Thursday 8th February

 It's on days like this I'm glad I haven't got a job. Getting to work through the snow? Well, quite easy when I only have to walk a couple of yards to my desk!

 It's made Christopher very happy and later this afternoon we'll get his wellies on and have a good tramp through it. It makes the river view here over the Thames very picturesque.

 Christopher has also just thrown his first snowball at Daddy. I'll get him back - us Scorpios have a long memory for grudges apparently.

 Dragons Den.. what a great show - very entertaining as always and the time zipped by. You tend to wonder though whether those that get offers are better off borrowing the money elsewhere rather than accepting such a large stake in their companies going.

 Perhaps it's best to float your idea in the Den, if they say "no" , forget it.. if they say "yes" go ahead with the idea but don't take their money.

 After all they are not called Dragons for nothing - giving away 20-40% of your company is an awful lot of money if you hit it big...

 Tried Party Animals but it was a bit like This Life Lite - two much stilted dialogue and who's gonna get off with who storylines...

 So onto Jamie Oliver. Personally I don't think I'd have given any of them the job of setting up a new gastropub. Terrible presentations and none really had any idea of how to run a catering business and realising you have to give the customer what they want, not what you like.

 I hated a lot of the things I sold when I owned a cafe but it's what the punters wanted and what sold. One of the three shortlisted even wanted to do away with the pub's ales. Talk about alienating your customers. If you've not tried Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe on BBC4, give it a try, it's a funny look at TV and oft repeated. 

Frank writes: Hi Robbie, re your comment "MS International is going great guns too, some very decent buying arriving here".

 Is ADVFN site on the blink ? Trade volume is showing as 1 trade of 2000 shares which has mysteriously pushed the price up 8.5p. Why the conflicting info / data ?

 Hi Frank. The trades were through the alternative markets, Plus and Virt X - brokers push most buying in something like MSI though these alternative trading platforms to save money.. These trades don't get published on advfn.

 Chris: Just thought I'd drop you a little line to let you know I have read your book (I only bought it yesterday), and I have found it to be a very enjoyable read, and a great starters guide.

 I am interested in getting involved in share trading and I think I'd be very good at it as I do have an almost  unhuman like mechanical approach to everything.

 I do however require a lot more information, so I will probably spend most of the year just reading up as much as I can (your recommended reading section was a good starting point), and possibly doing some fake share buys to see what would happen and experiment a bit with it. It was very inspirational, and I will be sure to keep an eye on your site.

 Excellent Chris - a mechanical unemotional approach is just what you need. And paper trading is a good way to start. Good luck let us know how you get on.

 William writes: I just started reading your book. I must admit, It's a great job done. Have you considered being a teacher? Do you run any course on spread betting ? I am happy to voluntarily share a testimony about your book anywhere anytime.

Dare I say it for the fourth day in a row.... another good day? Not so good as the other 3 but still good especially as so many are hanging onto most of recent gains.

 Plenty of shares on the radar and nothing tempting me in this morning so for the first time in a while no buys or sells! I would hate to buy something just because I wanted some excitement... not the way to invest!

 CSR probably gets top billing today - nearly 10% up on that one now with some big gains over the last 2 days - and while tempting to take profits I'll stick with it while it's strong.

 Mouchel Parkman moves very nicely today and looks set to head back to its all time high. My two buys of Rightmove are paying off handsomely though I'm not far off taking profits.

 Vislink looks strong - needs to crack 103.25 to move higher. Renold looks set for another shift up after some decent buying yesterday.

 Diploma's been quiet for a while but now starting to surge. Fenner's creeping up again, better for that one to rise slowly and surely rather than in a giant leap.

 Domestic and General looks like having a new stab at cracking 1200 soon. Gyrus goes well. Carclo continues to make new highs daily and has been a good un ever since I bought.

 Bluebay is having an excellent day, can it stick over 400p? Dtamek holds onto its gains well and it won't be long until there's another shift up. Mitie is performing mitie well today.

 It'll be interesting to see if MTL Instrumente can break through 530 - plenty of upside if it can..Finally a couple of very large buys in Trifast today and I suspect it's about to rise quite strongly any moment..

 The portfolio really is in cracking shape - I would guess there is a good £40,000 profit or more stacked up there waiting to be taken.

 The high risk stocks in the SIPP Portfolio going well too - more news on those to those of you who subscribe to the lunchtime e-mail.

Wednesday 7th February

 Ah... woken at 7.15am by the sound of "Old macdonald had a farm" sung by Christopher! Isn't that sweet? "No!" you cry. "We don't want to hear about him, we want to know about shares!" Oh, all right then.

 But just to say he had a great day yesterday... play centre, lunch with friends, football with Dad, he was so tired he actually voluntarily went to his bedroom last night and asked to be put in. Could be a first for any toddler in the whole country.

 He's getting into Noddy. Which is really good news because right now I could take the Thomas Tank Engine DVD's and happily toss them right into the Thames (which I can just about do from here).

 I'm not surprised to see RyanAir pilots report close calls with airport landings. Elizabeth and her sisters often tell me RyanAir is known for its "bumpy landings." The problem is the 25 minute turnaround times according to the pilots talking in The Times today.

 All I know is we are going to Dublin for the seminar on Aer Lingus where they treat you well, the landings are nice and you get a reserved seat.

Stephan writes: Many thanks for your book. I find it very helpful. I was wondering whether I could ask you a specific question.

 I was lucky to buy Corus shares a while ago and as you know, Tata steel has made a ludicrous offer. I see however now that the price is not changing at all since the takeover and the volumes are minimal.

 Does this mean that I cannot sell or should I wait to hear from the company? Apologies for my stupid question. I hope it does not bother you that I ask you such a question.

 Of course it doesn't bother me! I don't follow Corus but I believe the deal has been done - the stock is not moving because the bid price is settled. So you either sell now at near to the bid price or wait for the cash.

 It's really up to you!! Personally I would sell, take the money and move on rather than waiting some time for a bit extra..

 Simon writes: Thought you might be interested to know that I have recently read your book which, along with your website, has provided me with great inspiration to get back into investing having made the odd mistake in the past! So thank you for that. I find myself referring to your book on a regular basis as I do my research.

 I don’t have a lot of money to invest at the moment but have a few shares that, having done my research, I am watching keenly to see how they perform. I also have a shadow portfolio that I’m using to practice and develop my skills and to identify future share purchase.

Hi Simon - practising and developing your skills is the right thing to do. Good luck. 

Yet another sensational day! And with the FTSE not moving up much that makes it all better! One new trade to report - a return to MTL Instruments (MTI) where I bought 1,000 shares at 520 this morning.

 After making some money on it the year before last, this one has been very frustrating to follow - it always seemed to be a good one, a great business with bid prospects. But somehow the shares never really moved much and with an often 15 point spread there wasn't much point in buying even a good business.

 However looks like there is something happening here. Don't ask me what because I don't know but there are suddenly buyers coming in from nowhere and picking up good amounts (one buyer today of £40,000 worth at 525). So on the basis that these people are buying for a reason I've joined in.

 The fundamentals look good and strong and the shares have got to be worth around 550p anyway. So I feel it's fairly safe - results are due next month and I hope they are decent. My Target is 650, stop 430.

 Another smashing day. Yesterday's buy Dmatek is already going well, up 5% today - I think 180 looks an easy target here.

 Recent buy MS International is going great guns too, some very decent buying arriving here which could herald something interesting. The shares are fairly valued nearer 180 anyway.

 CSR is really going for it today with a massive rise. Glad I held my nerve and staying with them. Telecom Plus holds well at a much higher level which bodes well for eventually more rises.

 Quintain is absolutely surging for me - the papers report some stake building and it's got to be in the frame as a bid target this year.

 Havelock, Croda, Fenner and Mouchel are all on the up. Rightmove carries on moving right and shorters must be having to close out losses.

 And Renold should now break through 130p and head for 150p after announcing way better banking facilities which should save a lot of money and enable it to grow much faster. Great deal.

 I added some more of a high risk SIPP share today that I have now trebled on already - but I think it could go further - more on that to those who subscribe to the lunchtime e-mail.

Tuesday 6th February

 So what do you do, when all you have in the fridge is a ready meal "Salmon with creme fraiche", some cabbage and broccoli?

 That's right, get on the phone and order a curry! So I ordered a lamb one for me, a prawn one for Elizabeth and a Sag Aloo (Spinach and potato side). Christopher all nicely tucked up in bed, we got stuck in but then.. oh dear.

 I'd mixed up the numbers (you can tell I'm a hotshot trader can't you). So, er we got Prawn curry with Spinach, the spinach and potato side I'd managed to order right and.. you guessed it.. a creamy spinach curry!

 All I can say is I really don't want to even look at spinach until well into next year and maybe never. I'm getting the numbers right next time.

 A few bookings have come in for the London seminar which is already 80% full 6 weeks out - don't leave it for too long if you want to book as it could be sold out well before the event. Due to health and safety legislation once the seats have gone I can't add anyone else.

 There is space available for the Dublin seminar which is only 4 weeks away - for either event contact me for details.

 Lots of new spam mails around.. sometimes it's hard to know. I just don'tanything with an attachment. So if you've sent me a mail with an attachment and didn't get a reply, send me one without one!

 One this morning was seductively titled "This e-mail will change your life" - Yes, I know it will when I've downloaded the virus. Get stuffed!!

 Strange to get a letter from a company I've invested in - Domestic And General. Yes my TV is nearly a year old and good old DGG want to charge me - bloody hell- nearly £100 a year to extend the warranty!

 Now I know why I've invested in them! Plazma TV's hardly ever go wrong so that must be a fantastic mark up even if only a small percentage take the warranty. A good letter which really does make you feel like taking the warranty out. I'll keep the shares!

Most of you seem to like the new background to the site, however there are exceptions! Gary writes: Please stick it back to blue, dose my eyes. It's far too bright I'm reading it in sun glasses..

 Graham writes: Any chance of Starbucks Hot Choc rather than coffees at the London seminar?

None at all Graham!! Good idea though...

 Sue writes: I recall once (posted on your web site) where you advised someone against binary betting. Could I ask you why and is binary betting the same as fixed odds?

 Hi Sue. I believe it's just gambling - it is similar to fixed odds trading - You decide whether FTSE will be up or down by the end of the day and the spread changes all day.

 There may be one or two really sussed traders that possibly make money but you would really need to be tied to your screen all day.

 My view is the bookies love it and make money from most people who try it and it should be left well alone. It certainly could not be called investment!

 Another excellent day, the profits just keep rolling in (he said the day before the famous February Black Wednesday crash).

 I'm playing a very patient game with about 3 shares I like but none of the three gave me the buying signal I am looking for - how I look for buying signals I'm covering fully at both seminars..

 Two buys and a sell to report! First is a buy in Dmatek (DTK) - I bought 5,000 shares at 147.5p. Target 180 stop 125.

 I kept getting mails from their PR people in my inbox talking about all the contracts won, good results, and I thought it looked a good company but thought it was on AIM so dismissed it.

 Then the other day I happened to look at it again and realised it had a full listing was ISAable and very liquid (normal market size on level 2 is 5,000 shares).

 Its markets are basically tagging equipment for those on release from prison and the elderly and electronic surveillance equipment. I would guess a growing demand for these products.

 On top of that it's growing very nicely by earnings-enhancing acquisitions and all reports are extremely bullish. It should be reporting next month and I wonder if results then will bring this fairly quiet backwater company into the spotlight. If it does the shares could easily race away to 200 and more. Could be a good un!

 The shares raced up too fast to 154 the other day so I waited patiently for the inevitable profit taking drop - it seemed to bottom out here and a slight rise has seen me get in here.

 Second buy: I topped up with more Rightmove (RMV) yesterday afternoon - the countrywide deal should continue to give the share price a good lift.

 On top of that shorters should be hurting badly and with the price up again this morning they will really have to close out or face further heavy losses. I bought a spreadbet this time for £20 at 496. Target 550 stop 470.

 I took profits in Abacus - my main reasoning is the failure to get through the 200p mark with sellers coming in around this point.

 That's a profit of £604 on the normal position selling at 200.5p and a profit of £880 on the spreadbet position selling at 199p. That's a total banked profit of £1,484 - though it took a bit of time coming!

 I expected a few falls today after an amazing time yesterday but it's gains again today. MS International shows a great gain today - it's one of those that stays still for a while but when it moves it moves! Good value still after the director buying.

 A placing in Havelock Europa has introduced five new institutional investors and the fact the price was so close to the current price shows trading at Havelock is strong and investors confident. One of those to hold tight for an inevitable if perhaps slow rise up to 200p. The placing was substantially oversubscribed.

 A massive rise for Telecom Plus yesterday afternoon and it's jumped 10% in the last couple of days which means I've more than doubled my money. More to come and I'm sticking with it.

 Renold is up yet again, it's reached the point which it couldn't pass before - 130- and while tempting to take the massive profits I've got, I think it will get through 130 andup 150 at which point I would be tempted to sell half. Carclo is doing me proud with a good rise above 100p and heading every higher - another nice one!

 Vanco announced a further series of contract wins today which should support the price. Not sure whether "Evil Knievel" has taken his losses yet, if he hasn't it's good news as when he does it should push the price up more.

 Fenner has come back a bit on profit taking but as long as 230 holds there should be another leg up. Real estate is surging and all my real estate buys are showing handsome profits now. Mitie is rising fast today.

 I think the current huge profits I'm gathering in tends to show my strategy of finding good companies and patiently holding them while they increase in value instead of trying to trade out grabbing a few points here and there is a good one. News on the high risk shares in my SIPP available today to all those who subscribe to the lunchtime e-mail.

Monday 5th February

 Wow! Is all I can say about the rises for the portfolio today with some of the biggest gains I have ever recorded in just one morning - more on that after some rambling.

Today is "National Sickie Day" - that is, the first Monday in February is when most sick days are taken...Of course I am sure all the cases are genuine, just as genuine as our good leader Mr Blair..

 Right, maybe I'll join in and throw a sickie today.. I'll just phone the boss with a crockey voice and cough a lot then I can stay in bed and watch daytime TV. Hang on a minute.. I AM the boss. Bugger. Oh, well better do some work then, hadn't I?

 A positive response to the new lighter background to the website - one chap in the mailbox says he can now look at it at work and it looks more like an official site!

 So me and Christopher spend Saturday on our own, watching sport, eating takeaways, you know, boy type things. As the Mrs was due back at 7pm I put in an emergency call to our cleaner who raced down and sorted things out.

 Elizabeth seemed impressed the boys kept the place so tidy. So keep it quiet eh so I can retain an awful lot of brownie points..

 Sunday I spent reading through the questionnaire answers those going to the Dublin seminar in four weeks sent back to me and they are quite an eyer. I can really see where some of you are going wrong and I hope to help you put in right on March 2nd.

Fascinating look at Las Vegas casinos from Louis Theroux last night. And it just emphasised to me that casinos are for losers. You will never win in the end.

 The Casino manager was asked if he minded when someone won. "No, it's great," he said genuinely. "Because I know they will be back!"

 One lady had blown £4 million in seven years. A "high roller" (high roller means someone with loads of money which the casino tries to grab as much of as possible) lost £300,000 in one weekend.

 "Are you happy about that?" asked Louis. "Yeah!" said the high roller. "I laugh whether I win or lose..." But you could tell he really wanted to punch Louis right in the face.

 Go to a casino for fun if you want to - take £100 or something and lose it. But you won't win. The slot machines are the worst. People feed them £100 notes and they get nothing back. It's all daylight robbery!!

Tim writes: Robbie, Tell Dale I prefer the white background!... it makes it look like I'm reading an official document when I'm at work!

Ok Tim, glad you can read Naked Trader without getting into trouble!

 Carrie writes: I have just finished your book which I received for Christmas. What a great read and full of great information to help everyone.

 I have also enjoyed reading your website especially when you are so encouraging about lady investors - I don't know if I could ever be as successful as you have been !

 One aspect, I wonder if you could clear up for me which has been a topic of conversation this afternoon (exciting household!) was the following. I have bought some shares in the past and have paid (0.5) 1/2% Stamp Duty and the commission to the stock broker etc.

 I wondered if you include the costs (Stamp Duty and Commission) of these on you 'purchase' price shown on your 'Current Share Portfolio'.

 Hi Carrie! Yes I believe lady investors can do better than blokes as they are less likely to gamble! No, I don't include commission and stamp duty costs mainly because of the extra hassle it would involve for me to work it out.

 Instead I ignore dividend payments and don't add those into profits - the two tend to balance themselves out, in fact I believe I probably get more in dividends than the costs of commission and stamp duty.

 I have thought about adding stamp duty and commission costs to share trades and then also adding in dividends but it's a question of time.. I'm struggling to find the time to update the site as it is, so I think I will leave it as it is!

A really spectacular day today - I'm up more than 6k already so no complaints. There are two shares in particular I am really very much interested in.

 One rose too much and is now falling back - so I am in waiting mode for both to pounce at the right time! One high risk buy to report which I'll chat about in the lunchtime e-mail to those who subscribe.

 I sold out the last of my Universal Salvage today at 186.3p on the basis that although it seems priced a bit low given the 200p bid, it looks like it will take ages for any more news to come though and then it would take even longer to get the 200p that I may as well just use the freed up cash elsewhere. So the last lot of UVS profit is £86.

 Well what brilliant rises for the portfolio today. Star billing goes jointly to Croda, Rightmove, and Renold all up around 5%.

 Croda has bust through 600p at last and is really going strongly. Rightmove of course went up because of the Countrywide deal as it will benefit a lot. That could crack 500 this week. Renold is heading back higher after the recent profit taking - some nice buying coming in.

 My last buy Fenner is absolutely racing higher and easily cracked previous resistance at 230p - as I said last week this one could race up to 270 with no bother if the market takes note of its excellent business.

 Headlam has gone for it today with a massive rise, not sure why but I am not complaining! Petrofac leaps up closer to that 400p area again.

 Telecom Plus bounces well off 200p to gain strongly. Real estate too climbs a lot higher for me! Havelock Europa after a quiet spell climbs 4p as it heads towards resistance which maybe it'll crack this time.

 Vislink confirms its break over 100p - perhaps we can now say a week above 100p and holders can re-think it testing its highs again ahead of its results. Hunting gushes higher and Abacus has risen an awful lot these last couple of days.

 So I am in seventh heaven today with the biggest ever gains across the board I can remember seeing in a morning - and that's good going with the FTSE 100 down!

Friday 2nd February

 I begin with a plea from someone going to the Dublin seminar who writes: "Just seen today's diary and noticed a few staying at the hotel and beating my price of £56.

 If someone wants to share a twin room on the Friday I would be more than happy to, as my wife does not arrive until Saturday when we move across to the Hilton. Has to be non smoking room.

 Seems daft if a few of us all get single rooms when it could pay our bar bill instead! If anyone wishing to share resembles any of Girls Aloud that's fine by me! Feel free to pass on this email or my email address to anyone interested..."

 So, if you resemble someone from Girls Aloud (or more likely don't) e-mail me if you'd like to share a room at the hotel if you happen to be staying.

 I have a feeling judging by all the jolly people that are coming we are all going to have a very good time in the bar afterwards with the Guiness flowing. Funnily enough, Christopher is a big fan of Girls Aloud!

 Christopher awoke at 7am this morning instead of 4am! Phew. But I could quite easily go to bed now and sleep for the whole weekend...

 Elizabeth is off to see a friend tomorrow leaving the lads on their own for a day. What bad things will me and Christopher get up to tomorrow?

 Oh, I don't know... I'm sure food will end up scattered all over the place. And that's just me - goodness knows what the toddler will get up to.

David writes: Just renewed my car tax as well! But I did it on line, an excellent website www.direct.gov.uk/taxdisc they automatically have details of my car insurance and MOT, the disc turned up within two days.

 Its not often I praise government services but this is GOOD!! And no hassle about buying car insurance or even a trip to the Post Office!

Thanks David, a very good tip - that's it no more visits to the ghastly post office for me (till I hit 65)

 Ian writes: Must be the most boring cab driver in London - no good at diy, don't play golf, fish, support arsenal, have a girl friend just take the cab about for five hours.

 This week picked up whizzs kids who work for Rothchilds deutchs, citibank, j p morgan etc they tell me nothing nothing but good luck to them.

 Thank goodness for the don of all dons THE NAKED TRADER keep up the good work in 3 years time I might be able to buy the house on top of the hill. Looking forward to congestion charge!.

 Thanks Ian. You can't possibly be the most boring cabbie, believe me, I have met him. Had to listen to a tape of his "comedy". Groan! 3

 Ed writes: Just read your book (naked trader) and was impressed in how what I though would be a dry read was easily digestable - good work!

 I am now at the point of trying to start of picking shares. however looking at advfn there seems so be so many shares and charts/graphs for every one it just puts me off. How do you home on to your first shares? do you just try to get familiar with one market?

Thanks Ed - feel more like the knackered trader right now.. good question! A lot of it is things to avoid such as penny shares, shares with wide spreads, loss-making companies and those that are in a slump.

 Best thing is to get about 10 shares on a monitor - pick a few FTSE 250, a coupld of FTSE 100, and a couple of small caps. Get to know them and their story.

 Read the papers and the gossip and add shares onto your monitor that spark an interest. But don't buy anything until you are sure and even then go in very small to start with. Take it easy and don't start gambling! Learn the ropes slowly and steadily!

What an amazing end to a fantastic week with many thousands of pounds of profits. And it all started pretty poorly..A new trade in an old friend Fenner (FENR). I bought 2,500 shares yesterday afternoon at 223.5p. Target 270 stop 205. This adds to the other position at 202p.

 You may think conveyor belts are pretty boring but they are a big and growing business. I've always felt it was only a matter of time before the market noticed Fenner and when it did it would go up sharply.

 I like the look of some of the big buys that have been going in recently and wonder whether there is some good news on the way.... it's a share I think once though 230p could really fly higher and deservedly so.

 Great news from Universal Salvage - the company says it is in the early stages of a bid at 200p. I usually get out of bid situations, take the money and run without worrying about waiting a couple of months for a better price.

 This one was harder because the market makers didn't raise the price by much. So I sold around half of my holding at 190. For website purposes we'll call it the 159 position for profits of £369 and the 161 position for a profit of £425. I'll keep the 182 positionin case of a counter bid for now. Total profit £794.

 Well, what a fabulous day with everything pretty much on the rise. I can't mention them all but the best risers in no especial order are. Gyrus, strongly up and as one of my biggest holdings I am very happy.

 In particular real estate is having a great day and brilliant rises from the likes of Quintain and Savills. Some big buyers reappearing in Vislink which has risen strongly this week and is now pushing 100p again. Patience and a bit of nerve holding is paying off. Harvey Nash is flying as is Creston.

 TT Electronics, Mitie, Headlam, Bluebay, Charter, Renold and Vanco all flying higher. My Paragon short got stuffed by a broker upgrade and itd very high not giving me a chance to get out. I remain short because broker upgrades don't affect a price for very long.

 So, a superb week! Also an excellent weak for the high risk stocks in my SIPP, more on those trades to those on the lunchtime e-mail subscription list.

Thursday 1st February

Arrrgghhh! A 4am wakeup call this morning as Christopher decided it was time to get up. We got him into our bed where we hoped he would go to sleep but he couldn't. At 4.20am he decided to investigate my face sticking his finger in my ear and proclaiming "ear" and poking me in the eye.. "Eye!" All very cute normally but not at that time!

 He's been good recently so we're hoping this isn't the start of a lot of days of early waking. On top of that he was up late last night (9am)..So I'm fairly bleary-eyed today! Please sleep tonight young man....

 OK, those coming to the Dublin seminar should have received full details of the event, location etc in the mail today. If you are booked in and don't know where to go on March 2nd please let me know asap! And once again thanks to the many of you who have sent your questionnaires back to me so early it really helps...

 Got a new tax disc for the car this morning.. but haven't post offices changed. From the moment I got to the counter the clerk was trying to flog me car insurance.

 She looked at the insurance certificate... "We can get you a really good deal right now," she said.

 "I've just paid up for a full year last week," I explained. "So I'm not looking for a renewal quote for quite a while.."

 "You can use the phone over there completely free," she said, ignoring what I'd said. "It'll be cheaper...."

 "I'm a bit busy today, another time," I said. "You see it's that phone over there," she said and handled me a leaflet. "You call that number there..."

 This carried on till I managed to get out of there. If you're going to sell someone something, don't hassle them and listen to what the customer is saying for goodness sake!!

Our old mate Tony Blair has had his collar fingered by the old Bill again. Anyone fancy visiting him in Wormwood Scrubs? Or can he spin his way out of trouble.

 Every so called answer in PMQ these days is the same. Don't answer the question directly and just say how much better things are since 1997 twisting the stats as far as possible...

 A nice dividend cheque from Telecom Plus today for over £500. One coming from Latchways soon for about the same. Nice these dividends aren't they?

 Talking of Telecom Plus they have offered me the free use of a Porsche for a month. (It's an incentive they use for their distributors). I know it sounds funny but not sure whether to take it up because I am so scared of crashing it!

 I might just stick with the 3 day luxury cruise in May they've offered. Yeah, I know, all right for some isn't it? But I did work hard for it, you know.

 By the way if you're a distributor they offer you the Porsche for a month every time you get 200 customers. Last time I had it in 1999 I was working full time and I could see fellow workers eyeing it up going "how the hell did he afford that?"

 After the month was up of course I had to confess it was a month's freebie...! Just as well as I had to keep buying all the bloody drinks in the pub!

Mustafa writes: You mentioned on http://www.advfn.com/column8/make-money-from-shares.html 4 companies. I cant seem to find any of them on the IPO website. It's probably just me being silly but can you provide the tickers for them???

 Hi Mustafa -= in that article I am talking about future IPO's not ones already on the markets so there are no tickers available yet because the shares are not listed yet...

 Keith writes: Not surprised to see the book is doing so well.....I wish more people would simplify information, like you, so the people who have to read it can understand it.

 I once worked on a manual and got 263 pages down to 4 pages of simple flow charts on A4 pages, so the users could operate the product (the one/off info had been on page 63 instead of page 1!!!).

 However, my problem is I think, I suffer from a problem that after selling a stock....I seem to have to immediately re-invest it into another stock, not even letting the cash appear on the statement before it is gone again (can't let the banks use it!!).Is this "Burns Disease" if so, how do I over come it ? Keep up the website, great enjoyment for us.

 Hi Keith. Interesting point! I'm sure it's something most of us do. We sell something then immediately want to re-invest it - right there and then. It's like the money is burning a hole in our pockets.

 I would say it's hard to overcome! But it's not necessarily a bad thing if investing in the right stocks. It really is always worth keeping some cash on the sidelines in the event of a market slide it enables you to buy some cheap stock.

 But I must admit it is something I do a lot myself. It really would be better to sell something and wait to buy something else when the time is right! 

 Wow! What a day! Markets are booming mainly because it looks like the US economy is growing but without fears of inflation rising much - and this of course has a knock on effect over here.

 Whether today's gains will be held onto is another matter and it's quite tempting to take some profits into today's strength. So I thought about it quite a bit and decided with the portfolio still looking strong to hold for more. Perhaps a case of greed conquering fear on this occasion.

 Looks like it's time to get back into BSKYB (BSY) and I bought for £15 at 558 this morning. Missed the best early prices because thanks to Christopher I was up a little later than normal! I worked for BSKYB between 1997 and 2001. My last job!

 After a spell of doing very little it looks like the company is getting its act together and I would imagine funds getting back in for a likely rise above 600p. It's been unfashionable for a while now but it looks like the tide is turning. I liked the look of its statement and think a target of 620 looks achievable quite quickly. Stop loss 530.

 I also bought a high-risk play today for my high risk SIPP, a rather interesting renewable energy company which I am hoping will become another Renesola (I should be so lucky!). The spread firm says it can't be shorted which is very good news! More on that buy to those who subscribe to the lunchtime website e-mail.

 A long list of good winners today, don't have time to cover them all but the main ones are: Universal Salvage - that last top up looks good and up another 5p today, it's been rising pretty much every day for a couple of weeks. Can it conquer 200p? Gyrus - up very strongly today and surely now on its way to 450p..

 Petrofac roars up today and will soon be tackling 400p... Latchways is going for it after a couple of disappointing days, same comment to Domestic. Fenner looks on the verge of a decent breakout.

 Real estate goes well. So too Croda, Renold, Harvey Nash and many others. Vislink has been creeping up day after day and it getting back up close to the 100p level again.

 The only disappointment is OPD group which has been forced down by the seller mentioned yesterday. Given it's a strong company I'll take a chance and stick with it for now. Abacus is coming back very strongly after the trading statement yesterday.. can it get a crack at the 200p level?