So there I was having some tea and a doughnut.
The aged cat was fast asleep next to the keyboard.. then a delivery arrived and I was away from the desk for a couple of minutes.
When I returned the tea was there, but where was the doughnut? What! The cat was scoffing it..after 20 plus years she's discovered the delight of a doughnut. How bizarre. Never mind there was a bit left..
Then this morning I took my tea and toast to the desk - and went to find the paper.

On return the cat and toddler were eating my toast! Not only that I'm almost certain I saw the cat licking my tea. She'll be trading next.
I now realise with the cat in this kind of mood I can't afford to leave any treats around. Honestly I can't even
leave tea and toast around - it'll disappear into the mouth of a cat or a toddler..
Time to update you on the property department of my life.
You may remember we were going to buy a house close to us on the river. However after getting two independent valuations the sellers decided they weren't going to drop their price by £400,000 to a realistic selling price and were going to rent it instead "till the property market goes back up."
Or in other words they are prepared to hold onto it for years till it goes back up by 400k. Oh well, fair enough then!
So instead, I've given Mrs NT a large budget to upgrade our apartment which we do love.
We're getting new bathrooms, lots of new fancy furniture, a new playroom for Chistopher, and a swish new garden.
Mrs NT is having great fun organising it all and soon a parade of builders, designers etc will be marching in.
It's all going to mean a few weeks of noise and dust which will all be worth it in the end. Trouble is I work from home...
So, to get away from the banging and noise I've decided to rent an office!
It's opposite the cafe I used to own which is quite fun - I know a lot of people round there and ex customers and it'll be fun eating in there knowing I don't have to worry about anything!
It should also help me to write the spreadbetting book the publisher commissioned quickly as there won't be quite so many distractions as there are at home...
It means I can still work from home if I want to on non banging days and work from the office on banging days!!
I started writing the spreadbetting book today and began it with psychology. That always interests me so I'm enjoying writing it. In fact it's a much overlooked part of being a trader/investor - because when you know yourself you can then know what type you should be.
Do remember I'm on the lookout for your spreadbetting stories for the book. If your story makes the cut, you get a free copy.

Did you make money spreadbetting? If so how? And did you lose or have some disastrous trades? Tell me all - what went wrong and did you manage to fix it or did you quit? Stories to this address: thenakedtrader@aol.com - don't hold back!!
Christopher had a playdate. Sadly not with his fancy Isabella -he had to make do with Oscar and he spent most of the time bossing him about.
I can see Christopher bossing people about in the boardroom in a few years... in the meantime I'm off to get a headache tomorrow morning a I take him to the diabolical playcentre!
Those of you coming to my seminar at the end of March should have got a mail from me with all the venue details and how to get there etc. If you are booked in and did NOT get the details please e-mail me asap...

Ta for the continued nice feedback on the seminar - even better to know that many of you are mailing each other and some close trading friendships have been made. Good to hear!

My next seminar is on Friday March 27th and it's already filling up!

It's sooner than normal as I know many of you couldn't make last Friday.

Come and spend the day with me, the live markets and find out all the tricks I've learned over the years - and meet lots of great people!

It's designed for beginners, dabblers and improvers and deals with everything from how to look for winners, how to research and how to time trades and tons more.

There's a decent early bookers discount available too - however that is about to end, so last chance saloon for what is a decent discount!

So for more details just e-mail me at robbiethetrader@aol.com with "seminar interested" in the subject line and I'll send you all the details and info.

There is also more on the seminar if you scroll down. I hope to see some of you there next month!! A review of the seminar is in the second last diary entry which you can get in the archive.
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 (after a lot of nagging from me!) - 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/6lrpbs
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 £700 - 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!
I like it as it's so simple. And it has most of the big names like John Lewis, Amazon, Marks and Sparks, Mothercare, Debenhams, Comet, Argos, Play.. 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 with someone like Amazon or Argos 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!

The best thing about it is you can't lose anything and only gain as it's free. If you happen to run a website yourself like me, then use that to promote it...

So there you are - good luck and I hope some of you make some decent extra cash out of it. And it only takes a minute to sign up and get it going. Happy shopping and hopefully money for nothing much. And money for your friends too.

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

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 March 27th. Price is £495 plus 15% vat. However there is a decent 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; 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 "March 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/6lrpbs

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/

It really is almost unbelievable that The very guy responsible for the RBS mess is getting away with a - forget the word "pension" - payoff of something like £25 million taken over many years.
If the bank hadn't been rescued - by us - he'd have got nothing. Which is about what he deserves. It was his greed for easy money that caused so many of your current problems.
In fact all the people who caused the mess have got away with it and headed of with millions in their accounts.

And I don't suppose for a second they feel guilty about it. "Sir" Fred obviously doesn't. Let's take that knighthood back.
However having said all that he's obviously being used as a scapegoat by Brown and Darling. Make a big deal of that and maybe people will forget Brown's massive part in this mess.
Because whatever he says he was partly responsible for it.

Blaming Sir F for it it just trying to get attention away from himself and the rest of Labour's failings to control the banks.

But believe me, Mr Brown, we all know... just wait till the election...
At the risk of sounding like a party pooper - the Oscars. Who cares?? I'm not in the slightest bit interested in listening to the luvvies and their tedious speeches. Bah humbug!!
And all the coverage in the papers. What dress is she wearing? Blah blah boredom!! How about awards shows for good plumbers, nurses or doctors huh?

They're just doing their job so big flipping deal! So there! Nah!

Social networking sites are harming brains of children apparently. Facebook, twitter etc are said to shorten attention spans and make youngsters more self-centred.

I'm just not interested in any of it. Just want real friends thanks not a load of phony ones. As for twitter, please!! "Right I'm on the toilet reading The Sun" - is that what you want from me? You do? ok then but I'll have to charge you for any more..

Latest Big Brother news: amazingly David Blunkett has warned of the dangers of allowing an oppressive and eventually self-destructive Big Brother state to develop - he has concerns about plans for mass database holding all our phone calls and emails etc.

Wow, never thought I would agree with him on anything.. but er, wasn't he part of a government that's been building up to a Big Bro state for some time?
Congrats to my council - Hammersmith and Fulham - for reducing rates yet again, this time by 3% without any cuts in services.
Goes to show a really good council can do good work. What's even better we get two bin pick ups a week - and we get black bags for normal waste and orange bags for paper and that's it.

None of this 8 different bags rubbish. Other councils should take note and if your council put up its rates and you don't like the services, get out in the local elections and vote them out.

I thought the Thatcher drama pretty good if a bit long and it showed politicians for what they are. Power hungry selfish et all. Well, I guess we already knew that..

Ryanair are considering charging passengers £1 to spend a penny (go to the loo).

This time they are definitely taking the p1ss..
For a betting preview of the weekend sport, click "sport" above..
If you want to bet on sport 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.

Chris writes:
I'm coming to your next seminar and hope you will cover SIPPs. You cover these a bit in your book but I would welcome you fleshing it out more. I am actually in a position to start one and am very seriously considering this now as opposed to paying a pension manager.

Am I the only person alive who is angered by pensions? What I mean is that they seem to run counter to all the advice on good money management out there. Basically most people seem to chuck money into a black hole
and hope it works out. That can't be right??! I don't gamble like that in any other aspect of my life, yet with pensions it's the done thing.

I am sick to death of seeing news stories each year about people's pensions being ruined weeks before retirement. If it was a anything else it would feature on one of those "Britain's worst scammers" type shows. I don't want any surprises in years time, and want to take
control back. I'm also sick of starting company pensions only to see them stagnate when I leave. Once they've lost momentum it seems to me to be like carrying a financial dead weight.

I don't see anyone shouting about this, and it makes me think I am missing something. But then I see another story about people working all their lives and being shafted with absolutely no control or knowledge of it and I get angry again. Is it not practically a form of
theft?
Hi Chris - yes I'll be covering Sipps at the seminar. I agree with your comments about pensions and I do wish more people would take control of them even on the basis that you'd really struggle to lose as much money as nearly all pensions have.

Jim writes:
I had a great time at the seminar. Couldn't believe how late it finished. It was good to see you look for the new stock. The market timing piece and level 2 was my favourite and couldn't have helped me in the past which is why I wanted to be at a seminar now instead of in a couple of years time to see the benefits from the word go.

Hi Jim! Glad you liked it!

Anthony writes:
I had a great time at your seminar as usual. You can pass on details of mysellf on your website on how I am one the traders who attend many times and still get a result.
Thanks Anthony - I think that was the fifth. I guess I'm going to have to start doing loyalty cards..
Tom writes:

Hope you had a good Christmas and really sorry to hear about your little boy, sounded like a nightmare. Fingers crossed that he is now on the mend. I came to your seminar in November (I was the youngish, 21yrs old, stayed till the end and had a quick drink in the bar before having to go and get back for the girlfriend!). Seminar was excellent, I really enjoyed it and couldn't believe how quick the day went. Equally I couldn't believe how you managed to talk non stop all day!
I also found it nice and easy on the brain, not too many big words for the novice trader like me to understand. I was very surprised to see someone I knew at the seminar. I was sitting there thinking I've seen that guy before. Turns out he was from my Krav Maga self defence class and we ended up having a drink and a chat afterwards and are meeting up again for some trading chatter.
Totally un trading related, I work at an entertainment and events company called CelebTime who provide top class entertainment and events for both corporate and private clients. We specialise in providing complete entertainment and event packages where we supply everything from the venue and the entertainment to the bars, catering and decoration and everything in between; a one stop shop for your special event. We have organised small parties in peoples homes and gardens right up to outdoor concerts for 40, 000 people. Our website has just been completely revamped and is still being updated , have a look: www.celebtime.co.uk Just thought maybe you will come across people that would be interested in this kind of thing.
Thanks Tom - glad you enjoyed the seminar and so a plug for your website and good luck with it and your trading!

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!
All deals are just £12.50 with no funny small print. So it's a no lose situation! Follow this link...

http://tinyurl.com/57hp4n

Well they remain as tricky as they have been for a while. However lucky for me I haven't had any real stinkers which means I'll probably get one next week!
So what have I been up to? Actually quite busy, I think I had too much tea and coffee and I might have overtraded because of that so hands up to admitting that but then again never pretended I'm perfect.
However, often the best profits can be made from buying when everyone else is selling in panic so I guess I'm trying a bit of that. Could be foolhardly and fools rush in where angels fear to tread and all that but..
I topped up in Tribal (TRB) - I really like this one - probably my favourite share du jour - because it is so defensive with I think hardly any downside even if the main market slumps some more - already got some at 92 but the Ofsted contract makes this company worth a lot more than it currently is as its chances of winning others are now improved so tucked away another 2,500 at 107 with a long-term view. I know I'll need to be patient here but I think a buy and hold stategy for this one could pay off for me. Target 150 stop 92.
I've noticed surprisingly property companies are on the way back so I thought I'd try and ride the back of that a little but probably not for long so I plumped for one big company and one small one. I haven't been in property since the recession started but I made big money on it in the good years. Obviously this is a touch risky but for a small amount maybe worth the risk.
The big one is Persimmon (PSN) where I got 1,000 shares at 339 - like all other property shares it's in a right state - however the market appears to be keen on them so I am just going with the market probably short-term and looking at bailing out hopefully just before 400 where there is strong resistance. Target 390 stop 310.
The little one is more of an admission than a trade. I bought a small property company with a silly spread of 15% called North Midland Construction (NMD) and it's also not very liquid. Just too much caffeine and broke all my own rules, there I admit it. All I can say is to call it a fun punt. I bought at 150p but to show what a bad trade it was even for fun, although the market claims it's up 25% today the spread is now an untradeable 25%!! So it isn't really up 25% at all. Serves me right when I lose on this silly trade.
Back to proper shares and on my idea of buying when all are selling I picked up some shares in FTSE 100 share Serco (SRP) as they tanked this morning on the FTSE falls and got 500 at 380. target 420 stop 360. A defensive stock with big government contracts it looked oversold on the FTSE falls this morning so I took the chance to get in at what looks a good price. Which, of course could easily get cheaper if the FTSE tanks more - but it is defensive so I think downside limited from this sort of price.
I also topped up in recent buy SDL. Remember I sold the original batch at a loss, liked the results and bought back in and then went in for some more, another 1,000 shares at 271. Target 320 stop 250. Both lots are now in profit but it could have problems with busting through 300. If it does, it will look very bullish indeed.
I bought some speculative shares in a loss-maker. I don't normally buy into companies making a loss but I'm interested in this one as management appear to be trying to turn it around and at current value if they do it could be a surprise riser. Balance sheet looks ok too. Anyway the share is Morse (MOR) and I got 25,000 yesterday at 11.15p. Target 15 stop 9.5.
And finally (told you I was busy) Dragon Oil (DGO) released a statement which was wrapped up in long words but in my view of it - more simply put - somewhere something dodgy might have been going on in its buying department, I was rushing to the sell button on my long-term holding when I noticed it said "The matter will not have a material impact on the financial position".
I thought if that was the case the by then 30% sell off was way overdone and I turned to the buy button instead. However try as I could I just couldn't buy at the then 117p buying price but ended up getting 2,000 at 129. Target 160 stop 120. They are going to update the market on this by the end of March. The shares have moved a little higher and wondering whether to ride it for a bit then exit for safety's sake.
Senior results are out next week so I bottled out at 25p for a loss of £300. It's hit the stop and secondly there is a big seller around - so I'm taking the safe option in case there is something nasty about to happen. If there isn't brave buyers who hold on could be rewarded. All about risk and reward isn't it!
Disappointment that Lancashire couldn't get through the 500 and has gone back to about where I bought it. However given its promotion soon I'll take a chance and stick with it. Elsewhere the jury is out on my idea that Elementis might now trade between early 30s and late 30s... it's now plumb in the middle at 35, so hoping it can push up to near 40.
I suspect I should have closed out the Yell short at 20 to take massive profits on Monday and it's crept back up to 23, still it's down again today and I think there's a chance of a fall to 15 at which point I should bank though I still think it could go bust - which would obviously put me even more in the money!
Heritage keeps trying to get through that 250 area. I still hope to wake up one morning to bid news there, in the meantime though still sitting on a great profit! If it can crack 260 it could just motor.
My FTSE 100 short via the ETF for the Isa looks very good now currently basking up over 110 points, it is a good feeling to be able to make some money on a falling ftse in a tax free way.

Shareholders like me in Dmatek overwhelmingly voted for the takeover.. so just a question now of waiting for the cash! At 215, this would bring in a very nice profit of over £5,000. Wish I'd bought more!
So, market conditions remain tough and for most investors for right now, best trade is still probably no trade!
Perhaps only idiots like me have bought here and there!

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/
(currently says offer expired Dec 31st but ignore that, it is still going)

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.