Robbie Burns - Interesting! The dips keep getting bought and it continues to be an excellent couple of weeks for both traders and investors. Except perhaps for those heavily into gold.
I notice chemical companies are going well so I went for the cheapest one I could find which is Yule Catto (YULC) getting 2,000 shares on Monday at 195.5 plus a £20 spreadbet at the same price.
Some really good figures coming from Yule Catto which makes chemicals which are used in many of the things we use at work and home. A nice surge through 200 should see 230 but I'm after 250 within a couple of months. Target 250 stop 177.
I noticed Mouchel Parkman (MCHL) has fallen to under 100 and I couldn't resist that - especially given the share has already been a bid target so I picked up £30 on a spreadbet at 93 and 5,000 in real shares at 97.2. This proved an excellent buy as the share has already gone back up over 100. Target 160 stop 90.
I've also bought some Creston (CRE) - in fact looking at the trades I was the ONLY buyer before results getting 5,000 at 85.1. Results showed the company is now cash positive after making £28m on a sale. This makes it look extremely cheap now and with the debt gone makes it an interesting take over target.
At its current price and with an impressive list of top clients I think if I was a rival much bigger advertising firm I'd be snapping it up Creston at this sort of price. So while the price hasn't moved much on results I intend to hold this for a while as I think value will ultimately come out and there might be some decent upside. Target 140 stop 80.
I sold off two shares that I've been holding for some time!
I hadn't intended on selling PZ Cussons...I've held for a long time and indeed I was expecting to hold for another couple of years. But I sold because although results were excellent for right now after a massive rise of 100 points in just a few weeks the price looks up with events and so I'm banking profits, hoping to buy back again a little lower at some point.
I sold at 354.5 and 354 banking a lovely profit of £4,804 on the share positions and spreadbet. It's been a truly fabulous trade and it won't be long before I'm back in.
I also sold my SDL 548 for a profit of £1,341 and the spreadbet at the same time at just under 547 for a profit of £3,960 to make a total profit of £5,301.
My reason is results are due and looking at it again it made an acquistion which won't benefit profits for quite a while, so as with PZ, I think shares are up with events and again I look to buy back a bit lower later this year.
Of course this is just my view and the market might disagree in which case I've sold off two decent shares too early. Still, very decent profits banked in both, indeed profits on both amount to a total of £10,105.
And sometimes, it is nice to get a big profit in the bank!
Good news abound around the portfolio.. where to start with plenty of my companies reporting!!
Pace produced a decent report and acquisition and has shot up giving me a very decent profit... I wondered about taking profits but I think there may be more there yet.
Volex produced another very decent update - a nice profit and that statement means I'm holding tight!!
Dialight's results were top notch.. excellent growth here justifying a more than double in price since I bought with huge profits building there now. And directors think there is more upside with some good buying yesterday. I've lifted the target here to 500 which I think it can get to based on current trading.
Long-termer Microgen produced another brilliant report - doubled on these after buying them last year. It has tons of cash and will be returning some - really well done to this company.
African Aura too produced a decent and promising update but it seems to move very slowly, patience required I guess.
Star performer for this update goes to BTG Group - a fantastic lift over 200 - and great profits - this is one I won't be letting go of just yet!
Supergroup couldn't manage to get through 1000 after doubling but it's likely to have another go but what a terrible spread! Recent buy Mulberry has zoomed over 300 but couldn't quite hold there. Waiting for another attempt.
Nestor Healthcare is trying to crack zoomed up to 70 though it can't quite crack that yet - lovely performer this one now has profits of more than £13,000. Must be something good coming here judged from the trading. And there is already bid activity in the sector.
Devro hit 225 but slipped back from there but just a matter of patience for a ride up to 250 I think
IG Group reported brilliant results - seems to be growing in all areas - I was tempted to take profits but there looks to be more upside. It's growing nicely outside the UK.
Spice sits nicely higher after it rejected yet another bid this time at a higher price of the mid 60s. I reckon Spice topbrass are holding out for 75p a share which would suit me just fine!
Essar remains one I seem to struggle with, but I'll give it a bit more time just in case.
Lovely Petrofac has surged again heading for nearly 1300 and together with Enquest sees me sitting on profits way in excess of £20,000.
What can I say about XP Power except wish I hadn't taken profits along the way.... now nearly a four timer with massive profits.
Alternative Networks consolidates well after its recent rises. Micro Focus has slipped a bit - bit of a yellow card on that one for now.
Hyder produced a very strong statement and a potential bid looks like it's in there for nothing! It can't get through 350 but a bid could easily see 500.
Aggreko has seen a massive rise and it gets further bought every time it weakens - made a big amount here in a short time but I'm intending to stay with it during any dips like the last couple of days.
So again good progress with little work for me to do. I wonder whether perhaps this could be a nice quiet summer?
Wow. I really never expected such a powerful upmove!
However of course I'm very happy about it and the last week has been incredible with some huge gains across the board.
The only problem is after such a big move there has got to be some profit taking so one imagines a pullback here but could it be followed by more upside? if only I knew! I currently am sitting on about £4,500 in profits on FTSE upbets - right now despite today's pullback still sticking with them.
With such a powerful upmove I tend to simply hold onto the good stuff but get rid of anything that didn't move or went down - ie I prefer to take small losses on the non performers than bank the giant profits in the goodies.
After the decent Fresnillo (FRES) profit I bought back in with a spreadbet (or two) getting a fiver on at 1013 and another at 1015. Bid rumours are persistent on this one so it's nice to be in. It's trying to crack 1100. Of course if can move 50-60 points in one hit so it remains dangerous. Target 1200 stop 990.
I bought a few Mulberry (MUL) on the spreads as it's aim for £15 at 252. This came up late on at the last seminar - ladies there told me Mulberry was hot right now and its bags are in big demand. And what do you know? The Mrs has one and apparently she and friends lust after these high margin bags! Worth a go! Target 350 stop: whenever the Mrs sells the bag and moves onto a different label.
As I said I looked to get rid of anything going down in the up market so Mouchel went at 129-50 for a loss of £40 and Essar at 448.75 for a breakeven. Both were falling while the market rocketed which was a good clue to exit for now. However both have potential so I'll watch. Wee gamble Vislink produced a statement which I can't describe in words on a family website and it went at 18.3 for a loss of £370.
London produced a decent statement but it didn't stop the seller in there I talked about before coming back in strongly so I gave up for now and it went at 130.25 and 125.25 for near breakeven. They look very undervalued now and expect to be back in when seller clears. The Ite short never looked like paying off and that was exited at 142 for a loss of £60. I closed one of the Afren spreadbets at 85 for a profit of £100 leaving the other as though support is there in the low 80s it looks unconvincing at the moment and didn't take part in the up move.
I banked one of the Supergroup spreadbets at 805 to bank a profit of £1,330 leaving the other open - just seemed an idea to bank some of the good profits before results as they're really roared. If they fall on results then at least I've banked some good profits, if they go up I still have a bet live!
That's a total profit (minus the losses) for the site of £960.
There are so many star performers this week it's hard to give the top award. However I suppose just about squeaking it is Devro which has risen very strongly - it simply looks like it continues to get a re rating. It's risen to 220p area very nicely and would hope for a consolidation here.
Nestor Healthcare probably gets the next star award for a lovely jump over 60p - this one now has profits of more than £12,000. Must be something good coming here judged from the trading.
Telecom Plus put out a very confident statement today, all appears to be going very nicely there - and it also went ex dividend for a massive 14p which means in a month I'll get a whopping dividend cheque of over £5,000. Better than having the money in the bank? I think so! Looks like a continued great hold for a whacking dividend and further capital increase. Massive paper profits here of over £20,000.
Spice sits nicely higher after it rejected yet another bid this time at a higher price of the mid 60s. I reckon Spice topbrass are holding out for 75p a share which would suit me just fine!
Lovely Petrofac has surged again and together with Enquest sees me sitting on profits way in excess of £20,000. Volex has nearly doubled for me and goes well.
What can I say about XP Power except wish I hadn't taken profits along the way.... now nearly a four timer with massive profits.
IG Group has been a fab trade and up strongly this week - volatility working well there.
Top up PZ Cussons still goes strong, consolidating its brilliant run and has now hit nearly 350. Been superb and keeps climbing ignoring whatever the FTSE is doing. Been a magic trade - it is tempting to bank profits but there seems little holding it back for now.
Alternative Networks consolidates well after its recent rises.Micro Focus is doing nicely but can it get through the sticky 450 area?
Hyder produced a very strong statement and a potential bid looks like it's in there for nothing!
BCG Group also said things were going well and shares have responded. 200p is the price to beat.
Aggreko has seen a massive rise and it gets further bought every time it weakens - made a big amount here in a short time but I'm intending to stay with it during any dips.
Dialight has soared over 300 and looks strong after a statement which looked good. I've doubled on these now and more and wonder if 400p is achievable.
SDL has hit 500 again handing me big profits - I can't decide whether to take them ahead of results in August.
Markets remain extremely nervous. The worry is about the double dip. I think it should be noted the market is about half way between where it topped out recently and where it bottomed when we had the bank crisis.
Which is probably about fair. But then we have fear which could kick it down a lot further than is really fair.
Every set of stats coming out of the US is poured over to decide where we are going.
Today's non job farm manure tractor pay roll double skinny latte stats seemed to go down ok and markets are rebounding as I write but can they keep up any bounce? Especially as US shares are closed on Monday? How the hell should I know? Ask one of those important-looking people in suits on BloomCNBberg.
Given the best time to buy shares is when investors have sold everything and run for the hills, I now have some cash ready and waiting for any super dupa dip.
I'm eyeing up Mouchel (MCHL) as a new potential bid candidate and bought some today - 2,500 at 130.7 - I also have an order on the book for 2,000 at 128.75 which I might only get if the market tanks this afternoon.
On the fundamentals it's not one I would normally go for as debt levels are a bit high than usual for me and the chart looks horrible. However. there is a lot of bid activity around and at this kind of level it wouldn't be a surprise to wake up one morning and see a bid for this at the 200 area.
As I'm cautious about it otherwise the stop is quite tight as if it kept on going down I wouldn't like to stay in. Target 200 stop 119.
I hardly ever average down as it usually means I'm just buying more of a crap share I shouldn't have bought in the first place.
However I've taken a chance with African Aura (AAAM) and topped up today buying a further 5,000 at 78.8. Target 120 stop 68.
AAAM has been hit like the rest of its sector but seems to have been overhit. The chance is taken, the bet is on. It was too tempting. My guess is those that got scared out by the fall will soon be back in.
My short-term Weir short idea worked out a treat - I looked for a quick bounce down to 1000 and got it. So it was a bit unfortunate I was out at the time and missed banking right on target. I settled for 1019 instead which is still fine for a quick one banking a profit of £390.
Talking shorts I shorted ITE for £30 at 140 - it struggles around the 140 level and looking for a drop to 125. Target 125 stop 146.
Tricky one but took profits on Centamin - mainly because it's struggling to go higher for now. I do like it so it was a close call. However it's gone at 160 for a profit of £675.
Elsewhere recent buys go very well. Alternative Networks (AN.) is going great guns and rises even when the market falls - up again today.
Devro is trying to tackle 200 and is nearly there. A close above 200 a few times would look good for more upside. Micro Focus is going great guns already and looks like a nice buy for now. Hyder goes very nicely and in excellent profit there now and very hopeful of a bid coming there.
Recent buy Supergroup is proving really Super... up more than 60p for a profit of over £1,000 already. Could easily whizz up to a tenner at which point I'm definitely out!
Looks like it could be a super summer which will help LOQ. Shares have rebounded.
BCG Group and Aggreko have fallen back a little after their major gains but still, not bad considering market falls. Dialight got hit a little by not unexpected profit taking but remain in for the longer term.
Top up PZ Cussons still goes strong, consolidating its brilliant run and has now hit nearly 340. Been superb!
Recent buy Essar has had a great day today and held up strongly in the down market too.
Volex hold well in the down market and even rises a little, still looks undervalued despite the gains this year.
It looks a volatile scene with downside bias with likely sudden upside bounces too. Not ideal for investors!
Right enough about shares here are the answers to the quiz questions:
What does this stand for? 4POAM ? Four Presidents On A Mountain!
7AOM = 7 Ages of Man
Which fast food restaurant chain launched in Ohio in 1952? A: Kentucky Fried Chicken
Which is the most dangerous job in the US with a mortality rate of a massive 9%? (Good one this!).
Oh dear - another wobbly. What was it this time? Greece, Spain or Portugal? No - China this time. Hey maybe they won't consume as much as we think.
Or maybe we were worrying too much about that? Let's worry about North Korea then. Or Iran. Or, of course, the football. But most of all, why is no-one worrying about Peckham?
It really is a stock specific market - there is still money to be made in the right stocks and strangely I am still having a good year. However that could change and I'd be an idiot if I just sat on everything and just watch them fall over losing profits. It's could be a hard summer. I've taken some profits and added more defensives.
The problem really is: Where is the good news coming from?
I've bought 1,500 shares in Devro (DVO) at 192.1 and I bought another 1,500 on Monday at 192.9.
A nice defensive against a falling market - it makes sausage casings and other meat casings. A butcher told me he was ordering more casings than ever from Devro so sausages are going well - add in some decent weather and some excellent recent statements I'm happy to be in here. Target 245 stop 158. Apparently Devro has very few rivals. Anyone fancy setting up a sausage casings company?
Another popping up on a scan was Alternative Networks (AN.). Pretty good recent interim figures from this one and I figure any number of rivals could at some point look at these for a potential buyout. The shares are gradually rising and I think there is 20% upside without a bid anyway.
I was going to buy Monday morning at 149 but then nipped into the garden from some tea and toast. When I got back they were 154 to buy! Darn it! Never mind, got 2,000 at 154. Target 190 stop 140. This one could be a nice find.
With Scott Wilson's bid price going even higher I bought a few more Hyder Consulting, (HYC) another 1,000 at 299. Once that bid game is over the bidders might turn their attention to this one or so I hope...
Finally on buys I've been eyeing up getting back into Micro Focus (MCRO) - results were ok but the CEO leaving sent the shares into a nosedive. However back at 400 they looked good value - I was hoping to get back in a bit lower than 400 however they started to bounce nicely this morning so got 1,000 at 408.7 hoping for a ride up to 450 and then maybe 480. Stop 390.
I shorted Weir for a fiver at 1097. It came up recently and on research it's done very well, just looks about 100p too high for now. The more I looked at it the more it looked like a short. Target 1000 stop 1130.
I also shorted Game (GMG). Another one to come up on a recent scan. This one looks a mess in a bad market and I'm targetting a fall to 55ish at which point it would become a decent recovery play! I shorted for £80 at 67.5. Target 55 stop 72. No-one's buying games at actual shops, say my youth correspondents. They go to Game to look at the games then order them cheaper at Amazon. That's what I'm told, I've never played one figuring I'll get hooked on them and never do anything else.
I've had a bit of a profit take.
Fresnillo has been wonderful but it reached the target and more - I stayed too greedy with it and could have taken profits at near 1100. However 999.9 will have to do which is where I sold it today for a profit of £864. Given resource stocks are under pressure it seemed sensible. I had a large spread bet on it too - got a profit of a touch over £4,000 on that one! I think at some point it could be a bid target so would expect to reenter at some point.
Gem Diamonds went at 218.18 for a profit of £41. It hit a downtrend again. And this is one I can never ever seem to get right. I topsliced a few Huntsworth after a strong run selling some at 84.31 to close the last position opened in it for a profit of £961. I hold the rest. Four produced a reasonable statement but it wasn't strong enough for more upside so closed at 223.62 for a profit of £99.
Hilton went at 236 for profit of £351. Boredom set in on that one at last. Dimension went at 99.5 - 100 seems a step too far for now and a profit of £163.
So total profits banked for the site today is £2,479.
I've got a FTSE short open and a put covered warrant in my sipp for the time being which means I can pick up some downside money while still holding onto some of the stronger longs.
Not a bad performance at all from the portfolio given the tanking market this week. Mine haven't faired badly though obviously I need to keep my eyes open but the fall action appears to be in the top stocks for now. Under the radar stocks are sitting there ok.
An excellent statement from Nestor this morning which gives a lift to the shares. I'm in profit by nearly £10,000 on these and bid prospects beckon for more. I feel I can safely hold these for some final upside and a hopeful bid. Also a good statement from Porvair today - bit under the radar that one but hoping for progress up to 100.
My last buy Supergroup is proving really Super... up more than 60p for a profit of over £1,000 already. Could easily whizz up to a tenner at which point I'm definitely out!
Looks like it could be a super summer which will help LOQ. Shares have rebounded.
Dialight's held on to most its big recent gains. BCG Group and Aggreko have fallen back a little after their major gains but still, not bad considering market falls.
Top up PZ Cussons still goes strong, consolidating its brilliant run and has now hit over 330. Been superb!
African Aura has disappointed the last couple of days falling back after hitting 100 but getting tempted to top up on the weakness. Would imagine it will bottom around here before going back up. However it has been hit the same way all the miners have. In hindsight I should have bagged some profit at 100 and now In couldn have bought back. Easy on hindsight though.
Recent buy Essar has had a great day today and held up strongly in the down market too.
London Capital is disappointing but I can't see how its next statement can't be decent with all the volatility in its favour so for that reason it remains a firm hold.
Carclo holds onto its recent good gains after its excellent statement. Entry to smallcap makes it more liquid. Centamin Egypt rises again after its upgrade to its Sukari Gold Project which went down well .
Volex hold well in the down market.
It looks a volatile scene with downside bias with likely sudden upside bounces too. Not ideal for investors.
** No update this Friday as I'll be at a seminar.. Back again as usual with next Wednesday**
Arrrggghh! I made a buy with gritted teeth if that's possible.
I was intending to buy some Supergroup during its float a few weeks ago at 500. For some reason or another I just forgot to. Even worse at a seminar I even had it on the shortlist and we looked at how it would be possible to buy some in the float.
Well, they are now nearly 700 - hence the gritted teeth. But I could resist getting a tenner on the spreads at 662.1 during admittance to the FTSE 250 which caused a price shake-out. I also got another tenner at 672.
Supergroup (SGP) is the supercool fashion retailer that sells to the likes of Posh Spice. It's still expanding and it could get up to the 1000 area. target 1000 stop 590. I set the stop very low as the spread can be crazy early on and it's to save me getting stopped out by the spreadbetters.
I've taken a gamble and nipped a small amount of a dodgy penny - Vislink (VLK) - I bought as it seemed to be stirring from the dead and at its current price I can imagine a predator. Some interesting buying caused me to get 10,000 shares at 22. Target 30 stop 18. It's gone up a little today and I also bagged a 1p dividend as it went ex dividend this morning! Complete gamble.
I hadn't intended on getting any more LOQ but couldn't resist another 1,000 at 106.5 as it turned back up - I think the weakness was Mail on Sunday punters getting scared out of it by market makers after the tip. Now they're out hopefully it'll be marked back up! Target 200 stop 90. See the archive for why I bought LOQ.
The portfolio continues to zoom up, really quite amazing.
Dialight takes centre stage for the big winner of the week! It's doubled and more since I originally bought late last year and I've topped up all the way. Some great buying since it got promotion to the small cap index and even better - Blackrock has bought a load of shares taking it over 15% and there was a 100,000 buyer at 340 today! Some massive profits here but I think there is a more upside still.
BCG Group and Aggreko share joint honours for best other recent risers Let's take an example, Aggreko, profits of nearly £3,000. It's tempting to take profits on something up nearly 300 pts but it just keeps powering on up.
Recent buys all go ok, Photo Me maintains the rise but still looking for more there. Top up PZ Cussons still goes strong, consolidating its brilliant run. Four Imprint couldn't break the 230 area. Jury out.
African Aura has disappointed the last couple of days falling back after hitting 100 but getting tempted to top up on the weakness. Would imagine it will bottom around here before going back up.
Hyder Consulting shares go well and await a hopeful bid there. Same comment with Nestor - it hit 60p and it's trying to hold there. If it can another 10-20p looks likely. I'm in profit by nearly £10,000 on these and bid prospects beckon for more. 60p a tough nut though.
.Fresnillo has been marvellous - it smashed through the 1000 barrier and now sits more than 200 pts higher than the entry price. Seems to want to maintain its rise. Next barrier is 1100 and trying to get near that today.
IG Group has soared again for very quick big profits! . Volatility should continue to make IG shares a must hold along with London Capital Group - seems to be a seller in that at 138 but once gone the shares should motor a lot higher. The rise in CGT should make spreadbetting even more of interest as it is tax free.
PV Crystalox goes very nicely now, though hard to break 60. Essar isn't doing a lot yet but plenty of potential.
Carclo holds onto its recent good gains after its excellent statement. Entry to smallcap makes it more liquid. Centamin Egypt rises again after its upgrade to its Sukari Gold Project which went down well . Kentz goes well after a decent statement.
Huntsworth continues to rise after a seller has cleared out and looks set now for a run into the 90s.
Volex sees continued good buying with more very large buyers all getting in at 160 - now up 60% plus on my original buy and now well up on the recent top up as it motors up to 200.
Petrofac sees another surge yesterday to confirm that one has trebled for me too, alongside XP Power, a trebler and Heritage,a doubler.
It's been a brilliant couple of weeks which means I ought to be really taking some profits soon!
Arrrrgghh!! I'd been lining up Photo Me (PHTM) for my big summer winner. My plan was to buy roughly 50 grands worth over the next couple of weeks in the run up to results at 30pish and sell at 40pish for a 10k profit.
The reason was the company looked in good shape and the drift down looked like boredom selling - on top of that the price has massive support at 30 and bounced off there any number of times. So how annoying for me when they released an early update saying things were ahead.
I managed to get 10,000 shares at 31.85 right at the opening and £10 on the spreads at 32 before they went up. So although it looks like I'll make a profit it isn't going to be the big one I was planning. I think they're worth 40p on that statement. Maybe I'll hold them for the longer-term now. Target 40p stop 28.
If you remember I was looking to top up in my long-termer PZ Cussons (PZC) if it went above 300 convincingly - which it did and added a further 1,000 at 303. Already in a fab profit having bought at below 250 this lovely share keeps going higher. Very strong performances in all its markets and it's risen well this week. Expect to hang onto it with the other lot for more longer-term gains. There could be another 100p of value there. Target 420 stop 290.
I saw some big trades coming into promotions company Four Imprint (FOUR) and so picked up 1,500 shares at 217. The shares appear to be rising strongly on these trades - 225-230 looks a level where if it breaks out it could go considerably higher. Recent statements have been very strong so it looks worth a try. Target 280 stop 195.
The BP punt went very well to start off with as they headed back up to 400 where I nearly took profits. Sadly I stupidly let them come down some way before grabbing the profit and ended up selling at 376.58 and 375 on the spreads for a total profit of £353. It was bit of fun for me rather than investment to small stakes and in the end found a crazy share like this is just too stressful. I hate buying into shares you have to keep tabs on all the time.
Effing Renold has done me over yet again! I took a loss of £375 after another not so great statement. Even when I bought it I knew I shouldn't. I think all investors have a share like this! The short in Euromoney started well and was up bigtime - but it started to heave up and with level 2 looking strong I exited at 589 for a profit of £70. Fenner's had a good run and as it's struggling to get above 220 I took profits for now at 216.4 and 216 on the spreads for a total profit of £741.
Two bid stories for me this week! The first - Portrait - which is in my sipp (those that get the mail know about that one!) went to 31p from 22p for a great profit.
The second in my sipp and in the ISAs too was Spice where profits are very nice indeed now. A bid was mooted at 56p however Spice has turned that down leaving the field open for hopefully a bidding war. Whatever happens certainly looks like it's worth holding onto the shares! A great result for me here having got the shares a lot lower - looks worth holding for even more.
African Aura has already made me a nice profit in just a few days and an encouraging announcement today - looks like a nice keep in a drawer share for some further good upside.
Hyder Consulting shares go well and await a hopeful bid there. Same comment with Nestor - it hit 60p but couldn't quite hold there but looks likely to have another go. I'm in profit by nearly £10,000 on these and bid prospects beckon for more.
Fresnillo has been marvellous - it smashed through the 1000 barrier and now sits 200 pts higher than the entry price.
IG Group has soared again today for very quick big profits! . Volatility should continue to make IG shares a must hold along with London Capital Group - seems to be a seller in that at 138 but once gone the shares should motor a lot higher. PV Crystalox goes very nicely now, trying to break 60.
Aggreko continues to zoom up and up more than 150 points there now already!! Up nicely again today. Should be a star of the FTSE100 whatever happens to the index itself. Defensive qualities too in a falling market.
Carclo holds onto its recent good gains after its excellent statement. Centamin Egypt rises again after its upgrade to its Sukari Gold Project which went down well . Kentz goes well after a decent statement.
Huntsworth continues to rise after a seller has cleared out and looks set now for a run into the 90s.
Volex sees continued good buying with more very large buyers all getting in at 160 - now up 60% plus on my original buy and now well up on the recent top up as it motors up to 200.
Dialight's having a good run and doubled on the first lot. 300p is proving a bit of a barrier but it could run much higher if it can close above that price a few times. Standard has bought more than 400,000 shares. And it appears to be getting more liquid.
Petrofac sees another surge yesterday to confirm that one has trebled for me too, alongside XP Power, a trebler and Heritage,a doubler.
Recent buy BTG Group rises yet again today, up nearly 35 points higher than my entry price and looks to be heading to 200p.
Things look interesting but the market could easily tank again.. however individual stocks could still prosper.
There's been no let up in the crazy theme park ride which must have new investors wondering what they have got themselves into.
Some shares are so crazed with anxiety, fear and greed that they can move 10-15% in just a few hours.
I have seen this pretty much over the years so I'm pretty used to times like this so this time in particular the volatility seems to be the worst I've probably encountered.
We have Israel and N Korea troubles, and the BP spill which has really complicated things. BP is the largest constituent of the FTSE 100 so BP alone has been responsible for a lot of the FTSE fall but of course it affects sentiment. I'm certain many have been trying to catch the falling knife with BP shares - just not something I'd personally get involved in. It could just as easily go lower as higher.
Well, it's been a while since I last reported so quite a lot to get through!
I took advantage of the fall in miner Fresnillo (FRES) picking up 500 at 827.19 - target 1000 stop 800. Keeps being mentioned as bid target in the papers and gives me some more mining exposure.
One of my favourite ploys is to top up on shares I bought lower down. More often than not it pays off though not always.
Although I already have a ton of these picking up more shares as a price goes up can pay off so I secured another 1,000 Dialight (DIA) at 269.13 despite already having nearly doubled on the first lot I bought. It's now trying to clear 300, if it does 400 looks in play by the end of the summer. Some big buyers around mopping up in the 280s and 290s. Its LED market is in full flavour right now, and some massive director buying has been going on.
Same comment with Volex (VLX) where I topped up with another 2,500 at 135p. Great statement yesterday bodes well for a possible 200 later this year - already up 40% on the original buy.
I've topped up again in Dimension Data (DDT) - bought the first lot in the 60s and still holding those and recently I took good profits on a second lot. Time to get in again here so I bought 5,000 at 96.24. Target 120 stop 92.
And the last top up was in London Capital Group (LCG) where I got another 3,000 at 132.842 (wacky price!) As I said when I bought at 120, the volatility should be excellent for this spreadbetting firm. Target 180 stop 100.
Not sure why Scott began to tumble and with regret as Lord Sir A might say I got out at 87 to take a small loss of £178 . A shame as I was in a good profit there. But I was always going to take a small loss on that as I said when I bought. I just can't seem to play Hunting well at the moment and sold at 487.5 for a loss of £46 despite the fact I could have got out at 522 for a good profit.
After a great profit built up on Gem D it crashed violently towards the stop where I exited at 245 for a loss of £340. I have no idea why it kept on falling so I bought back at 215.4p. Target 290 stop 195. Figures still look fine. Maybe people are going to stop buying gems. Worth the chance it will bounce back.
I bought some Spice (SPI), 10,000 at 39.08 after it confirmed it has sold off the division that was causing it so many problems. I like the fact it is refocussing and could be a nice recovery play. Target 50 stop 33. Phew!
Holding my nerve and not selling what I think are my good ones has really paid off as the profits in many of them are tremendous now.
Xp Power came up with a tremendous ahead of expectations statement and trebled nicely there! Petrofac has risen solidly to confirm that one has trebled for me too, including the free Enquest shares that's a profit of just about £20,000.
As mentioned earlier good statement from Volex for a 50% rise on the original buy.
An excellent statement from Porvair this morning - it's motoring on all cylinders and up very nicely but seems overlooked by the market. Throw in the very good chance of a bid from Italy and it looks a great hold indeed.
Telecom Plus came up with the goods in its statement: it produced decent figures and growth looks likely with brokers targetting 380. It goes ex dividend soon so that'll shortly produce a nice income cheque of more than £5,000 for me. One would imagine at some point in the future it looks a likely target for Talk Talk.
My most recent buy BTG Group has gone well, up about 20 points higher than my entry price. Needs a good break up through 180 to get up to the 200 area.
PZ Cuzzons is trying to get above 300 today, and looks very exciting for a defensive and nicely up here. Carclo moves up nicely ahead of results next week.
All in all I'm happy I'm managing the volatilty - hanging onto the good ones has worked with some continuing higher and getting out quick with small losses on mistakes also works. However this summer will definitely test the mettle of all kinds of traders and investors and it's probably wise to have some cash on the sidelines.
Lucky I stay unemotional regarding markets. As I always say one must stay cool, calm and collected.
Shouting various words, most of them containing four letters at the screen is not going to help, ok.
I know you've been doing it haven't you? Of course I haven't being cool, calm and all that. Ok, then I admit it I said a few rude words too. But only when the cat was out of the room.
However it's pretty hard for most to decide what to do. It's one of those sods laws things as in...
Sell your shares and watch a massive rally immediately take place.
Or buy hoping it's the bottom for a rally and immediately watch someone in Germany say something on telly to make it all sink faster than Jonathan Ross' career.
When it's like an Alton Towers rollercoaster sometimes it's better to stand back and wait for a return to the little baby ride at the local fair.
Trying to pick turns and constantly coming in and out of shares as sentiment changes by the second usually just leaves big commission and stamp duty bills.
Mr Market is simply totally bonkers this week and I don't recall in any of my more than 10 years of this such massive swings. Not only massive swings but they can happen in ten minutes. Blame the rise of the machines. Maybe some of them need to be terminated. Where's Arnie when you need him?
Nip out for a cup of tea the FTSE can be down 100, come back and it's up! Crazeee. This afternoon it's come back like a steamtrain as the Dow soared on goodness knows whatever someone somewhere has said about something.
Lots of bargains are appearing and I think one more tankdown and it'll be too hard to resist getting stuck in to them with some of the cash now waiting.
In general I've been successfully shorting the FTSE - just the FTSE rather than individual shares like I did last time shares tanked because, quite simply, it's a lot easier and quicker. I got a decent FTSE short on at 5220 for example. And I've been using the ETF to short in the ISA.
I just knew I shouldn't have mentioned the ETF short for the ISA. It means I get loads of emails asking questions. It's something you may want to research but it's not a tool if you're a beginner as it contains traps as well as good things. Like sometimes the spread is too wide.
The supershort goes up twice as much as the FTSE goes down. The code is SUK2. You buy and sell like a share. Now go research if you want to...
I have quite a bit of this ETF in my ISA which currently makes money from the downside. For example one buy was at 5992 - I sold it today at 6550ish making a profit of £558 from the FTSE fall. I have bought other lots too. It's like a bit of an insurance policy.
For example let's say I had £25,000 worth in an ISA and the FTSE fell 10% to 4500 (possible) then I'd make 20% or £5,000. Enough of this - please can I reiterate this is not a tool to use unless you have some experience and know what you're doing.
I've held drugs company BTG (BCG) for some time, and in reasonable profits - the statement looked good today - it would be considered overvalued on my usual metrics however, the potential of its pipeline looks topnotch and it has plenty of cash so even on a bad day like this I topped up with another couple of thousand at 160. Profits could soar from here on in and it goes into the long-term drawer with a target of 250, stop 120. Some risk with the markets tanking but patience may pay off and not a bad entry point I hope.
Given the market volatilty and half-term is next week I've had a further clear out/declutter so I don't have to spend too much time at the computer - this leaves me further into cash ready to get stuck in at some point, preferably during a big fearful down day. I've closed out anything that's bothering me, and anything with a really big profit asking to be taken.
So, the axe has fallen on:
The final Bioquell at 115.1 - loss £927. Havelock at 13.5 for a profit of £1,050. Treat at 280 for a loss of £490. Harvey Nash at 46.6 for a profit of £1,180 and the final amount of bid story Morse, sold at 50.26 for a profit of £946. Seems pointless waiting for the extra 0.75 pence and doesn't look like there is a further bid coming.
Topsliced Alterian at 160 to close the last position for a profit of £400. However I keep the initial position where I've still nearly trebled. Afren spreadbet is gone at 92 for a profit of £755. However I was looking for a bounce at 82ish where it bounced before and so just bought back at 84.5.
I've also sold and bought back Medusa. I had a massive profit on it and let it slide - I felt I had to sell it as it slipped into a loss and sold at 269.66 losing all the profit, but bought back at 247. The sell-off looks overdone even in this market. However I'd sell quickly on any further tank. All of which cleaning up earns the site a profit (after losses subtracted) of £2,903.
And finally after selling Centamin (CEY) earlier in the week for a profit last time, I was looking at 140 as a reentry area and bought back at 137.5. Targetting where it ran out of puff before at 160, aiming to quick fast on any further market tanks at 130ish.
I've held onto most of my strongest stocks - those holding up well might even go on a list to buy more in the future. I've held onto anything with good solid earnings and strong balance sheets. And anything that was always long-term.
London Capital should be coining it in with all this volatility so happy in there right now - it ought to be going up more if I'm right. Dialight remains a star - those recent director buys help shore it up a do keen buyers on the order book. Buyers keep appearing here. I wonder....
Defensives like PZ Cuzzons and Telecom Plus always hold up well in difficult markets. And long-term shares like Petrofac and Heritage stay there - obviously both were bought at way lower levels so quite an easy decision as both have great long-term futures I think.
Personally I think the market is jerking around so much that for me I'm happy to just stand clear for the moment and see how and where it settles. I could miss a mini rally but I don't have the time and energy to chase them about.
However you are handling it, I wish you all the best. Always better to have a bit of cash ready. I'm wondering where the max point of fear will be to get the best bargains. Could be right now!
One thing is for sure: it's going to be a mighty interesting summer.
Robbie Burns - The papers say the FTSE falls today because of the election worries - this is rubbish in my opinion! We just follow the US markets point for point as usual!
As I said above somewhere, I really, really thought I had seen everything in the markets but yesterday has to be marked down as new.
And I think it is very worrying that someone can type in a wrong trade, causing a plunge of 1,000 in the Dow Jones - apparently an idiot typed B for Billion instead of M for million. How can there not be something to stop this?
This trade panicked the trading robots into immediately selling everything causing some shares to go to zero. A bit like Terminator! Rise of the Machines!!
What kind of market is that? That's not a market, it's some kind of weird super casino and you;re playing against crazy robots.
As an investor I am absolutely shocked that because of this so many people would have had their stops taken out over there, making any falls instantly worse.
In fact it's not worrying. It is downright unfair! Investors who had, probably rightly, been in a very solid and safe company Proctor and Gamble suddenly found their investment half gone because some halfwit made a mistake.
(It was a phat finger trade in Proctor that sparked the trouble).
Also, it was caused by what's called "High Frequency Trading" - a computerised programme that can sell huge amounts of shares in a nano second.
The same kind of thing is happening here too. There are computer programmes, robots and machines working against each other everywhere.
The worst thing is for more illiquid stock traded electronically and with market makers. Panicked investors selling up exaggerate the falls which are then made worse by the robot sellers, and CFD traders.
I think the fact robots, machines and crazy traders can screw up a market and make a share go to near zero for no reason at all is a total disgrace, and sheer daylight robbery.
I hope systems will be worked on here to ensure it doesn't happen. In some automated traded shares it just takes a sell of a couple of grand to drive down a price - an auto trade sell of 50 grand could push it down 20% in a flash. It's not right and needs to be looked at urgently.
If it isn't, investors might decide enough and enough and give up putting their money in the markets for fear of wild swings.
Even after more than ten years in sometimes crazy markets this week takes the biscuit and making any decisions is very tough. The temptation is to go crazy, keep pressing the buttons, quick, sell it's going down!! Quick buy it's going up!!
Hard to resist doing that but I've just stayed calm and in tea and toast mode - maybe it's best to let it just play out. I'm lucky in that I have sold off quite a bit over the last couple of weeks and what I did keep is relatively ok though of course that could change.
Normally I'd wade in and buy at the highest point of fear which could be today - however I've just held fire in case there's a another wave down. Also I'd normally have a few shorts open - but it just didn't happen with lots going on at home. Never mind.
So you may be surprised but..I've done very little. I hate being diddled out of good ones by panic markdowns.
But I added some Centamin Egypt (CEY) - despite the sell off up over £600 already on the spreadbet and bought some real shares this time - 3,000 at 142. I like the strength shown during the sell off too. Target 170 stop 120.
I sold the Domino spreadbet at 425 to take a profit of £500 and Pace spreadbet went at 178 for a profit of £60.
Other than that, where time allowed I just played the FTSE up and down on the spreadbets - I don't usually find this easy, but this time once a trend established for a few minutes it seemed to keep going.
Being mostly in small caps my general experience is the worst thing to do is sell on the morning of a sell off as market makers will already have marked down the shares expecting sellers at any price. But as long as it's not Armageddon, often the prices begin to rise again as the lower prices tempt buyers back in at much better prices.
Quite deliberately for now most of my shares are under the radar types - some were marked down early door but most got marked back up.
My defensives where profits remain good all held up pretty well such as Hilton Food, Cuzzons. Most were all marked down but all in the end a penny or two.
Next week is going to be fascinating. Are we going to get a recovery.. or is there more downside? I wonder whether this dramatic sell off will end or last for longer.
However what is very exciting is the number of great bargains that are appearing - and if there is another big leg down I don't think I'll be able to resist buying.
If you are a new trader/investor and got wiped by this sudden move, I feel very sorry. And I don't think it's been fair. However, the very first company I ever bought went bust and the second halved!
So I have been there - and I did fight back. Hope that helps!
Honestly - which useless market commentator wrote this on Friday?
"I'm glad for now as I mentioned before that I didn't get shorting as it looks like there is upside left still with the trend still up. Every crisis and dip ends up getting bought."
Oh balls. It was me!! Nothing like the exact opposite happening and why I never forecast anything. I should have shorted the moment I wrote that smug sentence!
All I can say is: get your revenge and don't vote for Greece (or Portugal) in the Eurovision song contest as it's all their fault.
The question is whether this crisis will pass like the others or are we all really in the s***? Don't ask me.
One argument is: buy now as it's always best to buy at the height of fear.
The other is: Get out in case things get worse, I'm scared. Both arguments, sadly, carry weight. Greed and fear, fear and greed as usual. There is never going to be a right or wrong answer and we can just do our best.
Main thing is always never to trade more than you can afford. In this current market a lot of spreadbets will have hit stop losses - the problem will be when people get calls from spreadbet firms asking for money. If they can't afford to pay they have been over using the credit. Beware of doing this - people have lost their houses.
Unusually for me I've been playing with the FTSE short-term - with it in freefall it was quite an easy decision to go short for a bit even though I missed a lot of it and I collected about £500, closing out this morning. Obviously I shan't be claiming any of this short-term gain for the website.
Then I went long! Hard to find the biggest point of fear.. anyway I bought the FTSE at 5580 - again I guess this will be short-term but it has come back a long way in a short time. Maybe this will pay off maybe it won't. I shan't let it make much of a loss though.
Anyway looks like we could be entering a period of turbulence so it's a matter of being cautious.
When it gets volatile like this I tend to scale back on volatile stocks - so far my smaller ones are in the main not affected much - and in particular spreadbets. Here is what I've been up to:
I sold Easyjet at 492.35 for a profit of £200 and at 491 on the spreads for a profit of £320. It couldn't get through 500 but in any event it was always a short-term idea.
I've sold and rebought Fenner (FENR) It went at 232 for a profit of £540. I only sold it because the market was slumping and it was in good profit, not realising a statement was due today. The statement included a placing - but for some reason they overreacted crazily to the downside just as I write this and I have literally just bought back this time with real shares - 2,000 at 197.38 which looks a fantastic re-entry point especially as the placing was at 210. Target 250 stop 180. Blimey O'Reilly they just went back over 200. Maybe that was a good price. I would expect this to be a medium term hold now.
Hunting went for a loss of £167 as it hit the stop at 590 - however it ended up being sold below the stop selling at 587. A poor buy (Buying against a downtrend).
Zotefoams went at 108-1 and 105 for a total profit of £546 plus a 4p dividend. . It's been hard to judge whether to flog off any of risky oil play Aminex. It's been going down and went through a stop so I've sold around two thirds at 10.5 but all the spreadbet with an eye on a potential buyback. For website purposes that's the last trade for a loss of £625 and half the previous one for a profit of £975 - the spreadbet makes a profit of £1,200.
I also sold the last XP top up while keeping the original treble holding - I think I got that wrong selling at 546 for a profit of £306 - it's already gone higher - still at least I have the original holding... Sdl has become disappointing so topsliced some of the spreadbet at 455, keeping half of it, that's a profit of £600.
That's total profit minus losses on those trades, a profit of £ 3,895.
Elsewhere LOQ has risen very nicely yet again on another contract win and a decent AGM statement - looks to be like this company is only just starting and I think it's possible I will double or even treble my money on this one. Very glad I topped up when the tipster said sell.
Looks like the Morse bid is going to go ahead at 51p. The price won't go above 51 now unless there is any sign of a counter-bid. I'm going to hold for just a bit longer in case especially as it's either going to end up at 51p or more to bank a profit of near £2,000.
Porvair went ex dividend for 1.5p today so in effect it's up - my next bid hope!
Most of my shares have luckily held or only down slightly in the recent melee which is a good sign.
Shares that have gained a lot for me like Volex, Kentz and Scott Wilson have remained pretty much unaffected. Microgen has held onto its recent gain after a decent statement - - doubled on this since bought last year in March.
Dialight reported a decent-looking acquisition today - probably would have gained on a better day - this one remains a decent longer-term hold, shame the spread is sometimes so wide - the company ought to consider trying to make the shares more liquid somehow. Longer-term expecting this to be a big winner.
Nestor Healthcare is on the move after a long quiet spell, already in big profit here but buyers coming back in here could see a nice move up to 60p.
Domino Printing has actually gone up while the market was tanking and the spreadbet in very good profit now. Hilton Food Group is trying to conquer the 250 there may be some more upside. In the meantime a nice dividend.
Alterian where I'm up a few thousand goes well. Axis Shield is up nicely over the last couple of days and holds well, too in a down market.. 450 next stop?
Spirent remains a near doubler. PZ Cuzzons has started another nice rise.
Petrofac's has come back but as I bought the main lot in the 300s I can't be too worried and with the free Enquest shares, profits are up and over £19,000.
So, with volatility in the air things look set to get a bit rocky, and handling it will be an interesting challenge.
Well, the uptrend in general continues and who am I to fight it?
However with such big profits building it's getting very hard not to start pressing one or two take profits buttons but recently whenever I've done that the share in question carries on rising! One would really think the market was due a pullback but I'll stay greedy for a bit longer.
I've made a few quid out of Scott Wilson (SWG) in the past and it looks cheap for me at these levels again so I bought 4,000 at 91.45 yesterday- it ran into trouble during the recession but is on the recovery trail now. I'm looking for 30% out of it medium term. Target 120 stop 85. It's going well this morning. If it can get through the hard 100 barrier, then my target of 120 looks feasible.
Another recovery play looks to be Management Consulting (MMC) and I picked up 15,000 at 23p. Looks in strong recovery mode for a rerating back up to the 30p area - I'm after that as quite a short-term idea. Target 30 stop 19. Has some risk but there's been some nice buying in here this week - it peaked at 30p before hence the target.
Finally on the buying side I've had a little gamble on shower-maker Norcros (NXR). I've bought because after doing nothing for a long time there are buyers coming in. I'm just following. I got 50,000 at 7.74 this am after it was already up more than 10%. Target 12 stop 5.5. It's really a recovery play - debt has been reduced a lot after a placing though still on the high side - however any recovery at all in the next results could see a massive rerating if it could break back into profit later this year. Considering a medium-term hold here. Still, a risky play.
I've ummed and ahhed about taking profits in Micro Focus as it jeeps knocking against 540-550 and can't break through. So as I hold shares and a spreadbet I compromised and sold the spreadbet for now at 536 for a nice profit of £1,490.
Elsewhere the portfolio goes very well in an excellent marketplace.
Domino Printing which came up late night is really doing well now - it's sprinted up and past 400 and seems to keep going and the spreadbet now in a very nice profit.
Spreadbet Kentz has been really motoring this past week. Profits now rapidly approaching £1,000.
Recent buy Xchanging continues to rise nicely and steadily and hopeful of my target medium term. Eaga issued a steady as she goes statement but still looks undervalued. LOQ remains a great market, hot weather over then summer will really help. That rises today.
Hilton Food Group is trying to conquer the 250 there may be some more upside. In the meantime a nice dividend. Zotefoams is up again today.
The Wolsely short remains in good profit and isn't going up when the market rises which is a good sign.
Alterian where I'm up a few thousand goes well - looks like just a shake in Harvey with profits still at £1,000.
Axis Shield is battling with the 400p area and recent top up Nestor Healthcare has flown nicely higher after those big director buys. I'm up more than £5,000 now including the spreadbets.
Spirent remains a near doubler. PZ Cuzzons has started another nice rise. Little gamble Asterand has been rising well.
SDL keeps trying to crack 500 and great profits here. That last 1,000 of Barclays I kept is doing very well! The spreadbet in Fenner is in good profit as is the spreadbet in Pace - 200p looks a hard barrier to get through for the minute.
Volex carries on looking strong - long-termer Heritage remains doing fine.. The BT pension fund has finally sold out of Dialight which hopefully clears any overhang. LOQ rises again today after profit taking.
Petrofac continues to blossom and with my free Enquest shares, profits are up and over £20,000. XP Power tries to break up through 600 and remains a lovely trebler.
So the portfolio continues to prosper - but can the markets carry on rising?
Another good week for the markets and with the end of the tax year and new ISA money about to go in, the downside looks limited. Then again after such a rise so does the upside!
I'm a little wary of doing an awful lot of new buying and something has to be spot on for me to buy for now.
However Hilton Food Group (HFG) looks a nice one and I took a chance and bought some before results. Tried hard on direct access to buy some at 200 and 201 but couldn't get any so sadly ended up buying at the buy price getting 1,500 at 212.6.
Looks well undervalued - profits nicely higher together with a dividend payout of nearly 5% and also defensive if the market falls. A nice little tuckaway that I'd expect to hold longer-term, maybe a year or two. Target 250 stop 199.
Zotefoams (ZFT) has been going well for me and reached my target with a nice profit - but sometimes I buy more at targetish which I did getting another 3,000 shares at 103. target 120 stop 92. There is some nice buying going on with this one that I like the look of, so more going in!!
I'm in a great profit on the Afren spreadbet, (AFR) up nearly £800 - I loved the statement and it looks like an oil giant in the making.. there was some profit taking after and I bought some real shares now on the dip, 3,000 at 99.3. Target 140 stop 88. It's likely to be volatile so a hard hat and patience required.
There wasn't any real buying coming in ahead of tiny gamble Asterand's results so I sold at 17.35 for a profit of £ 105. Just as well as the results weren't great. However it overshot down and I picked up the 10,000 again on the turn at 13.45. It's a small gamble for small money and entertainment for me and not to be confused with proper investing.
I sold the spreadbet in Mouchel after results at 205 for a profit of £420. I was amazed. I thought the results were terrible and thought they would tank right away and I'd lose so I gratefully exited. They are tanking now though. Weird.
Styles kept sinking and I quit as it got to the stop with a loss of £498 selling at 20.51. Lesson for me here, bought too many of a risky one. It could easily head back up now but I'll live if it does. I sold half the rm at 170 for a profit of £395 - nothing much wrong here but needed some cash for elsewhere and it was the most dull non mover. Keeping the rest.
I leave the best till last.
Dimension has been a terrific share for me but its inability to get above 95 has convinced me to take profits which are huge!
I sold at 92.2 on the normal shares making a profit of £2,497 and out at 92.1 on the spreadbet to bank a marvellous profit of £4,880 to give total profits banked on this share of £7,377. Thanks Dimension!
That's total profits banked for the site of a lovely £7,799.
Elsewhere extremely happy with the last buy I recorded here, when I bought LOQ at 96 - it has since risen to nearly 120! Target is 200 so I hope with patience there is plenty more to come and a hot summer would really help. It rose strongly after it released an excellent statement revealing lots of contract renewals, and mutli year renewals too. Very happy to go from 96 to 120 - and still think 200 is my destination here.
Other recent buys Aggreko and Domino Printing go ok though nothing special yet. The Wolsely short is in the money for now.
Recent buy Axis Shield has stormed up to over 400 and recent top up Nestor Healthcare has flown nicely higher after those big director buys. I'm up more than £5,000 now including the spreadbets.
Bioquell has seen some very good buying - and a couple of very good buys at 3p over the prevailing price yesterday - nice. Market makers seem to want shares here which is good.
Petrofac has come back a little after a good run but profits for the website now hit over £16,000 and I reckon I should end up collecting £20,000 on these.
Holders should be aware next week it demergers part of the group and a new company called Enquest will be on the market - this means Petrofac will probably fall 120pish on the morning of the demerger but all Petrofac shareholders will get new shares in Enquest. Those with spreadbets should see new Enquest shares in their accounts but personally I have taken all stops off Petrofac in case the spreadbet cos try and stop one out on the demerger!
Centamin is in good profits now motoring up towards my short-term targets.
Recent top up New Brit goes very well indeed and is trying to break through 550.
Spirent is really going for it! The top up goes really well and it doesn't look long till it joins the list of doublers. PZ Cuzzons has started another nice rise.
SDL seems to be on the way back up and great profits here . Long-termer Heritage is on the march again getting up to highs. That last 1,000 of Barclays I kept is doing very well!
A brilliant time for the portfolio with massive profits building up everywhere. However can this really go on? Dunno but short-term at least, it seems so. Anyway glad to bank some profits this week too!
Goodness and still they go well. I think there are many expecting a top around here (they may be right) but a lot of shorters are getting burned. As they say markets can remain wrong for longer than you can remain solvent and for the meantime I'd wait to short the index until a definite downtrend has been establised whenever that might be. This time of the year tends to be pretty good for markets.
I've bought some Aggreko (AGK) - a FTSE 100 company that specialises in power supplies. Why? Because I think this is going to be one of the massive growth businesses of the next few years. It supplied the recent winter olympics, got a good chance of getting the 2012 business. But power supply problems are increasing all over the world and it looks only likely to get worse. Of course being a FTSE company it is likely to get buffeted about however I'm thinking longer-term here. I got 500 at 1158. Target 1500 stop 1020.
My little boy loves theme parks and rides. I was sick on the last one he took me on so forget it - I'm not going on one again!
But at these parks I did find myself renting out a pager device which for a tenner stops you having to wait for up to an hour to get on a ride. As any parent will tell you, kids get pretty fractious having to wait for long and very soon you'd give a passing stranger £50 to get on the ride NOW! You just key in which ride you want to go on, and it books a time for the ride for you so you can wander around doing other things instead of sitting in a queue.
Great idea I thought and so I looked up to see if the company was listed. It was! Called LO-Q (Loq) I was pretty pleased with the figures the company is already generating - the company's share price is booming but it seems to me there is still more upside as it breaks into the States and elsewhere. If you owned a theme park why wouldn't you subscribe? Fundamentals look good and not even any net debt.
.. I tried to buy 3,000 LOQ shares when the buy price was 94p and had to pay 2p over the odds at 96p. Shows the shares are in demand but my plan is to sit on these for a good while. I hope I don't have to queue when it comes to selling them... Target 200 stop 82. I guess if I win on these it'll be down to my five-year-old. I guess I'll have to give him a cut. Unusually for me it's an AIM share so it's gone into a small account I hold outside Isas.
I also got some Domino Printing (DNO) for a tenner on the spreads at 376. This one came up during a recent screening and I do like the figures here: mamagement seems very confident. target 450 stop 345. I was kind of surprised this business appears to be doing so well but the statement is certainly very bullish so I'll see what happens.
I've made some good money shorting Wolseley (WOS) over the last couple of years and it's time to short again after a very poor statement I thought. Shame I hadn't shorted before the statement came out, still, I think there is 100-150 pts downside here. I got a fiver short at 1615, Target 1500 stop 1645. (Short means I am betting on it to fall)
I've sold the last of London Capital at 123 to bank a profit of £309. Corin has gone at 62.35 for a loss of £26. Sellers kept coming in at this sort of level so I quit. Disappointed with that one but level 2 helped to make that decision.
Recent buy Axis Shield has stormed up today up and over 400 and recent top up Nestor Healthcare has flown nicely higher after those big director buys. I'm up more than £5,000 now including the spreadbets.
Top up Petrofac continues to soar and is flying higher as I write up to 1230 which is fantastic. Profits for the website now hit over £16,000 and I reckon I should end up collecting £20,000 on these. There seems to be little stopping this tremendous rise. I bought the first lot in the 300s. Ah, if only I'd bought more..
The two volatile plays Afren and Centamin both in good profits now with both motoring up towards my short-term targets.
RM has announced more contract wins and goes nicely back over 170. Recent top up New Brit goes very well indeed and is trying to break through 550.
Spirent is really going for it! The top up goes really well and it doesn't look long till it joins the list of doublers. After cracking 120 it's trying 125 as I write.
PZ Cuzzons has come back a bit but still in good profit there and hopeful it will rise again.
Dimension Data is still trying to get through the sticky 95p area up more than £3,000 already on the big spreadbet I have on it and more than £1,000 on the standard trade.
SDL seems unwilling to rise further and a buy tip in the Mail nearly made me sell! . Long-termer Heritage is on the march again getting up to highs. That last 1,000 of Barclays I kept is doing very well!
Mouchel remains nicely higher since my buy. Needs a bit of a kick though.
A brilliant time for the portfolio with massive profits building up everywhere. However can this really go on? Dunno but short-term at least, it seems so.
**No update this Friday as I'm busy attending a seminar. Goodness me and they still look strong. Last night's fed meeting where it looks like US rates will be low for some time to come has helped maintain positivity. However a lot of problems still remain but as they say, markets like to climb a wall of worry.
The only thing that comes to my mind is ensuring I've taken some profits before the wall crumbles....
Profits aplenty coming in right now so no complaints...
It's a bit tricky to buy right now because there is a chance we're somewhere near a top. However...
I have no idea why Bioquell (BQE) fell yesterday on terrific results! However it did give me the chance to top up, surprisingly hard to buy any which makes me think a rise back up is not far away and I got another 2,000 at 145 in two lots of 1,000. Target 200 stop 120. It's rare to see a share where I can't argue there could be some downside and cannot see how it can be worth any less than this! I can't see them being at this level for too long.
Increased profit, increased dividend, and it's got cash! On top of that its decontamination products seem in demand in both healthcare and defence and I can only see this sort of market growing, plus bid prospects thrown in for nothing makes this a must buy and hold for me. They'll be tucked away nice and cosy in my Isas for some time to come and I expect at least 30% out of them plus dividend (and no sleepless nights). If their new product to eradicate superbugs in hospitals takes off then there could be even more upside here.
I've bought back into a very old favourite of mine that's made me a lot of money over the years, Fenner (FENR) getting £20 at 205 on a spreadbet. It's been heading upwards for a while and that upwards momentum looks good. However there is a possibility I could be buying near a high so a careful stop loss of 195 but a target of 230. It was badly hit by the recession but really recovering now.
Recent buy Axis Shield produced a very decent report - figures were in line - but the outlook is what looks so encouraging - and it's also sensibly rebought its full US marketing rights for its Afinion analysers. Good move. Needs a couple of closes above 400 for a motor up to 450 and deserves a premium rating.
Recent top up Nestor Healthcare has flown nicely higher after those big director buys. . I'm up more than £5,000 now including the spreadbets. Corin has been rising very nicely and I'm very hopeful of my 80p target on these.
Top up Petrofac continues to soar and is trying hard to conquer 1200 which is fantastic. Profits for the website now hit over £16,000 and I reckon I should end up collecting £20,000 on these.
The two volatile plays Afren and Centamin both in good profits now with both motoring up towards my short-term targets.
Oil gamble Aminex reported a successful drill today and is nicely up - this could could end up a big winner, could this be the start of good things to come?
Spirent is really going for it! The top up goes really well and it doesn't look long till it joins the list of doublers. After cracking 120 it's trying 125 as I write.
PZ Cuzzons continues to look good - bit of profit taking in the late 280 but now on the up again. Little gamble Asterand is already paying off - rising nicely in the run up to results later this month.
Dimension Data has gone up even more strongly over the last couple of days after its excellent statement and now up more than £3,000 already on the big spreadbet I have on it and more than £1,000 on the standard trade. Trying to conquer 95 still. 100 will be the big one.
SDl has dropped a little this week but still giant profits and it's heading back up today. Long-termer Heritage is on the march again getting up to highs. That last 1,000 of Barclays I kept is doing very well!
A brilliant time for the portfolio with massive profits building up everywhere.
Of course when you're doing well you have to be careful! The market likes biting you just when you think you're doing well... (and so it probably should!)
Well, it doesn't seem to matter about the really cruddy economic figures coming out of our country as the FTSE seems to care less about and keeps going up?
Why? Well because all it cares about is the US and what the Dow is doing. And as the Dow seems to be set on a punchdrunk course up. I don't know how long it's going to last but it would be no surprise to see it all end in tears. And I hope they won't be mine.
Recently I made a tidy sum going short of Corin - (CRG) a short I banked recently. Well, I've now gone long. Sorry for the jargon.. in plain English I made a good profit betting on it to go down but now I'm betting on it to go up!
I thought the statement was reasonable enough to give hope, and couple with strong buying I bought some this morning and they were really hard to buy (a good sign) I ended up with 2,500 at 61.8 and 3,500 at 63.5.
Target 80 stop 56. There is such good support around 60 that for now there appears little downside but tons of potential up for what I hope will be a nice 20% over say a couple of months.
Well having already trebled on Petrofac (PFC) with a profit of nearly £15,000 racked up you wouldn't expect me top up? Not on a company I bought in the 300s, surely?
Well, I did! This time on the spreads for a fiver at 1097. I think. Let me check. 1097.6 actually - I'm sure you'll let me off the .6 though? Thanks. Target 1300 stop 1050.
I thought the statement superb and there is more value here. I remember buying these a while back - how I regret not buying a whole lot more. Super share. Would not surprise me to see it four time for me.
I've had a little dabble on Latchways (LTC) - some good figures coming from the safety specialist and it appears undervalued so I just nipped 500 at 698.2. Target 800 stop 640. The problem is the 30 pt spread although one can deal inside it. If I was the company I would have a share consolidation to bring the price back to the 200 area - other problem is only two market makers. Without those considerations I would probably have bought a few more.
Well, the portfolio is doing so nicely that even though there is so much profit everywhere to take I'm, riding my luck for a bit more even though personally I can't think the market can have that much upside left. But I do think even if it dips this year there will be tons of chances to make money from various stocks. However the risky Avanti spreadbet has been cut at 454 for a loss of £280 as sellers were coming in on the order book. It's falling today though that looks like a shake and should be a chance to buy back lower.
Harvey Nash is the star buy out of my most recent buys - indeed it is nearly up to the target price already with nearly 20% bagged. But, with such big buying going in yesterday and today my finger is not on the take profits button yet..
The two volatile plays Afren and Centamin both in good profits now with both motoring up towards my short-term targets.
Spirent is really going for it! The top up goes really well and it doesn't look long till it joins the list of doublers. Trying to get over 120 today.
Dialight has settled down after results. Looks good it went ex dividend today and looks like a squeak of being promoted to the small cap index if it proves liquid enough.-
Carclo has risen so much that it is well inside the scope for being promoted to the smallcap index - but there is a liquidity test and hoping it will pass!
Long-term doubler Chime reported a decent set of results today and I'll carry on holding there.
PZ Cuzzons continues to look good - bit of profit taking in the late 280s but now on the up again.. Little gamble Asterand is already paying off - rising nicely in the run up to results later this month.
Micro Focus goes well now and up again today but can it break 500 again? Dimension Data has gone up even more strongly over the last couple of days after its excellent statement and now up more than £3,000 already on the big spreadbet I have on it and more than £1,000 on the standard trade. Trying to conquer 95
A fascinating time, how far can this rally go? Can anything stop it?
A very pivotal time - we're pretty much at where the market topped out before. Is it to breakout and will be see further rises? Or is this a double top and time to sell?
Amazing to see as I write we are over 5500 - looks like even 5600 could come into play which could see us move back up to 5800 which would be amazing. I do think anywhere back up at 6000 and I will be getting some big shorting boots on.
Anyone with a time machine please let me know when we topped out...
Mouchel Parkman (MCHL) has been in the middle of a bidding threesome concerning VT and Babcock (it's too dull to cover, google it!) The shares slumped when the bid was called off and this looked like a great time to buy - the shares began to rise strongly from the slump so I nipped on a spreadbet for £30 at 191. Target 250 stop 170. It's almost inevitable it'll be bid for again at some point so this looks like a great entry price. Especially as Mouchel shares look worth 190 on their own merit anyway so looks like a little downside big upside share, the kind I like!
I've taken a little pre-results gamble on Zotefoams (ZFT). Results are on Tuesday but the last trading statement was pretty bullish so I've got 5,000 at 91.9. It's risky as if results disappoint with the spread I could easily lose, but the risk/reward ratio looks just about good enough. Management said results would be better than expectations so they ought to be all right though you never know for sure.
I sold and rebought Hardy (HDY). I sold at early doors yesterday at 240.6 and rebought them later in the day at 227.63. target 300 stop 215. That's a profit on the original purchase of £247. I sold as profit takers came in on inline results - but buyers also came on the order book strongly at 220 which seems decent support.
With the market continuing to be strong I've axed the remaining shorts. No point swimming against the tide but I'll be back for them when the trend changes back.
So it's goodbye to Next at 1895 for a profit of £225, Wolsely at 1586 for a profit of £155 and Imagination at 243 for a profit of £75. Northgate at 191 for a profit of £300 closing out for a total short profit of £755.
Of course in hindsight all these should have been closed earlier for way better profits but I wasn't sure about the market breakout and in any event of course the longs go up.
Elsewhere a nice rise from recent buy Harvey Nash which continues to look underrated - a good start for this trade. Other recent trades Nestor Heathcare and Huntsworth also go well with Huntsworth continuing to buy up its own shares.
The two volatile plays Afren and Centamin both in good profits now.
SDL has got to be the best trade of the year so far! Very quick profits of more than 20% there, bought just at the right time and it's trying to get up and over the 500 mark. It's past target but I do like to run winners so passed on the tempation of bagging the nice profits of well over £3,000.
Spirent is really going for it! The top up goes really well and it doesn't look long till it joins the list of doublers.
Dialight has settled down after results. Looks good - profit-takers seem done and would expect a rise up to the 300 level in the next few weeks. Axis Shield starts a bit of a rise.
PZ Cuzzons continues to look good - bit of profit taking in the late 280s but now on the up again.. Little gamble Asterand is already paying off - rising nicely in the run up to results later this month.
Micro Focus goes well now and up again today but can it break 500 again? RM has gone above 170 which looks bullish. It also confirmed a big contract win today.
Dimension Data has gone up even more strongly over the last couple of days after its excellent statement and now up more than £3,000 already on the big spreadbet I have on it and more than £1,000 on the standard trade. Trying to conquer 95now.
Long term trebler and then some Petrofac is booming and has soared up to nearly 1100 now. Fantastic share this has been!.
A pretty strong showing over the last few days - can it last? I have some doubts and would not be surprised to see a fall. I'm not a forecaster but lots of things look priced about right for now - it's a matter of where we will be in a year from now. Your guess is as good as mine and I can't guess it.
I've bought some Axis Shield (ASD) - been eyeing these up for some time but they looked weak over 400 so I've been waiting for a lower entry and I think I got it, we'll see. A tricky one to get right so would take a small loss quick and buy back lower if needs be. I bought 1,000 at 369.9, target 450 stop 345.
Cholesterol busting drugs could be a massive winner... its desktop Afinion system are tapping a growing market for such drugs. There are now 5,000 Afinion systems installed in clinics and doctors' offices and it is on track to install a further 2,500 new machines.
New Brit(NBPO) has been a good doubler and a half and I wish I hadn't taken part profits recently. I saw some strong buying volumes early this week so topped up getting 800 at 474.7. Today I can see why: it's making an acquisition and full-year figures look good. Target 550 stop 420.
I've had a tiny gamble on Asterand (ATD) getting a small 10,000 at 16.3. An interesting little biotech that might come good but that could take time - at this sort of price though for a small amount for an interest it's worth it I think. Target 22 stop 14. Market-makers have a wide spread but I could deal well inside it.
I topped up on Carclo (CAR) getting a further 1,500 shares at 165 to add to the ones already bought at 127. If commercialisation of its CIT technology takes off the shares could be worth a whole lot more and this one could be a big winner for 2010. Target 250 stop 120.
I'm having another bash with a short on Next (nxt) with a £5 at 1940, close to where I put it on last time. Target 1800 stop 1970. Retailers look like they're having a bad time since VAT went back up. A tricky short though as it can rise as fast as it can fall. Going well so far but very volatile.
Talking shorts well, it proved one Wolsely short too many! After months of making many decent sums they surprised by saying profits looked better than expected. The price shot up not because actually the statement was so great but shorters had to close fast. The spreadfirm took me out rightaway at 1555 for a loss of £345. Bearing in mind I believe the price rose so much because of a bear squeeze I'm tried again for a fiver at 1417 near the close yesterday. It's worked so far. My hopeful plan is it will establish a new trading range of 1500 to 1625 which I am going to try and play.
Intec couldn't manage to break the 100 level and tried a few times so on that basis I sold the hopeful bounce back shares at 99.34 for a profit of £250. However giving the benefit of the doubt to the remaining shares bought a lot further down where a profit of £3,000 is still intact.
XP Power which I've trebled on has gone higher again after an excellent positive statement and good results - doesn't look like much downside from here so will continue holding onto the original purchase and wish I hadn't taken part profits last week.
Elsewhere the portfolio goes nicely. Recent buys PZ Cussons and SDL in particular have flown higher
SDL has really gone for it for me - with profits of nearly £1,500 in double quick time - nearing 450 as I write, it it can get above that it would be bullish for 480 which is what I was looking for. PZ went ex dividend today so a nice cheque due shortly as well.
Microgen reported a great set of figures which showed at worst it should be trading about here and best, should be higher. One to hold onto. Micro Focus goes well. Risky oiler Aminex has risen nicely again since my top up. Much depends on news as to whether the rise can be maintained. Fingers crossed.
Beazley has shot up very nicely now and puts the spreadbet on it into nice profit and it appears to be sailing up nicely to the target area.
Contract wins continue to come for RM. Good profits but a rise over 170 needed to go further. Dimension Data continues to look strong after its excellent statement and now up more than £3,000 already on the big spreadbet I have on it and more than £1,000 on the standard trade.
My lovely trebler Petrofac is booming and has soared well back over 1000. Long-termer Heritage has been climbing very well and that's a trebler too.
Despite the recent market climb plenty to be cautious about. Still delighted with the splendid profits there on paper and that have been banked recently.
Well, it really is a good old fashioned ding dong between bulls and bears at the moment. The question is who is going to win??
The bulls think the markets are still undervalued, we are coming out of recession and everything is rosier than it appears while the bears think another massive tumble is coming mainly because everything is currently being propped up and it won't take much for the stick to be kicked away.
I don't make forecasts so don't ask me. If you had a gun to my head I'd go with the bears.
But the bulls have been in charge this week and it is nice to see the markets rise after a couple of weeks in the doldrums. Can it last though? Dunno.
OK onto some trades.
I'll kick off with oiler Aminex (AEX) topsliced some profts there recently and it wasn't doing much until earlier this week when suddenly buyers started to come in strongly, taking my cue from the buying I picked a new batch up, 25,000 at 13p. Stop 11, target 18. The buying might mean some good news is on the way. That adds to the holding I kept where I've doubled my money. However of course it is a risky one, if it makes a find could be worth a lot more, if not it might slump and market makers are enjoying moving this all over the shop as it's impossible to value.
I'm back in at Micro Focus (MCRO) where I took lovely profits recently too. Looks a good time to get back in after the profit-taking has ended. I got back in with 1,000 shares at 461.37 - this company still looks like it is going places and nice to get back in nearly 40p lower than when I took profits. Target 520 stop 445.
I've tried for a short in Imagination (IMG) again - took a small loss last time I tried to short it. While it's a great company with good products the value still looks overcooked so I've tried again at £20 at 258 which is about where I tried last time. Again I'll come out hopefully with a small loss if I'm wrong again but something needs to happen here surely to keep the price as high as it is. Target 210 stop 270.
I bought 5,000 Intec Tel (ITL) at 94.35 after it started to rise from a massive fall after a trading update. Target 105 stop 90. I've noticed this year if you have a share with good profits nearly every time it's profitable to take the profits or some profits the day before results. Because any even slight disappointment with results sees a savage markdown.
So I topsliced Intec the day before the statement and I berated myself on statement day. Why hadn't I sold the lot? Well, hedging my bets I guess. Anyhow I topsliced at 113.5 for a small profit and some on the spreads at 113, but left the rest which in hindsight was a mistake. Buyers have since come in and it's going back up with 100 now being pretty crucial. I suspect I'll sell some if they can't get over that hurdle but try and give it some time. Let's see if directors buy some.
I also topsliced some XP Power as they've been stuck in a rut for a while. Trebled on these and sold some at 419.2 for a profit of £892 on the last position. No real worry here exactly but the non move for a while means it's sensible to lob a few out.
Onto shorts and with the market rising fast I cut half the Wolsely at 1385 for a profit of £435 leaving the other one to run (might be a mistake given it's rising fast right now!). Also Next was beginning to soar but didn't really close quick enough there at 1928 for a profit of only £85. Shame as there was a much bigger profit there earlier this morning. Really should have taken profits way faster on those.
Elsewhere the portfolio goes nicely but the biggest surprise is PZ Cussons I expected this to be a slow steady riser and wasn't expecting such a big rise so quickly. I shouldn't be complaining I guess! Looks like this one is going to bring home the profit quicker than I expected.
SDL has really gone for it for me - with profits of nearly £1,500 in double quick time - nearing 450 as I write, it it can get above that it would be bullish for 480 which is what I was looking for.
Carclo has started a little rise and again I think this one is overlooked by the market. Still unsure with recent buy Batm and will take a quick small loss on it if it doesn't work out. Doubler Microgen reports tomorrow - wondering whether to topslice a few before the end of today just to be on the safe side.
Yet another contract win for RM. Good profits but a rise over 170 needed to go further. Dimension Data continues to look strong after its excellent statement and now up more than £3,000 already on the big spreadbet I have on it and more than £1,000 on the standard trade.
Alterian - well the jury is out still - needs a good close above 140 really and at the moment I'm not sure. Still, I'm so well up on the first lot it won't matter too much if this trade doesn't work out. Kentz is rising slowly but surely. Style is down on my buy but I'll give it a bit more time unless support goes.
My lovely trebler Petrofac is booming and has soared well back over 1000. Long-termer Heritage has been climbing very well and that's a trebler too.
The market volatility continues and the current upside surprises but most of us investors are not complaining about it! However, we can't expect an easy ride either and caution is still required. Still delighted with the splendid profits there on paper and that have been banked recently.
...still remain tricky!
Oh no Greece is going to default.. down we go. Oh it's ok it'll be bailed out, up we go.
Hang on it will, no it won't, oh what's this someone you never heard of is saying, oh no we are down again. But hang on now someone else you never heard of said something else. Phew!
Having no idea what to make of it all except as far as I can see it's all a whole lotta nothing!
The main thing for me is not to get caught up in anything too volatile as it is too easy to stop oneself out, or get stopped out at the wrong moment.
After some major sells and buys in the last report not much to report this time!
I've taken a bit of a gamble on a potential recovery play in Styles and Wood (STY). I seem to click with this one for some reason and made a few quid on it in the past.
It's had a terrible time during the recession - as a shop fitter it got hit hard. But I noticed a piece in The Times this morning that it''s rumoured to be in the running for a string of new contracts. John Lewis is said to be launching 50 At Home stores with STY in the running.
Looking at the figures, a recent fund raising means it has cash so unlikely to go bust - and if it starts to make contract announcements there could be some lovely upside. Initial target is 30, but if things look better and it goes through that, I'd hold for more. Downside looks limited for now.
So I picked up 20,000 shares earlyish today at 23p. Target (initial) 30 stop 20. Some nice strong buying has been coming in all morning which bodes well.
I've taken profits in the Centamin spread at 118 for a profit of £360. Looks to be in a tight range from 108-121 for now so bagged the profit while it is still there.
And profits taken in PVCS short at 50.5 which banks a profit of £475. Support looked good here at around 50 so it's time to call it a day. Target reached, tried for a little more but it didn't happen. Total profit banked for site today is £835 which adding the rest of the week's profit taking makes banked profits this week of well over £7,000.
There's not really a lot to talk about with no major or even interesting moves for the portfolio since Wednesday - I might as well retire to bed for the day and watch Cash under the table or whatever it is on the TV.
Elsewhere recent buy PZ Cussons is really doing the business, already up majorly - bit of a surprise as I thought it would be more of a slow and steady climber.
SDL is proving very volatile, up 15 one day down 20 the next but no matter, to me a lovely hold now at the price I got. It's quite illiquid for a FTSE250 stock which means holders like me need to hold their nerve - it's easily manipulated now on small orders.
Nice report from Carclo yesterday which saw the price marked up a little. I wasn't impressed with the one or two broker comments I saw. They haven't realised the commercialisation prospects of one of Carclo's divisions and I'd expect to hold for most of this year with I feel some great gains to come. A possible double over the next year to 18 months for me.
Recent buy Batm seems a touch becalmed at around where I bought it. One I'd take quick losses on if it starts to weaken.
Shorts in Wolseley still there and going well with more than a grand in profit at the mo. Difficult to know when to close this out as well as the FTSE short which is very well in profit. The new short in Northgate currently goes well. Of course all these would need closing out quick if the market was to rally strongly. I'd be foolish not to bank.
Dimension Data continues to look strong after its excellent statement and now up more than £3,000 already on the big spreadbet I have on it and more than £1,000 on the standard trade.
Alterian - well the jury is out still - needs a good close above 140 really and at the moment I'm not sure. Still, I'm so well up on the first lot it won't matter too much if this trade doesn't work out. Kentz is rising slowly but surely.
Intec Telecoms nearly doubled but seems to be a little stuck right now. My lovely trebler Petrofac is on the move up again and seems to have strong support at 950ish and is trying to get above 1000 again.
The market volatility means some nerve is needed! February as usual is not going to be easy!