Definitely making the most of the summer this year even if the weather isn't that great.
And we made the most of the weekend and the mainly fine weather and the fact that most of the chicken pox have now dropped off Christopher. Hurrah!
Saturday we got on our bicycles and headed off to the Natural History Museum which was enjoyable.
Mrs NT and Christopher ended up at the butterfly "adventure playground" which was a complete rip off at £6 a piece. Don't bother with it if you go!
Then lunch at a local chain owned cafe. Scrambled egg on toast please.
Ah, no scrambled egg only available till 1pm. But boiled egg available all day! Eh?
I know from running a cafe boiled eggs are much more difficult to produce than scrambled.

Scambled take 30 seconds, boiled 6 mins and if you don't watch the timing carefully they can be under or over cooked.
And how weird. There's someone in the kitchen. Just cook the scrambled egg - give customer what customer wants. That's the trouble with these chain cafes.
The waiter brushed aside complaints with "it's the rules guv" line so I opted for boiled.
I cracked open the egg and it was so underdone it splattered all over my trousers. And honestly I didn't do it on purpose except it was nice to use the line: "How much easier would a scrambled egg have been eh?"
Now the kitchen had to cook the egg again. This time I let it cook a bit more at the table.
No wonder businesses fail in this country when both staff and bosses are so inflexible.
We decided to drop in on nearby Harrods and of course ended up in the toy department where Christopher enjoyed himself and played keenly with some of the assistants.
We stumbled into to art department by mistake and ended up getting a big surprise.
We saw a picture by artist Govinder Nazran - I'd bought an original of his for £1,000 about ten years ago when he was unknown.
I asked how much the print was and the assistant said: "Sadly Govinder died last year and all his stuff is now worth an awful lot. One of his biggest originals is on sale at ebay for £425,000!"
"Erm," I said. "How much might a smaller original be worth?" "Oh possibly £35,000 or more..."
Now I realised this painting that I lent to my sister three years ago as she fancied it on her wall could be worth a lot more than I could ever have imagined!
Later I discovered there are none of his originals for sale anywhere on the internet except one that is similar to mine though I think mine is bigger and nicer and that was on sale for £45,000!!
I rang my sister - she has it and I asked her to check her insurance policy - it IS covered!!

Though I tried to get her on the phone today and the cleaner said she'd not been seen for a while (just kidding)
So now I think I just ought to sell it... I'll think about it. That visit to Harrods certainly sent me thinking! Maybe I should just get it auctioned. I never thought I would ever be an art collector...
Sunday morning I took my housebound alcoholic father what he really wanted (a bottle of Vodka and two cans of beer) and then we were off on our bikes again to enjoy the lovely weather.
This time it was off to Wimbledon Common as I'd seen posters for a fair there. Which, to be fair, wasn't bad.
Christopher gradually made his way round the rides costing me an arm and a leg.
But he has this great knack of getting 20 goes on the giant slide instead of only 3 allowed for £2. He seems to have a great ability to nip round back to the start when the slide owner isn't looking...
Amazingly a full-sized Womble appeared (great uncle bulgaria) and made his way around the children. Christopher went up to say hello.
Although he broke the spell for many of the children there by commenting: "Aren't you feeling hot in there?"

Those of you coming to the seminar, if you want to, please send back the questionaire asap as I am working on the structure of it now!!
My June 26th seminar is now sold out! That was the quickest sellout ever. I feel very flattered and look forwards to meeting you all at the end of the month.

I've been getting various pleas but I really can't fit anyone else in.

But don't despair if you missed out! 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.

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

**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!

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/

I feel really sorry for the young Iranians - they must have had so much hope that the end of the strict laws were on the way only to be dashed.
There's nothing worse than being young and being stuck somewhere where you can't express yourself. You can see they are desperate to wear trendy gear and do things with their lives.
The election must have been a fiddle and it was good to see protests so large the

---

in charge could not fully suppress it.
Let's hope something will emerge from this and Obama must continue efforts to talk to the regime.
Although one has to say that our current government stumbles on with just 15% of the vote!
And opposition to the great leader Brown was crushed by his lieutenants!
Brown continues the Iraq War spin and lies with an "inquiry" in secret with results deliberately not out till after the next election so as to ensure it doesn't matter if any dirt sticks to Brown.
It's oh so transparent. Why does it have to take a year? Oh of course we know why!
Anyway the politicians will soon all be gone on their holidays till Xmas, and good riddance!
Maybe it's time somehow to put an end to the career politician and only allow people to stand as an MP who have had experience in the real world.
I reckon especially those who have run small businesses would be very qualified.
New plans afoot to turn off analogue radio broadcasts from 2015. This is terrible - there are millions of radios across the UK which will suddenly be made redundant - what a waste. And yet more rubbish going into landfill. Why?
And have you tried digital radio? It's not so great - indeed it doesn't work that well in some places in a house.
A new tax proposed a £6 for a landline to fund broadband! Eh? I give in. What next? A tax on cats to fund free litter trays for all?
Anyone watched Big Brother yet? I tried once or twice but it's so dull I can see why the viewing figures are so badly down.
I shall miss The Apprentice tonight. I am sure his good Lordship Sir LabourAlan will be back next year though sadly without Margaret.

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.

Richard writes:
It has long been believed that there is a correlation between tooth decay and the consumption of chocolate (and other sugar based sweet foods)
http://www.nytimes.com/1982/12/15/garden/l-chocolate-and-tooth-decay-101282.html
Although, as we know, there is barely a scientific warning against the use of this or that which is not disagreed with shortly afterwards:-
http://www.romolochocolates.com/news/dentaldecay.htm
http://worldental.org/nutrition/chocolate-can-protect-against-tooth-decay/
Good news
Dentists fees would fall significantly if they recommended much to prevent future damage, so once the dentist has finished robbing you, you should find future damage can be prevented by a swig a day of the following, I ve been using if for years and it works:-
http://www.listerine.com/
note: though this is the american advert for it, you can get it for about 3 or 4 quid in Tescos. It must be the "total care" version, as the others are just cheap cosmetic mouthwashs.
Apprentice
Sir Lord Alan probably chose Yasmina because Kate was so good he didn't really feel he could teach her anything.
When I started trading (as a Share Trader) in 1987 I had one of the first UK personal computers which was an Amstrad. It had a floppy disk the size of an LP and couldn't do anything except word processing, it wasn't even as good as a typewriter, and it continuously broke down with nobody anywhere able to repair it.
Thanks Richard.. fairly typical for experts to contradict each other I shall carry on eating chocolate! You are probably right re the Apprentice!..
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!

Nasir writes:

I just have a quick question,
I'm fairly motivated, and like achieving things, and I just am fascinated to know what percentage of the population is motivated?. You are a highly motivated guy you never give up and have discipline. With your telecom plus business you say that if people want your help, they have got to get up off their arse and do some work, but I'm fascinated to find out what percentage of the population is really motivated? Is britain getting lazy it feels like it, I work harder than most employees where I work, it's like they spend ages chatting about Britain's got talent and other crap, and I'm more productive than them yet it's like no one cares? . What percentage of the population is motivated? And what percentage lazy. It's an interesting topic.
..

Sure is interesting Nasir. Of course it's impossible to put a figure on it. I used to get made into a boss wherever I worked because I always worked hard. I'd say most people I knew in offices were pretty lazy. Before the advent of the internet I would say they worked harder. But with internet, blackberries, twittering etc, most office workers spend more time doing other things than working. Like in the show "The Office".
People who actually "work" tend to work harder like builders. But then we had 5-6 working here. 2 were brilliant and one really lazy. But to sum up I think Britain is getting lazier.

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...

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Hmm, how to sum up the current market? My feeling is: It's gone up a lot and it's due a bit of a pullback - but maybe not that much of one .
I think it's time to be a little cautious so for right now I'm just watching to see what happens rather than take much action - although I have taken a little more profit. By the next update I would not be at all surprised to see it back down below 4,200 or indeed back up over 4,400.
It seems through to have broken down through the 4300 support area for now which one would thought would cause it to go down some more. Then again it could just as easily bounce back over 4300. See? I dunno!
I've now got some cash again (thanks to Dmatek money coming through) even after paying for Christopher's school fees 7 years in advance.. but for right now sitting on it.
After some brilliant profits so far this year it's become harder to find anything of value to buy - but also I'm a bit wary of shorting! Oh I just realised - I'm sitting on the fence.
Anyway the market has pulled back a bit since I last updated and it might well head back to 4000 but I'd be a little surprised to see it really tanking again.
I'm pleased that the portfolio has stood up very well and despite the FTSE tanking 200 odd points since last week the portfolio has pretty much stayed stable overall - indeed perhaps up a touch.
So, I never see the point in buying for the sake of it and I'm wary of buying for right now.
I also let a number of spreadbets expire yesterday on the quarterly expiry - for those of you who've come to seminars and seen these (not declared on the site) - profits of £6,000 plus on Barclays and £2k on RBS among others! (Still hold both in ISAs longer term).
But I've made a little top up in a share already going well for me - Optos (OPTS) - I'm up over £800 on my recent buy and I've literally just bought some more this lunchtime - 4,000 this time at 66.73. Target 85 stop 52. This despite it already being up 7% today before I bought. But I do like shares rising in a down market and there are some buyers here and some around on the order book too. No statement due but I wonder whether its eye technology is being eyed up somewhere (gettit?)..
This topup is a little on the risky side given its recent rise and sometime volatity but I'll see how it goes.
I sold Fenner at 92.5 for a profit of £338. Of course it's now going up! Don't you just hate it when that happens? Bit disappointed as I thought it was going to sail through 100 but the buyers just aren't there nearer the three figures.
I saw the profit warning last week in Charter and smugly remembered I'd sold a while back on the spreads at a nice profit. Then over the weekend I realised I still had a tenner spreadbet open as it's in a spread account I don't use much. It went at 453 for a loss of £370. As usual I always get out after a warning. This mistake will remind me to keep track of all trades in all account properly.
Been sitting on Hunting for a while - given that it seems that it refuses to kick past 460 I've taken profits of £307 selling at 451. So total profits taken for the site are £275.
Recent buys haven't gone up, then again they haven't gone down much either but they are all on yellow cards in case of a new market downturn.
I don't mind an awful lot with Booker because I can buy some in my ISA from July 1st so if it stays around here or backs off a little that'll be fine. Anite , PV and Wellstream hover around my entry prices. The last two can be volatile, need careful watching and losses taken if needbe while still small.
The big gainers remain intact!
Office to Office continues to go well and gains again today.
Treblers remain Barclays, Heritage, and Dragon Oil. Still waiting for news on the possible bid for Dragon. Heritage remains very volatile but having bought in at 175 I can afford to be calm and await events - could still be plenty of upside and in the nice position of already banking a £5,000 plus profit while holding the rest for pretty much free.
Doublers or near doublers are Galiform, Alterian and RBS. Alterian amazes with a sparkling performance since I bought the first lot in the 50s and it's firing up - not actually tempted to take profits there yet as it's still very strong. It moved to part order book this week and there's a big buyer in there already!
Great gains now from recent buy Chime, up more than 20% and quite quickly. nearly 100 points up on the first buy of Hardy which appears to be consolidating at a higher price. It would probably need a bit of news or new buyers to head higher.
Porvair continues to gain well. be surprised if I didn't wake up one morning to a bid for that one from the similar Italian company that has been building a huge stake. Indeed I see another large buy of 50,000 has gone in at 78 and I'm very hopeful of a bid between 100 and 120.
Scott Wilson has seem a nice gain on a contract win - 70 looks crucial here.
I see Microgen is slowly ticking up quietly half point here, a point there. Hopeful of a bid out of the blue here. Look, I can hope can't I?
After some months of spectacular gains the portfolio is moving upwards more quietly but still prospers. I have taken some profits but the question is whether to take more.
So all in all, it's time for a bit of caution after some tremendous rises. But despite the market falls over the last sessions I am still not sure about whether to start shorting again. I'll try and relax and see how it a plays out. When all is said and done a little pullback here could be healthy.

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!
****
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!