Current Spread Betting Commentary

Markets

  Well, they continue in fine fettle - some nervous selling on Monday but buyers still seem to come in on dips.

But still it wouldn't be surprising to see some more profit-taking and for the moment any major dips in the market could find buyers. I suppose for now there is no major bad news out there.

I'm actually pretty quiet trading-wise - sitting on those mega profits and wanting to keep running them. But... also for right now there's nothing crying out for me to buy. For now riding those £80,000 plus gains.

The worst thing to do is buy things just for the sake of "making a trade". And sometimes it's best to sit. Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin the market report!

I shorted YELL (Yell) early this morning after its announcement. I just can't see why it has gone so high and it's really due coming back to earth. Yes - it's trying hard to get rid of the debt but its debt mountain is huge - and also management just can't be certain of the future. It does generate cash but business isn't getting any better. On today's statement it doesn't look worth more than 50p. I shorted at £50 a point at 75.1. Of course there is an outside chance of a bid so a stop is in at 83 with a target of 45. Ps, for newer readers "shorted" means I am betting on it to fall.

Elsewhere actually not a great deal to report, most of my stuff stayed stable during Monday's minor selloff and so I've stuck with them - and one or two have even managed rises.

Recent top up Aminex looks very nice - 10p looks a big barrier - whole numbers always are - but any close above that magic 10 could see a big percentage gain.

Intec Tel Sys tried hard to get above 100 yesterday but could not quite manage it but I'm sure it won't be long before it has another bash at it.

Recent top ups are doing well especially Hardy Oil which has decisively broken through 400 and even whizzed up to 450 and has joined my long list of doublers and treblers. Spirent also moves nicely if more slowly.

Chime announced a decent little acquisition using some of its cash pile and looks determined to grow. Still waiting for the 200 to be beaten! Alterian which I've bought 2-3 times and now in a tremendous profit - looks like it is going to soar up to the 200 area. What a lovely share this has been with profits up and over £6,000.

Dragon Oil - well over trebled on this one - fantastic profits of over £5,000. Can't seem to decide what the bid price might be. It's not sure about 400.

Another star is Petrofac which has bust through 1000 as I suspected it would giving me a massive profit of over £12,000 - what a star share this has been.

Gamble Zotefoams is rose nicely yesterday a bit while recent buy Waterman has soared by 30% plus.

Also recent pick London Capital goes well too, and top up Telecom Plus is trying hard to conquer 300.

Booker continues a slow rise though it was tipped by the Mail, which is a bit of a worry!

Fenner has leapt higher and looks very convincing indeed. Recent buy Huntsworth looks very nice indeed, - directors have been buying an awful lot of stock with some really massive buys showing a lot of confidence and together with that share buyback going on no reason why 100 should not be reached.

Nestor has lifted strongly now and at 42p I'm well up on the original buy at 30ish. Recent buy Workspace now goes extremely well with a good 20% rise though it can't seem to get above 25 for now.

BTG Group and that's paying off with a huge profit now - if it can get up and over 200p then the bullish run could continue. In profit over £3,000 there

Harvey Nash holds well at a much higher price. . I do wonder whether one of the biggest recruiters would consider a bid here at such a low price.

Flying Brands continues to go well but just came back a bit after a big surge. Patience could pay.

The banks continue to surge for me and nearly £15,000 profits on Barclays and RBS. XP Power is now over 300p so a lovely little profit there.

Heritage remains a lovely trebler - over £10,000 profits. Microgen continues to be a delight with near £3,000 profit. It came back a little yesterday but going higher again today.Optos has surged in the last few days with profits of more than £5,000 building there.

Visonic (VSC) remains higher and looks to be consolidating before what I hope becomes a run up to 100p. .Still looks really cheap and there is no debt which makes it even better. Bid prospects too thrown in for nothing.

So all in all I remain delighted with progress and the money pile continues to build.

I think there is little doubt the markets have already gone too high- but that matters not a jot because they always overshoot both sides - I certainly would not be shorting just yet. However I think that time may not be too far off. I also suspect I'll also be banking some of these mega profits before the year is up.

Much depends on what they say at the gym, will keep you posted!

Wednesday 16th September

Markets

  Interesting times! I keep hearing about people who continue to call the top and have been for some time and who continue to get burned by shorting too early.

The worst thing to do in my opinion is to try and call a top. Because always remember the market overshoots both ways - it overshot on the way down and could easily do the same on the way up.

I have to say I absolutely adore this market right now. Why? Because actually I am doing next to nothing. Indeed I've hardly even bothered looking much. It's because the portfolio is so strong it simply keeps going higher and the money continues to pour in.

And because I believe in running profits for as long as possible most of the stuff I've held for ages now and there is little temptation just yet to bank profits.

However as I always like doing I topped up on a couple of already big winners.

First another top up in lovely winner Spirent (SPT) for another £40 a point at 84. Shows no signs of moving up a penny or two a day towards where I think it can get to at around 100. In a huge profit already on current positions here. Stop 75.

Hardy Oil (HDY) where I'm now in a huge profit broke through clearly yesterday and I got greedy and bought more on the breakout getting another tenner at 385. 370 was crucial here and it looks like it's getting a second retating and has just shot through 400 as I write. target 550 stop 350.

Final top up is the brilliant Vernalis (VER). I bought these at 77, topped up on a spreadbet and could not resist a top up yesterday for another £35 at 96 as it began a serious climb. Target 140 stop 85. That deal with Glaxosmithkline should see its rerating continue. Its climb over 100 looks serious and I think there is another 40-50 points there.

I used spreadbets to top up because my ISA accounts are all fully invested and I didn't want to sell anything!

To relieve the boredom of doing sod all I've had a tiny what can only be described as a little punt on Zotefoams (ZTF) buying 4,000 shares just now at 79.4. Target 100 stop 65.

This is a small but fully listed company and is another one I hope this is another recovery stock that hasn't fully recovered yet. Hit hard by the recession the shares are now climbing steadily. Two things caught my eye - a decent 5% plus dividend was maintained and secondly there was some forward looking confidence in the last statement. So, risky but potentially rewarding too for some small money.

I did say above there was little temptation to bank profits but I did take profits in one and that's the Aveva spreadbet at 903 to bank a profit of £655. My reason for this is it's gone well through the target by 50 plus points quite quickly so a pullback would not be a surprise and it seemed a good time to bank it.

Elsewhere with the markets going strong there is little to do but watch the money roll in.

Starting with the more recent picks, top marks go to Waterman which has already gone up 30% since I bought it which is fabulous. It's not near the target yet and I am holding out for another 25% at least here and it looks like it is getting a deserved re-rating.

Recent top up Telecom Plus (remember I am a distributor and completely biased towards them) has announced an interesting deal which could see their customer numbers grow strongly. NPower is paying for a big extra bonus for distributors to get a certain number of new customers. Plus new customers get a £100 credit after a year which is a pretty handy discount off an energy bill. I would think this would see customer numbers grow without having to spend any money as NPower pays for it. Pretty neat.

Also recent pick London Capital goes well too,

Some huge winners over the last couple of days. Even my really boring ones (zzzzz) Booker and Chloride are going up.

Big shout for Alterian where I have now trebled as it raced up even further today.. glad I topped up on this super little winner. 200 now hoves into view.. Fenner has leapt higher and looks very convincing indeed.

Recent buy Huntsworth looks very nice indeed, up even more yesterday - directors have been buying an awful lot of stock with some really massive buys showing a lot of confidence and together with that share buyback going on no reason why 100 should not be reached.

The rebuy of Styles and Wood goes well as it gradually increases -
Nestor has lifted strongly now and at 42p I'm well up on the original buy at 30ish.

Recent buy Workspace now goes extremely well with a good 20% rise - looks very strong.

Big mention for Chime which is dinging all my bells and I've very nearly doubled now with profits of nearly £3,000 - it's tried once to get above 200 yesterday and looks like it is trying again today.

BTG Group and that's paying off with a huge profit now - if it can get up and over 200p then the bullish run could continue. In profit over £3,000 there

Harvey Nash holds well at a much higher price. . I do wonder whether one of the biggest recruiters would consider a bid here at such a low price.

Flying Brands continues to go well and has soared again in the last couple of days.

The banks continue to surge for me and nearly £15,000 profits on Barclays and RBS. XP Power is now over 300p so a lovely little profit there. Profits on Petrofac have surged up to more than £8,000, doubled on those I think 1000 is possible here any day after 950 well and truly hit. It's up massively today.

There's £10,000 profit on Heritage on its own. That's going very well today. Massive profits too from Dragon of nearly £5,000 Dragon has been gaining more ground so I wonder whether the bid will be higher than thought. It's heading for 400.

Microgen continues to be a delight with near £3,000 profit. Optos has surged in the last few days with profits of more than £5,000 building there.

Visonic (VSC) rose well yesterday as more take note of its announcement of its all in one internet home and business security system. With residential and business security systems moving to internet for security because of its speed Visonic looks to have a very decent potential business builder. It looks very cheap on this basis and my finger is nearly on the buy button to buy some more. Looks really cheap and there is no debt which makes it even better. Bid prospects too thrown in for nothing.

So all in all I remain delighted with progress and the money pile continues to build.

I think there is little doubt the markets have already gone too high- but that matters not a jot because they always overshoot both sides - I certainly would not be shorting just yet. However I think that time may not be too far off.

Friday 11th September

Markets

  With such strong markets there's not an awful lot I need to do right now except sit and hold the winners!

Interesting that many people might think it's a good time to get shorting after the rises but I am not so sure. I think a lot of people are currently getting burned by going against the trend and sticking on FTSE shorts etc.

One of the reasons I think a lot lose at spreadbetting for example is trying to guess a top or a bottom - many so called experts in the various magazines did this to their great cost. Much better to ride the trend and then follow it again if it really does change.

For the moment the markets really seem to think things are getting better - but I do think we risk a downturn in the markets if they try to go too much higher too fast.

However I have made a couple of minorish buys!

First off spreadbetting firms tend to do really well when the markets are moving which is the case right now - and they don't make so much when they are very tightly rangebound. I had a look at some statements from the various firms and they look to be doing really well.

I nearly bought IG but instead went for London Capital Group (LCG) because they look well undervalued compared with IG and I think there could be more upside.

The downside is I can't put in them my ISA because they are an AIM share so I did a spreadbet instead and I bought at £30 a point yesterday at 191.4 on the December contract.

Ironically I bought them using IG! I guess you have to hand it to IG that they are sporting enough to allow a bet on their rivals!

Anyway LCG according to their last statement are getting a lot of new accounts open - their revenue per customer had reduced because of the rangebound market but with the recent rises together with the recent IG statement is that revenue should be going up. Time will tell. Target 250 stop 180.

I've been looking around for recovery plays, not so many around now but just maybe Waterman (WTM) fits the bill.

Waterman got knocked badly in the recession dropping by three quarters but I do wonder with things looking brighter whether they have been knocked down too much. Anyway I went in today for 10,000 at 46.85 - target 70 stop 35. A bit risky here as they do have some debt which is just about within my parameters and the spread can range from 3%-10% which I don't like. Call it an interesting gamble.

Lastly a top up in Telecom Plus (TEP). Please remember I am a long-standing distributor and hold more than £100,000 of shares. Therefore I am biased towards the company. I haven't bought any for ages but some buying is going on and I bypassed the market makers and got some shares on the order book at the "sell" price getting 1,000 today at 293. (They will look like a sell on the trades data).

The shares look undervalued to me again - they've not done anything for some time but if they can close above 300 again for a few days they may come back onto a few radars. Stop 260 Target 375. There's a super dividend of more than 6% and with plenty of cash the downside looks limited to a strongly supported 270.

Elsewhere the portfolio steams ahead really nicely with paper profits heading up over £80,000 on current positions!

I like the look of the announcement by Visonic (VSC) of its all in one internet home and business security system. With residential and business security systems moving to internet for security because of its speed Visonic looks to have a very decent potential business builder. It looks very cheap on this basis and my finger is nearly on the buy button to buy some more. Looks really cheap and there is no debt which makes it even better. Bid prospects too thrown in for nothing.

Recent buy Huntsworth looks very nice indeed, up 13 points already - directors have been buying an awful lot of stock with some really massive buys showing a lot of confidence and together with that share buyback going on no reason why 100 should not be reached.

The rebuy of Styles and Wood goes well as it gradually increases - and the recent topups in Spirent and Nestor Heathcare are going like a train.

Nestor has lifted strongly now and at 45p I'm well up on the original buy at 30ish. Spirent continues to be a dream buy and topup.

Recent buy Workspace now goes extremely well with a good 20% rise - looks very strong.

Big mention for Chime which is dinging all my bells and I've very nearly doubled now with profits of nearly £3,000 - it's tried once to get above 200 yesterday and looks like it is trying again today.

Booker at last is starting to move up ahead of its entry into the FTSE 250 - it's been so boring for so long it's a shock to see it move up but maybe my patience is about to pay off.

BTG Group and that's paying off with a huge profit now - if it can get up and over 200p then the bullish run could continue. In profit over £3,000 there

Recent buy Harvey Nash goes very well indeed. I do wonder whether one of the biggest recruiters would consider a bid here at such a low price. Be interesting to see if it can hold 50p.


Flying Brands continues to go well and soared up to 80p yesterday. Should get up to the 100 mark.

Gamble Gem Diamonds goes fine and though extremely volatile seems to be keeping its strong uptrend.

Vernalis sits pretty in the 90s after it announced an excellent tie up with drugs giant Glaxosmithkline. Happy to sit. The banks continue to surge for me and nearly £15,000 profits on Barclays and RBS.

XP Power is now over 300p so a lovely little profit there. Profits on Petrofac have surged up to more than £8,000, doubled on those I think 1000 is possible here any day after 950 well and truly hit.

There's £10,000 profit on Heritage on its own. Massive profits too from Dragon of nearly £5,000 Dragon has been gaining more ground so I wonder whether the bid will be higher than thought. It's heading for 400.

Alterian has now nearly trebled for me with more than £4,000 profit.. looks exciting again as 150 has been breached for the first time.

Microgen continues to be a delight with near £3,000 profit. Optos has surged in the last few days with profits of more than £5,000 building there. Hardy Oil took a massive leap up after some good news - any move above 370 would be bullish for that stock. Even boring old Chloride has moved up and Intec Tel Sys is on the move again.

So all in all I remain delighted with progress and the money pile continues to build.

Those getting stuck in with shorts thinking the market is about to top out could be right. However I think we should remember markets always overshoot both ways so personally I do not have my shorting shoes on yet and for now remain long.

Wednesday 9th September

Markets

  It's been a while since the last market update - and I really couldn't have chosen a better time to have a good rest from them.

With strong markets for most of the last couple of weeks I've taken the chance to have a real holiday and rest and instead of looking at the market 10 times a day it's been once or twice! (And on one day... shock horror, not at all!!!)

Luck for me most of my stuff carried on going up so no real panics or worries.

Despite my rest from the markets of course I couldn't resist the odd trade or three!

First a buy - I bought some Huntsworth (HNT) - 5,000 at 69. Not been in this one ever, but it looks interesting. I like the fact though results were a little lower they weren't that much lower in the recession period - and cash is piling in and the dividend raised 7%.

Some good brands are being developed and with a massive share buyback programme under way I'm looking to collect at least 30% over 3-6 months. Target 95 stop 65. What's great about buying a share like this is the big shares buyback means very limited if no downside for the time being while potential upside is good.

And I went in for an old favourite Fenner (FENR) this time on a spreadbet being fully cashed up in the ISAs getting £35 a point at 105. Target 160 stop 97. I went in as buying volume was huge and one could see why as a recent report has lifted it higher and I think more to come here.

And I topped up in Spirent (SPI) using a spreadbet getting £50 at 82 - already up 20% on the shares I already bought in the late 60s but as usual I like to top up on winners, so I have! target 100 stop 74.

Also added again to Nestor Healthcare (NSR) with a further £100 at 35 on the spreads. Big buying here and the price looks like it is about to explode.

And now a sell and re-buy in Styles and Wood (STY)... First off I sold at 45.1 to bank a decent profit of £2,495 - it had reached the target and looked unlikely to get above it. It then began to sink back as profit takers moved in so I waited for the turning point and got back in for 10,000 shares at 33.4 where again it seems like a nice little gamble and again targetting 50p with a stop of 28.

Despite big profits from most shares in the portfolio I continue to ride them. But I did take profits in one of them - Office to Office selling at 155 for a profit of £825. Good results but fair value now.

My French short hit the stop at 53 for a loss of £350 - that one never looked like paying out.

So that's total profits for the website banked of £2,970.

Elsewhere things continue to be excellent with yet more profits coming by simply doing nothing but holding the winners.

Big mention for Chime which has rocked up yet again and I've very nearly doubled now with profits of nearly £3,000 - ignored all the treeshakes along the way. It looks very exciting now if it can get over 200. Been a brilliant hold.

Booker at last is starting to move up ahead of its entry into the FTSE 250 - it's been so boring for so long it's a shock to see it move up but maybe my patience is about to pay off.

BTG Group and that's paying off with a huge profit now - if it can get up and over 200p then the bullish run could continue. In profit over £3,000 there

Recent buy Harvey Nash goes very well indeed. I do wonder whether one of the biggest recruiters would consider a bid here at such a low price. Be interesting to see if it can break 50p.

Excellent set of results from Visonic and I really think Visonic should be rated much higher and hope one morning to wake up for a bid for these at the 100p mark.

Flying Brands continues to go well and went up well yesterday. Should get up to the 100 mark.

Gamble Gem Diamonds goes fine and though extremely volatile seems to be keeping its strong uptrend.

Vernalis sits pretty in the 90s after it announced an excellent tie up with drugs giant Glaxosmithkline. Happy to sit.

I've now got a near £8,000 profit in Barclays and £3,000 from RBS. Profits on Petrofac have surged up to more than £8,000, doubled on those I think 1000 is possible here any day after 950 hit today.

There's £10,000 profit on Heritage on its own. Massive profits too from Dragon of nearly £5,000 Dragon has been gaining more ground so I wonder whether the bid will be higher than thought.

Alterian has now nearly trebled for me with more than £4,000 profit but 150 looks a bit of a barrier for right now..

Microgen continues to be a delight with near £3,000 profit and it is moving up again.

Optos has surged in the last few days with profits of more than £5,000 building there. Hardy Oil took a massive leap up after some good news - any move above 370 would be bullish for that stock.

Recent buy Mitie is proving , er Mitie.. and is rising well.

So all in all I remain delighted with progress and the money pile continues to build. Nothing is on a yellow card, pretty much everything in a good profit. The trend looks firmly up with dips being bought. Maybe September this year won't be the normal doom and gloom. Here's hoping.

As I write the FTSE is poised just under 5,000 - I guess some of us thought we wouldn't see that this year!

Wednesday 19th August

Markets

  Funny old market innit? It's all got a bit of a nervy feel because it's gone up a lot and everyone and their dog is forecasting a tumble.

But the stats themselves coming out from companies aren't too bad. The other problem at the moment is trading is very thin with so many away on holiday that spreads are a lot wider and movements jerky and sudden. Which makes things a bit tricky but on balance I in the main am holding on to the winners and trying to find the odd recovery play that maybe under the radar.

Of course if the market does tumble I'll be giving back some of the profits - given they are so big right now I'll just take a chance. There are a lot of nervous investors out there not wanting to lose their profits.

Some buys first. Made a few quid on Workspace (WKP) earlier in the year but obviously bailed out too early as it's continued to rise since I quit.

I'm in again a bit further up the ladder for 10,000 at 21.8. It went higher soon after I bought but is back down to my buying price today.

It's a decent-looking recovery play - I got bored with it last time and sold too quickly - this time I hope to hold for longer. Target 30 stop 19.

I've also picked up a few Nestor Heathcare (NSR) - buying on a spreadbet because I couldn't seem to buy online easily with the broker getting £100 a point at 30.6. I noticed some buying coming in and it looks a reasonable recover play idea this time in the sector. Target 40 stop 28.

Finally I picked up some Harvey Nash (HVN), 10,000 at 40.3. They look cheap, the company makes a good profit and there's no long-term debt - and they reckon what they're losing in the weak recruitment market they're gaining in IT outsourcing. I just can't see much downside here so looks worth a bit of a gamble to me - Target 60 stop 35. 18 million shares were dealt a couple of days ago which looks interesting. An Investment Trust also sold 7m but they were bought by someone.

Onto some sales.

The short in Capita went like a dream and it easily hit the 650 target and indeed went nicely under - sadly I was a little late on the trigger but exited at 652 for a profit of £160. Sold some small Hardy before results at 330.5 for a loss of £35 on last web position. However held onto the other positions as a good oil find could see a leap - still risky though but they're heading much higher today.. Sold Carclo at 98.1 for breakeven as results didn't seem to interest the market for now and it seems to lack impetus to breakthrough the 100 area.

Latchways results were not bad but not as exciting as I hoped so I sold at 650.5 for a profit of £264 though missed out on the dividend as they went ex today. One to return to soon though I think.

With XP Power having gone so well I thought it was worth selling half - sold at 306.5 to take a profit of £1,537 on the last website position leaving the other one to run as it could easily still run higher after some excellent results. Could be yet again I sold too early but that's why I didn't sell them all.

All of which bits and pieces of selling leads to a booked profit of £1,901 for the site.

Elsewhere the portfolio continues to please with many of my lot continuing upwards. Patience in holding good companies really pays off and my problem is generally selling way too early.

Chime in particular has dinged massively higher giving me now a 50% plus profit or over £1,500 -it's been tempting to grab some profit but as it stays up there I'm holding on. Great to see it up in the 150s and still powering ahead.

Another one I have been patient with is BTG Group and that's paying off with a huge profit now - if it can get up and over 200p then the bullish run could continue. It's having a very good run.

Flying Brands continues to go well and I still think it's worth 100 so holding onto the 20% plus quick gains for now.. Gamble Gem Diamonds goes fine and though extremely volatile seems to be keeping its strong uptrend. There was a rumour in a magazine of a discovery but I take that with a pinch of salt. It could go either way depending on results.

Styles and Wood has seen some good buyers and I'm now up by nearly £3,000 quickly. It's risky though and the forward looking statement in next report (next week) will be important. A move through 50p would be bullish.

Intec Tel Sys where I'm up £2,000 made another decent statement today along with news of another big contract win.

Vernalis sits pretty in the 90s after it announced an excellent tie up with drugs giant Glaxosmithkline. , Vermalis could go a lot higher yet. Happy to sit.

Hornby looks strong after profit takers came and went. I've now got a near £8,000 profit in Barclays and £3,000 from RBS. Profits on Petrofac have surged up to £8,000, doubled on those - it raced over 900 last week but fell back a bit on a broker downgrade - however I think 1000 is possible here in time.

There's £10,000 profit on Heritage on its own. Massive profits too from Dragon. Visonic has seen some good buying and also some profit taking too but results next week will hopefully push it higher though of course you never know and any warning would see a tank. On balance I stick with it.

Alterian has now nearly trebled for me but 150 looks a bit of a barrier for right now.. Huge profits sitting in Microgen - good news on that one is there doesn't seem to be any profit takers. Had some massive cheques from longterm hold Telecom Plus - around £5,000 worth of dividends.. so while it doesn't move much it certainly gives a nice return of 6% plus which I couldn't find in the bank.

Quite a lot of other dividends have been paid out too recently - all gratefully received...

What can I say except that I'm still very excited about progress. However having said that I always remember the old cliche "Pride comes before a fall"! It is certainly going to be a very interesting autumn season and I wouldn't be surprised to see major falls or new gains!

Friday 07th August

Markets

  A bit of a pullback today but whenever the markets go down they don't seem to go down far at the moment and cash on the sidelines seems to come in. So while some pullback is still possible it feels unlikely that we are in for any kind of really big move down.

With the market in my type of share having such a good run it's getting harder to find shares that are undervalued.

But, I did spot one a while back called Visonic (VSC). Even though Visonic had been on my short shortlist for a long time because I liked it, the share price wasn't moving and I was waiting for some kind of movement or buying in the run up to results on Aug 25th.

The shares were stuck at 50p for weeks and weeks but I've remained patient as if I saw sellers or selling volume I wouldn't have bought any. Suddenly I saw some decent buying coming in this week together with some very large buy orders on the order book from nowhere. Which was enough of a buying signal for me so I grabbed 10,000 shares at 52. Target 80 stop 45. I missed 50 because Christopher pulled me away for a "game of tennis".

It makes security alarms - business simply stayed where it was when the recession hit which is impressive and the company has a lot of cash - unless things have gone wrong recently it looks mighty cheap to me and the buying that's been going on hopefully means results should be good. There are several large buy orders currently on the order book which is interesting.

I also bought some UK Coal (UKC) on a spreadbet for £30 a point at 124. Target 160 stop 100. A strange one for me as I find these sorts of companies impossible to value but I guess I am buying the sector which appears to be on the rise. I can only hope it fires up.

Despite a weak market today the portfolio looks in really good shape...and though it's very tempting to take some profits I remain trying to run the big winners for even more. After all, it is possible there is a new bull market and if so I would be crazy to do too much selling.

RBS which I bought at 16p reported today and it was pretty gloomy. However given that I bought so low down my view is to stick with it for longer-term gains. I've nearly trebled and as I think it'll be higher this year I'll stick in there!

Recent buys are all going well. Latchways is trying to conquer 700 and I never got the extra shares I was trying to buy. Good 100 pts profit there already.

Flying Brands is.. well... flying and I'm up 25% and my target of 100 doesn't look so far off now! Gamble Gem Diamonds has shot up well and though extremely volatile seems to be keeping its strong uptrend. It's the sort of share that can suddenly leap.

It's always rewarding when you're been patient with something and stayed with it for a while and it pays off.

The buy in Vernalis at 77 was looking pretty boring till yesterday when Vernalis announced an excellent tie up with drugs giant Glaxosmithkline.

A really excellent deal and if it is the precursor of more to come, Vermalis could go a lot higher yet. Now sits just over the 90p mark and an assualt on 100 would look bullish.

XP Power has got all the the way to 300p giving me very nice profits and while tempting to take them there could easily be another 50p there if it can close once or twice over 300. A super rise so far after the results and another where patience could pay off.

And talking patience again that's also paying off with Chime which has ding donged up into the 130s giving me a 30% return now.

Spirent continues to climb very well after results and another one where holding could see bigger rewards for me. Hornby came back a bit but profit takers appear to have gone and buyers are back in.

I've now got a near £8,000 profit in Barclays and £3,000 from RBS. Profits on Petrofac have surged up to £8,000, doubled on those...and there's £10,000 profit on Heritage on its own. Massive profits too from Dragon.

Alterian has now nearly trebled and is holding onto those gains which is fabulous. Huge profits too sitting in Microgen and Intec Tel.

Microgen seems to be starting another powerful run up which I'm hoping will give me another 25% upside..

Even fun punt Styles and Wood is going very well up nearly 20% though the market-makers seem to be taking fright and have widened the spread to try and choke off trading.

What can I say except that I'm very excited about progress and the money is simply pouring into my ISAs and spreadbetting accounts.

And I'm feeling too lazy to add it all up but the website not taken profits must be up and over £70,000 ish!

Of course while all this is brilliant the market does tend to kick you in the nuts when you least expect it so while I'm delighted the champagne has to be kept on ice for a bit...

Wednesday 29th July

Markets

  Well, would you have believed so many updays in a row?

Of course the problem is with the rise we've had recently is people get nervous and everyone will probably try and take profits at the same time!

Still everytime the market heads down it gets bought up again - fascinating.

I bought Hornby (HRN) - 3,000 shares at 126.9 . I found this one late on in the day - hadn't come across it much before. But the figures look good so I bought first thing Monday.

I really ought to know this one as it's involved with Thomas the Tank Engine and goodness knows how many Thomas products I have bought for Christopher!

It's won a pretty decent contract to make a huge range of products associated with the London Olympics making everything from trains to models of London taxis. I just think this company is sitting under the radar and the potential of this contract win is just not in the price yet. It also means there will be tons of announcements regarding Olympics and there are all kinds of licensing opportunites.

Even better the first products will go on sale from this Xmas. So, I'm looking to hold Hornby probably for at least a year for a hopeful 50% gain and the dividends with potential for even more Target 200 stop 120.

Another share I really like is Dialight (DIA) and I've bought quite a few at various prices - I got some at the then sell price of 144.25 using direct market access and I also bought 2,000 at 150.

It makes led lighting which is coming into favour across the world - the best thing is though is it is starting to announce contract wins from the USA.

In particular some states are taking a liking to Dialight's LED lighting for traffic lights because they
save 90% on each signal which is some saving.

States are getting money from the US government to switch and if Dialight continues to win these orders the share price is going to begin to look substantially undervalued and my thoughts are it's likely some more contract awards will be announced and continue to push the share price up to at least 200p initially.

Again there is also an excellent dividend with this one and indeed it goes ex dividend next week so I will get that quite quickly!

My view here for Dialight is to tuckaway for six months for a very decent upside. Target 250 stop 120.

The Times wrote about Dialight on Tuesday and said "Buy on weakness." Trouble is there isn't any weakness at the moment!

I also bought Celsis again (CEL), 1,000 at 187.5 simply because I was teaching level 2 and timing and the share looked so good at this price on timing judgements that I teach I had to buy some! Worked out so far as the price has been gently rising ever since.

Finally a little gamble! A risky punt which is all that it is! Unusual for me to "gamble" in my ISA but Styles and Wood (STY) looks interesting - it fits out stores and obviously got very badly hit with the recession. But it recently raised some money and there is buying interest here so it's less likely to go bust. So I've hopped on - however it could still run into trouble so it is really is a gamble and with any gamble it could run into trouble. But anyway I bought 15,000 at 28.47 - wish me luck. Target 50 stop 23. If it goes bust I'll just have to bang my head on a table and then re-read my own book.

I sold Lamprell at 114 to bank a profit of £87. My reason for quitting is the share's inability to rise above 116 even on good market days.

I also banked some nice spreadbetting profits on Wellstream - made around £3,500 profits from this which I hadn't published on the site.

I also sold the website holding at 559.17 to bank a profit of £526. Reason? Target well and truly reached and with sellers coming in to take profits in this area I decided to bank. It seems to be falling into a nice 510-580 trading range and it's coming down to buy territory again.

A few interesting shorts came up. Out of those I shorted French Connection (FCCN) - even through the company has cash so unlikely to go bust it is so out of favour for shoppers. Shorted for £50 a point at 46. Target 30 stop 52.

I also shorted Capita (CPI) at 684 for a fiver on the basis defensives are out of favour. A short-term trade only with a target of 650. Stop 705. I'll be out fast of these shorts it they go wrong.

Elsewhere the portfolio maintains its excellent run with big profits sitting there still in most of my holds.

Most interesting right now is BTG which I've held for a long time from the 120s - some really good buying has been coming in lifting it quite a lot and I wonder if something good is on the way!

Also longer-term hold XP Power is showing a lot of strength in the run up to results next week and profits building well. Bid hope Porvair is starting a climb again. Carclo begins a run.

New Brit has climbed well since the add on spreadbet - results due shortly and fingers crossed

Little ganble Aminex isn't moving much but still looks like little downside and plenty of upside.

Microgen went ex dividend today for a penny and so that's banked though it obviously went down a penny as it should.

Recent average down Asterand is also slowly starting a move up - I do think such a promising company deserves a higher rating but it is hard to value. However some good buying coming here and 30p needs to be breached for bigger upside.

Petrofac continues to defy gravity. I now have profits of roughly £7,000..it did struggle to hold 800 and has come back some but I do think 1000 is achievable with patience which would mean another treble for me.

My two banks Barclays and RBS still go well for me with profits of nearly £9,000 on those. Winner of biggest current profit is still Heritage where I sit on profits of more than £10,000. RBS in particular appears to be gaining a lot of strength.

Alterian has doubled and holds onto those gains. Only Chloride currently has a yellow card! Booker's been a bit slow but at least holds well.

Recent buy Intel Telecom (ITL) has soared since my buy and some handsome profits there as it heads up hopefully towards my 100p target. It tried and couldn't quite conquer 90 but hoping it will try again.

All in all still very happy with things and at this stage of the market just starting to stick the odd short or two on for the first time. It is going to be a very interesting summer!

Wednesday 22th July

Markets

  Gradually getting back into the swing of the markets after my holiday. I think it's actually a bit tempting to overtrade after a couple of weeks of not doing much. Trying hard to resist that.

It's getting more and more tempting to put on a FTSE short on the basis 4500-4550 proves hard to get through - but of course if that gets broken there could be a nice rise to 4700 so care needed and probably a tight stop if I try it!

New Brit (NBPO) suddenly had a big lunge down for no apparent reason so I bought some via a spreadbet on the fall picking up £20 a point at 322. That has worked well so far as it's rising strongly from the oversold status. Results due shortly and still well up on the normal share buy of these. Target 395 stop 305.

I've also dabbled with a smaller risky oil stock Aminex (AEX) - made a few quid in and out of these over the years. This time I bought a new lot, 50,000 at 6.6 today. It raised some cash recently at 6. I sold a bit too early last time - it certainly has potential with limited downside now it has raised funds. Though it still has some risk attached. Target 9 stop 5.25.

It looked like Celsis was going to sail through 200 and onwards but sadly an update wasn't received so well by the markets despite the headline figures being pretty good. I exited early doors at 190 for a profit of £280 . Good support at 180, might be worth a reentry.

Excellent report from Microgen though - this promising company produced another good set of figures and following broker upgrades it climbed nicely higher and gains again today.

Recent buy Vernalis is climbing now- interesting that the buy price has been stuck at 80p for some time but today it's shot up to 84p. That looks encouraging and level 2 shows a seller might have done selling.

Recent average down Asterand is also slowly starting a move up - I do think such a promising company deserves a higher rating. Wellstream managed a rise close to 550 target but has fallen back since.

Petrofac continues to defy gravity - can it break 800? I now have profits of roughly £7,000.

My two banks Barclays and RBS still go well for me with profits of nearly £9,000 on those. Winner of biggest current profit is still Heritage where I sit on profits of nearly £10,000.

Alterian has doubled and holds onto those gains. Only Chloride currently has a yellow card! Booker's been a bit slow but at least holds well.

Recent buy Intel Telecom (ITL) has soared since my buy and some handsome profits there as it heads up hopefully towards my 100p target.

BTG Group is now in the 170s - been holding these patiently from the 120s and the patience is starting to pay off!

So remain delighted with current profits.

So where to now? Goodness knows except it might now be possible to say the market thinks the worst could be over but is it enough to bust out and over 4,500?

Monday 20th July

Markets

  It was quite handy my net connection in Greece was a bit rubbish so I didn't go on that much. Delighted with progress while I've been away with some of the good winners continuing upwards.

The markets have been very strong while I've been away so lucky for me no scares while I was out of it!

It's always odd coming back to the markets after a holiday - takes me a while to get back into the swing of it again so I tend to be a bit cautious. This time it doesn't matter much as the portfolio climbs well with no need for much action from me.

I haven't done much but the little I have done is mainly before going on holidays dumping anything that looked too weak especially anything making a loss.

They were: Anite at 30.5, loss £390, Wellstream 530.02, loss of £71, PVC at 79.5, loss £222.

But I bought back Wellstream (WSM) 700 shares at the lower price of 484. Target 550 stop 460.

I took profits on Xaar before Greece at 102.45 to bank a profit of £1,022. They suddenly shot up but with sellers coming in fast at 105 seemed a good time to bank profits before jetting off.

All of which profit and losses taken adds up to a profit of £339. I took the unusual step for me and averaged down in Asterand (ATD) buying 10,000 at 21.9. Looks to have a great future so taking a chance there. Could blow up for me but I think it is worth the risk.

Elsewhere profits in some of my winners have boomed while I was in Greece. In particular Petrofac has shot up on a great statement and I now have profits of roughly £7,000. A winner that really has been worth holding onto! And it has turned into another doubler to join the others.

It's joint second winner in the portfolio currently with Barclays which too has soared well over 300 giving me profits of nearly £7,000 as well. So £14,000 profit from just two shares. People ask me why bother with ISAs. Well, if I did not hold just those two in ISAs and sold them now I would be paying tax on those profits!

Winner of biggest current profit is still Heritage where I sit on profits of nearly £10,000.

Some other excellent profits sitting there too - Both Alterian and Microgen are both at around the £3,000 profit level - Alterian has doubled and still going strong while Microgen reports shortly. Alterian has announced what looks like an excellent acquisition.

Celsis is looking very good now - it's soared today and it if can break 200, that would be marvellous.

The remaining Dragon Oil position has profits of just under £4,000 there. Chloride's been disappointing though it has paid out a dividend in the meantime. Long-termer Telecom Plus released a decent statement while I was away- a big dividend is also on the way to me and website profits of over £15,000 there.

Recent buy Intel Telecom (ITL) has soared since my buy and some handsome profits there as it heads up hopefully towards my 100p target.

Right I am knackered now and need to go to bed -still on Greek time!! Incredibly happy with the portfolio gains - the only problem now is: when to bank profits? And can the market continue this upwards progress? And can the FTSE get above 4,500? Can it get any more exciting?

Wednesday 01st July

Markets

  Well, markets at least appear to not want to dip down below 4200. And a nice rise today - but can it get back up to the 4500 level again? It could be a summer of, well, not much really... maybe trading 4200-4500. Suits me.

I remain extremely happy with the portfolio and hanging on for the moment to the many doublers and treblers.

Shortly about to set off on holiday so hadn't really intended on buying much for now but one or two have caught my eye.

I currently have a short shortlist of ten shares I like for one reason or another - of course timing a purchase is as important as finding the good share in the first place.

I bought three out of the shortlist on Monday as timing seemed right - mainly because of some nice buy orders on the order book for all three.

These three either have net cash or low debt so they feel really attractive because it gives them little downside while I am away sunning myself on holiday from the middle of next week. Anyway the buys were:

Intec Tel Sys (ITL) where I bought 10,000 shares at 67.3 Target 85 stop 63.

This company is awash with cash and I like the strong balance sheet here. I'm hopeful it could report £18-20m profit next time and with a huge cash surplus looks like plenty of upside to me. Its billing and support services appear to be attracting a lot of customers and the chart looks spectacular.

Second share bought from the shortlist was Xaar (XAR).. (crazy name, crazy share)

I got 5,000 XAR shares at 82p. A good niche market in printing, tons of cash and I'm hopeful that some positives in its August report will push it higher.

Given all the cash there appears limited downside for me but I will need some patience! A medium-term buy with a target of 120 and stop 74.

Xaar has been gradually rising higher recently with some good buyers around on the order book.

Final buy from the shortlist was Chloride (CHLD) - I bought 2,500 shares at 152.2. The secure power business isn't exactly electrifying (gettit?) However what interests me here is that last year a big company over in the USA, Emmerson, made a 270p bid. I'm betting they will come back with another try and buying it up so I am simply tucking away these shares on a long-term view that one day I will wake up to a takeover. happy to be patient. Target 220 stop 135.

I shorted McBride (MCB) - that is did a spreadbet on it going down. Quite an easy idea - came across this one because of its rapid rise. But one look at the big debt and its market and also the fact there is huge resistance at 150 immediately made it look like a great short to try and grab a 20 points profit and so I shorted (sold shares I don't own) for £30 a point at 146. Target 125 stop 155. If my target is reached I make £750. It's going down today in a strong market. I think chartists would agree with me that it can't rise above 150 and this looks a great short-term short.

Finally... yes I know I've been busy, it's the heat going to my head - gone for a higher risk one and picked up 3,000 Lamprell (LAM) at 111. Target 130 stop 100. Really good support at 110 and a short-term gamble and not much else.

What's happening elsewhere? Pretty good, thanks for asking.

Awaiting that bid I hope for Porvair. Already up £1,500 on these and I hope the Italian company that raised its stake to 22% will make a bid. Celsis moves up today after its decent results.

Microgen continues to look great, bought at 45p before last and it's now up near 70p. Nice results from Scott Wilson which remains cheap but can't break through 70p.

Treblers remain Barclays, Heritage, and Dragon Oil. Still waiting for news on the possible bid for Dragon. Heritage looks strong and happy to hang onto these three big gainers. Too lazy to add it all up but must be in profit by more than £20,000 on just these three together.

Alterian which has doubled and a half since I bought looks like it could shortly join the treblers as 150 looks on the cards. A good 100 points up still on Hardy but that needs to break 350 where it is currently stuck. Carclo saw some big director buying last week which makes me want to stay in there.

Optos appears to be consolidating. Could be ready for a new push higher. Anite's results today were not earth shattering but they do look undervalued to me so sticking in there.

In the boring department currently are Booker, PV and Wellstream all sitting around where I bought them. I have to consider whether to bother to hold onto these or not before heading off on hols.

Chime looks on the rise again after the ex dividend. So extremely happy with everything - the whole portfolio is still in massive profit and it was also good to bank the near 5k profit last week.

Wednesday 24th June

Markets

  Markets have fallen back through the previous support. Want to know who to blame?

It's the World Bank which reckoned the green shoots weren't as green as we may have thought. That caused markets to get into a bad mood on Monday and fall out of bed and now they're sulking. The sulk is semi over as it's rising a little today but it could easily start a new sulk over the smallest thing!

However, other banks disagree with the World Bank and George Soros is bullish. The Investors Chronicle lost a heap going short. Up to you to decide! Personally I don't believe any of these people have a clue.

As I'm off on holiday shortly I'm not that keen to add too much more into the portfolio and in particular I don't want anything too risky while away. It has been really tempting to short but I have resisted.

After taking some lovely profits on Carclo (CAR) recently selling at 97 I'm back in for 5,000 shares at 98.6.

My main reason for getting back in were some decent larger buys that came in earlier in the week and indeed a large number reported today which I reckon are buyers from yesterday made to look like sells! My feeling that they are buys is because the price moved up yesterday, clearing 100p. If it can form a base at 100 and more of these big buyers are seen I hope for more upside though I look at this buy as a more longer-term idea. Target 145 stop 88.

I've bought back a few Heritage Oil (HOIL) this time on the spreads for a tenner at 471. I took profits at 542 recently on some of my stake and the old spreadbet, given the potential a good time to get back in on some overselling. Of course I still own the shares I bought at 175 so still very happy at the near treble! The shares are rising well today. Target 600 stop 450.

With so much profit on paper I decided to continue to bank some more, getting more of this year's brilliant profits firmly into the bank.

Galiform has been a lovely performer - sold some recently at 35ish to bank nearly £1,000 - I've now sold the rest at 32.51 and the spreadbet at just under 33 for a total profit of £2,591. That's a total profit for the share including the other recent sale of £3,510.

Looks like my sell could be a mistake as it's currently higher than I sold at! Oh well, anyway it's a good profit banked!

I also sold Innovation - it just can't seem to get any higher for now - sold at 10.54 to bank a profit of £401.

I've been patient with Workspace but it just isn't shifting above 16p ish for right now so sold at 15.83 for a profit of £524. One to keep an eye on for me though as it still remains a decent recovery play. I also sold the New Brit spreadbet at 376 to bag a profit of £660. But I've held onto the shares themselves.

That's a total profit banked for the website today of £4,176.

Porvair's statement told me nothing new and the shares remained unmoved. Already up £1,500 on these and I quite simply am hoping a similar Italian company that recently raised its stake to 22% will make a bid, and I'm hoping for 100-120.

Brilliant set of results from Celsis - they are starting to move up and look undervalued to me after those figs.

A bit of a treeshake in brilliant performer and recent topup Microgen yesterday but it's heading back up with excellent profits now building of £2,000 plus. Looking very good indeed.

Treblers remain Barclays, Heritage, and Dragon Oil. Still waiting for news on the possible bid for Dragon. Office to Office tries to make some progress. Optos appears to be consolidating.

Recent top up Alterian remains strong it came back off 137 but is on the rise again. Doubled already on the first buy of that one. Volatile PV Crystalox is in profit but it's hard work. Very volatile Wellstream only just survived two yellow cards turning into a red.

Chime looks on the rise again after the ex dividend. So extremely happy with everything - the whole portfolio is still in massive profit and also it's been good to bank some of it too.

I still wonder whether the market will simply continue to tread water short-term. And I also wonder whether these types of levels are about right for now - maybe there is actually neither tons of upside or tons of downside to come over the summer?

Or maybe a 4,200 - 4,500 range will become established.

Wednesday 17th June

Markets

  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. I've made 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.

Wednesday 10th June

Markets

  Well, the ftse remains in that 4,300 to 4,500 range, any breakout either side could be quite significant.

The portfolio continues to rise and while it does I'm in the main just sticking with everything and enjoying tea and toast days!

However I have added one share, that's Booker (BOK ) getting 10,000 shares at 34. Target 45 stop 28.

I know Booker a little: when I owned a cafe we used to go down there to get stuff wholesale to sell. Of course the share price has been buffeted by the recession. However a firm uptrend has just begun.

But what interests me is the company is moving from AIM market to the main in July. I always like companies that do this. The move will propel it straight into the FTSE 250 in September so with funds buying in I think there is limited downside from here but potential very good upside. I expect to buy some more for my Isas once it transfer over to the main market

I sold the rest of my Carclo at 96.05 after looking at the results. It looks to me like a pretty good very long-term share.. but the price looks up with events for right now and I feel I cam get in again at a similar price later this year. It seems to struggle to get past 100 and that really is about the price it's worth for now. I do expect to be back in it though soon enough as it does have tremendous potential.

I banked a profit of £1,577 for the website to add to the £1,000 plus banked on this share last week.

Elsewhere it continues to be excellent.

Recent buys still going fine. Anite has seen a nice rise - as usual whole numbers cause a problem - but if it can break that crucial 40p area that would be brilliant. Office2 Office remains roughly where I bought it, be interesting to see if the broker is right about abroad interest. One to be patient with for me.

Optos has managed a nice 20% gain so far with some good buying continuing. Innovation Group also going well up about 10%.

Hardy Oil holds nicely at much higher levels. Fenner's moving nicely but 100 seems to be resistance - still any break up would be very bullish. Heritage is very volatile on return to the market after its outline deal to merge with Turkish company Genel Enerji. There are still risks (mostly political) and there will be profit takers here but it reminds me of the £30,000 plus I made on Burren Energy by staying with it. Having bought at much lower prices obviously helps and I expect to hold onto most of my stake for now.

A few shares that have just held steady are starting to move. Porvair is seeing some renewed buying and is on the up again.

Microgen sees some buying coming in today - I'm hopeful it night start to rise again in the run-up to results.

Asterand too is beginning to move after stabilising.

Trebler Barclays is coming up on the rails again after the Abu Dhabi exit. As is RBS.

New Brit is looking strong any rise in Palm Oil. Petrofac too with excellent profits there.
.
The big question is whether the FTSE can break up over 4,500 or not. It's tried again today even getting over 4,500 but as I write has fallen back again. A real sustained move over could be really bullish but it could also slip back to 4300 again, I wish I knew! In the meantime while it works itself out in the main staying put.

Wednesday 03rd June

Markets

  It's a strange old limbo right now! The market can't decide whether a new bull market is underway and there are tons of gains to come or whether we've come too far too soon and a drop is needed - the FTSE tells all really trading between 4,300 and 4,500.

As I often say I don't have a clue which way it's going - I've enjoyed the ride up and taken some profits along the way but I'm doing ok considering the falls today.

I bought eye firm Optos (OPTS), 10,000 shares at 56.94. Interesting recovery story here, it has its booths and techology in Wall Marts in the US. I mainly bought because it was rising fast on good volume.

There are signs its technology is selling well now and certainly the buying that's going on which include some very large buys look very encouraging indeed. Target 100 stop 49.

It's been rising again today on some good buying, an outside chance of a bid too.

I've also bought Innovation Group (TIG) - profits heading higher, they have some cash and they raised £5m in a placing recently - a strong uptrend in place too. I bought 25,000 shares at 8.97.

A medium-term hold for me with a target of 12 and stop of 7.5.

Great results from Alterian today. Looks like it has further to run but I topsliced at 105-05 to bank a profit of £661 for one website position. Keeping hold of the other position for the time being. Looks like there is more upside but it might be a bit slower now given recent gains and I used the cash elsewhere.

I took profits in Volex, selling at 62.6 for a profit of £1,230. Results were good but not quite enough to push the shares up any further for now. Happy with that quickish profit there and I'm keeping an eye on this good recovery story.

I'd love to say I used ichimoko divergence macd murray mint moving average golden cross indicator to take profits on Topps Tiles.

Because that would make me sound rather exciting and like one if those people who talk crap on Bloomberg.

In fact the take profits signal came from Mrs NT going to a different tile shop yesterday. She's out of love with Topps Tiles and in love with Fired Earth to time to get out quick.

Sold at 89 for a great profit of £1,900 on pos 1 and at 82 for a profit of £850 which makes a total profit on Topps Tiles of £2,750. Could have been more as it nearly hit 100 but I hardly ever manage to get the top of anything, part of the ride is fine for me.

And that's total profit banked for the site today of £4,641.

Elsewhere big excitement from Heritage Oil where I have already trebled my money - it's only just happened so I don't know much except the shares are suspended pending an announcement - looks like a reverse takeover.

Goodness knows what to expect but the share price was rising fast before the suspension so it must be something that's good news, more in the next update!

Recent buy Fenner is really motoring now and heading towards my 100p target already, a move over 100 will look very bullish.

Hardy Oil is already at my 350 target. But with the potential there to go much higher I'm resisting temptation to take the big profits sitting there and hold for more.

Barclays fell on the Abu Dhabi sale but I can't say I'm too worried as it is still a trebler and I'll stick with it.

Dragon's made a great leap and is now a doubler and a half. Recent buy Chime is up nicely. Still hoping on a bid for Porvair though it's gone quiet.

New Brit is motoring again with big profits building.

So all in all I am very happy with everything - all is in profit and nothing on a yellow card. Plenty of doublers and treblers - and with many holding up well even on a big down day I am not tempted to take profits right now. Be interesting to see where we go from here but it was a great May!

Wednesday 20th May

Markets

  Well, would you believe it? The market remains strong. Looked like it was a bit tired yesterday but perked up in the afternoon after some hopeful figures from the USA saw the Dow leap up followed by the FTSE.

It's been tempting to short but it's never a great idea to go against a trend or find a turning point so I don't mind missing some of a move to be certain.

With the portfolio going so well in the main I'm taking it easy as it's generally going up without me having to do much and I'm in tea and toast mode. But one or two bits added and some tidying up.

Brilliant news from Hardy Oil (HDY) this morning. I've been holding this one patiently for a while from 234 plus the spreadbet as well. Excellent news that a technical report shows "significant hydrocarbon potential".

It all means I think that its chances of success, though by no means guaranteed - have suddenly gone upwards - this ought to mean a rerating for the share which is going on as I write. The market cap looks too low for its potential.

I was a bit slow off the mark this morning but managed to get another 1,500 shares at 272 plus £15 on the spreads at 269. I tried buying at the "sell" price using the order book but no-one sold me any! My thoughts are and what I hope for is a rerating at least up to 350 and possibly further given the share seems completely overlooked by.. well.. everyone by the look of it.

I bought back into Chime (CHW) getting 3,000 at 102p. Target 130 stop 90. I made a few quid on this just recently selling at about 115 so 102 seemed a good re-entry point especially as there is now strong support at 100. A very strong balance sheet and upbeat statements temps me in again.

I also bought back into old favourite Fenner (FENR) getting 5,000 today at 85.75. Some nice big buyers showing up on the order book which tempted me in. Target 100 stop 78. It's very volatile but its debt worries are easing and it could just get a rerating up and over 100.

The more tiles the Mrs buys from Topps Tiles (TPT) for our refurbishment the higher the share price grows. There's another massive stack of tiles here. I've bought another spreadbet on it of this time at 65p for £50 to add to the one already open from 51p. Target 90 stop 57. Hopefully she'll go and get some more this afternoon to lift the share price up more. The City liked today's statement. We have blue tiles for the male bathroom and of course, beige and pink ones for the Ladies bathroom..

I gave Boot the boot today at 73 for a loss of £250. Though I did pick up a 4p dividend so in effect it ends up about break even. I sold because 80p seems a solid barrier and it can't get through. I might be interested in buying in again if it does.

I've been patiently holding Carclo since the beginning of the year when I bought in the low 60s, then topped up a few weeks ago. It's in a nice uptrend but hard to buy and sell as when it moves it moves big and fast. Another of its sudden big moves this week - on this occasion it was such a nice move I thought it was worth selling half to bank some profit leaving the rest to run. So I sold at 97.1 to bank £1,005 from the higher position. Looks to have a bright future but it was too tempting not to bank some gains. Any sustained move over 100 would be very bullish indeed for more gains and I bet I end up regretting the half sale!

Elsewhere the portfolio still grows very nicely indeed without me having to make any effort at all which being on the lazy side is good for me.

Recent buys are all going well. Asterand has held up very nicely - I thought it might dip back to 24 but it has shown strength and a move over 30 would be very bullish, some nice buyers coming in. It's one of those that suddenly soars when you least expect it.

Also Porvair has gone brilliantly, great profit on that already and hopeful the Italian company will increase is stake yet again and then bid the for the whole company.

Just about tripled my money on my first buy in Heritage Oil, it's in a tight trading range of 490-520, any break through 520 will see bigger gains but the best thing about it is any day I could wake up to a bid.

Simply continuing to hold the banks (tripled in Barclays, doubled on RBS). Volex has proved an excellent gamble so far, up more than 70% in a very short time.

Close to doubling on Galifom, huge profits there. Petrofac has soared since the buy and is heading up to 700 and another doubler looks on the cards here!

And Dragon Oil looks to be going for it to give me another trebler as it tries to conquer 300.

I'm thrilled with the performance of the portfolio this year. But.. of course it's always wise to stay cautious and it wouldn't be a surprise for a new set of figures/some fear/ or anything to knock share prices again.

Wednesday 20th May

Markets

  Amazing to see the markets still heading higher. But it's great to read about so many investors making money.

Problem is when to continue banking the profits as I have been doing or indeed whether to buy more shares again. 4,500 for the FTSE seems quite pivotal and it would not surprise me if it was 5,000 or 4,000 by mid June. As usual I try and follow rather than lead but it is getting more and more tempting to short a little. I don't think it would take much for everyone to turn from current greed mode into fear again and in that case everyone will try and sell at once causing a big tumble.

You'd really expect 4,500 to be quite a resistance area, but the market does seem to want to go up and if it gets above 4,500 there could still be lots of upside. If everyone sells at once then plenty of downside. Oh, for a time machine! I have no idea which way it might go.

I've bought a couple of shares anyway, a couple I rather hope would slip under the radar a bit if the market began to tank again.

Asterand (ATD) is an interesting one. It's gone up an awful lot so I hope I'm not buying at the top, getting 10,000 shares at 26.5p. However I do like buying shares on the up even if they have risen a lot as they are usually rising for good reasons. It got to 28 and is sliding a bit at the moment but I reckon any short-term downside is limited to around 24 where there is good support and where I'd top up.

It's in the human tissue market, which appears to be growing, there is no net debt and growing profits. It seems a nice outfit and part of my reason for buying is it would make a good takeover target, speculation on my part obviously. Target 38 stop 22.

I noticed a big stake was bought in Porvair (PRV) by an Italian company yesterday - they picked up a shedload at 60p and now own 22%.

I think this has got to be significant because there must be a good reason for picking up a stake and at 30% a bid would be triggered. The stake cost them more than £5 million. So I bought the shares at the same price they did just after the announcement getting 10,000 at 60p. Target 100 stop 47.

I've sold a few bits and pieces that haven't moved much - so boredom sales really.

I sold Aminex at 6.78 for a profit of £521. Just got bored with it really and it just sits there without moving. I'd get back in again if I saw some buying volume coming in. I also sold half my Scott at 58.18 for a profit of £291 - again non movement boredom but I kept the other half! Final boredom sale was Tribal at 95 for an overall loss of £210. Disappointed there especially as there appears little wrong - I suppose it's a defensive in an up market so there are no buyers. I might be tempted back in on a bad day if it dipped or as a defensive if the market dropped.

Total profit is £602 for the site.

I took a loss of £190 on my Xchanging spreadbet. This was down to my stoploss which worked nicely for me here. I would have sold anyway as some negatives appeared which was a surprise as the last statement was so positive.

Elsewhere the portfolio remains with huge paper profits even after I took all those profits recently with doublers and treblers.

Heritage remains a lovely trebler. It seems locked into a 480-525 trading range for now but with its tremendous oil finds I am a happy holder even though it has been tempting to take profits of over £10,000 from the site holds - now I am sitting on £8,000 plus profits in a spreadbet! Interest is huge here and various bid rumours abound.

It's funny because I was originally looking for a bid at 500! So obviously I'm very happy it got to my target without one.

Glad I held onto half the Topps Tiles spreadbet.. 70p looks big resistance though.

Volex is heading fast towards my 75p target which would have doubled my money. Wasn't expecting it to get there this fast but there has been some very decent buying and now very hopeful of doubling here.

Talking of doubles, Dragon Oil remains more than a doubler and very strong indeed. Galiform is very close to doubling from the original buy and hoping still for a bid there.

Barclays remains a surprise trebler with RBS nearly at a double. I don't talk much about long termer Telecom Plus as I'm a distributor so obviously biased in its favour. But it reported a good profits jump today - these are tucked away in a drawer from much lower levels, I get a superb dividend, much more than I could get in a bank so happy with the 25% dividend rise. Some growing pains here but plenty of cash and prospects and N Power this year have an option to bid, if they do, plenty of upside. If they don't, not much downside.

Boot came up with a steady statement and holding. Petrofac has stormed higher today - nearly 200 pts profit there. Hunting too remains much higher.

Unusually I have nothing on a yellow card and currently happy with all holdings and the excellent profit there.

My ploy now after already banking profits of nearly £25,000 in the last 2-3 weeks is to take more off the table if the market starts to tank then gradually short, if the market rises I'll buy a little more and hold what I have.

As I always say I'll follow it rather than forecasting it and I never mind missing a few points, it's always worked for me!..

Wednesday 06th May

Markets

  Mama Mia!! Wow! Just when I thought my portfolio would struggle to go up anymore and I really must take profits, it soared yet again.

I have never, ever made so much money in such a short space of time. Something around six figures personally. Some of it made on the higher risk ones those who get the email know about and my pension has soared too.

And I'm sure many of you readers are having a great time too. Conditions have been marvellous. Well done to you if you've made a few quid and it's nice to get a reminder that sometimes shares go UP!

I've been fascinated to read the forecasters in the magazines get the market so badly wrong - they have all been short. One famous columnist declared a massive short position two weeks ago. Strangely, that position wasn't mentioned again...

As usual I try to just follow what it's doing and I'm simply holding the winners while they build.

So, if the market starts to tank again, yes I'll miss out on some profit. It doesn't matter to me, it'll be a big profit one way or another barring a black swan event.

Because most of my holds are soaring it actually makes life quite easy and in general I've had my feet up watching the cash rise with the tea and toast quotient very high!

But I am sure many of you, like me, wonder how long the rises can continue! At the moment it's been buy in May and sell on St Ledgers day!

Anyway just been enjoying it but there are one or two buys and sells. With buys and the market higher I'm looking out for recovery plays the market hasn't noticed yet that have the potential to double and try and get in early.

Well, first is another topup in Carclo (CAR). It's heading up with the market but still undervalued and plenty more to come. Nicely up already I added another 5,000 shares at 77p. Target 120 stop 70. There's some nice background buying going on here and this recovery play could really motor, anything positive and it's the kind of share that can be up 20p in a flash.

I had Volex (VLX) sitting on an old screen from when I dealt in it years ago and suddenly noted the market-makers raising their prices. So I had a quick look. One of those beaten-up stocks that could recover. I guessed some buys were going in and followed suit getting 5,000 at 38p. Fairly quickly it moved up to 45, then 50 and has fallen back somewhat today. However I guess that is profit-taking - results are in three weeks and judged by the buys that went in I wonder whether they will continue to rise before results day. target 75 stop 33. Like Carlco one that could really speed higher.

Topps Tiles (TPT) was brought up as an interesting one with good volumes last week. Very strong uptrend here so I bought £100 on the spreads at 51. Another decent-looking recovery play. Given the amount of money Mrs NT is currently spending on tiles for our place at Topps, there is a long way for the shares to go! target 80 stop 40. I might even Topp up!

As you know I've been tempted time and time again to take the massive profits building up. But in my ten years plus of trading it's always been best to hold out and ride out the winners which is why I have a number of shares that have doubled and trebled.

In fact, what can I say about my shares? Well I could say a couple of words but they aren't suitable for a family audience.

First to the star of the show, Heritage Oil - a brilliant drilling report today has pushed them up 20% and I think there is even more to come. Now nearly trebled on the first buy and the website buys are now in profit by more than £10,000. No reason to take profits yet on this gusher I think - and although my target of 500 has been nearly reached, on today's statement there could be another 200p there at least. Some brokers today even estimate 800-1000. Hope they're right!

All the recent buys have been steaming up. Well as I thought the swine flu thing was probably overhyped by the media and lucky for me that proved the case and because of that the trade and spreadbet on British Airways have paid off handsomely with the spread bet alone up £1,700 plus in short order.

Spreadbet of the week has to be Charter and I'm glad I picked up a few more. Profits here now a quickfire £5,000!

The spread buy of PV Crystalox too has netted quick profits of nearly £1.000.

My banks. Goodness. Barclays has now more than trebled with profits over £6,000. RBS has doubled and a half!

Dragon Oil has doubled and a bit. Galiform inching towards a double and quickly too. Unite has doubled now and a bit.

Chime issued a reassuring statement today and has cracked the 100 - that looks significant and there could be a lot more to come. Ding Dong!

Alterian remains on the march upwards - interesting to see whether it can crack 100 and good profits building here. .

My bid target favourite Microgen is quietly but surely heading back upwards. It's the quiet little risers than often end up producing the best profits. Market makers seem reluctant to sell stock too which is always good news.

Workspace is nicely higher, and again not long here before a double is reached! The 15.5 seller has gone too.

Recent buys Celsis and Hardy Oil both doing fine and rising nicely though Hardy is very volatile

Hunting is going well and Petrofac has surged through 600.

The good times are certainly here. How long can they remain? Answers on the back of a postcard because I haven't got a clue but very much enjoying it while it lasts.

Of course it would be no surprise to see a reversal on profit taking here. But after that this market looks like it could still have some more steam in it.

Wednesday 29th April

Markets

  I'm starting the bank holiday weekend early which sad to say means no update on Friday. Hey, you'll live, get over it already.

That piggin' flu virus is a real swine. It brought uncertainty back into the market just when things were going ok. But more by luck than anything else I didn't hold any travel or transport shares.

Right now (and I know nothing) I think it's more likely that fears will slowly fizzle out as I take the view media organisations tend to hype these things up.

So I made a brave (or stupid) buy on this basis and bought some BA! (BAY) I thought that as the shares have been hit because of a virus that might not become widespread it could recover well. Hey I never ever bought BA before. Wish me luck.

Anyway I picked up 1,500 at 143.3 and on the spreads for £50 at 138.2 . (The reason the spread price is lower is I did a June spread and so the next dividend is in the price). So far it's paid off, however if the problems escalate it could be a big loser.. so I need to be careful. Target 160 stop 135. The idea is really just a short-term trade on flu virus worries easing. If they don't I need to get out!

I love topping up on winners as you know and XP Power (XPP) has continued going up strongly and up nearly 50 pts there. I liked the break through 200 so bought a further 1,500 at 204. Target 245 stop 165.

The chief exec of XPP has just snapped up 20,000 shares - a very good sign - weaker pound is helping to boost profit says The Times in a story today - the breakup looks bullish to me for at least another 15%.

I picked up some PV Crystalox PVCS) on the spreads for £50 at 105. Looks like there is some decent buying coming in here. Made some money on this one before. Target 120 stop 98. It's in a good sector and I think has the legs to go higher.

Charter's (CHTR) been sitting in an obvious trading range of late 400s to 550s so picked up another spread tenner at 490 to add to current holding. Plan is to take profits at 550 ish for a short-term trade.

I've been taking some profits or part profits but really wish I hadn't as most of the shares I took profits on are higher than where I sold. Poo!

Hands up who sold half their Fenner way too early? Yes, me!! I sold half at 59 last week only to see the price rise to 82 today! I think they look fairly valued now and on that basis I sold the rest at 76 for a profit of £973.

And now it's gone up even more than that. Doh! Honestly the amount of times I take profits too early even though I think I sometimes hold shares for too long!

So I took half profits on SDL too early too, selling half at 325 for a profit of £540. It's higher than that as I write so topslicing could be a mistake. Good statement though and I remain with the other half.

I also top sliced a little New Brit (the 650) at 382.46 taking out the last pos for a profit of £443 . However still holding the rest and hoping for a rise to over 400 at least. All depends on the palm prices.

So total profits taken for the site today are £1,956.

Elsewhere the portfolio continues to do really well with tons of huge winners, shan't bore you again with my angst re.. "I should be selling now..."

I have so many shares that have doubled, nearly doubled or trebled!! Doublers or near doublers include Dragon Oil, Heritage, RBS, Unite, Galiform, and Barclays is close to trebling. Just brilliant though all still on paper!

Heritage remains the biggest winner after Barclays, more than doubled on the first lot and the other positions look good too. Results are out this week so volatility is inevitable. Alterian remains on the march upwards - interesting to see whether it can crack 100 and good profits building here. .

My bid target favourite Microgen is quietly but surely heading back upwards. It's the quiet little risers than often end up producing the best profits. Market makers seem reluctant to sell stock too which is always good news.

A decent statement by Dragon has seen those shares lift today and I've now nearly doubled my money there! Goodness me I've nearly trebled my money on Barclays!

Nearly doubled on RBS now, a really big rise today. Galiform is getting close to a double.. rumours persist of a possible bid from Travis Perkins.

Workspace is nicely higher, just waiting for the seller at 15.5 to leave the building!

Recent buys Celsis and Hardy Oil both doing fine and rising nicely though Hardy is very volatile

Hunting is going well as is good old Petrofac .. Morse has been weird. I just stayed with it after the warning because of the good support at 9. It's just kept rising since then and now bizzarely I'm in a good profit. Must be something going to happen there?

l like the look of the slow but steady rises in Carclo - I think I have a potential doubler there.

So all in all remain delighted with the huge profits sitting there. However they are all only "on paper" and maybe I continue to be crazy not to press the take profits button.

The flu virus remains a bit of a threat to the markets if it gets worse so I obviously have to keep an eye on that and of course with so many profits sitting there perhaps I am crazy not to bank some more. The other worry is bank stress test results in the US on May 4th. Greed just about outweighs fear for me right now but believe me, I can get fearful very quickly!

Friday 24th April

Markets

  Well, I don't know what to make of it. Economies are still in trouble yet the markets appear to be going up - not only that but nearly all the shares I have continue to boom ever higher.

So though I'm glad I held onto them rather than selling too early I'm getting a bit nervous for how long can the rises really keep going?

Are there going to be a whole band of new buyers coming in?

Just now I nearly decided to go through the whole lot and bank everything. Then greed stopped me. And fear will make me take the profits too late after everything's gone down!

Still with some shares having doubled it won't matter that much if I let a bit of profit slip.

Anyway I'll shut up and here are recent trades.

Galiform ( GFRM) has been a superb performer. Bought at under 20 it's now at 27 which is more than 30% profit already. I do like topping up on winners so bought a further 10,000 at 25.9. Target 40 stop 20. I hope The Times suggestion that Travis Perkins might make a bid isn't just hot air and would be hopeful of 40p. I also topped up on the spreads with £100 at 26.

I hate Celsis (CEL). Everytime I buy and sit on it it goes up a little bit and then I get bored and sell it and make about a tenner! Anyway like an old fool I bought it again, 2,000 at 176 because I saw a big buyer at 174 and followed in. I expect to sell at 178 in about a month to take another tenner. Target 200 stop 150. Maybe this time I can be more patient.

After my success with Heritage I've been looking around the fully listed oilers trying to find another winner/bid target and came across Hardy Oil (HDY) and bought a very speculative 1,500 at 234.9 and £15 on the spreads at 233.

I think Hardy looks like it's been overlooked a bit in the recent upturn for the smaller oil companies and I can also put it in my ISA. Interesting as it's one of those like others that could suddenly soar up - I'm targetting 350 with a stop of 210.

I've got a buy order in on the order book for another 1,500 HDY at 235.25 - those of you with level 2 should be able to see it, placed at 13.52 today! Hoping I will get them! (Good for today only) Of course if the order vanishes today it means I did get them, ie buy at the current "sell" price..

I re-bought Charter CHTR on the spreads as it headed to the bottom of its quite clearly defined range and got £20 at 471. Very pleased with it so far but this time unless it goes straight through, I hope to take profits in the 550 area. Target 555 stop 450.

North Midland was never going to be a great buy and I'm out at 155 (not bad as the published sell price is 140) for a profit of £50. As sod's law has it it's gone up 5p since I sold and will probably soar on Monday!

Well, the portfolio is still packed full of winners and I remain delighted but confused on the profit-taking. I almost wish the market would tank to make the decision easier.

Anyway Heritage remains the biggest winner, more than doubled on the first lot and the other positions look good too. It's stalling just before the 400 area which isn't surprising but still hoping for a fiver. If it can crack 400, that would look bullish and hoping for a bid at 500 or more.

Alterian remains on the march upwards - interesting to see whether it can crack 100 and good profits building here. Profits in Scott Wilson good too and it's found support at 70.

WSH Group looks good and strong - 250 support there now, if it can crack the 300 I wouldn't be surprised to see it get up to the 350 area. Good company and very good profits for me there.

My bid target favourite stock Microgen is quietly but surely heading back upwards. It's the quiet little risers than often end up producing the best profits.

Chime's still ringing the bell on profits, can it get above 100 though? Workspace remains in good profit but still a seller around. Morse produced a pretty horrible statement today and I was about to sell but it's been going steadily up all day, so I'm a bit bemused.

Huge profits now in New Brit Palm Oil, as prices climb looks like it could get past 400. Dragon, Petrofac, also great profits.

Goodness me I've nearly trebled my money on Barclays! Quite amazing and something I never expected.

So all in all remain delighted with the huge profits sitting there. However they are all only "on paper" and maybe I continue to be crazy not to press the take profits button.

I do rather suspect once I press one take profits button I'll probably sell most of them, bank and have a nice summer with my money already made for the year. Then again I do love trading so I guess I'll always have something on the go!

Wednesday 22nd April

Markets

  There's nothing worse than massive volatilty.. because it makes it difficult to decide whether to sell up or keep holding. After all there's nothing worse than selling up then the moment you sold the stocks go back up. Happened to me a number of times and it's really irritating.

So right now it remains quite hard to decide whether to bank recent profits or expect more rises and I still remain confused as to whether I should be taking them. Fear and greed, fear and greed! On balance I mainly stay a holder.

I regretted taking half profits in Alterian (ALN) pretty much as I pressed the button! It began to rise again so I bought back the sold shares at a higher price getting 3,000 at 83. Target 100 stop 70p. I liked the way it showed strength while the main market fell back.

Heritage Oil (HOIL) has been brilliant so far. I've now doubled on the first buy and well up on the other two. With its various announcements, good oil finds and a decent bid play, I think 500 is a likely target and so I bought even more, this time via a spreadbet for £15 at 368. Target 500 stop 330. So my idea is hopefully to sell the whole lot at 500 for a profit of over £10,000. Time will tell!

Goodness, my short in Wetherspoon (betting on it to go down) hit the target of 400 in just a couple of days! I gratefully took the profits - couldn't quite get the exact target price of 400, missed that, but 401.7 will do nicely to bank a profit of £513 just now.

I could have taken a massive profit in Charter at 555 but sadly I didn't! It tumbled along with other 250 stocks and I stupidly didn't get out till 509, banking just £140 instead of £800 or so that it could have been. Looking to buy back. I took profits of £486 in Fenner selling some at 59. It's just dipped a bit more and thinking about buying back shortly. And I also took half profits on the spreadbet (keeping some) at 58 for a profit of £343. (So keeping some and looking to buyback).

Most of the portfolio continues to shine brightly which given the poor performance of the market this week I'm very happy about.

Recent buys Chime and Galiform have gone very nicely especially Galiform up more than 20%.

The Times had a piece today about Galiform it saying Travis Perkins is considering a bid and the BT Pension fund has stopped selling shares, removing an overhang and its broker found buyers for 80 million shares, twice the amount it was offering.

Gamble Workspace continues to do well up nearly 20%. Once the seller is out of the way I hope for a big rise. Still doubled on Unite which seems to find support on the dips though perhaps I should have got out at 116!. Scott Wilson went to 80 and dipped back to 70, still as a buyer at 50 I'm content to wait.

Barclays is such a crazy share.. up and down massive amounts every day. Having bought at 88 I guess I don't mind too much and happy to hold given I've doubled and more.

Microgen produced a pretty decent steady statement today which convinces me to hold for longer. My feeling continues to be that it looks like a takeover candidate and that's one of my main reasons for holding.

New Brit has stormed higher, up nearly 100 pts on my original buy which is nice.

SDL, Dragon, and many others also show major gains. Nothing on a yellow card even at the moment. XP Power is quietly going nicely higher for me.

Despite all the good news I have to think about being cautious and wonder whether to bag more profits. The markets feel on a bit of a knife edge and could easily go either way - I am no good at prediction but if it tumbles I suspect I'll be banking some of the profits.

Wednesday 15th April

Markets

  Well wow! is all I can say about the last week. I have at least 6 doublers (3-4 in the isa and a couple outside).

I'm looking at some portfolios with +122%, +102% and +140% in them, Which is lovely.

One problem though: the moment you feel excited about big gains is almost certainly the time to bank the gains before everyone else does.

Or another way of putting it: the more you brag to friends, relations etc about how well you're doing.. well that is usually a great take profits signal!

The small FTSE100 gains don't tell the overall picture which is so many shares are soaring or have soared and I'm sure many of you like me are sitting on large profits and wondering whether to take them.

But they keep on going up so I am either being an angel or being a fool for holding out for more for now.

Onto trades. I actually haven't been doing that much - no need to! However..

I bought Scott Wilson (SWG) - an old friend that made me decent profits in the bull market. The shares have fallen off a cliff since then but I kept them on the back burner. I thought they were oversold and was waiting for a buy sign.

I noticed quite a few trades coming through and a rising price so bought 3,500 at 50.9 plus a further 4,000 at the same price. That proved a rather good move as they have rocketed since on an encouraging contract win. In fact I think I have a chance of doubling my money on them so target price is 100 with the stop at 45.

I topped up with more shares in New Brit Palm Oil (NBPO) getting a further 650 shares at 315.9p. I'm already in huge profit on the last lot bought at 269 but as usual like to top up on the winners and this one is steadily being re-rated as palm oil prices rise. Target 400 stop 295.

I wasn't sure whether to tell you about this trade as it's a complete gamble but it is very liquid and has a full listing so what the hell.

I bought some Workspace (WKP) 20,000 just a few minutes ago at 13.21. I'm also already in from a couple of weeks ago at 11.5ish. It definitely does NOT come under my usual buying criteria.

But I was thinking the office rental sector might just be the next recovery story and I'm hoping to get in before it (if it does) hits the headlines. I guess I'm looking for a double or bust here. Entertainment only trade! And please don't mail me to tell me I'm breaking my own rules, I do realise. It's a punt, I don't do many of them. Target 25 stop 10.

Oh I had one or two mails about spreadbets. I do apologise but I haven't been putting them up which is a shame as I'm up a tremendous amount. I will try and put up the ones I already mentioned. It's just tiredness on my part - sorry! I will try and start to include them again. Just been busy. I have got a lively toddler!

Well, where to begin? Glad I held onto Unite because I've now more than doubled my money there (bought at 50p now at 115p) and all taxfree in the ISA. And even so, I'm still holding on as greedily I'm now wondering whether I can treble my money here. It looks strong and every time it dips it seems to attract buyers. Profit currently well over £3,000.

I've also doubled my money on Barclays but again this is so strong I wonder again whether I will end up trebling on it so I'm going to hold for longer. Again profit around the £3,000 mark here. RBS up over 50% there too.

Huge gains on even the more recent buys. Profits already of more than £1,500 on Alterian which appears to be pausing for breath. Fenner has already leapt 20% since my buy.

WSP Group has gone up 30% quicktime since I bought again last week. Petrofac's up 130pts. Heritage remains much higher with a near double on the first buy.

Microgen's up 15%, Hunting has soared 15%. Even little gamble Aminex is doing the business with a 25% increase.

SDL has repaid patience with a very decent rise indeed and Dragon Oil, up more than 100 pts on both buys there. Carclo is quietly rising every day.

I can hardly believe I'm not banking some of these gains. I may well rue the day. But I've always been one for letting profits run and for right now that's what I'm doing. However I suspect my profit taking isn't too far away and I may simply end up taking half profits on everything and letting the rest run for free.

Wednesday 8th April

Markets

  Well, it's all very well having a bunch of shares with a paper profit, the real puzzle is, when should the profit be taken and it is a real puzzle this time.

Of course it all depends where the market is going. People are closing before the holidays and who can blame them? But what if the market starts on the up again after the holidays? Would be just be better to hold on? If only I knew the answers and I don't!

So usually I'm quite decisive but I'm not feeling at all decisive, must be that pesky fear and greed thing taking hold. However in the main I think to myself: Whatya worrying about? You're just deciding whether to take profits, so what if you lose a few of them?

I know this sounds silly but I reckon it's more stressful sitting on big profits than on losses. With losses, it hits the stop, you sigh and get out but it's done. With good profits, it's.. just harder to take them. I decided I'm great at taking losses but rubbish at banking profits! Having said that though some of my best gains have been made by being brave enough to keep on holding for longer so could be it's the right move. I have often regretting taking profits too early in the past.

Anyway I'll stop bleating (this site is great therapy for me and saves me £50 a week I would have to spend with a counsellor) and get on with some trades.

I bought Alterian (ALN) on Friday as it was rising strongly, with good buying volume ahead of a statement today. Of course I might have guessed it would fall today on the statement even though it was decent as that's what happens in the markets these days. Despite this morning's fall it's still higher than when I bought it so I'll stay with it especially as there seems to be nearly as many buying in on the statement as there are profit takers. I got 5,000 at 59.9 and 4,000 at 60. Target 85 stop 53. I've bought with a medium-term view.

I bought some XP Power (XPP) sadly a bit higher than it was a few days ago so I missed quite a few pence of a rise already but I still think there is more there and I got 1,500 at 164.85p Target 200 stop 145.

It's got good markets, debt is within my perameters and it's also a company I always thought had the chance of being bought up. Longer-term view here and it currently hasn't moved at all since the buy.

I've bought back into Fenner (FENR) - it looks a bit risky given recent statements but having said that it's now got a very low rating - more of a quick gamble possibly than anything else but I'll see and collected 4,000 shares in a couple of lots for an average of 46.85. Target 56 stop 43. Looking for a quick bounce.

WSH Group (WSP) saw an almighty tree-shake that pushed it back down to my original buy so I topped up with a spreadbet of £20 a point at 229. It'll probably continue volatile but the uptrend is there and I'm looking for about 300p, possibly more.

I sold Lancashire out of sheer boredom of non movement at 476.26 for a profit of £104. It never really looked like being a winner though did hit 500 at one point (hindsight's a great thing).

Elsewhere the whole portfolio is packed with big profits and as I said, that makes me nervous. So why don't I take them? You know what? I'm just undecided! I suppose I think if the markets turn back up after Easter there is more to come. Maybe I should take half profits on some of them.

I've nearly doubled on Unite and itching to take the profit there except the order book looks strong still on the buy side and if it could push through 100, there could be more in the (students) locker. Sits in the early 90s with strong support at 90 and resistance at 95. Any push through 95 could be significant for further gains.

Heritage - that one too I've nearly doubled on the original buy - but then again it looks like a bid target.. a good price for a disposal achieved today. Any break through 350 will look even more bullish.

Aveva soared higher but was brought down to earth by 50p today by nothing more than a broker comment! Amazing what power they have to move a market. Trading statement soon so hopeful.

New Brit has been going very nicely and some good gains showing now. Some big buying coming in today so it looks exciting.

My housebuilder play Persimmon also a nice 70pts or so higher than my buying price. Only one real yellow card right now which is Mears, typically I thought was defensive. However its reports were good so give it some more room. I don't want to brandish the red card unless I really have to.

Morse remains in play as a bid, nicely higher than the buy in there and with the papers saying a 15p bid was rejected I'm hoping for around 18p.

Fantastic profits from the two banks - but really honestly I have no idea how to play them (never have with banks) and they move crazy amounts on any comment. Maybe I should have taken profits already. Nearly doubled on Barclays!

Dragon Oil is nearly 100 pts higher than the recent buy. So yet again great paper profits but they are not banked! Microgen keeps nearly all of its recent gains which is pretty good news as I expected a few profit takers. It's one of those that stays calm and then suddenly and hopefully moves up again!

SDL now in a really good profit more than 50p higher now and it looks like it's trying to get above current resistance around 325. My 350 target is coming into view.

Still not had the 215p cash for the Dmatek bid that made me over £5,000 - hopefully it will arrive in my account in the next week or so!

An good report from Carclo this week, just getting into profit now - an overlooked company but the statement saw some buyers and it's gradually moving higher. I've seem it jump 20p in a day before now so I'm hoping!

So to sum up: giant gains sit there. Market is still near a low. For right now holding on but it probably wouldn't take much to make me hit the take profits button which maybe I should have hit aleady!.

Friday 3rd April

Markets

  Well, just as I wondered last time whether I was running my luck too much and should be taking profits, the portfolio has taken off once again! Even better as I spent yesterday afternoon getting sloshed in a restaurant! I decided not to go crazy and do much more buying but relax with what I have!

And today seems even better than yesterday for my shares even though the FTSE is actually down 70 as I write this. It's bizarre having so many shares going up today with the FTSE down so much.

So another buy off the shortlist! This time WSP group (WSH) where I got 1,000 at 224.9p. Target 300 stop 200. It's in a really good sector and another one with a good balance sheet. Plenty of big buyers have been coming in here too which gives me some confidence though the share price can be surprisingly volatile..


Up 15% today - looks like that's because of a whopping buy of 300,000 that went in! I suspect it must be an institution picking up what I hope they too believe are very cheap shares. Brings my initial 60p target into view but as I said if it keeps going I'll keep this longer-term. I even got the dividend! Hope it shows what difference real research makes.

New Brit has soared over 300 after an obvious treeshake. If it can hold above 300 then 350 looks the next likely target! Good profits building there.

I've had a near 70% rise in Unite. Funds have been buying in, pushing up the price - it is so far off its NAV that they should be up to at least 100p. Worries over debt way overdone.

A huge rise for me too in both oilers Heritage and Dragon Oil.. nearly 100 points up now on Dragon and more than 150 points on Heritage. Magic! Picking up Dragon on the "investigation" news has proved very profitable indeed!

Loads of other big gains too: Hunting stock has also raced up to 430 and beyond fast nailing me some good profits. Those of you who came will remember I also bought a spreadbet on it live!

SDL has at least rewarded my patience with a massive rise today and looks like at last it is clear of 300!! Petrofac is sailing merrily up to 300p.

Bid possible Morse is in good profit too about a penny below where the papers were suggesting a bid offer had been rejected. Persimmon has bounced higher.

Barclays has amazingly flown even higher which means I've doubled my money on my purchase - if you told me two years ago I could double my money on Barclays I would have laughed! And of course the RBS move today sees that bank buy up 50% plus.

Recent buy Aveva has also stormed away, up nearly 100 points on that already. More to come I think - the balance sheet is good.

So I could hardly be happier with the mammoth gains of the last two weeks and glad I had the courage to get buying near the lows remembering the oft quoted: Buy when everyone else is selling. Although I think that quote probably only makes sense at somewhere near the bottom.

My only problem is now when to bank some of the profit? Thing is, if we have seen the bottom of the market all these shares will go a lot higher still. So for right now I will have the courage (or stupidity) to hold on for more. Or call it greed if you want.

In any event I'd now be struggling to make a loss on any of them. Still the market does try and bite you just as everything is going well so I intend to stay vigialant. The last thing to do with big gains in a portfolio is to become smug or complacent about it. Because a profit isn't a profit till banked.

Wednesday 1st April

Markets

 Well, it's been a very good week indeed especially given the markets haven't really moved that much, sidewaysish with big upmoves cancelled out by the downmoves. Remains a fascinating time. Crazy volatile today as the markets try and work out whether G20 is a good thing or not. Up then down, up then down, go figure.

Right, it's been a while so a few trades to report!

Out of my current shortlist, I bought 10,000 Microgen (MCGN) at 45.6. Target 60 stop 37.

An interesting share I think - very strong balance sheet with plenty of cash, profits are up and forward statement encouraging. I even picked up the dividend as it went ex dividend today and didn't go down, another good sign. I also do wonder whether this would make a good fit for a larger company so I've bought with a medium-term outlook, possibly long-term if the current strong uptrend continues.

Second most voted for from the shortlist was Hunting (HTG) and I bought some live on the day as a spreadbet as my broker let me down live - but on Monday I did get some in the market picking up 500 at 389.6. Target 450 stop 370. Although Hunting is in a short-term downtrend it looks a cracking company and I reckon if that downtrend reverses it'll happen bigstyle. Fairly short-term view on it but possibly longer-term if a bull market kicks in.

Another on the shortlist that didn't get any votes was an old favourite of mine Aveva (AVV) - not to be confused with insurer Aviva! Made a lot on this during the bull market.

Looked like a good entry point on Monday again so I bought 400 shares at 537.4 - again a great-looking balance sheet, it looks really oversold to me - its markets seem to be resilient so far in the teeth of the recession. Target 650 stop 495. It's made some good gains already this week and especially today. I've also had a decent spreadbet on it too.
Elsewhere it's all pretty good with some massive gains across the board.

Great gains continue from Heritage which looks like it's going to try and have a bash at 350 resistance. Press speculation was a bid here at 500p but again it's all speculation but I hope there is some truth in it.

Little gamble Aminex is doing ok after "steady as we go" results. Could perhaps be snapped up. Petrofac goes very well. Dragon has been breathing fire as it tries to tackle 200p.

Morse has been looking strong with a 25% gain now - some talk in the press about a 15p bid offer being rebuffed though there has been no statement from the company so I guess it's just gossip in the press - there was also talk in the papers that 18p was what was required! I hope so and remain hopeful of a bid. If there isn't one then I think it's still worth my buyin price anyway!

Recent buy New Brit Palm Oil has gone very well and has just pushed over 300 - whole numbers always prove resistance.. but if it can push past there's every chance of 350 for me... looks good.

Lancashire has started moving up at last - interestingly my broker refunded me the stamp duty I paid on buying it - apparently it is not subject to stamp duty, no idea why!

So, extremely happy with the portfolio where pretty much everything is in profit, some in very big profit.

The only thing is a profit ain't a profit till it's banked. I haven't quite worked out whether I'm simply being too greedy in holding for more or whether I should bank gains and just take the rest of April off!

Wednesday 25th March

Markets

 Good and bad news. Bad news is there is no update on Friday. The good news is that I've had a brilliant last couple of weeks it's been with any number of excellent gains. The only problem I face is - do I start banking the profits or is there more coming?

I've gone back into New Brit Palm oil (NBPO). China and India are stepping up imports and the price is on the up. I bought 1,000 shares at 269.6 as it dipped lower this lunchtime. Obviously it's a play on the price rising and near doubled my money before on this and actually still have a few in my ISA from the 170s.....

I took profits in Wellstream at 472.35 this afternoon to bank a profit of £1,070. I wasn't completely sure as I was really looking for 500 and it could easily whizz up there in a blink but there seemed to be a few sellers around at 480 on the order book and it was such a good rise today I thought I'd take advantage. Could be a mistake because as I write I could now be selling at 478!! Well anyway those last two losses retrieved and a profit banked!

I also sold some of my holdings in Vislink selling this morning at 22.59 after results. For the website we'll close out completely and profits banked are £469. It looks like a company in turnaround and the price looks rock bottom and there doesn't look like much downside for a bit - but it's unclear how long it could take so for now, it seems sensible to bank part of the profit. If directors buy I might add some more.

It's the end of the road for my brilliant bid target share Dmatek which gets delisted on Monday and I pick up 215p in cash which is rather nice as I bought at 120p!

So it's time to claim the goodies for the website.. so the profit is as follows from the three buys:

£1,900, £1,425 and £730 for a grand total profit of £4,055.. and a lot more for me personally as I owned a few more than than website holding!

So farewell Dmatek, traded nicely a few times and a very happy ending to the story.

There's nothing quite as magical as owning a share that's bid for, it's a great feeling and I hope to pick up another one or two bid targets this year!! Au revoir and thanks for the cash which will hopefully arrive shortly.

So that's total profits banked for the site today of £5,594.

Plenty of big profits piling up in the recent buys with the biggest winner Heritage with profits soaring up and over £3,000 there. A lovely run up here and there seems to be a lot of bid speculation in the press. I only hope there is some truth in some of the stories as 500p has been mentioned in these stories as a possible takeout price.

That doesn't seem too fanciful though you do have to treat press speculation with a pinch of salt. The real driver of the price though away from these speculative stories is its oil finds in Kurdistan (a good announcement today) - it's now testing its exploration well but has already seen good quality oil there. If this find turns out to be large, there'll be a lot more to come here.

Dragon has confirmed its "Investigation" won't affect its financial results - simply looks like one or two people were giving bung here and there. Results due now this week, good profits (at the moment!)

Barclays reached my 130p target and I was about to bank the profit but decided to go and get a Starbucks. When I got back it was back at 120! So I'm staying with it - profits still excellent as with my other bank share RBS.

Of course being involved with bank shares right now is a gamble because you never know what might come up next. Maybe it'll climb over 130 again and the trip to Starbucks ends up giving me better profits!

Sdl keeps tantalising and I thought the 300 breach looked promising but it's fallen just below again and needs a bit of a kick! Little oil gamble Aminex in profit but results are due any time and prepared to take a bath on it and as I said, strictly entertainment only.

Petrofac continues its brilliant strength and great profits there which I hope will become even greater with patience. North Midland Construction raced up 20% yesterday.

So in general with paper losses light and paper profits big, I'm very happy.

It's certainly going to be interesting to see where we go from here and whether all the money politicians are throwing at economic woes are going to work or not.

And also, is it possible we are somewhere near the bottom of the market. The jury remains out but let's hope so!.

Wednesday 11th March

Markets

  Goodness me, roller coaster might be a cliche but it certainly sums up the last few days. Given the renovations at home I was less active than I might have been which actually probably proved beneficial! A massive rise yesterday but can it be sustained or is it a one hit wonder?

After taking losses initially on Wellstream (WSM) I bought back at just over 400 and managed to take 10% as it went back to 450. However I won't claim credit for this as it was between updates.

But I did buy a further lot after they tumbled again which I still have, 1,000 shares at 365.4. Target 440 stop 340. With its volatility my previous mistake was to not to treat it as a more short-term trade. So this is what this will probably be!

Good results from long-termer Mears (MER) yesterday and for about 3 hours as often happens on results day they went down so I picked up some more to add to the other 2 positions getting a further 1,000 at 231.25p as it rose to add to the other 2 positions - though missed out on 220 on offer a few mins previously.

Unite (UTG) produced results not as bad as expected and I've gone back in there for a quick buck, I hope, purchasing 5,000 at 51.23. Target 70 stop 45. Again I was a bit rubbish on the price as again I was a bit late on this actually missing ten points but better late than never (maybe).

Finally for buys I just had to top up in my old mate Petrofac (PFC) after results - already in here at well under 400p with a good profit and it was a bit odd having to pay a lot more but I think worth it. So added another 1,000 at 452p after results. Target 550 stop 420. Great balance sheet and looks the strongest of the oil services. Made so much on this one over the last few years and got to be one of my favourites. As I write it's already toying with 500p and if it can break up through there my target is gettable.

Well, what can I say about the Yell short that I put recently except what a winner!!

It went all the way down to 14p at one point yesterday but I greedily waited a bit longer before closing... then it started to firm and rise and on the basis that really, let's face it, there are hardly any points left to be claimed on the downside anyway it was time to close out and take the profit.

So closed it was at 16p for a giant profit of £2,250 for the website and nearly £5,000 for me personally as I had another similar short open. Very pleased with that.

Elsewhere not bad though nothing outstanding either. Been debating with myself whether to take profits in some of the bigger winners on paper such as SDL and Heritage but just about sticking in there!

I should probably have closed the ETF FTSE short but well, I guess the profit is still good and it's a nice hedge.

The question really is, are the big rises in the market this week the start of a new bull run, or just a dead cat bounce?

Well, I don't know, forecasting isn't my game. The rally does appear to have some legs at the moment but maybe it's not quite time to get too excited yet.

But... there does appear to be a glimmer of hope we could be somewhere near the market bottom - which would be just great for us all. Then again there is a lot of fear out there and things could worsen again.

Place your bets please, ladies and gentlemen...

Wednesday 4th March

Markets

  My amazing Naked Trader Suck It And Cee (SIAC) (tm) (c) Amazing always gets it right super stock market system (yours for just £5,000 plus vat, then £4,000 per year plus 25 Twirls) has just flashed a buy signal.

The signal came from the gym changing room this morning when the gym instructor forecast to a punter that the stock market was going to go into meltdown and would not start rising again till 2011.

Under my system, the opposite of what most people think will almost certainly happen and therefore things are almost certainly about to get better. Always works. Just remember this when the market's back up at 5000!

Ps, if you'd like to buy my system do let me know. Guaranteed no money back promise!

Kind of seriously though, just as it's time to sell when all and sundry are buying and full of optimism, the time to buy is when it's all doom and gloom and the last person has sold.

Anyway what a ride! Markets fell off sharply this week but are rebounding this morning. Apparently a bit of good news emerging from China, things maybe not as bad as feared.

I managed to get some spreadbet FTSE shorts on on Monday but took profits late yesterday - given they were done between updates I'm not going to take credit for them though I was happy with them. I tend to keep FTSE shorts very short-term only now - given we are so low I could easily get caught out by a massive bounce. However happy to keep hold of the ETF short in the ISA.

Things are sliding to such a low point I don't think we can be too far off the bottom and I remain very excited about the latter part of this year where I think there is a lot of money to be made.

Obviously trying to make money investing in the current climate is very difficult unless you're very good at quick in and out short-term trades which isn't my forte.. mainly due to the fact I don't want to be tied to a desk all day. (Unless the Mrs really decides she wants to get into that sort of thing).

While I've been tempted to wade in and buy I already bought a few things on a downday recently so in fear of a dead cat bounce I'm more in a watch, wait and be patient mode.

A real mixed bag from my recent trading attempts. Some good, some bad, but luckily nothing really ugly. And the good pretty much outweighs the bad.

I'm especially pleased with Persimmon - it's gone nicely higher after saying it doesn't need a rights issue which means it seems fairly confident it can see itself through the current downturn. Good profits there now, tempted to take but it seems strong and there may be a bit more to come. Bit of profit taking there today but wondering whether to hold it a bit more for a possible ride up further to 400ish.

Not so pleased with Wellstream which I traded poorly. I should have taken some nice profits at 520, indeed had several chances. As always it's tempting to think (and it probably will) get there again. But I prefer to take a loss and get back in later rather than holding on. So I exited at 455 and 422 for an overall loss of £629. There'll be a new buying opportunity there any moment I would think and eyeing up a reentry right now as it could bounce nicely off the current 400 level. My finger is poised over the Wellstream buy button as I think a reentry at around 400ish could prove profitable.

My idea of swing trading Elementis didn't work out and I quit quickly as it started to sink and got out at 32.53 for a £14 profit.

After initial disappointment with Lancashire it really has taken off and could become very exciting indeed - now very happy with the profit there - it looks like it may get through 500. it keeps banging up against it. A mixed feeling here though because I'd like to buy when it steps up to the main market in a couple of weeks so I guess I kinda hope it doesn't fly up because obviously I've not been able to put any in my ISA.

I'm starting to feel re-Morse over Morse which I'm going to have to ditch if it heads much lower - looks like a fund or something exiting - when it's done it could head up as I also see some good buyers in there too.

The recent SDL buys are very pleasing as it now tries to get over 300. Of course it's tempting to bag the very nice profit but if it could top 300 then there could be further upside so giving it the benefit of the doubt.

Serco is slightly lower than my entry point but it also went ex dividend so I do get the dividend and I think it'll end up in profit overall.

Heritage remains exciting - a big profit sits on paper there.. exciting because it I think there is a good chance of a takeover. 250 remains resistance for the minute.

I so nearly took the brilliant profit of nearly £3,000 in my Yell shorts - it sits at 20 where there seems to be support. But it could easily go to 15 or even less but I'm going to let greed take over.

The FTSE 100 short via the ETF of course is coining it in now, up nearly 200 points on that and it's been a very useful profit maker and it feels much easier to hang onto a nice hedge than a spreadbet does.

Tribal remains very solid - this looks like a medium-term defensive winner, a good profit already for trade 1 and trade 2 is already on breakeven. It's the kind of share that sits nice and quietly, not going down on the bad days and then suddenly leaping. Another good contract win could see further good gains for me.

It's starting to be a long wait to get the cash from bid result Dmatek. I guess I could sell and take the profitsnow at 203 but I think it's worth waiting for the full 215 payout and near £5,000 profit. I hope it won't be too long but I do remember waiting three months last year for the payout from MTL Instruments.

For right now despite today's market rise I think it's best to be cautious. I don't tend to worry much about "missing" trades on updays. There's always another share another day and for now I still have lots of cash and happy to stay patient.

Friday 27th February

Markets

  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!

Wednesday 25th February

Markets

  A pretty decent few days for me especially given the poor state of the markets.

Generally the markets have sunk a bit... but is there a glimmer of support now coming in at around the 3800 level? Hard to say and it's easily possible there could be a lot more downside before we see a bottom formed. Interesting times though and I get the feeling anyone starting to tuck away a few companies with a view of 1-2 years could strike! However I'm still more in the mood for cash and keeping things a bit safe during this tricky period.

SDL hit the stop and was sold at 271 for a loss of £215. It then retreated further after results yesterday which I thought were actually pretty good and I decided on those to buy back in and picked up a new batch, 1,000 shares at 258.4. Target 295 stop 240. A nice-looking balance sheet and no idea what sparked the selling - I reckon there is some upside there and I'll get that money back! It's rising nicely today.

I deliberately came out of my previous little trading stock Elementis (ELM) before results for that good profit and I've enjoyed trading it from 40-50 ish - results weren't great but not disastrous either and I have a cunning plan and now hope to short-term trade it from early 30s to late 30s for a bit. Well that's the plan and I started the ball rolling with a cautious 5,000 at 32.25. Target 40 stop 29. Let's see.

A difficult one but I took the profits in Eaga at 136.75 - that makes a very nice profit taken of £797.

I'm not really so sure I should have sold especially as they are higher as I write!

But anyway it's a profit banked and a good one too. If they go up some more then I was a silly billy for taking profits now. Let's hope all in all, I wan't too Eaga to bank £797! I sold small gamble Dialight at 114.75 for a profit of £85. I sold because it was coming back and the previous buyers on the book shown on level 2 seem to have gone. However, results are near and if I see any good buyers coming in on level 2 I might re-buy and try my luck as it could still be a good winner.

All profits and losses totted up gives a profit for the site today of £667.

I'm very pleased with my last buy Lancashire - LRE - which has already gone from my buy price in the late 460s all the way to 500! That looks very bullish. If it can conquer 500 then my 550 target will begin to look doable. Anyway a great start to that trade. 500 of course is likely to prove a barrier.

Fantastic news from Tribal Group today which go preferred bidder status for a £75m Ofsted contract. That pushed the shares up and over 100p and this now looks a terrific medium-term hold. The company also said 40% of orders for the year were in already. Excellent stuff from an overlooked company. Glad to be in and now in good profit and looks like some decent upside still ahead.

Heritage looks very interesting with some big buyers coming in and it's trying to push over 250. Kinda glad I never sold and potential 300 on the cards here now. Still a decent bid target.

Senior is dodging around stop levels and I only just stayed with it and probably only as it's a small amount. Results due shortly so need to decide whether to exit or wait for them.Wellstream continues to be crazy volatile - the original purchase stays in profit with the top up at a loss. It's a tricky one for sure as tiny orders push it this way or that.

Nearly 100 points profit now for the FTSE 100 short I did re the ETF which remains a nice little hedge for the ISAs.

Some interesting buying coming into Celsis. The spread is annoying but in profit and looks like something up there.

The Yell short is doing brilliantly - it hit 20 giving me huge profits which I nearly took.. back up to 22 now but my instinct tells me there could be worse (or better for me) to come.

News has just come in that shareholders 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!

Markets remain difficult and volatile. What happens next? Not got a clue. Ask a forecaster and assume the opposite will happen!.

Friday 13th February

Markets

  Blimey, an excellent week and in particular a rather good day today with many shares doing very well. I haven't traded as much as usual because I've been unwell but maybe that's a good thing - I think one of my weaknesses is over trading.

As I said when I sold Elementis (ELM) for a nice £1,000 plus profit earlier this week I was looking to buy in again if it got back to around the 40p level.

So I was very pleased indeed when it obliged yesterday and using level 2 got in pretty much on the turn and grabbed 10,000 shares at 41.74p - looking ahead for the bounce up to the 50p area. It's vaguely possible I'd hold on for more this time but 50p is about what I'm looking for to get a quick profit again! It's already heading up past 45p as I write so looks like I could pull it off again!

Celsis reported a mixed bag with some good and some not so good bits. It was all a bit confusing but on balance I thought best to nab the profit - tried to get 167 on offer but couldn't get that online and ended up talking 164.36 for a profit of £74. So then I saw it begin to climb and, well, er I bought back in.. this time 2,000 at 164.8. Target 190 stop 148.

Elsewhere a very decent couple of days indeed.

Heritage gets star billing as it hit the target of 250 making me a profit of well over £1,500. I'm just debating on whether to take it as a break through 250 would be very bullish for a move up to 280.

Dialight has been creeping up very nicely indeed this week and has climbed over 120 - that little breakup makes me feel 150 becomes a distinct possibility for me..

Telecom Plus has been rising this week and it's looking to break up through 350 - if it can do it 400 looks on the radar. The main market-maker in it appears to be moving upwards. Maybe we're going to see a decent trading statement next week.

Wellstream continues to be crazy volatile but both positions in profit now so nervously holding.

Petrofac has turned into a big winner with a near 100 point rise, very nice.

Eaga begins to look very exciting indeed as it seems to be in the process of breaking up through 150 and for right now glad I haven't yet taken the big profits available.

Disappointments remain with Chime (how can it not be worth more) and Senior (ditto). The Yell short is just about intact!! Looks like a done deal now for bid Dmatek and shall be glad to collect an excellent profit of £3,500 plus at the 215p bid price.

I wonder what'll happen next week? Someone ask an expert! Well, whatever, pretty pleased with current plays but as I am all to aware when one feels pleased, one is asking for a kick in the balls from the market. I hope to take profits before said kick materialises.

Wednesday 11th February

Markets

  Been rather quiet, probably mainly because of feeling sick and being in bed a lot. That doesn't exactly make me feel like trading and as the portfolio is going well I prefer to be in bed getting better!

However I went with a little gamble off my shortlist and picked up 2,000 Dialight (DIA) at 110.5. Target 140 stop 95.

Lost a few quid on this a couple of years ago but it intrigues me - it seems to be in the right business - LED lighting - but I just don't know whether it's got the right product. However there seems to be a consistent would-be buyer in the order book in the low 100s and there seems to be some buying from time to time in the background. So a little "Punt" I guess is the best you could call it as it's quite risky and they could easily issue a warning - but for small stakes could be interesting for me.

Those of you might remember that I shorted Yell because I came across it on the day and its debt looks a knockout. I kept the short I added on the day and added a few more this week, for £75 a point at around 46. So this time I'll add that to the site and see how it goes. Target 30 stop 52. I can't see what might push this up or why anyone would want to make a bid. The only thing is it looks a bit of a low price to short something at which I guess is the possible downside! I think I'll exit pretty fast if there is a big upmove.

The markets feel a bit sulky and aren't sure after a couple of good weeks whether they've been silly or not and a lot seems to hinge on the progress Obama makes in the US with his save the day packages. It's possible that the volatile times might be on the way back and a big swing downwards again has to be a possibility. However, markets also seem to recover well after falls. So don't ask me!

So, as I'm not really sure one way or another so I'll stick to having some cash on the sidelines still but maintain the stocks already in there doing well.

Looks like there won't be any counter bid for my bid target share Dmatek where I shall be voting for the takeover at 215p. Considering I bought at 120 I'm perfectly happy with that!

Breaking even but disappointing so far are Chime, Carclo and Senior. There seems to be a large unloader of Senior shares at 30p which is worrying. I'll give it a little more time but getting impatient! The mm's are taking the proverbial with a wide spread in Carclo.

Signs that Tribal might just be ready for a push through 100, it's nearly there and a clean break through and I'd be hopeful of a decent return. Wellstream's been a nutter. Looks like a lot of daytraders in it causing all kinds of massive spikes up and down. Just about keeping the faith but a wary eye is upon it. I wouldn't be surprised to see it this week at either 450 or 550!

Nice rise from Dragon over the past few days in advance of a decent update. A few profit-takers came in but my feeling is there is plenty of support here and I'll hold on for more gains.

Got a nice profit on Heritage now and it's broken through that tricky 212-215 area so again hopeful of an even bigger gain there - could be a nice rise to 250 where I would probably happy to bank excellent profit!

Also good profit from Petrofac though it appears to be running out of steam a little - however it also appears to have good support too. So another one I think worth holding onto.

My RBS trade looks good with a very decent profit - been considering taken it but on balance sticking in there.

And Eaga - still can't smash through the 150 and getting more and more tempted to bank the excellent profit built up there.

Friday 06th February

Markets

  I thought I'd made a giant mistake making a few buys and ditching most of the shorts earlier this week but at the moment anyway it seems a good move. Some giant profits building up now - which is all well and good but the question is when should I take some? Well, I had to take one or two and here are those:

I banked a lovely profit in Elementis today selling at 50.25 for a profit of £1,025. It had reached and passed the target. It was a tricky decision because there was a chance it could zip up another 10p - but I notice it tends to struggle around whole numbers so hope it will head back to the low 40s for another go! If it steams up some more, then so be it, the profit is banked!

I also took profits in the Whitbread short exiting at 800 for a profit of £225. I think it could be a good short again so now hoping for a rise up to 850 when I would like to short it again.

And I also banked the profits in Unite today at 68p for a profit of £378. My reason was they went above 70 and looked good yesterday but became weak today and with sellers coming in and the fact they can move fast I did a scaredy cat thing and banked!

That's total profits banked for the site of £1,628.

Wow! Recent buy Wellstream (WSM) has really come up trumps. I couldn't resist as it passed the crucial 500p mark and topped up with a further 1,000 shares at 500.9. Target 600 stop 480.

I bought some Carclo (Car) - 5,000 at 64.5p. An interesting little one which could come good. Target 90 stop 50. The trading statement was confident, debt looks ok and there is quite a lot of cash coming through. I felt it worth a little tinkle! It's rising today with some decent buying still coming in off the back of the good statement. A possible big riser for me I think if the market can remain strong.

Elsewhere it's looking good on the whole with some huge winners for me!

Wellstream mentioned earlier is streaming up.

The buy of RBS looks lovely now with a decent 50% plus gain already. Heritage nicely higher though vaguely considering taking profits there as it struggles in the 213 area.

Celsis has put on a few pence and Petrofac has put on nearly 100p since I bought the other day, very happy with that indeed!

SDL and Tribal both just in profit but can't seem to kick higher for now. Still hopeful for both. Watching Eaga carefully as a big profit there - if it can hold above 150 I'll stay in for more. Unite's profit is nice but I need to be careful not to let that slip away as it can move fast.

Vislink begins to motor upwards and Dragon Oil rewards some patience with a now very nice rise. Telecom Plus is trying to bust through 335 resistance and a decent trading statement any day now would help it to do that.

So with pretty much everything in profit, some things in a brilliant profit I am happy. However with happiness in the market always comes a warning because it always bites you in the bum when least expected. I expect a bite but will try and take some pre-emptive bite action if possible. Let's see.

Wednesday 04th February

Markets

  Feels like ages since I last updated! (Well a week is a long time isn't it?)

Managed another nice FTSE short to bag a £420 profit.

The Carpetright short was just in profit a few times. I knew I should just bag it as it showed a lot of strength in a falling market but left it too late and ended up coming out at 398 for a loss of £333. I deserve a right carpeting for that.

Better was the Next short where I got a profit exiting at 1137 for a profit of £245. The Whitbread short is currently going very well so just about hanging onto it though tempting to bag a profit there. I think I'll bag it maybe if it goes back over 800.

Otherwise I've actually simply held onto things for the time being.

I've been doing some bargain hunting amongst some stocks I reckon have been oversold. First off, a buy of 1,000 shares in SDL (SDL) - nice-looking company this in a reasonably recession (or depression) proof business. Got mine at 292.5. Target 340 stop 270. Good strong balance sheet here and a possible and hopeful big riser for me. A rise through the whole number 300 I think could see a nice upside but there is often whole number resistance.

Another buy was Senior Group (SNR) - got 6,000 shares at 30p - they are a little lower as I write at 29. Bit risky because debt is just at the top end of what I normally allow and it's not a great sector for now but even so they said in a recent statement adjusted profit was going to be around £55m. Given that, downside looks limited with big upside potential though it does look too good to be true. Target 44p stop 25.

Next buy from my shortlist was Wellstream (WSM). I made a fortune on these a few months ago buying in the 300s and selling at over 1000! This time I got 1,000 shares at 445.5 - stop 415 target 550. One of the best of the oil services companies that have been oversold recently. It has good contracts with a big Brazil company, and low debt.

I returned to Unite (UTG) which I've played short-term a few times - couldn't resist the sink to the low 60s and picked up 6,000 at 61.7p - target 90 stop 55. It's a stock where I can find nice quick returns if I can just get the timing right.

Finally a couple of small caps. When I was screening stocks for volume I came across Chime (CHW) late in the day after the market shut - it popped up because of a very confident trading statement. The stock had already climbed 25% and it climbed some more on Monday but even so looked very cheap so I bought despite the rises and got 5,000 shares at an average 49.5. Target 70 stop 43.

Finally in this round of bargain basement shopping I've returned for another bash at Celsis (CEL) and picked up 2,500 at 161.4. Target 190 stop 148. I do like this one but it never seems to quite take off but I wonder whether someone might take it out. More hope than anything else but it looks cheap.

Phew! That's a lot of shopping! I feel weighed down by all the bags. A little market upside now would help and I just hope I don't have to sell what I've just bought to the market makers at bargain prices!

Elsewhere the portfolio still goes very well. Eaga shines very brightly - bought recently at 102 and now up at 150. It struggles to break through 150 right now and if it can't manage it I will take profits. If it can get through 150 there could be an even bigger gain for me.

The recent top up in BTG is working out well. Telecom Plus meanders aimlessly between 300 and 330 awaiting a trading statement due in the next few days. I guess that will either push it up through 330 and beyond or below 300. Obviously I hope it's good news! - don't see why not.

My bid punt Heritage sees me well in profit. I'd be tempted to bag them short-term if it can't lift through resistance at around the 212-215 area. If it can break 215, 230 could be achieved.

Petrofac is going great guns for me, well cheap I think and well in profit there now. My little gamble in RBS also goes well with a big gain already. Interesting to see if more to come. Vislink is stirring. I hate this share something rotten having lost on it a few times so maybe this time it'll come good. Not holding my breath though!

Bid target Dmatek where I'm up over 60%.. still no sign of a counter bid so I'll just take the 215p. That should be with me by the end of March subject to a shareholder vote in February where I shall be voting yes, thanks very much!

Tribal is holding up very well and it just needs a bit of a kick to get it through 100. Shares always seem to struggle to get through whole numbers, it's a psychological thing - but often once they do they then rise dramatically.

So all in all, pleased with progress. However except for the DB ETF I'm short of shorts for now which might not be a good thing. I'm looking forwards to see how my new collection does in the coming few weeks! Markets look quite relaxed for right now however I think caution must remain from me given the fragility of the economy.

Wednesday 22nd January

Markets

  Markets are having a pretty good week but even so I'm still happy with plenty of cash sitting on the sidelines.

However I have been tempted to part with a little of it for some small plays. For goodness sake I sound like Scrooge!

I went back into Heritage (HOIL) this time at a much better entry price! 2,000 shares at 175p. Target 220 stop 150. I'm in for what I think will be an inevitable takeout. It's performed nicely today. I got stopped out of it at a loss last week so just sometimes, stops aren't quite so great. Good in the long run though!

I've had Tribal Group (TRB) on a shortlist for a bit as it looks an interesting recovery stock. Today it issued a decent update and they look cheap so the statement forced my hand and I wanted to buy some.

However it started to rise nicely and what a struggle it was to get any shares! I tried to get 5,000 at 88. No luck. It rose again. Then I tried for another 5,000 at 91. No luck.

So in the end all I managed to get hold of was 3,000 shares which I had to buy separately at 92p!! Oh well, better than nothing but very annoying. Sometimes you just hate market-makers! Target 110 stop 84.

I also topped up on one of my nice winning holds, BTG (BGC) buying another 2,000 at 143.9 to add to the ones I already hold from 121. A good-looking company this one - enjoyed holding from lower levels and I hope a nice time for a top up. Target 180 stop 120.

I haven't touched banks for a very long time for rather obvious reasons. However, perhaps it is just possibly time to dig a very cautious leg in on a longer-term view. I tried for some Barclays but the price is so crazy it moves everytime you put an order in.

So I nipped in for some RBS instead as it's calmer, and got 10,000 at 15.7p. Target 20 stop 13. And £100 on the spreads at 17. Of course there is risk even at lower levels but for a small amount, worth a shot! If they get nationalised I'll only be losing £2,000 odd.

Finally I returned to an old friend Petrofac (PFC) that I closed for a decent profit recently. I like the look of a big contract win and bought 1,000 at 394.75p Target 450 stop 360.

I closed the FTSE short at 4160 for a profit of £160. But I'm a bit annoyed because I could easily have sold out much earlier at a way better price than that and taken profit of nearer £600 but I let it come back way too far thus taking much smaller profits than I should have.

I should have taken what would have been great profits on the recent shorts yesterday but just missed doing so! Doh! However at least I'm not losing on them just yet so perhaps I'll get a second chance. Next in particular rocketed up - I could have taken a near 100 point profit! Shorts are often the hardest things to judge right because shares can bounce quickly leaving you out of pocket when sentiment changes. And I just wasn't on the money there. Too much tea and toast for a bloated old trader.

Otherwise, the portfolio is going very well indeed. Eaga continues to shine with excellent profits. Elementis looks strong and the Mears profit is really shining now. Telecom Plus has bounced very well off 300 and any move over 335 will be a bullish sign. I'd expect a trading update any day. Long-term hold Dragon is turning a profit now.

Bid target Dmatek where I'm up over 60%.. still no sign of a counter bid so I'll just take the 215p. That should be with me by the end of March subject to a shareholder vote in February where I shall be voting yes, thanks very much!

I suspect big volatility will continue but wouldn't be surprised if the FTSE which has had a good week so far starts to run out of steam again. (And actually given market craziness right now I wouldn't be awfully surprised to see it go higher as well!).

In the meantime with some marvellous profits there to be taken I need to think hard on whether to bank some more after banking some decent profits last week.

Whatever happens I'm sure it's going to remain a rocky ride providing good profits for those getting their timing right and horrible losses for those who don't...

Wednesday 22nd January

Markets

  Banks! Now you know why I never touch them and thank goodness I don't. I could never figure them out.

Barclays at 60p! RBOS at 10p. My goodness who'd have thought it? I guess some traders can make money on volatility - I just can't, find it too stressful!!

I can't imagine how many investors have done their money on the banks and worse pension funds that will be badly damaged. I feel sorry for lowly backroom staff at banks who have all probably got loads of shares in their banks that they paid for under pay as you earn share schemes - their nest eggs worth next to nothing because.. and I'm sorry but I hope I speak for most of you here:

THOSE USELESS LAZY GREEDY ***** ******* ******** BANK BOSSES WHO ****** WELL SCREWED US ALL. They GAMBLED with OUR MONEY and that ****** BROWN let them get away with it.

Well that made me feel better anyway. And they are STILL picking up multi million pound bonuses!! ps never have dealings with anyone who uses a lot of capital letters. They are usually crazy and best avoided.

Anyway, my view of the markets for the moment is to take it easy. The worst thing anyone can do in these markets is to try and make too much too quickly. Often it's better to sit and wait - so I'm back into mainly cash waiting for another opportunity, like really the last few weeks. I just can't be bothered with the stress of chasing stuff up and down constantly.

Problem for me is I can't quite see short-term what's going to drive stocks up and in any event I never mind missing the first leg of a new bull market.

So for now I've got only a small amount of positions open to small stakes and one or two shorts. I think at some point this year is going to be very exciting indeed with plenty to be made - but for me - happy to sit and wait and I've ditched some positions.

There of course will be some decent rallies and my aim is to try and make some money from these but dunk out fairly quickly for the profits.

Anyway first a new FTSE short on the spreads, a fiver on at 4192. It's a short-term idea which may become longer-term. I guess I should have just kept open the original FTSE short that I took profits on. It was in good profit but the FTSE is rising strongly as I write so my finger sits tentatively on the take profits button! I also bought some DB Ftse short ETF for the ISA, 500 at 1318.

I must admit I'm surprised at how well the FTSE has held up given the big drop in the Dow so maybe that's good news for those brave enough to buy today.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if the Dow ended up 200 or down 200 today!

Right a few profits and losses to report.

ITE I sold at 72.25 for an overall profit of £362. It did break through 70 and I even got excited - however yet again it petered out in the same area and enough is enough for me for now. Interested though in getting in again at some point because it looks strong.

Spreadbet Charter went at 361 for a profit of £280. Looking to trade that one again.

Mucklow is a bit confusing. It's been strongish in a down market but its sector isn't a great one. So I sold a few rather than the lot at 230.3. For website purposes that closes out the two positions at the highest prices for a profit of £106. Tiny gamble Trifast has not done anything so I closed to be safe at 21 for a loss of £95.

Total banked profits for the site today are £653.

Elsewhere the short in Next has gone especially well , up around 60 points - it is volatile though so I could lose that profit quickly especially if the FTSE rebounds so keeping an eye on it. The Carpetright short surprisingly has stayed level which is worrying and I thinking about closing it around break even though may give it a little longer.

Heritage has been disappointing but I do think it'll be taken out this year - question of whether to take a loss now and come back in or let it sit a bit longer given the volatility.

Most of my holds are holding up exceedingly well in a weak market which is a good sign. Telecom Plus holds steady which is pretty decent given the recent slides in the rest of the market. Also holding up well are holds in Eaga, Elementis, BTG and Mears.

I was a bit worried yesterday when I saw my lovely bid target Dmatek sliding a bit and was suddenly worried the bid was off but looks like one of the market makers playing games and it's back up today.

In general it's very dangerous at the moment and my feeling remains: better to be mainly in cash again and have a bit of patience. Problem is with so much fear around there is still the chance of a continued market tank. The upside of this of course will be the ability to buy back in at hopefully some great prices. I suspect any rallies for now could be big but short-lived.

Friday 16th January

Markets

  The good old volatility continues leaving it quite hard to make decisions given one day it's doom and gloom and the next day some "Green shoots"..

Many feel there is an "Obama Bounce" on the way as he takes over next week which could then be followed by an Obama shakeout once initial euphoria has gone - looks an interesting scenario - either way short-term traders are going to have a good time. Medium-termers like me will stay a bit cautious and I'll take what I can!

I closed the FTSE short at 4149 last night to make a profit of £1,005. Pleased with that nice little short-term winner. I closed when I saw the Dow starting to motor up (luckily with FTSE spreadbets you can close in the evening even when it's shut which is rather handy in this case). However I'm tempted to short the current rally.

I've not had a stinker for many months so I guess I was due one which arrived with Renold this morning. I thought the initial price an overreaction so I bought more at 20 as I thought it would rise and then dumped the lot at 22.2 saving myself a few quid. However given that was a quick in and out, for the site I take the full hit at 22.2p for a loss of £980 which is ok taking into account some big recent profits. However that's not the point. It shouldn't have happened. This is what can happen when you take a punt which was what this was, and not a proper trade. What to learn? Not to take punts on penny shares right now and listen to my own advice! There - I just b**ll**** myself!

I decided it would be wise with so much profit building up to bank some more of it in addition to the great profits banked the other day.

I've taken profits in Unite at 125.5 -pretty decent profits of £2,931. Could have been more but will stop grumbling. I did double on them at one point but left it too long to take the profit.

PV Crystalox is so volatile and I've decided to play it safe and exited at 95 for a profit of £309. It's a tricky one of strong balance sheet Vs warnings from others in its sector which is probably why it is so volatile. Celsis axed at 158 for a profit of £100.

Finally got a good run out of Petrofac but sold some (not all) at 373 - for website purposes we'll call it the lot for a profit of £821.

That's profits for the site today of £4,186 (Profits with losses deducted)

Elsewhere excellent profits now building up in Mears. Eaga too sees some very decent profits indeed.

An excellent statement from bid target Dmatek yesterday where I'm up 60%. I have a very small hope of a last minute counterbid given that statement but more in hope than expectation and expect to end up with the still very nice 215p.

Telecom Plus remains strong after the director buying and remains an excellent holding with huge profits. Long-termer BTG now showing a decent gain.

I reckon it's hold onto hats time next week with some big lunges up and down - anyone on the right side will make money but woe betide anyone who gets the timing wrong. I'll probably remain cautious but try the odd trade or two!!

For right now I'm kind of tempted to stick on another FTSE short to sell the current rise to be contrary - anyway that's it for markets for today!

Wednesday 14th January

Markets

  Well, still sitting on some massive profits!

It's been a grim week for the markets so far. I feel a bit like Corporal Jones! Just one little step behind! Not getting profits near the top when I really should and could have and not getting in near the bottom. Still I have made some money so maybe I shouldn't grumble at myself.

As I kept banging on, I thought I was riding my luck a bit and as I said I would, I've taken some profits. I should have taken some a bit earlier, in fact when I was banging on about it last week but never mind. I guess I was hoping to ride them up a bit further and in a bear market that doesn't look to be wise.

In fact this is the mistake I think I'm making in the current bear market - holding on to stuff for too long and missing getting better profit. Hey, but did I ever claim to be Mr Perfect?

I sold half the New Brit at 231.46 to bank profits of £1,250... and then waited too long to bank the other half at 223 for a profit of £868. Could have sold the lot at 242! Anyway a total profit of £2,118 not to be sneezed at. This one's becoming an excellent little trading stock. It obviously can't break 250 so next time I'll be banging that sell button much earlier.

Half of Fenner went at 89.41 to bank a profit of £588. I held onto the other half which doesn't look too clever for now. Statement today was ok - kind of steady as she goes but not sure about the future. But the company still seems to be doing pretty well in the circumstances and looks like being an amazing recovery play. I'm rather tempted to buy if it falls further as management looks sound and in control.

I got out of one or two of the tiddlers I bought recently as it looks like they just ran out of steam. Shame as I really wanted to keep them. Havelock went at 39 for a profit of £450 (again missed the top by big margin) Harvey at 28 for a profit of £230. Lamprell went at 124 for a profit of £782. Again could have got out at 130 plus here and held too long. Having said that it's gone down the last couple of days.

Total profits for the site are £4,168.

I did buy a share today (brave or stupid.. YOU decide!) and I bought Heritage Oil (HOIL) today, a partner of Tullow and picked up 1,000 shares at 212. I like the look of the finds going on in Uganda. However this is another risky play especially as the price is crazily volatile. Target 250 stop 190. This share can go up or down 20p in the blink of an eye. So in summary, a fun punt. If it goes horribly wrong, I will survive!

I stuck a FTSE short on early in the week at something like 4500 but then it went against me and I lost £100. However today I stuck one on early for a fiver at 4350 - the idea is for a shortish term trade on this as I think there could soon be a reversal. I'm already in profit with it by over £600 and as usual will play it by ear. However I did miss getting in a short at 4600 plus which I regret.

I've also shorted Next for a fiver at 1186. Done well shorting this one last year and this looks a reasonable price to get back in. Target 1050 stop 1220.

Elsewhere not a lot going on. Still a really small outside chance of a counter bid for Dmatek where I currently sit on those lovely 60% profits. I think I'll probably just end up sitting it out and collect the 215p bid price.

CEO of Telecom Plus bought 20,000 shares this week which shows good confidence in the company and helped the share price bounce off the 300p level.

Despite the current holding market keeping hold of things like Tep and Mears, in fact anything that holds up well like Elementis. Considering the market is well down the Carpetright short is distinctly disappointing.

So where to now? Well I have some cash on the sidelines again which seems sensible. I actually think it would be good if the markets had a good tank down and sort out some kind of bottom level. At that point there should be good money to be made.

For now, longer-term investing apart from things like Telecom Plus seems to be impossible and the only way to make money is to look at trades of one day to 3 weeks or so and certainly look at shorting.

Friday 09th January

Markets

  Well, still sitting on some massive profits!

I feel I could be riding my luck here by carrying on holding some of the stocks in which the profits have developed (nearly everything at the moment).

So I have two voices in my head. One says: "For F sake you idiot! You have massive profits - take them before everything goes down again. Are you nuts?

The other voice says. "Be brave" Hold on - there'll be an Obama bounce and you're going to make even more."

One voice is fear, the other greed, right? Which will win? YOU decide! Oh, no hang on I have to decide. I'll probably do a compromise thing and take half profits.

I think for the moment though I have enough positions open so for right now I'll ride with what I've got.

The good rises continue. Plenty of star performers. PV Crystalox is powering ahead. Nearly took profits at the 100p mark but plenty of buyers saw me stay in.

Fenner too powers ahead - it is well past the target but very volatile, still generally good uptrend now.

Mears which I've held for a while came out with a decent update yesterday - the market seems to like it and pushed the price up a lot - it was tempted to take profits of over £1,500 on it but I'll let it run a bit further especially as it's reasonably defensive. I'd hope to hold it to 300p and then consider whether it's time to bank.

Bid target Dmatek where I have my lovely 70% gain.. it's beginning to look unlikely there'll be another bidder so it's a tricky call as to whether to sell up at 200 or wait for the full 215. I'll probably wait.

New Brit dipped to 200 but held my nerve and it's whizzing back up to begin to show a very decent profit. Lamprell remains volatile but good profit there and one of those that could get bid for.

Petrofac remains more than 100pts higher than my buying price. Happy with that and probably more to come. Charter spreadbet remains in a good profit.

Celsis is beginning a nice looking run higher. Little gambles Trifast and Havelock are all doing nicely.

My Carpetright short looks a bit vulnerable as it seems strong now. Will I end up taking a small loss or shall I just pretend it never happened and sweep it under the carpet?

All in all highly pleased with progress this year and sitting on paper profits of more than £15,000 on recent buys.

However, of course, with nothing banked and what must be a cautious outlook I need to be careful not to override my luck.

Wednesday 07th January

Markets

  Surprisingly I've had a sensational time in the markets since the last update with many huge risers. My buying before Xmas when everyone was selling on bad days has paid off bigtime with some massive percentage risers including a doubler and some up more than 50%!

In particular I got a lovely Xmas present from the markets with a fabulous 50% plus rise from my holding in Dmatek!

Bought at 120, the company has been bid for at 215p!

Which is a lot higher than I thought it was going to be.. The price is currently 200p but I'm going to hang on for the full 215 and also on the outside chance there may be another bidder.

Anyway in the end a nice quick profit for the site for Dmatek of well over £3,000 - and actually I personally hold more than the website declared holding so I'm very happy! And I also bought a few more at 145 which makes me even happier!

Phew, well what can I say. Some big big gainers. Unite has doubled for me (up 107% according to Barclays), bought at 77 and over 160 now! Some gain!

Lamprell has soared more than 50% for me. Fenner's managed a gain of some 40% And a 5p dividend on top of that!

Eaga has been a real star and risen more than 40%. Mears has been no slouch adding more than 40 points. And PV Crystalox has boomed higher more than 20 points!

In fact all told those recent website buys made before Xmas have netted around £15,000 profit altogether!

So of course I now really regret being cautious and only putting on small stakes.

And... I should really point out ... these haven't been banked, and a profit isn't one till banked. I think I'd be silly not to do the odd bit of banking or selling half of some positions very soon indeed. For example the market is badly down today. I should be banking, shouldn't I?

However for right now the stocks I bought are still in demand and I'm going to possibly be foolish and greedy and let them run a bit more. Or at least some of them. As you can tell I'm unsure!

And now some other buys I made. Most are in profit already which is not surprising given the recent strength of the market.

In fact as stocks started to rise I used my cashpile to get back in. One of my reasons is, well why not? Many were oversold and I'm not going to get any interest any more on cash deposit so may as well pick up some dividends...

So I've bought up a small amount of market "tiddlers" that look oversold and due a comeback in a better market. I bought them mainly because it looks like funds are buying back into the smallcaps again and they all look due for a resurgence. So I made friends again with some old pals.

They are.. Havelock Europa (HVE) 10,000 shares at an average 34.5p. Trifast (TRI) 5,000 shares at 22.9. Elementis (ELM), 10,000 shares at 40p. Celsis (CEL) 2,000 at 153, Renold (RNO) 10,000 at 32, Vislink (VLK) 20,000 at 17.9 and Harvey Nash (HVN) 10,000 at 25.7- see table below for stops and targets on those which will be updated soon.

All these look decent businesses that are trading on very low multiples. I've bought small amounts to enable me to exit swiftly if I need to. Nothing worse than being caught in a smallcap that's hard to sell.

If the market in small caps does come back I think I could make some terrific gains. If not I hope to exit without too much damage. Time will tell!

Onto bigger stocks.

I bought back into old friend Charter (CHTR) this time using a spreadbet for £20 at 347(equivalent to 2,000 shares) Target 450 stop 310. Well run company due a bounce.

And also another old friend I've made big amounts out of last year, New Brit Palm Oil (NBPO) where I picked up 2,000 at 179.6 and 2,000 at 184.6. Target 250 stop 160. They're already risen nicely and very hopeful of a 250 exit. I might sit and wait at 250 if it gets there and see if they go through or not.

Finally I made a short in Carpetright (CPR) for a tenner at 365. Target 300 stop 395. No-one buys carpet in a recession do they? Do they???

Oh, and I've had a nice fat dividend cheque from Telecom Plus - it's not done much but I reckon like last year they'll release an interim statement at the end of the month which will push it up again. In the meantime it's still lovely and solid.

So, a good start to the year so far and for now, luckily, the only question is, when to take profits? Now? Yes you're probably right!!

Don't ask me to make predictions for 2009 I really don't have a clue. I'll play it as it comes but I'm very hopeful one way or another it'll be a good year to make money - but timing is going to be crucial.

I suspect things will continue to be volatile, up 100 one day and down 100 the next...

Wednesday 17th December

Markets

  Think I'm getting so used to the next piece of staggering news from the markets that I hardly raised an eyebrow at the latest.. the massive Madoff fraud 50 billion dollar scam.

And just to show the markets aren't bothered about it either they went up on the news!!

The actual scam was easy: take the money from someone, use the cash from someone else to pay an above average return, and keep some for yourself.

But the question is how did he fool all the banks? How come no-one even questioned the returns?

It comes back to the golden rule. If something looks too good to be true it almost certainly is. No-one probaby wanted to question something that was making them rich. Turn a blind eye - best thing to do!

You have to wonder which hedge fund is next and what other frauds have been going on.

Interest rates at 0% in the USA. I'm sure no-one would have believed that a couple of years ago. Let's hope it helps but you do wonder if the governments really know what to do about the current problems.

Also the non existent rate is going to have a terrible effect on savers. For example my father's fund which is used to look after him is now going to earn very little. And many pensioners are going to struggle as their interest income dries up.

House prices are to fall by another 15% says Barclays. I tend to agree - prices are still too high and they need to come down way more for buyers to come back into the market

Things seem a bit calmer. Whether this is a manipulated because bonuses are shortly to be paid out or whether it's all real is debatable..

For the moment anyway things going well for recent picks..

I've bottom fished a couple of others since I last updated. As with the others if the market starts to rise I'll hold onto them, if there's another collapse I'll probably get out. They are:

PV Crystalox (Pvcs) where I got 2,500 shares at 82.74. Target 100 stop 75. This looks to have been oversold after a similar company elsewhere in Europe put out a warning. No warning yet here and at this kind of price I'll take the risk given the excellent balance sheet. It went up nicely late yesterday and wish I'd bought more. It did appear to bottom out in the 80p area but of course it is risky because they could issue a warning. So maybe it's best I did this for a small amount!

I've also taken a little punt in Lamprell (LAM) which has been massively hit because of connections with Dubai. At the current price it looks a steal to me I got 2,500 at 92.5p. Target 140 stop 70.

As usual for now, all buying is in small quantities which seems sensible for the time being. No point in being a hero and sticking in too much during uncertainty.

Elsewhere some good gains for some recent picks. Close to doubling on Unite which is very nice.

Dmatek continues to shine and up 20 pts now on the buys in that one.

A superb rise by Fenner today - because it went ex dividend for 5p the 2p rise today is equivalent to 7p! Very happy to have banked the dividend along with a great rise. Eaga goes well too.

Dragon Oil has been having a good time of late and I'm nicely up there now. Mucklow mucks about a bit, but any rise above 250 would be bullish, happy with the rise so far especially as it was a bit of an unknown gamble. Petrofac goes pretty strongly though it is rather volatile.

So all in all, very pleased with current holdings. Obviously in this current market anything can happen but I would be ever so pleased if some of the recent buying was near bottom buying. I suspect though I am probably wishing something that simply isn't the case and remain on guard.

Friday 12th December

Markets

  A quiet couple of days for me!! The market's been strong however last night the US failed to bail out the car companies and that threw the markets into a Hissy fit. However this morning I didn't feel the need to panic sell anything because I expect the bailout will happen anyway.

As I said last time I was looking for a FTSE short.. and I got into 2 ftse shorts only to bail out because I thought I got the entry points wrong - oh if only I'd held onto them I'd have made a tremendous profit - but I didn't so never mind.

Anyway I picked up a few more Mears (MER) getting another 1,000 at 244.6 to add to the ones I already bought a while back at 218. It was well oversold in the recent selloff for what is actually or should be a defensive share and I think a rise back to the 300p mark would be fair. Happy to be patient and wait for that. Target 300 stop 220.

And I bought a further 2,500 Fenner (FENR) on Wednesday at 65.9. Target 85 stop 57. Talked a lot about this one before which looks well overcooked on the downside and hopeful of at least 20% from here, possibly quickly if the markets are strong.

The Fenner dividend is now more than 9%!! And it goes ex dividend next Wednesday for 4 and a bit pence so on Wednesday it should open lower by 4p or so to take that into account - if it can manage only a small fall on the day that would be brilliant!

Elsewhere considering the market's been hammered today my recent picks are all doing ok. I was pretty tempted to bank what are some excellent paper gains in a few recent buys but one thing I hate is taking profits or losses on a big down day especially after stocks have been marked down right from the off so I decided to hold my nerve.

In fact really often the best thing to do when the market opens a lot lower is to stay calm and stay holding because they are often the worst prices of the day. Market makers expect panic sellers and so are happy to mark prices down way too much before the off.

Speculative gamble Mucklow is doing all right, holding its own at a profit. Be interesting to see if this one pays off or not! I have put in a buy order for another 1,000 at 232.5p this morning which you'll be able to see if you have level 2. No luck so far!

Unite tanked early but then came back and holding an excellent profit there at the moment. Was tempted to grab the profits but holding fast for now.

Eaga has showed some decent strength on a poor day today which is great. Ite holds reasonably well although it seems slightly wary of getting above 70.

Nice gains from Petrofac still for me and it is another one which has done ok today..

Telecom Plus gained its promotion into the FTSE 250 - it's a nice hold because while it doesn't spint up it holds its own on downdays and that's fine with a 5% plus dividend, looking forwards to my massive dividend cheque arriving shortly!

Otherwise there are bargains galore around - take your pick. It's just that sentiment is still bad as no-one knows when things will improve. Very pleased with the profits building in recent buys and will try and resist taking profit too early if I can.

Friday 05th November

Markets

  Well, it feels like ages since an update here. Actually there hasn't been that much happening overall - there are tons of bargains out there but there is still no confidence in the market and a lot of fear - we need fear to subside before the market can move up again. Of course I feel a bit out of it at the moment so for right now keeping trades to a minimum and to small stakes.

I was looking round for some shares that looked overhammered. And came across Unite (UTG) again which looked ridiculous at 65p, way under NAV. However I waited a bit and saw volume coming in and bought 5,000 but unfortunately it had risen sharply to 77.5p. It then moved higher and I bought a few more, 2,500 at 104.25. I was aiming for 120 and I can hardly believe it's gone up even higher and to be honest I have no idea why! I could of course pretend to say something "clever" here but I don't know and because of that will be tempted to take profit - while it rises I'll stick in there. Target 120 stop 65

I also bought some ITE Group (ITE) - I like the look of this one because its balance sheet looks very healthy - I got 5,000 at 70p. Target 85 stop 62.

And I returned to Dmatek (DTK) again picking up 3,000 shares at 120p. Target 150 stop 112. The price tumbled after a bid was withdrawn but this tagging company has a great business and I think it'll get bid for next year. A strong balance sheet again here.

Onto sales. I sold out of stinker Vislink fast when level 2 showed sellers coming in again at 23p to take a loss of £320. Cineworld closed at 103.5 for a breakeven. The other Celsis was closed at 154 for a profit of £105 and MS at 115 for a loss of £59.
Elsewhere I have some longer-term excellent winners which have held up well and even gone up over the last 3 weeks. BTG has risen very nicely and sits at 160 giving me profits of well over £1,000.

Telecom Plus produced an excellent statement. Which really is just as well given my enormous holding. The best thing is the dividend increase of 25% which gives me an interest payment of over 5% which is, well, pretty much 5% more than I'll end up getting in the bank!! It goes ex dividend next Wednesday for 5p and is also set to become a FTSE 250 stock in the next few days. Looks a safe haven for the moment for a big holding as it is a beneficiary of the recession as can be seen by increasing customers and distributors.

Social housing group Mears has been rising nicely for me too and is well up on my purchase price.

Of course after my horrendous couple of weeks with the sick toddler, I do feel out of the rhythm of the market and I feel it's best for me to take it easy on the trading front until I get back into it.

So except for the few small positions I have open and the larger Telecom Plus one I remain in plenty of cash for the time being but will keep an eye on picking up the odd bargain here and there for now. I wish any of you trading at the moment the best of luck as the volatile conditions make it tough.

To end on a happier note I still think 2009 will be a great year to make money on the markets and some buying at the right prices will yield big profits - it's simply a question of being patient and not worrying to much about "Missing the bottom" - best trade for now is still probably no trade.. and wait and see how and if the measures being taken will really stave off a lengthy recession.

Wednesday 19th November

Markets

  Difficult conditions continue and I expect this will carry on until we see exactly how bad things are. There have been a lot of statements recently from companies, which while cautious, weren't exactly disastrous.

But until the market see how interest rates cuts and everything else works out I can't see where any good news is coming from just yet. Of course falling oil and food prices should help. But markets do look forward quite a way and they will be going up well before the recession has ended.

So all in all I continue to think it's best for me to hold mainly cash and continue to keep stakes low and not be tempted to get stuck in for the moment.

However rightly or wrongly I'm excited about next year because I think the markets will bounce back very strongly and if I can get in near the bottom there's going to be a lot of money to be made.. but probably not just yet!

I've been fiddling round here and there with a little shorting while waiting for a turnaround - I alighted on Spectris (SXS) only because it hasn't been hammered as badly as some of the companies in its sector and went in for a tenner at 415. Target 350 stop 425. Set a fairly tight stop in case the markets turn.

A mixed and hard to read statement from Vislink which I've been holding a while. Revenue up not so sure on profits. I got seduced by some really substantial director buying very recently - seems to me that statement was already in the price. So strangely perhaps I sold some at 23.5 to take a loss of £425 on one position.. but I also bought because I thought the sudden spin to 20p looked overdone and got 5,000 at 20.9. Yes, I'm just a crazy kinda guy. Hey, maybe the directors have a death wish and will get stuck in again..

I sold half my Celsis at 156.72 for a profit of £146 and kind of regret it as it remains very strong in a weak market - however I guess at least some profit banked and I keep the other position going. Looks like it's going higher though..

Redhall's been looking weak again so I exited at 202 for a profit of £307 - would eye up a re-entry as when recovery comes this is going to be a big winner.

I wasn't bowled over with Waterman's statement and was surprised to be able to exit first thing at 81.5 easily for a profit of £20. Oh and I got a dividend too! Possible recovery candidate at some point. Fenner was heading towards the stop fast and with sellers coming in again I exited at 80.53 for a loss of £55. Since then it's sunk even further - it looks a really tempting buy - a director bought more today so keeping an eye for another entry. Got to be worth more than currently?

Oils not surprisingly remain under the hammer. I sold Heritage at 182.5 for a profit of £319. However I do think it'll get taken over at some point and remain vigilant for reentry. And I sold part Dragon at 147.5 to take profits on the last pos of £247. Still seems buying interest there and I might buy some back.

All of which malarkey makes profits for the site today of £559.

So, really not much open right now. Telecom Plus remains a solid hold but for now- it could be a surprise entry into the FTSE 250 in December if it can maintain the current price.

Spreadbetting looks a bit dangerous for now given the sudden and vicious spikes.

Things can change quickly but I intend to let the market guide me and I just can't second guess it - way too hard at the moment. As the volatile conditions continue I think generally better mainly out than in and wait and see. Best trade could continue to be no trade for a bit.

Friday 07th November

Markets

  Goodness me it continues to be a hairy old ride on the markets. Right now it's easy to leave the screen with all your shares doing nicely, pop and have some tea and toast and a read of the paper and come back to find them all down!

It is always risky these days buying a company close to a statement but I bought Celsis (CEL) this morning, 2,000 shares at 149.4. I've noticed some nice buying coming in ahead of Wednesday's statement so fingers are crossed. I guess if it continues to rise and was nicely up on Tuesday I could be tempted to take profits. I just don't know and I'll wait and see. Target 180 stop 130.

I really just had to take some of the massive profits that I've been sitting with on some of the recent buys. New Brit couldn't break 250 and started to come back fast and I managed to take profits well off highs but not bad - at 225 and 220 for nice profit of £1,367. I would reckon there's another good trade in there coming soon.

Elementis just couldn't break that 60p barrier so sold at 58.1 for a profit of £331.

This could be a really poor sell however I sold Dmatek at 147p for a profit of £560. Been waiting for news of a bid here but it's been a while now so I took profits. I do think it's a cracking company though and actually if the bid falls through I'll be a buyer. So watch for news of the bid at 180 on Monday!

I sold part of my Charter holding at 417.2 to bank a very tidy profit of £810 while keeping the other position open.

Sometimes it's a good idea to sell half of a position so at least some profits are banked and the rest can be left to run in case it goes up some more.

A good run from Wood Group again I didn't sell anywhere the top but got 229 for a profit of £863 and I sold the other Fenner at 109.5 for a profit of £420. Just awaiting to buy that back as it's dropped a bit and looks good value.

All that profit taking means a very nice total profit of £4,351 for the site which I am very pleased with in this kind of market.

Elsewhere a great rise from BTG after a statement today puts me into an excellent profit there - I was tempted to take it but it's been very strong today so holding on.

Telecom Plus remains solid as a rock in weak markets - and if you think that interest rates have been slashed I am more than happy to be earning 5% and more probably as I expect the dividend to be raised in its statement in a couple of weeks.

Ms International (MSI) has seen a good steady rise which is good news ahead of an announcement later this month and now sitting in profits of near 15%. Be good to see it back at at least the 170 level.

Redhall held well against a weak market yesterday as it continues to recover and I suspect it could be a big star next year. Indeed wondering whether it's time to buy more.

The profit in PV Crystalox is excellent and vaguely considering taking the profit there - however it looks very strong indeed so sticking with it.

Hunting is performing very well and a really good profit building there.

Cineworld has quietly marched higher - perhaps shaken, rather than stirred...

All in all I'm thrilled with the profits over the last couple of weeks. And although I didn't take any of them near the top that never bothers me. Because I don't mind losing a few points to check that there wasn't more on the way and over time it works in my favour.

As I write the markets seem finely balanced and haven't quite decided about all the interest rate rises and whether it's good or bad news. It could quite easily tank or rise! Anyone got a time machine they could lend me?

I'm trying to stay in a correct balance of good holds, profit taking, and cash during this tricky time. Stop losses have also never been so important and I hope to adhere to all mine. But in summary, very pleased with the last few days indeed.

Wednesday 05th November

Markets

  Well some brilliant gains for me recently and it's been a tough question as to whether to take profits or not, never an easy answer there.

In hindsight (which is always easy) I should have sold everything yesterday afternoon and taken some massive profits (probably well over £5,000).

But... Hmm, I do wonder if today's bout of not surprising profit-taking might be followed by some gains again? Could the Obama feelgood factor come into play? We'll see..

I suppose also I still have a massive profit cushion sitting there even after shares were hammered a bit this morning.

I've perhaps surprisingly continued a bit of buying.. first a couple more smallcaps that looked to be just well oversold. Again I've bought to fairly small amounts given the markets could return to being volatile.

First is Waterman (WTM) - this one has more than halved yet still looks to have a good business so I bought 2,500 at 80.7p. Target 120 stop 72. Good director buying here and really even with a recession got to be worth a quid at least.

I also bought back into MS International (MSI) - 1,000 shares at 121. Target 170 stop 100. Simply again looks oversold and the company hardly ever releases news which hasn't helped. However a statement is due shortly and as long as everything is OK I expect a big bounce and would have thought a return to the 170 level later this month if the statement is good.

Dragon Oil (DGO) has been looking very perky with some big buyers. Something happening? Dunno but I added to the ones I bought in the 140s with a new buy of 2,000 at 177p. Target 250 stop 150.

Sticking with oils Dana (DNX) dipped quite a way this morning, over 70pts so grabbed a brave (or stupid) 400 shares at 926. Target 1050 stop 880.Very volatile share so I'll have to be careful and get out if it tanks.

And I'm back in Heritage (HOIL) with 2,500 shares at 170p. Target 220 stop 140. Risky one but it explores in the same area as Tullow in Uganda and there's also been bid interest already. Probably end up as a big loser or winner!

Finally I topped up on a couple of the recent buys. Picked up another 500 Redhall (RHL) at 183.9.. target 250 stop 170. It's now up and over 200 but still looks seriously good value to me. And I picked up a further 1,000 shares in New Brit (NBPO) at 172.45p - it started rising a bit after I bought the 165p ones so I figured a few more wouldn't hurt.

Amazingly it's absolutely shot higher - announced today a director bought a load at 143 - how come he got a 25p better price than me! Other directors have bought too. While it IS tempting to take the profits there are bigger buyers around even at 250 today so I'll be greedy (or stupid) and stick around a bit longer. I think there is a good chance of a quick double for me here unless the market tanks again.

Well, goodness what superb profits on paper from the last couple of weeks of buying. However a profit isn't a profit till it's taken is it and there are plenty of profit takers today and I can't blame them.

Of course I took the profits on the Travis Perkins short, waited a bit too long though. It started to rise fast Monday morning and exited at 309 for a profit of £2,100.

Shame I didn't get out when it bottomed nearer 200, or really I should have got out on Friday.. still I've never worried too much about getting in and out at exactly the right times and it is still a very decent profit! I still think its debt is huge and maybe I'll short it again if it rises up to the 400 area.

I took part profit on Fenner today at 116.5 for a profit of £530 and left the other website position to run. I could have sold at 123p today but left it too late. Indeed as I write it's around 111 and I am very tempted now to buy back those shares I sold. In fact my finger is hovering over the buy button at this 111 level! Next Wednesday's statement will be very revealing one way or another.

That's a total profit of £2,630 for the site today.

Elsewhere some huge gains racked up! Of course in hindsight one could argue I should have sold the lot yesterday and banked all the gains which would be fair comment

Wood has stormed ahead nearly 50% for me. Down with the market today though.

Even though the new Bond film is apparently terrible it has broken box office records which must be good for Cineworld which is doing well for me so far.

Charter - wow! Up more than 100 points there. And Weir up over 140 points which is terrific.

Telecom Plus has made up considerable ground and looks strong again - results are out in 3 weeks and one suspects there will be some buying coming in before those as results are highly likely to be outstanding with another increase in dividend on the cards as they seem to increase every time which after this week's interest rate cut should make it a great defensive for institutions.

PV Crystalox has flown and rises today in a weak market which looks good. Nearly a 20% gain on Elementis which can't quite hold above 60p for the moment.

So a tricky time, some brilliant profits on paper, but I need to be careful to ensure they are not all eridicated! Same problem for a lot of people I guess. We'll see. I'm mainly hanging on for now but would have to consider taking some profits should we start falling again.

Friday 31st October

Markets

  Is it just possible the markets are settling down a little bit? Well of course I hardly dare say it but it does feel that way a little.

Interesting too that for the first time in a while the FTSE has gone down a fair chunk today but not all shares have gone with it and some are still going up. Can't remember this for a while and I think that looks like a good sign. What I've just said of course can be thrown out of the window if the Dow decides it wants another tumble.

The bit of bargain shopping I did earlier in the week is paying off nicely so far. But in the current market I'm tempted to take the profits. However the other part of me is saying if the markets can settle here some much bigger gains are to be had by holding.

Anyway I parted with a little more of the cash pile over the last couple of days.

First a little gamble. I made a lot of money on New Brit Palm Oil (NBPO) earlier in the year, just as well I took the big profit as palm oil prices slumped badly. However I do wonder now whether prices could go back up and on that basis I bought a small amount - 1,500 - at 165.9 this morning. It had already risen quite a bit but I did it anyway! Target 220 stop 140.

It does look rather oversold and any rise in prices could see a sudden big jump up.

Social housing group Mears (MER) has been hammered. Looks overdone to me and I picked up 1,500 shares at 218.4p. Target 250 stop 195.

A similar share Scott Wilson (SWG) has lost more than half its value recently, however it put out a reassuring statement the other day and I watched level 2 like a hawk this morning while it went down some more and I got 2,500 shares at 97.15p - a bit of a gamble buying on a day when they're down 7% but we'll see! Target 120 stop 92. There seems decent buying support at 97 but if that failed I'd take a quick loss. The other downside is it was tipped by the Chronicle today!

I decided to buy some Redhall (RHL) back, 1,000 shares at 180.4 this morning. Everyway I look at this, it looks well overdone and I think these shares could easily double in a year or two. Target 220 stop 150. The deal with Chieftain looks good and the current market cap looks ludicrous. With Chieftain being profits enhancing quite quickly I can't see why this rating is low and it really is due a re-rating.

Elsewhere some really super rises for the brave buys I made earlier in the week.

Charter in particular has seen a splendid move and way above my initial target with a gain of over £1,500 for me so far. Very pleased that I held on rather than panic and take the profits too early.

Weir too has shown a spectacular gain for me so far of 80 points. But doesn't seem to be much profit-taking so sticking in there for hopefully more gains.

Superb gain for Fenner which has yet again decided to bottom out at 88 and head back to near 105! So a profit of nearly 20%. It hovers close to my target of 105 at time of writing - still holding though - a statement is due soon and if there is nothing nasty in it, there's a chance of some really good gains.

Oil and oil services are starting to flicker back into life (gettit?) and my buys in Hunting but Wood in particular have seen good gains. Dragon Oil appears to be starting a bit of a run too.

PV Crystalox has been going well too.

Elementis continues to be a nice winner and is trying to get up to 60p. Needs a bit of a kick.

Little gamble Havelock Europa is in profit. I went in because it looked like a distressed fund sold out and so knocked the price by 20% - that looked unfair so hoping it can get back up into the 40s. BTG starts to show a profit at last. Telecom Plus looks on the mend and should settle over 300p again. Vislink's directors continue to buy in force!

So all in all a good week for me with some good gains. Will they last though? And am I foolish to hold and try and get some more rather than bagging the profit while it's there? Time will tell and a lot depends on the Dow! I just hope things will just settle a bit now at these lower levels and those like me picking good companies at these bargain prices may get a reward.. or of course we could be shafted!

Wednesday 22nd October

Markets

  Fascinating Monday - there was going to be a big bounce but I thought it would be too difficult to buy cheap stock because it would all be marked up already so I expected to keep out of it but that wasn't what happened.

I ended up using some of my cash pile to buy into stock I thought looked especially cheap.

However for right now I only well under a half the amount of shares I would have done say a year ago. I think that's right for this uncertain times.

I watched an old favourite of mine Fenner (FENR) do an astounding dive to well below 100p. I scratched my head. The company had released no news, in fact its next statement was due to be ahead of expectations.

Companies are supposed to issue updates if profits are to be plus or minus 10% of previous expectations and they hadn't. Of course given its markets I'd expect some kind of downturn in the price but more than half?

I decided it was a buy and waited to find the turn which level 2 duly threw up as it hit under 90p - it looked like buy orders were coming in and shorters closing. And indeed when it went below 90p that was enough for me!

So I bought 2,000 at 88p, then as it started to rise I added some more: 2,500 at 88.75, 2,500 at 91p and £20 on the spreads at 86.7 and 92.

Then came a surprise: late in the afternoon the company put out a statement which amazingly said there were no problems as such to report, nothing had changed since its last statement and unknown people were putting out scare stories about the company to drive its price down and it had reported this to the FSA. Quite right too.

But also I could hardly believe my luck! Of course that statement saw the share price whizz up on Tuesday as shorters were forced to close and I'm already up a decent amount.

My initial stop was 80 but raised that already to 100 to lock in profits there if needs be. It currently trades strongly around the 120 area and is quite volatile.

With the oils beginning to look like making a comeback I took a chance. Of course I think I have to be careful, after all the oil price is still coming down, so again small amounts here.

Dana Pet (DNX) I picked up 400 shares at 805.5. That looked a low price. Target 995 stop 780.

Dragon Oil (DGO) I bought 1,500 at 141.5p. Nice statement today, they ought to be up a lot even given the weak oil price. However they still sit at 140ish. Target 195 stop 120. I guess it's the oil price.

Aveva (AVV) is another one I made a lot of money on earlier this year and after they produced an excellent statement I nipped in for 500 shares at 764.5p Target 990 stop 730. Very volatile again in the current market and it moves 60-70 points quite easily so it is a little scary.

What can I say about Charter (CHTR). That 288p price proved to be near the bottom and I decided to average up and bought a further 1,000 at a higher price - this time at 326p. Currently in an excellent profit.

Directors at Charter have been buying up shedloads of shares and I can see why. Even a bad result in Charter's markets is really priced in right now and they've got to be worth at least a fiver even in these dire markets, haven't they? Target 500 stop 280.

I regret selling some of my Dmatek (DTK) now even though it was a good profit and nipped some more, 1,500 at 145 to add to the 120 ones. Looking at the current price action perhaps the bid is going to be up in the 180 area? I expect I'll find out whether I'm in luck or not in the next few days.

My final bit of bargain (I hope) shopping was in an old favourite Elementis (ELM) where I picked up 5,000 at 51.5. Tricky one as it's a good company but has a pension deficit. Still, 50p seems good support so to a small amount worth a go. Target 60 stop 45.

What can I say? Wish me luck with my brave - or one could argue- stupid buying. Yet again I would really love to hold onto these longer term but if the markets slump again I may be forced out. Hope not but it could happen. Time will tell.

Elsewhere some excellent profits even in a dire market. Best profit still comes from Telecom Plus (£25,000 or so). Interesting to see some buyers going in today after a quiet period and perhaps as a decent defensive there could be a nice rise before results at the end of November. There's a seller about at 335 but as I write this seller is almost cleared out and if 335 goes, 350 could beckon.

Vislink hold nicely and still in a decent profit there. And of course the two long-standing shorts, Next and Travis Perkins are both in a very large profit. Is there more to come? Could be and given my longs worth holding as a hedge.

Where to now? Well there's still plenty of risk to the downside so caution must prevail. The real problem is all the nervousness means markets now move 100-200 points a day up or down which makes life a bit difficult for holding anything.

Still, as Warren Buffet reckons it could still be worth buying around now and holding for a year or so and come out well on top.

For the moment I'm in a half way house situation - buying up small amounts of decent companies but keeping some shorts open too and still plenty of cash.. because as they say on Thunderbirds, anything can happen.... even in the next minute!

Wednesday 15th October

Markets

  Well it's an old cliche but rollercoaster really sums it up. Do you think we could just pause now for bit, somewhere near the top and manage not to have another downleg? Well, probably not...!

I really hoped today we'd see a bit of a nice settling down. I think shares look pretty good value and a lot of recession is priced in already. But it's not really possible to be brave enough to buy massive amounts at this point because we just don't know if this is the bottom yet and people are scared.

However I bought a few things mainly after the weekend announcements helped the markets to rocket. I've bought a number of shares though to smaller stakes than before credit crunch. And with really not a great deal of confidence.

I am now really hoping I bought these somewhere near the bottom because I really really don't want to sell them. I would like to hang onto these for a while. All were bought because the prices looked ridiculously cheap even though I got a lot of them after they'd risen a bit. I still feel cautious and so am mainly in of cash most which will probably remain on the sidelines for the time being in case of a further downturn.

In no especial order here are the small tentative buys!:

PV Crystalox. (PVCS) - sold this recently and could hardly believe the 108 price. Which I duly missed by dawdling but did get 2,500 at 112.75. Target 140 stop 105.

I picked up some Dragon Oil 1,500 shares at 128.75. Target 180. Stop 100.

I bought BTG Group (BGC) - 3,000 at 121.75p - looks crazily underpriced. Target 170 stop 100.

Bargain of the day? Maybe Dmatek (DTK)? it has been approached by another company yet this bid target had hardly moved much and considering it's easily worth the price without a bid looked a goodie and got 3,500 shares at 120p. Target 150 stop 105. It was quite hard to get them and I had to buy in lots of 2,000 then 1,500. That looks good as the price has now gone over 130. If the bid doesn't happen the price will return to 115 and I won't lose that much. Best guess for bid price is 150-160.

Finally I had a little nibble in an interesting little company, Zotefoams (ZTF) - where I picked up a speculative small 2,500 shares at 92p. Target 110 stop 80. Only 2 market makers which is why I only got a small amount but in better times could be one that could be snapped up by a predator.

I took profits on the FTSE short at 4164 to bank a profit of £2,225. A nice profit however not that pleased with myself as I so nearly pressed the button at something like 3,900! But I didn't did I?

And I bought another short for a fiver at 4487 after it had leapt up on the basis that it just had to come back. Again, finger in the air stuff from me, I pretend nothing else with indices.

Surprisingly, or stupidly I've held onto the other two shorts as I think Next and Travis Perkins still look dodgy and there will still be a recession.

Elsewhere the "brave buy" in Petrofac at the height of the fear on Friday paid off with quick profits of more than £1,500 - the only thing is I haven't taken the profit (dum dum) and still hold - but the profit is still there, just not so good and I mustn't let it go entirely so will remain watchful.

Elsewhere Vislink remains in excellent profit and Telecom Plus is very nice and steady.

The DB ETF short has worked brilliantly in the ISA and helped the ISA to make money from downside, however taking no credit for it for the website because I feel it is too complex an instrument to discuss here.

Congrats to anyone trading well at the moment, it is extremely difficult out there.

Friday 10th October

Markets

  When I said "What a week" last week, I didn't think I'd be saying it this week. But..

What a week!

While of course making money in these markets is very hard and hanging on to what you're got is probably the best plan, it also feels exciting to be actually living through historic times.

I'm not quite sure what else I can say that I haven't said. What a mess!

Nothing matters much now except for feelings of fear. And while fear and uncertainty continues prices aren't going up.

Bush is due to speak this afternoon and maybe he can pull something out of the bag - but I wonder what there is left for him to say. Apart from we're ok, will someone please buy some flipping shares....

We've had the bailout, we've had the interest rate cut - I guess there's another interest rate cut on the way. But what else have they got?

The performance in the US is going to be very important. Will we turn a corner later today or is it going to get worse? It could easily bounce a lot higher given the huge falls.

For the moment we just don't know and it seems foolish to do an awful lot else but stay mainly on the sidelines.

It's a shame as there are countless bargains out there - real real bargains. I would have been going crazy for these prices just a few days ago. I would love to have the nerve to buy a lot of stuff.

But it's going to take some substantial buyers to get stuck in here and buy. We know fund manager Anthony Bolton is/has. Sir Alan Sugar has bought 4% of Woolworths! And all those on the sidelines will probably kick themselves when the market at whatever point starts to power up.

I suspect it'll fire up just as quickly on the upside as it went down. But the problem is we just don't know what else might happen next and it won't take much to get the nerves jangling again.

However.. I was rather taken with the Petrofac (PFC) price this morning especially after its decent statement and couldn't quite resist getting a few - tried when it hit a low of 360 but my broker was out to lunch. In the end got some with a spreadfirm at 383 for a tenner. Then eventually after he woke up the broker got me 500 shares at 398p. Bit annoyed at missing nearly 40 points there. Oh well. Brokers are hard to get hold of early doors at the moment. And often their websites are crashed.

Anyway Petrofac has got loads of cash and a great business. Looks an amazing price but of course it could get cheaper! Target 550 stop 350.

It's just an idea and of course it'll tumble again if markets carry on falling. But it's my first new attempt at finding a bottom in something! Let's see! I topsliced a small part of my huge Telecom Plus holding at a shade over 320. We'll call that taking profits of £1,442 on the last lot bought for the site. No worries here for me and still a long-term fan, it just looked likely to bounce down to 300 in the turmoil. Which indeed it did and in fact at 300 I.'m getting tempted to dip in again, looks very likely to spark up from here especially as level 2 shows few sellers.

Of course my shorts are really bringing home some great profits right now - Next and Travis Perkins, two longer-term shorts are both showing really good profit. I guess I have to be careful, when the markets get back into their stride I would hate to lose the short profits, will be hard one to call.

Good luck to all of you in these markets. And special respect to anyone getting stuck in and buying. My gut instinct is you could be right. Me, I stay chicken for a bit longer.

Cluck.

Wednesday 8th October

Markets

  I'm sure you are like me hurling various f words and worse at the markets, politicians, market makers, other traders, in fact everyone!

Things are just so fast moving, it's hard to keep up with everything.

That's the problem, you never know what will happen next and what will be the next bit of good or bad news, mainly bad.

What a day it's been so far... I was just sitting down to watch PMQs when they announced the half per cent global interest rate cut. That sent markets spiralling up. And the volatility!

Is it just possible we are going to start to bottom out? Or is it a slight temporary relief?

Is it time to start buying stocks again... or are they going to tumble some more first. Oh, if only I knew for sure. My initial thoughts are it could be a time to start buying again - but now I'm afraid of getting in too early - I tried that last week to encounter losses!

I've gone further into holding cash and taken a few more small losses rather than risk them getting bigger.

I've also hedged quite nicely using covered put warrants but I feel they are a complicated instrument which I shouldn't discuss here. I've also used an ETF short in my ISA which has made me a nice sum so far and helped to protect on losing longs.

And again I've turned to spreadbetting to short the FTSE - I shorted for a fiver at 4891 and closed this morning on the big fall at 4400 to make profits of £2,455. As I made this between updates I've decided not to take any credit for it on the website totals etc.

I also managed to get a short of a fiver on the FTSE this lunchtime a few minutes after the rate cut was announced - it had gone up crazily about 200 points or something and I thought, short term kneejerk? So I got a short on at 4609 for a fiver which is as I write in profit by £500. Of course I could be out of this by the time you read this given volatility- determined to take some kind of profit on it and I'll bail out if the index starts to rise (of course like all of you I'd rather it did start to rise). In fact I hope I am out of it by the time you read this as it means the markets will be moving up.

Anyway talking bailouts here are mine. It's a horrible feeling realising losses or losing paper profits and I hate doing it (with gritted teeth) .. but it has to be done and I always feel relieved after I've done it. I played some of these badly but at least I took the losses and all these go into my notebook to be examined. The best and most profitable investors/traders are quick to take losses on the chin.

I sold Dragon first thing Monday at 158.51 for a profit of £61, surprised it hadn't opened lower. PVC went at 148.8 for a combined profit of £36. Very disappointed indeed, at one point profits were large. Costain was sold at 24.25 for a loss of £265. "Defensive" Mears didn't end up being defensive at all and went at 272-12 for a loss of £1,234. Though at least I'd made some money on it previously. Gamble Heritage went at 205.25 for a loss of £89.

So, as I said while painful (well perhaps more irritating!) to take some losses, better to get rid and move along. After all I can always buy back.

So what's my feeling now? Well, I'm a half full chap and this might sound surprising but I'm actually very excited to have a wall of cash sitting there waiting. Because I do think in a year or so some of the prices we see now are going to look crazy.

And we'll all sit there going why didn't I have the balls to buy when it all looked so bad? Human nature of course. It's hard to go against the crowd.

Fund manager Anthony Bolton is buying and mentioned that "We've Seen The Bottom of the Abyss"..

Let's hope he is right, that would be great! What we can all hope now is that today's events will sink in over the coming days and we will start to see some light and have confidence to start buying again.

Warren Buffet says: Be greedy when all are being fearful. And I bet he's buying. Just call me chicken for right now.

I really do think there is a lot of money to be made soon. But... for me, I would rather miss a few of the upside points and for right now this wednesday lunchtime I'll just wait a bit first..

I've got a long list of stocks I think look amazing value and I would love to start buying up my shopping list soon! Gradually tucking away some good quality plays soonish and holding for 6 months to a year could pay off for me.

However you are playing the current crazy times, I wish you all the best. And if you have more courage than me and are buying at the moment, I salute your courage.

Finally I would say it's amazing how sentiment changes and it would not surprise me in the slightest if we were up 300 points tomorrow!

Strange, historic and weirdly exciting times.

Wednesday 1st October

Markets

  I'm sure most of you are like me..HELP!!!!!

How can you invest in a market like this? Just not possible until things settle down. Of course great conditions for day traders and quick in and out index traders - well done them, never been much good at it myself. Thank heavens for the shorts for the time being which have made me decent money in absence for the moment of being able to make much on the upside.

I guess we are living through a time of market history and everyone is scared and fearful. We're all worried we're going to lose all our money.

Dramatic goings on... huge falls followed by a rise and nothing at all matters except whether the US bailout is approved or not! Our shares are going up and down on that and nothing else. Not even results or good news makes any difference. Looks like this week is going to be very important. But one way or another our fates should be decided by the end of the week.

I'm sure many of you have found all these strange moves very stressful. But in the end of course one doesn't have to trade! I suspect over the last few weeks the best trade has been no trade.

Thing is even if the bailout gets passed it still could be rocky times for a while. Even though things seem good and the FTSE is rising fast at the moment I'm just not sure.

However I'm going to try and look ahead and some GOOD news! With the market always looking to the future it WILL bottom out at some point and there are lots and lots of bargain shares about.

My thoughts are not to be too hasty but spend the back end of this year gradually tucking away good strong shares at bottom prices for some hopefully great profits in the future.

My plan is to scale in very very slowly. I don't feel the need to try and chase bounces up as they could be the dead cat variety. So slow, and cautious for me.

I think we also have to remember - capitulation like we've seen often means we're close to the bottom. Maybe we're not there yet but maybe we're not far off. And in the end better to take small losses now and ensure the capital is there to make money again when it turns.

What have I been doing? In summary I sold a number of shares for small losses as they turned down (tight stops helped). The last lot I bought to small stakes but because of the US turmoil the timing was wrong. What do I do when the timing is out? Get out fast to small losses rather than waiting for bigger ones. Then I try and scale back in slowly. Finding the bottom of this market is not easy. But I reckon generally it's better to get out then get back in.

So after selling off things at small losses I also made a few small bargain basement buys (I hope). The idea behind these are some good strong companies that look bargains. However of course they will go down if the markets continue to tank so I'll sell up using tight stops if I'm wrong. If they have nearly bottomed I'll hold medium term. If the bailout fails or the turmoil worsens I'll quit.

Sales first: mostly small losses thanks to stops! As I'd kept stakes small and stops tight not too much damage was done.

Charter 678 (-£133) Galliford 53.5 (-£273 ) Hardy 455.5 (-£205) Optos 116.35 (- £161) Celsis 154.3 (- £24) Fidessa 750 (-£87) Dragon 215.36 (+ £245) Unite 247.28 (+£202).

Now onto the profitable FTSE shorts! Sadly I came out of the first way too early closing before the crash at at 5155 for a profit of £830. Oh, why didn't I just stay with it for way bigger profits?

I have kept the other running for sometime and couldn't decide whether to close. Anyway it was closed at 5143. However, I did reopen at 5000 on Monday which I closed at 4836 - so for website ease rather than displaying 2 positions, the short is closed at 4836 minus 143 points missed over the weekend for a profit of £1,610. Total short FTSE 100 profits of £2,440.

Now some small bottom fishing! All small stakes with tight stops to exit fast especially if the US bailout doesn't happen..

Petrofac (PFC) 500 shares at 581.31p, Charter (CHTR) 500 at 616, Fenner (FENR) 1,500 at 170.4, Dragon (DGO) 1,000 at 179.4. Stops and target will appear in the trades table tomorrow. (Even though if things get rough again I may already be out).

I'm fairly obviously playing a dangerous game here as it the bailout is blocked these could easily be losers. However, all these companies look great value at current prices and I think it's worth a bit of risk for small stakes. If the market mood changes I'd scale back into them a bit more. And I'd keep them for a while.

Great news from Telecom Plus - plenty of new offers including lots of ways for their customers to save even more on their fuel bills, plus a decent pay as you go mobile offer. They've also shown a lot of confidence by buying up their office building for £9m so they can expand. Shares hold up well and I'm still confident of a great performance over the next year and remains a long-term hold with profits still up near the £30,000 mark. It's held pretty steady recently.

Brilliant deal for Redhall which is buying Chieftain and has confirmed a placing. The market makers marked it down to the placing price so I'm holding on here. Long-term this looks a continued grower and I'm up nearly 4X since buying for my pension. Yet more director buying from Vislink, quite amazing confidence being shown here and now very nicely in profit there.

Still holding those profitable shorts in Next and Travis P even though of course they are up today. Next is being squeezed and Travis has a massive debt.

Well done to any of you who made a decent profit on HBOS recently.. I just didn't have the nerve!!

Well, who knows that the week will bring. One thing for sure: if they don't pass this bill, all bets are off apart from shorts!.

Wednesday 24th September

Markets

  Crazy times, Craazy markets. When are they going to settle down? Because right now it's next to impossible to invest.

Because one minute one bloke in the USA says something and everything goes down, next minute another bloke says something and it all goes up. Fear is driving the markets and this fear is driving me crazy - I expect it's the same with you.

My view for the moment is simple: I'm keeping stakes low and actually trying hard NOT to trade.

In the end markets are waiting to see whether the toxic debt rescue is going to go ahead and we should know by the end of the week.

So chances are by the end of the week shares could be a lot lower or a lot higher. Take your pick! If you have a view you could make a lot of money.

I don't personally know, I've never been able to forecast. I try not to mind if I miss an upturn. There's always chances to make money one way or another.

I guess I'm waiting till it decides which way it's going. I suppose it should be a done deal shouldn't it? But will it have a really big effect? Dunno - send me a time machine and I'll tell you.

I feel it's probably worth having a short or two open as a hedge. I've made quite a lot of money this year shorting the FTSE. In fact really I should have just stuck with that original short I did early in the year at about 6600!

But spurred on by the near £5,000 I made shorting it last week, I shorted the FTSE again and I have a fiver short at 5321 and a fiver short at 5301.

With the FTSE seemingly now able to move 400 points these days in a few minutes these currently profitable positions (about £1,500 profit) could become losers just like that! So I have to keep an eye on them and try and exit before a big swing up. At least with FTSE bets (and that's what they are) you can exit after hours. I might already be out by the time you read this!

I also shorted by old mate Next again (NXT) this time for a fiver at 1195. Target 1000 stop 1250. Reasons for this discussed endlessly previously! Next can move very fast and I don't expect to hang about it this one turns into a loser.

Elsewhere right now some good, some not sure and some dubious! Trouble is in these fast moving markets good can become bad and bad become good in the matter of minutes if you know what I mean!

Let's start with the good! Vislink continues to blossom and currently nicely 15% or so in profit - directors are buying like fury here with another 200,000 purchase announced yesterday. These directors have really been putting their money into the company and that's got to be a good sign and I hope this one could deliver bigtime.

Dragon's been going well - 230p seems to be the area where it struggles to go higher. Looks cheap but it's been a falling knife for a while.

Telecom Plus remains a solid defensive play - it holds its annual conference on Sunday with various announcements. There could be some buying on Monday if distributors like the announcements and buy in. I'm still in profits here by nearly £30,000 for the site.

Still nice profits in Mears, it really is trying hard to go up and again is nicely defensive.

In the not sure department: The Heritage gamble goes well for now.. waiting for news of the bid here. If it's off I'm stuffed, if it's on I'm a winner, it's definitely called gambling which I try not to do too often. Hardy's disappointing but hanging in there because it moves so fast on thin order book trading.

PV Crystallox has been looking in fine fettle and though it goes down on down days there is some decent buying behind the scenes. I stupidly missed taking massive profits in Unite when it spiked up to 330! I blame it on the cat and the toddler who distracted me at the wrong time. Look, it's only human to blame someone else (copyright Gordon Brown). Actually whenever I lose on a share I am now going to blame someone. It's never my own fault., ok?

The Travis Perkins short has been excellent with well over 100 pts profit so far. Hmm, started to get tempted to take them!

Anyway for right now I'm happy to be reasonably light with cash on the sidelines and not much open spreadbetting wise. After all there is no rush for me. I made a lot of money this year so why throw it away by throwing caution to the winds?

If you're currently trading or investing I do wish you the best of luck. But also remember I think sometimes the best trade of all really is.... no trade! I'm looking forward to the near future when the market has sorted out its level and stops being so painfully volatile.

Wednesday 17th September

Markets

  If you're not currently investing well done!!! To anyone who is, let me on your behalf de-stress by bellowing:

"AAArrrrrrgggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"!

Followed by f!%***!! and s1&&!!!!

Extraordinary few days. Can't remember anything like this since 2000 when the techs crashed. Even then it wasn't that bad as there was plenty of time to exit.

The worst thing is Hbos! Down 50% in a few minutes then up 50% and pretty much untradeable anyway.. then the BBC is allowed to "break" a story about a Lloyds takeover.. yet the shares remain unsuspended. How can they be allowed to release market sensitive "news" that hasn't been confirmed?

By the time you read this or in the next couple of days, the Hbos takeover will probably be announced - at what price though? Who would ever have thought two years ago that FTSE companies could move 50% or more in a few minutes?

When I heard about Leaman on Monday I knew we were in for a bad time and my immediate thought was to protect capital so I sold off during the course of the day.

In a fear driven market like this everything gets hit - good company or not - and like most investors I ran for the hills keeping only the really strong stuff (or so I think).

Of course the problem we all face is: what if I'm selling at the bottom? Well, this is possible but under these conditions it has to be safety first for me and let the market show it wants to rise.

It's very, very hard indeed for all investors particularly those like me with longer-term positions. Nothing worse than seeing profits eroded.

Very luckily I have two FTSE shorts that have paid off in big style, and an ETF short in my ISAs which have paid off well and covered warrants in my sipp which have all really helped.

If you're a private investor feeling devasted by the falls if I can offer some crumbs of comfort.. there are amazing bargains appearing and the markets look ahead 6 months. If this crisis blows over there will be some lovely bargains to be had and money can yet be made again.

September is going to be difficult and I'd rather miss a few points on the way back up than have much open for now or buying much new. So for right now I'm staying extremely cautious. I would hope by the time we hit mid October things will have settled down.

Anyway here's my get out list - there's no point making much comments as they're all sold for the same reasons - get out with some profit intact! I was lucky to get out mainly on Monday as a lot more damage was done yesterday.

The other part of the successful Pendragon gamble was sold at 10.3 for a profit of £285.

Galiford Try was sold at 54.5 for a profit of £693 - definitely one on the buyback list when things improve. Dragon went at 223.25, profit £285. I took fright as the oil price started to tumble. Another on the buyback list when at some point I can actually get near the bottom of the oil price. Fidessa went through the stop but missed it completely (doh!) and sold way lower than I could have at 790 for a loss of £752. Stupid boy.

And Havelock went at 61.4 for a profit of £325 - this a definite re-buy shortly. Elementis went at 82.25 for a profit of £137. All these sales through pure caution. I can always buy these pretty decent companies back and probably will. Total profit for the site £973.

The FTSE shorts have paid off big time with profits at the moment of well over £4,000. It is most definitely getting tempting to take profit on at least one of the positions but haven't quite pressed the closeout button yet. The Travis Perkins short also in good profits for the moment.

Surprisingly one or two of my more defensive picks have worked out quite well - in particular Mears which is one of the few stocks that has actually gone up during the sell off. Very good sign indeed.

It rocketed this morning (not sure what that was about) and came back but I'm still very nicely up. The fact there are good buyers around even during the turmoil is a great sign.

Also going very well is Vislink where I'm up more than 10% - as I thought was the case there was yet more director buying - and this is very big buying indeed.

Also rising well in a falling market is Unite - another very good sign. Telecom Plus has come back a bit but not much and I think profit takers might shortly regret it..

So for the moment quite happy with the cautious stance. By the next time I update goodness knows what will have happened. It would not surprise me in the slightest if the FTSE was at 4800 or 5500!

A traders... rather than an investors market it remains for the short-term.

Friday 12th September

Markets

  We're still up and down and I'm still cautious. The rescue of the banks in the US has seen the markets do well but I'm not convinced yet - I've bought some put warrants and ETFs to hedge against further downside but I feel these instruments are too complex to discuss or list on the website. There is the danger of some further downside which is why I am sticking with the FTSE shorts.

Interesting moves at Vislink (VLK) where I bought a few more, another 10,000 at 27.75p. What attracted me was some obvious behind the scenes buying and that was confirmed today with announcement of a large buy of 200,000 shares by a director during the week. That's a pretty confident buy. With a new management team this could be a great turnaround play.

Now there seems to be further buying today and I wonder if on Monday we will see some more director buys announced. If this heralds the bottom for Vislink this could see a very nice rise indeed. The share is very liquid at the moment which is a bonus. As many as 50,000 to 100,000 shares eem easily tradeable. Target 35 stop 24.

I've taken a wee gamble that oil prices might just be bottoming out and to small money I've bought back a couple of oil stocks - Dragon (DGO) and Heritage (HOIL). Dragon 1,000 shares at 218.21p and 1,500 at 220.94. Heritage 1,000 at 190.45p. Tight stops on these in case the oil price tumbles again. Stops 208 and 185, targets 270 and 230.

These are really some first steps into the oil sector which I think starts to look very oversold. I suppose I could just play the oil price itself but unsure of myself there. Tight stops to get out quick if I'm catching a falling knife.

I'm tucking away one or two property companies ahead of a likely upturn next summer and nipped a few Costain (COST) 10,000 sharres at 26.9. Target 35 stop 23. Some nice contract wins coming in here. And it's a company that seems to be shoring up well during the credit crunch. A long-term view here unless the stop is hit.

In the shorting department (betting on shares to go down) I've shorted my old friend Travis Perkins (TPK) for a fiver at 729. I made a nice sum shorting this recently - it's risen quite a way but the big debt is still there and the sector is still in the doldrums.

So wisely or not, I've used a bit of the cash pile!

In the end in bits and pieces I got the Telecom Plus shares I wanted on the order book at 366! (Ie buying at the "sell" price However given the site has so many of these I'll leave this off the portfolio for here!

Elsewhere no sales to report as for now reasonably happy. Unite has motored up nicely- a large bullish report on this in the Mail yesterday suggesting it as a potential bid target.

Mears has nicely gone back over 300p. Optos remains a bit stubborn but the 120 support holds. Synergy is all over the place but a couple of bigger buyers coming in and the price rising well today. The Fidessa spread is often ridiculous right now and very annoying.

Cineworld is starting to creep up - it's one of those shares that once it goes, it really goes. Here's hoping.

Some nice gains for PV Crystallox today.. very nicely in profit on these.I thought Galliford's statement was fine but profit-takers have moved in. I'm staying in!

Friday 05th September

Markets

  The US unemployment figures were not good yesterday and caused a massive sell off which I took part in. As I've been saying there's not much to keep the market up at the minute. Actually it could do with a sell off.. because sell-offs mean lovely tasty bargains appearing.

As I said in my last update I was quite keen to take profits and short and the pullback starting yesterday lunchtime forced me to do it.

There just seems more likelihood of more down than up for now and it seemed sensible to sell up some positions, take the cash. While I love to run winners it seems pointless to lose good profits.

By the way picture this: Toddler was forcing me to play while I was trying to sell. One finger on the laptop while I was forced to dance furiously to music, then sit down then dance again etc. That would make a very funny video! Oh on top of that the cat was demanding food and the cleaner was vacuuming under me..

Before the sell off started I rebought the Celsis (CEL) I sold last week - and rebought 1,500 shares at 155.9. Target 190 stop 148. Well unbelievably it's held through the selloff so far. Got to be a good sign (he said hopefully)

First thing I did on the US figures was to lob in a fresh FTSE short or two: one for a fiver at 5500 and the other a bit later: another fiver at 5431. After regretting taking small profits on the recent FTSE shorts I was happy to press sell again. Figures due out in the US later today will push it down more or up a bit..

I sold and bought back Optos. Sell was at 132.4 to take aloss of £752 and £228. Just too much downward pressure on low volume. But I couldn't resist the price available today and bought a new lot of OPTS shares, 3,000 at 121.7p - that price looked a steal. Target 150 stop 105. Still looks a great business to me and looks way oversold even in this poor marketplace. And I notice there is a big buyer on the order book at 120.

As I said I wasn't sure about Barclays and decided to exit at 334.83 for a profit of £413 - I also got two large dividends too and with the recent profit taking on the spreadbet it was a nice trade although even nicer if I'd quit at the top around 370!

Fenner went at 234.61 to bag a profit of £163. Looks like it's in a 220-240 range for now. If 225 holds it could be a good buyback. Dragon went at 267 for a loss of £138. I actually was looking to buy but the 270 support was crumbling so I changed my mind. Just as well as the 270 support giving way was a bad sign which proved to be the case. However in a strange way I'm happy because at some point not far away a well timed buy here could see me double my money.. I think..

Smith and Nephew went at 635 for a profit of £181 and 641 on the spreads for a profit of £590. Watch for a bid now this afternoon!!

BTG kept battling against 240 and couldn't make it so sold some but not all at 237.25.. for site purposes closing the last two positions for a combined profit of £1,343 - and leaving open the initial position from 177. Again looking to buyback on a bad day.

Weir sold at 855.5 for a profit of £155. I topsliced some small Mears at 306.5 - call it the 300s pos for a profit of £68. Hold the rest quite happily.

Goodwin was sold at 1150 for a profit of £387. I said I was being too greedy at 1200. Havelock had a very good run in a down market and I sold half at 70 this morning for a profit of £600 on the 58 position - I kind of regret it already but I keep the other position open and indeed am looking to buy some more on any weakness - it still looks undervalued by some way.

Finally took part profit on the Pendragon gamble selling at 12 for a profit of £603 on pos 1. After all that was the target and I also got a nice dividend. Will keep the rest open for fun and see what happens.

Profits and losses taken add up to £3,385 profit for the site.

Elsewhere there are shares I am happy to hold onto through the current bear market downturn and my biggest holding by far Telecom Plus has been going steadily higher and today we can see why: it says it expects profits "signficantly" ahead of market forecasts - there is massive customer and distributor growth.

It's bringing its sales conference forward to the end of this month and some new offerings are expected. Far from taking profits, if only I didn't have so many I'd be buying more. Profits sit at more than £30,000 for the website and £100,000 outside the ISA. Bad times is good times for Telecom Plus as more people want to become distributors to being more money in. (If you want to become one e-mail me.., I've been a distributor for ten years and it got me out of the rat race).

It now edges nearer and nearer to a place in the FTSE 250 which could happen next year and add much more to the price.

Good profits in Galliford and on balance will hold on there.

After all the taking profits I am actually rather pleased and wouldn't mind at all if the markets tanked some more.

Why? Because it's going to throw up some amazing bargains and I think there is a lot of profit I can make before the year is out. It's going to be a matter of timing and I hope to wade in with some buys on one really bad day when all hope seems lost. Always the best time to buy. Here's hoping I can get it right!

Robbie Burns has been trading successfully for over 9 years, having spent 1996 to 2001 as finance and general editor for Sky TV's text services. Robbie has started this commentary page on Sky and Channel 5 text in 2000 and ran it until summer 2002, during which time he made profits of more than £50,000, even during the bear market from 2001.

Robbie also owned an independent cafe and catering business but has now disposed of it meaning that he trades more or less full time. He uses ISA's, PEP's and spread betting to avoid tax liabilities and runs his own pension fund in a SIPP. Visit his site here

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