Help. I'm on my own with a four-year-old. For two days.
Poor Christopher has chicken pox which is not nice. Lots of nasty red spots.
We've spent a lot of time putting lotion on them so he doesn't try and scratch them.
The worst thing is we have to keep him away from other children as it is contagious which is difficult with such an active child.
Can't really take him anywhere and he's getting stir crazy to get outside. The illness so far isn't affecting him that badly.
For a year Mrs NT has had a massive family reunion planned in Ireland. She wasn't going to go because of the pox. But I urged her to go: he is actually full of beans and totally himself.
I'm just not sure how much Peppa Pig or Thomas I can take. Or he can. We're doing puzzles and stuff too. Even some writing.
But boys need to play outside. He's now begging me if he can go to nursery. Yes, that's exactly how boring I am becoming!
And he can't even go back there next week. We have no family support or back up at all.
I'll just have to think of things to keep him entertained today and over the weekend given we can't go anywhere.
Maybe we can go out for a walk later.. just make sure he doesn't go near another child. I don't know.
What's worse is the place is being painted and the painter is not Mr Charisma. In fact he grunts disapprovingly at me and the lad most of the time. Oh, stick it up your paintpot!!
We don't want to be here either!
Anyway the lad is full of fun and it is a pleasure to be his daddy so I'm sure we will have some fun somehow without doing our usual things.
Oh hang on, I managed to take him briefly to the little park and there was no-one there.
I got told off. "You forgot to put my pants on," he accused me. He was right. I forgot. Silly daddy.
Meanwhile Christopher starts "big school" this September. Given how expensive private schools are I wondered whether the school would give a discount if I paid the lot upfront up to when he's 13.
Indeed they do and even better they sent a pretty impressive spreadsheet to me detailing upfront offers.
So, for example if I pay for the lot they will freeze the price as it is now and give me a 12% discount.
So I would pay them £100,000 which they reckon over time saves me £53,000. Of course this takes care of probable inflation over he period and they project how school fees will rise. And I have spare cash sloshing around my Isas.
The school reckons the £12,000 pa current cost will be £22,000 by 2017. That's probably about right!
So I think I will take the offer but try and negotiate down a bit more. I'll try £95,000 and see what happens.
The only downside I can think of is if the school goes bust. In that case I would be just one of the "creditors". But it is in the middle of a posh area and it's hard to get a place so I think that unlikely. The good point is if we decide to move schools or he leaves for any reason, I get a full pro rata refund.
If you think you ever had a bad time on the stock market it may make you feel better to know one of Sir A's ex interview rottweilers has screwed up himself which is why he wasn't on the new series.
One of the reasons? He put massive buy spreadbets on Lehman Bros just before it went bust.
Which goes to show just because someone has got some money and drives a flash car doesn't mean they are always going to do the right thing. I guess he just got smug.
Meanwhile Labour's hired Sir Alan offering him a peerage in return for some help with business.
Is this wise? Amstrad was always a terrible company mostly producing as he'd put it, a load of old toot. Its share price was a disaster as well. And as for that e-mailer. Sir A? You're fired!
Thanks for all the great feedback about the seminar, it's very rewarding to know it was worth your while attending. I'm not going to print much of the feedback as I think it makes me look like a crazed egotist (whatya mean I am one already, oh well maybe...) but I'll print one or two.

Thanks they've all been read and I will reply when I get a chance!
Anyway next seminar is June 26th.

It's very nearly sold out do if you are interested get in touch asap.

If you are interested in June's event please mail me at robbiethetrader@aol.com with "June seminar interested" in the subject line. And I will send you details. It's held close to Heathrow Airport. More details somewhere below.

I've decided to go ahead with an extra "holiday" seminar especially for those of you who find it hard to get a weekday off in termtime.

So it's going ahead on Fri July 24th again at Heathrow.

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

There will be a decent early bookers discount on that one. I will be writing to those of you who already expressed an interest over the weekend.

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.
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!

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/

By the time I next update who knows whether Gordy will still be PM? I suspect he is going to hang on grimly - depends how hard he is pushed.
It's really quite grim watching the government disintegrate like this.
last night's big resignation has saved Alistair Darling ("saviour of the world") - he must be surprised.
Can Gordy really ignore all this? Yes he can!
If he goes it'll be hauled out of No 10 by a bunch of security guards kicking and screaming. How Tony Blair must be laughing! (But not quite as hard as Cherie).
Hazel Blears though! Harriet Harman! Alistair Darling! None of these are really good enough.
You had to laugh at Gordy: "Alistair has been leading the world in saving the economies..." Leading the world! I bet the world doesn't agree.
In fact I have to wonder whether Gordy really is living in the same world as the rest of us. He has been cushioned for so long himself by a cushy position in politics I don't think he has a clue.
So in The Apprentice it's down to Kate Vs Yasmina.. of course Kate is the hot fave.
But I would wager Yasmina will be the winner.

Then Sir A can show he didn't just go for the pretty blonde one and he can also say that Yasmina had the passion lacking in Kate.
"In the end Kate, you just ain't got the passion wot Yasmina 'as. You is too self-contained." Or something like that.
Don't forget it's on Sunday!!
Anyway he probably got rid of the right three - James is a plonker and got mauled by Sir A's rottweilers.

Debra was an actual rottweiler and Lorraine was a bit weird. Come on, at least wash your hair before an interview!!
Big Brother started last night. The usual bunch of showoffs and eccentrics.
Difficult to call it so early but it's usually best policy to go for the "nice" one - so Rodrigo looks the most sensible opening gambit so I bought him on the spreads at 18.

Of the outsiders Noirin's worth a little at just 6. If you want a bet on it the link is here: http://www.sportingindex.com/?tpid=6755
Can't imagine watching this one much. I get the feeling at my age telling someone to shave off eyebrows and draw glasses on is fun for, well.. teenagers!

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.

Duncan writes:
I hope that you had a restful couple of days after the marathon seminar! Talk about stamina.
You might have got to the bar a little quicker if a few people were not crowded around you!
I would like to say thank you very much for choosing to pass on your experience - I really benefitted from the day and it was tremendously enjoyable, even so late in the day. Your style of presentation was ideal and I think your explanations were pitched just right for all.
I overheard you suggesting you might wind it up, or maybe that was the website, I hope you don't too soon anyway, it was a great day.

Hi James, thanks glad you enjoyed it. Erm, well I have been thinking about either ending or cutting down the website for a while. It's just the response is often so great I get a bit overwhelmed and it has started becoming more like work than an enjoyable hobby. We'll see. I'm sure I'll keep it going in some form or other. Maybe I'll take a long summer break from it and come back refreshed in the autumn.
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

Wow! Two bids in a week! Heritage and now Dragon Oil!
I really hope bids are like buses. You wait ages for one then three come along at once. I hold some likely candidates.. come on. Well, that's three bids for the year including Dmatek.
Having said that it's not quite true: they could both fall through and Heritage is more a reverse takeover.
Still hard to know where it's all going.
My feeling is it's all about right for now. When we plummeted down to 3,500 it was when it felt like the financial world was going to end and we'd never even be able to get any cash out of the banks.
Now we know it's not THAT bad and markets have responded. But maybe we are just due a summer of, well not much happening? Honestly - that would suit me.
I made a lot of money this year but I'm feeling a bit tired and wouldn't mind a plateau!
I bought into a nice company, (well it looks nice to me anyway) called Anite (AIE) getting 10,000 shares at 34.4.

I'm struggling to find much wrong with it seems a good company at the right price with a solid uptrend building, and it's very liquid. Prospects look good in its sector too. Target 45 stop 29.
Good balance sheet, good prospects, good liquidity, and I think, a good buy with great upside for me and little down.

Also there seems a lot of buying going on and it's rising very well.

I also took a little gamble on Office to Office (OFF) getting 2,500 at 122p even though it had already risen by 10% on the day. Some very interesting and consistent buying was coming in and there were one or two bigger buys so could not quite resist. I found out after I bought Panmure Gordon said there could be bid interest from abroad and put on a 172 price target.
It does what it says on the tin - office supplies - it's a growing company having made some acquisitions which put it into debt from having cash. Seems though things are going well enough to think there could be some upside. Poss downside is the new debt but if the acquisitions come up trumps the profits will be higher. Target 180 stop 95.
If I have to sell Office at a loss at least I can then tell it to F - OFF...
Onto the bid stories.
I bought Dragon because I've thought for the last 2 years it would make a good bid target and it happened at last! Shares have risen from my 129 buy price to near 400! Very happy with that. The bidder is offering a "modest premium" which I'd guess to be 400-450. But it's just possible it might open up interest from others.
However I topsliced a few at 383 just to be on the safe side and bank a few profits. For site purposes that closes the 141.5 buy to bank a profit of £3,623.That seems sensible as if the bid doesn't happen they could head back down. In the meantime I can happily run the bigger stake.
Elsewhere big excitement over Heritage Oil where I have a big stake and already trebled my money for the website without taking current events into account. Paper profits of over £15,000 at the suspended price.
There's loads of coverage in the press about it with loads of guesses about what is going on, it looks like a reverse takeover - if it goes ahead it would be surprising if they didn't come back on the market at at least 700p. But just guessing. And of course it could fall through. Shares are suspended but I wouldn't have thought it will be for long. Surprisingly they have still been trading in Canada where they are roughly 650ish.
Anyway what can I say the whole portfolio just keeps soaring higher every day.
Recent buys are going well. Optos has managed a nice 20% gain so far with some good buying continuing. Innovation Group also going well up about 10%.
Hardy Oil seemed to annoy the authorities in India with the release of its gas news. However it all appears a storm in a teacup and I've held firm even though they hit the 350 target. I think there could be some way to go and with all the bids flying around in the oil sector this looks like another likely target which would still give it tons of upside.
Fenner's trying hard to push through 100 - already up nearly 15% there.
Porvair released a decent statement which has pushed the shares up some more. But my main aim here is the chances of a bid. Asterand hasn't done much yet but the strong uptrend is in place. I think once it starts moving again there will be a nice leap up. Microgen has also stalled but same comment applies.
Trebler Barclays is on the rise again as is RBS.
New Brit is looking strong. Petrofac too with excellent profits there. Etc etc, the whole portfolio is blossoming - I'm too lazy to work out paper profits for the website but they must be well over £50,000.
An amazing few weeks. And if markets settle and rise a bit more there could be even more to come.
The big question is whether the FTSE can break up over 4,500 or not.
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!