either at the standard seminar on May 12th or the follow ups May 17th and 18th!

If you are coming on May 12th come and relax! We're registering from 9.30am and we start at 10am. (There is still space for the 12th so mail me if you are interested).

Plenty of notepads and pens around and lots of decent food and snacks too. I hope you all enjoy yourselves and hope one or two good trades reveal themselves.

Please remember I am paying for your parking but you MUST give your reg number in to reception or else you will get a parking ticket!

Coffees will be there waiting for you and there is coffee and tea on tap all day. The chef promises me there will be great snacks and lunch! It better be good or there will be trouble..

Grab a coffee and some choc and just relax, I promise to be gentle with you all. I hope you all enjoy the day, as it's live from the markets who knows what will come up. And as you know I talk plain English with none of that idiotic jargon. See you there!
Thanks a lot for all the feedback from the last event and a number of people really did decide to sell their crap shares. That is even better news.

It's been so rewarding too that I've been getting emails from people saying I changed their lives after they came to a seminar. Many of you have done so well and it's not just about me.. you made the effort and put the work and discipline in to trade properly.
If you missed it, the next one is on July 7th mail me at robbiethetrader@aol.com for details with "July seminar interested" in the subject line.

Beginners and improvers welcome! Come and spend the day with me, the markets and some lovely people - and of course, lunch, lots of sugary snacks, and even live chocolate waffle making in the teabreak!

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!

Here's some feedback from the last one from "D"

'It's obvious from his site Robbie Burns is a good market analyst and shrewd stock-picker. He is also a highly opinionated commentator on everything from TV shows to food. Therefore I expected his seminar to be 75% entertainment, 15% general exposition for beginners and-- if we were lucky-- 10% of something I could use to help me invest. But I could not have been more wrong.

The opinions on food and politics etc. though genuine, are I believe a bit of disguise or misdirection for there is a real touch of rebel genius here. And in the seminar, which is 95% hardball, he actually takes you candidly right into the mental process involved in his successful trading, making it a pretty amazing display, even showing his own investment accounts right there on the screen. You can see at once why so many of us are merely stabbing in the dark with our investments.

This is a genuine coaching session in how to trade like him if you put in the graft. I have only bought one stock since, as I am waiting for the tools he recommends, but I got the price down by using his tactics and I cannot recommend the seminar too highly if you are going there to learn. It must be taxing on him to let us at such length and in such detail into the process, which has made him so much money (for--unlike so many other so-called experts the seminars are not a day job). My advice therefore would be to sign up for this while he is still prepared to do it.'

with me and all day research, timing, direct access and attempts to find new trades etc.

If you have been to a seminar before and would like to follow up with me and live markets all day email me at robbiethetrader@aol.com with "follow up interested" in the subject line. Then I'll be in touch when a date firms up.

---

* The THIRD edition of my book Naked Trader 3 is out now !!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

---

Fancy getting the naked trader updates direct into your inbox? And a bit before it gets updates on the net including news from my pension trades made from my SIPP?

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

I get some commission and you get the service! On top of that you ought to make some amazing savings on your phone, broadband, or energy use or all!

Prices are guaranteed lower than the top 6 suppliers for energy and lower for mobile, home phone and broadband with some amazing prices.

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

Spreadbetting firm Capital Spreads offers a great book on how to spreadbet for readers via this link http://www.capitalspreads.com/ntrader
Its spreads are surprisingly tight and interestingly an automated stop loss is applied to each trade - so beginners know what their max loss is from the outset. A super site for beginners.
I use IG Index for betting on the very small companies, the only spreadbet firm I can find that does the smaller ones making it possible to trade AIM cos tax free.

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

http://www.ig.com/nakedtrader

Many of you enjoy the cheap advfn toplists bronze deal through me as do many of you with the cheap level 2. However many of you say you want a half-way house to include real-time share prices always on.
So I'm pleased to announce I've managed to seal a new deal with Advfn for its "Silver" service - that's always on real-time share prices for a good saving (Bronze toplists etc are included in this).
The deal is via me you can save £30 for your first year by paying just £145 inc vat via me instead of £173.71
Just mail me for full details if you'd like it with "silver" in the subject line.

NEW DATE: JULY 7TH NEAR HEATHROW
Fancy spending a day with me, learning all the ways I have learned over the years to find good shares and play the markets? Well, you can at one of my seminars!
Booking is open for the Naked Trader seminar on JULY 7TH

Price is £650 plus vat. However there is a decent early bookers discount available for those booking nice and early.
That includes three course lunch, coffees, snacks etc.
The seminar is mainly aimed at beginners and dabblers though improvers are welcome too.
Topics covered using live market feeds all day include: Market psychology, level 2 - a simple guide to how to use it for better timing; how to value companies; finding companies that are about to rise. I will also cover techniques for handling events such as the recent meltdown and volatility.
Spreadbetting: How to use it to gain an edge and go short. Market makers - how they work and how to beat them; how to stop losing money and make it instead and plenty more.
How to plan trade entries and exits - how to research companies and understand reports, plus all those niggly questions you always wanted to ask. How to set stop losses and targets. Charts and how to use them.
Also covered: Market maker tricks: How to spot tree shakes and use them in your favour, How to tell when NOT to buy a share. I use live ADVFN all day with lots of level 2 and looks at all kind of live market data.
The idea behind the seminar is SIMPLICITY. I don't use jargon or fancy words - everything is in PLAIN ENGLISH! No question is too stupid and the event is held in a friendly relaxed and supportive environment.
The idea is you will come away from the event I hope a wise and better investor with lots of new ideas. I try and translate complex topics into easy bite size pieces. I also aim for it to be entertaining as well as instructive.
If you are interested please e-mail me at robbiethetrader@aol.com with "July 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?

Spreadbetting firm Capital Spreads offers a great book on how to spreadbet for readers via this link http://www.capitalspreads.com/ntrader
Its spreads are surprisingly tight and interestingly an automated stop loss is applied to each trade - so beginners know what their max loss is from the outset. A super site for beginners.
I use IG Index for betting on the very small companies, the only spreadbet firm I can find that does the smaller ones making it possible to trade AIM cos tax free.

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

http://www.ig.com/nakedtrader

If you like to trade the FTSE, Dow, or currencies then Spreado has an outstanding tight 0.8 spread - that is incredibly tight. The platform is very good and robust and have used it to great satisfaction and profits.

You can sign up at this link which includes a decent market commentary:

http://www.spreadco.com/nakedtrader

An interesting point came in from reader Keith who wrote:

"Money should be a school subject, as compulsory as English and Maths.

Too many people have not grasped fundamentals like compound interest, not buying things you can't afford, the perils of expensive credit, types of mortgage, pensions, etc. No wonder the world is in a mess."

I totally agree, life lessons should be taught - how about instead of waste of time RE lessons?

Money, relationships, how the world works, business, computer code, this should all be part of it.

You can now buy an "I Kettle" - Yes a kettle you can turn on using your mobile phone.

What an idiotic idea.. much better to get what we have which is an always on hot tap, it's great!

The kettle doesn't fill itself either so you've got to make sure there is water in it. Something no-one really needs! And what if you accidentally switch it on when you're at work, cue fire!

Aren't you fed up with hearing politicians talk about "Hard-working families"?

Let's be honest - how many families are lazy families who never get their fat bums off the sofa?

Come on, let's hear it for non-working slobby families! Screw the hard-working ones!

And yet another politician resigns after dodgy dealings. No wonder their ratings are at an all time low.

It's time to close down all the Westminster subsidised bars. How many of you have a bar at work?

Why do we allow our politicians to be drunk most of the time fuelling them with cheap booze whenever they want it. Replace all the bars with coffee shops.

I see they are resurrecting Dads Army with a new cast.

I'm not sure this is a great idea. Dads Army was a classic of its time which surely should be left to repeats. How could they possibly improve it?

What's worse is the writer of the proposed movie wrote "Mr Bean's Holiday". It's going to be awful. Leave Dad's Army as it was. Down with the new movie!

Getting through House Of Cards on Netflix pretty fast now, it is a wonderful series... almost fills the whole left by the end of Breaking Bad.

While of course it is a caricature, the truth is there: a vast proportion of politicians, their hangers on and the journos that cover them are rampant alkies with big egos who want some power. They don't really care who they turn over to get what they want.

I say sack all the blokes in power and bring the women in.

Britain's Got Talent remains a fun watch. I know it's formatted and it's contrived etc, it still good to see people of any age get out there. The really talented ones spend all their time honing their performances and that's great.

I just wish I had a talent.. we all sit round and watch it and there is always a tremendous laugh in there somewhere and the magician has been an unexpected highlight.

Mad men has started up again for its final series, always been an interesting watch. True it is slow sometimes but it's pretty to watch.

If you want a spreadbet on any sporting event such as the football
http://www.spreadex.com/nakedtrader/sports

A really great site for sports spread bets, remember you can back teams to do badly too!

There is some stuff on sport to come under "Sports" button above

Dave writes :
I agree with comments about Dr Who and Breaking Bad. I used to enjoy Dr. Who years ago but I think it's worn out, it's all about celebrity now, like everything else on telly.

I recently was enjoying the Sopranos a friend let me borrow (fascinating story lines) and my son Rob in Australia (an irrelevance to you of course), he said if you like Sopranos you'll love Breaking Bad. Wow was he ever right. I got the full set from Amazon (apart from the last season). I'm having to eke it out it's so brilliant I don't want it to end, that's the sad bit. What about the uncle in the desert in the wheelchair with the bell strapped to the arm of the chair, the missus and me just fell about and many more just brilliant set ups dragging out every emotion.

Agree Dave, love Breaking Bad. Only five to go for me and I won't spoil what happens for you except it gets more and more addictive!
Gary writes :
"For throwing your heart, soul and energy into one fact-packed, full-on and exhaustingly educational day: FIVE stars with no hesitation!!
Met some really nice people too - like me, nervous that it was the most we'd ever spent on a whole day of anything (had we made arses of ourselves?) But no one felt short-changed, especially when you were still going strong when we all wanted to go to bed! One of your delegates, Susan, back for a second time, said to me unequivocally, "you will go away absolutely inspired." I can't disagree.
Thanks Gary, hope you make some money!

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

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

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

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

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

Thanks Gabriel!

Terry writes:
Fantastic seminar.

I have always been sceptical of the public testaments you see on web sites
saying how great an event was. Now I'm one of those people!. I
genuinely believe that the tips and techniques as well as the overall
approach you demonstrated will radically improve my trading performance
Thanks Terry, well all the testaments are real but know what you mean and glad you feel it was worth it!
Dan writes :
'It's obvious from his site Robbie Burns is a good market analyst and shrewd stock-picker. He is also a highly opinionated commentator on everything from TV shows to food. Therefore I expected his seminar to be 75% entertainment, 15% general exposition for beginners and-- if we were lucky-- 10% of something I could use to help me invest. But I could not have been more wrong.

The opinions on food and politics etc. though genuine, are I believe a bit of disguise or misdirection for there is a real touch of rebel genius here. And in the seminar, which is 95% hardball, he actually takes you candidly right into the mental process involved in his successful trading, making it a pretty amazing display, even showing his own investment accounts right there on the screen. You can see at once why so many of us are merely stabbing in the dark with our investments.

This is a genuine coaching session in how to trade like him if you put in the graft. I have only bought one stock since, as I am waiting for the tools he recommends, but I got the price down by using his tactics and I cannot recommend the seminar too highly if you are going there to learn. It must be taxing on him to let us at such length and in such detail into the process, which has made him so much money (for--unlike so many other so-called experts the seminars are not a day job). My advice therefore would be to sign up for this while he is still prepared to do it.'

I have 3 great offers from ADVFN.

SAVE OVER £120 !
First great deal: If you want level 2, through me it is only £350 for your first year including VAT!
This compares to £473 direct from advfn inc vat so this deal saves you over a whopping £120! ADVFN level 2 also includes all the live trades made through Plus Markets which I find invaluable.
To accept this great deal just e-mail me at robbiethetrader@aol.com with "Level 2 offer" in the subject line and I will tell you how to get it. Level 2 gives you access to all the market maker positions and the order book and I would not trade without it!

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

Deal two is ADVFN's bronze subscription - normally £74 pa - available from me for only £50! (inc vat) That's a saving of over £30! You access to the premium bulletin board which contains my discussion forum with direct access to some very good traders. Plus you get ADVFN's premium top lists which I think are a must for finding great stock picks. That includes great lists like ex dividend dates, market maker buys plus chart breakouts and downs. All as explained in the book.
To take up the offer, e-mail me at robbiethetrader@aol.com with Bronze in the subject line and I will tell you how to claim the deal.

Bronze is included inside the level 2 deal.

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

The deal is via me you can save nearly £30 for your first year by paying just £145 inc vat via me instead of £173.71
Just mail me at robbiethetrader@aol.com if you'd like this deal with "silver" in the subject line.

***
EMAILS: I do beg you not to send me emails asking me for advice on a particular share. It isn't legal for me to give you individual advice and all I do is send you a mail saying that, which wastes a lot of my time and yours too. This includes asking me what to do with a share, what I might "think" about a share, or deconstructing any of the buys I mention here. I would be grateful, see FAQ for more on this. Of course more than happy to answer general questions not related to specific shares.
****
COPYING TRADES: I can't stop you from copying a trade I made but remember the price may already be a lot higher than I paid indeed I hope it is as buying at good prices is what I do for a living. You may be buying at the top and could easily lose money. Also I can make terrible mistakes and have done in the past. I could also sell before you or before the share tanks. I may still be holding in a year when you sold at a loss. Always do your own research, don't jump in blindly. Market makers are very clever at knowing how to make you pay top dollar and then push you out at a loss. This site is about sensible investment and learning how to trade sensibly and is not a tipping site. Beware. Never push buy on anything till you've done proper research and got yourself a sensible price.
****

A reminder next seminar is July 7th, Mail me for details at robbiethetrader@aol.com with "July seminar interested" in the subject line.

---

Well, Markets seem okay and holding up very well but a bit tired. I'm not quite sure what will really give them a push higher over the summer. Given all the political problems certainly the ftse's been doing quite well, though it's coming up to highs again.

I've mainly been reducing my positions, done a lot top slices, half sells and full sells.

Three reasons: First is I can't believe how much I made in the last three years and I don't want to give too much back by being greedy. Although I am pretty happy in that I have banked an awful lot of profit and actually bought property with it. I think that's sensible. There is no point in making profit and keeping it all in the market. You have to take some out and property is security for the future.

Reason 2. There is fear around due to politics which is uncontrollable and chances are this summer might be difficult.

Reason 3: I'm going to be on holiday in the states for most of the summer, indeed for some more of the spring it's impossible to trade there because of the time difference, so I want to be safe from any potential meltdown and want to enjoy my hols without worrying about anything.

So the last few weeks I have been through the whole portfolio, cut back on most positions pretty ruthlessly, selling part of pretty much everything, banked some big profits and cut anything totally that's losing. I now have a lot in cash which will probably be used again come September.

However I have held on to most of the ones I consider to be excellent companies albeit at reduced levels. It makes sense.

( I've also been opening FTSE shorts everytime it gets into/near the 6800 area using spreadbets and the SUk2 for the isa (see my book on this). This should enable me to carry on holding my best longs but in the event of a market meltdown say while I'm on holiday I'll make a fair chunk on shorts.

If the market breaks up however I can use stops on the FTSE shorts at say 7000 to stop shorts running out of control. Shorts to me are more of an insurance than an attempt to make money.)

However after all that there are always chances to make money and I am still always on the lookout for a decent trade. But for this summer that trade is going to have to have everything going for it so I intend to be very selective indeed.

So I have a selective buy or two to report!!

A lot of recent issues look to be well overpriced but I don't think this is the case with Polypipe (PLP)

Yes! It sounds boring and by jove it IS boring! But as many of you know boring companies have made me wealthy over time and I hope this will be another.

You may guess what it does... yes congrats . pipes! If pipes get you going take a look at its website and then move on to Pipefanciers weekly (but keep it quiet from the wife)

Financials look very nice and whatever it is doing it is doing it well and the issue price wasn't greedy.

So I've piped some into the ISA at 261.7 - if it looks good and keeps rising I'll get some more and the idea is a long-term trade unless it all goes horribly wrong.

One or two longer-term holds came back so I took advantage and bought a few more.

Seeing Machines (SEE) went down to 5p so picked up a few more at just under 5.25p yesterday. It looks good value at anything under 6p.

I bought most of mine in my pension at 5p. I like the long-term story there and it is on a roll with winning contracts. I guess we'll know later this year whether it will be a hit or a miss. My money is still on hit, pop pickers.

I bought back into MPOW yesterday at 73p after the original trade did not work out, that was sold at 91 for a loss of £150. However yesterday at 73p it looked overdone on the down side and I bought a small amount as it is risky. But it announced a new product launch this week and it isn't worth much so worth another go.

A fund sold out of Vectura (VEC) causing a sharp price drop, I don't agree and bought some more at 116.9. Lots of drugs in its pipeline (more pipes right?). Part of a bet though got stopped out which was annoying as I didn't shift it enough in time. And despite falls from highs I've still doubled from my initial stake. FXI tumbled in the tech sell off, I sold a few off in the late 500s and bought some more at 443. I thought the statement decent enough, hard to value though but hopefully will pay off longer-term and looks well priced now for new upside.

TTR saw a big drop too and bagged some at 49. It looks terribly cheap. It also reported strong trading today. No idea why it is so low. Wonder at this price whether a predator would be tempted

What to say about GB Group? I've made a fortune over the years from GBG - originally in from 20p and buying all the way up.

You may say I am crazy but I bought yet more - 2,500 at 142.7 after I saw its latest statement.

GBG has made a decent looking acquisition and has easily raised a whole load of new money. I reckon with patience the shares will double again. And given I have trebled and quadrupled on them already, I am very happy with them.

I also bought more Gulf Marine services (GMS) at 159. As I mentioned last time this looks like one of the best of the recent new issues. I have a feeling this will do a Kentz and I can easily see these a lot higher with some patience.

Onto sells! You need to assume I have sold part of most things. I just haven't the time/energy to cover every single one but will try and do most.

But also assume on the better companies I still have a stake and in some cases still a reasonable stake. For the website it makes life a bit difficult as the site will state one position when in reality I had three or four and I probably cut back to one!

I cut any losers, most for smallish losses - I like to get out of bad trades quickly these days, that usually pays off rather than let losses mount up. The main thing to make money is to take lots of small losses but bank the big wins. You can have loads of losses then and still make a packet.

The trade in ITE worked like a dream, the one I made live at the seminar, buying in the 191 area.

I sold it this morning from the ISA at 230.61. It made me a tremendous amount as a spreadbet and in the ISA, for the website it banks a profit of £801. Still holding a few on the spreads in case it goes higher.

Just shows sometimes you can make money from shares oversold on political worries, covered in the last update,

More luck than anything else but with cutting back on every position my QPP spreadbet was my biggest and I cut half of it taking profits before the share price got hit though I was still holding onto half when the problems started with the shorting attack. So I got out in the 39 area and then again after the trouble hit in the 25-26 area. (I say area because it was done in bits and pieces) I had a big spreadbet from 18p and it banked in reality over 50 grand and even after selling lower.

Then the price looked crazily oversold after the short attack and I bought in again in the 19p area and still holding those. But I don't know for how long.

Frankly I have no idea at all what to make of the shorting, and general crazyiness or whether the company is a winner or loser. Fundamentally it looks great, well undevalued.. the problem is the continued attacks leave it volatile and weak - my market ethos has always been to be in great companies in a nice uptrend which are a bit under the radar.

This one is the opposite now and not my type of thing at all. So happy to have sold off big positions and now only in smaller and now for entertainment than serious investment (for now). If only I was clever enough to know for sure the fundamentals are right because if I could I would buy stackloads. But sadly I have little understanding of accounts at all, drat it.

I would though add I think it's shocking for investors that commentary from unknowns can savage a share price . The fact shorters could be making packets from potentially misleading investors is disgusting - market regulators should be on the case immediately when there is a disordely market. There has been a disorderly market in these shares for a while and still is and the whole thing just becomes a gamble rather than in investment. it's also not possible to be relaxed about a holding that someone says is worth 3p and someone else says is worth 85p ! Who knows how it will all end - all I know is I have more interesting things to do with my life than watch its craziness constantly.

It's not just with this share - there seems to be a shorting mafia that gets together and targets various shares working on the basis that putting out bad rumours will easily take the price down. They make fortunes but it's the sensible investors with stops that lose. Seems like daylight robbery and someone somewhere should be tasked with the job of policing share prices better and taking immediate action when there is a false or unruly market. Something somewhere stinks.

It makes me pretty keen to avoid any such shares if I can - the problem has been too many smaller shares have been allowed to have become electronically traded rather than market maker only which means it's become a lot easier for unscrupulous individuals to manipulate prices and force them down. I think it all needs to be looked at and new rules brought in as soon as possible. But I doubt anything will be done. Right that is enough ranting from me.
The HHR trade was ditched for a loss of £90. The top up in IPO never looked like being a good trade and that went for a loss of £268 at 195.6. The SB in poundland went for a loss of a little more than a pound - £90. Shame as it was in a good profit for a while. Moni SB went at 56.5, loss £575.

Telit's been an amazing trade - what a ride, but a lot is now priced in at nearly 100 points higher than I bought so a lot have gone at 238.5 for a profit of £2,832. AVG seemed stuck in a rut so gone at 166.8 for a profit of £345. Styles kept falling so sold at 16.35 for a profit of £487.

Talking amazing trades Hellerman has been terrific but I've sold half at 315 to bank a profit of £5,925 - holding profits of over £6,000 in the rest of them.

That's it, I'm all written out, more next time.

Small caps have been hit a bit in the last few weeks hence some of the small loss taking above - however some have also done rather well.

Some of the more recent buys have done very nicely: Powerflute came out with a decent statement this week . And in particular Jelf and K3 Business have seen very nice rises indeed. Scisys is also doing well and put out a very nice statement.

Gulf Marine is on a very slow rise and looks firm. Accumuli has had a brilliant time, will soon be close to doubling - just a shame I sold half of them a while back but that's the way it goes.

GVC has been doing very nicely and is up and that includes a massive dividend which should arrive very shortly. To be nicely higher and bank the dividend is a good result.

Kentz continues to be an amazing one and was happy to top up and very nice to see it happy in the 700s a tenner should be reached at some point.

OPG Power has been a nice one for me, big profit but stuck around 80 for now.

Long-termer Porvair has fired through the 300p now, what a great one. Another one that put out a very nice statement.

Nichols has started to fizz up and its statement too was bullish for this year and it has a new brand or two.

Entertainment One came back a bit but is still a wonderful long-termer, more than four timed on it. I wonder whether it will get bid for for its amazing library at some point.

Yesterday Renew put out a very confident statement and an acquisition that went down very well.

Telecom Plus has come back a bit, not that surprising. Probably nearer 19 quid it was a bit high. It does tend to go skywards then come back to earth then start another charge. Given I bought loads at 100 it still makes me very happy! It now means I have a massive stake in there worth nearly £600,000. The open positions on the website now total profits of £250,000. Remains a long-term hold.

RWS, Avon, CML are the long-term stars and all are shining so far this year. Six timed on Accesso, trebled on CML, doubled on Avon and doubled on RWS.

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It does spreads on smaller ones other companies don't like Dillistone so worth having an account for that, been using it for a while and very happy so far. They also have an Ipad offer at the moment which is on that link

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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.ig.com/nakedtradercfds

Direct market access means you can place orders directly onto the order book bypassing brokers and market-makers with a chance to buy at the "sell" price. I would suggest you ensure you know what you're doing first but IG does provide much education with its "tradesense" educational tool which comes with it.
I also use its spreadbetting service too along with other firms like Tradefair because it now provides trailing stops which to me is a pretty sensible way of trading. Also with this link there is an excellent education programme and it offers the biggest range of smaller shares.

http://www.ig.com/nakedtrader
As usual before opening accounts please read all the warnings on the sites. You can lose a lot of money if you're not careful so pay close attention to them and make sure you always understand what you are doing and what your potential losses are.

Capital Spreads offers a really excellent book on spreadbetting for those who open accounts through the link below. Spreads are very tight and every trade has to have a stop loss which is excellent discipline to have especially for beginners. Execution is really good I find and they also allow shorts on shares it is hard to get shorts on like say Carpetright or facebook.
To get the offer, click here:
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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.

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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 in the diary under Markets
on every other Wednesday afternoon.