I now turn my attention to the ostensibly-for-iPhone mobile trading app provided by WorldSpreads. Calling this an “app”, and an “iOS Optimsed” one at that, is a bit of a misnomer because it’s not an app at all.

In this feature I look at the Spreadex iPhone App. Unlike some mobile spread betting apps, the Spreadex app offers your four different watch lists: a Popular Makets watch list, a Top Risers watch list, a Top Fallers watch list and a My Portfolio watch list.

I thought I’d use this week’s short Trading Trail update to mark the point at which my reference position trading account got back to par with the performance of the FTSE 100 index as demonstrated in the equity curve below.

Is the cold snap about to end? My friends in the City certainly think things are warming up. The January PMI surveys suggested a strong start to 2011 for the private sector with expansion in the services, manufacturing and construction sectors.

Continuing my series of reviews of the iPhone spread betting apps, I now turn my attention to the ETX Capital iPhone app.

If you have an iPhone (lucky you) or are thinking of getting one, you’ll be keen to know about the numerous iPhone spread betting apps that are available to download for free from the App Store; many more than are available currently for the rival Android mobile platform. In this review I look at the features and functionality provided by the City Index spread betting app for iPhone.

It’s time for another trading trail update, with a little educational piece that is related to the portfolio thrown in on the subject of pyramiding. I’ll update you on the portfolio performance first, then I’ll tell you the tale of my two pyramids.

To many people a stop order looks like a very simple thing, represented as it often is by a single input box labelled stop on a spread bet trading ticket. The purpose of a stop order is also regarded by many as very simple: to stop a loss. Yet stop orders are not as simple as they first appear, and they come in many flavours as follows.

You may remember that in my last feature I started to explore the issue of taking money off the table periodically (as a full-time day trader might, to pay the bills) vs. keeping profits on the table (as an traditional investor might, so as to compound his gains).

Do you ‘day trade’ for short-term profits, or do you take a longer-term view of building a spread bet portfolio? I do a bit of both, in an attempt to become ‘income statement rich’ and ‘balance sheet rich’.