You know who to blame if your shares are going down...

You know who to blame if your shares are going down. Obama - well you must have read his attack on the banks. I guess he's probably right to take them on. Though maybe he went too far - not sure.  If you own bank shares though I guess his name has been linked with a  few four letter words. The question really is whether this'll blow over and the markets resume their uptrend or whether it will develop into a further downmove. Place your bets, ladies and gentlemen...

The FTSE is certainly making a comeback as I write! But it would not surprise me to see it 200 pts higher or lower by the next time I update!

After some massive changes to the portfolio last time this update is a bit more peaceful!
I've taken a chance and just bought some Morse (MOR). 10,000 at 40.8 - target 50 stop 35.
I made some good money on these a while back but boy if only I'd held onto them as I bought at 9p!!! Never mind - despite the shares doing well I think there may be more to come. It's put out a decent enough statement - it's got good cash and business appears to be growing. Hope for confirmation of that on Feb 10th. It's also rejected a couple of bids and there were some rumours in the Mail before Xmas of a bid in the 55 area. Worth a punt for me.

I shorted Dominos (DOM) for a tenner at 321. Just looked a tad overpriced for what's a mature business - 325 looks a tough area too so I'm trying this short with a tight stop. Stop 326 target 300.

 Get them trumpets out. I have at last sold the last of my Dragon Oil at 448. I feel bereft in a way - one of the first shares I ever bought and having been in and out of them for many years I've made a lot out of them.

We've had good times and bad times. But overall our relationship* has been very beneficial to me.

However it is time to end it. The price is close to the takeover price. It can't get through 450 easily. And without a bid there may not be a lot more upside for a while.

Anyway I've done it, I am Dragonless but the good news for me is that banks a marvellous profit of £6,380.

I bought about ten months ago at the height of fear at 129. Goodbye old pal*, and all the best
* Robbie's book rule was: never get emotionally attached to a share. (!)
Oh how I miss it already.. it even reported a decent statement today. Sigh.*

Centamin's been weak for a while along with its sector so with sellers coming in I axed the final spread and the other position at 121 and 121.25 for a profit of £120 and a loss of £375 respectively, Strong support at 110 for this so might look for a reentry.

I also topsliced a bit of Aminex at 13.3. Only because I needed a spot of cash for something else and it was a tad weak on level 2.  However I still hold most of it and still up £7,000 plus at the moment and prospects look good.  For site purposes that closes the last position to bank £770.
That's a hefty profit total of  £6,895 for the website banked.

Not too bad couple of days considering the quick sell off due to the Obama bank announcements.

More by luck than skill the FTSE 100 short I put on Wednesday has gone into a profit of over £1,200 in just the two days - it's getting tempting to bank it already. Much depends on whether once the markets have fully digested the news there will be a bounceback.

 Of course the other shorts have gone well too with Wolseley and Man both down yielding profits. As always with shorts I tend to take profits quicker than with longs, we'll see.The Imagination short isn't working out yet and on the verge of taking a small loss on that as it looks strong with the tech sector.

Recent buys have stood up well. The day after buying Kentz, it announced a lovely statement with a big order backlog and a good cash statement too. Looks a lovely one to hold onto for quite a while.

New buys Treatt and Volex has also held up well against the sell off. Well, for now!

Dialight  consolidates well at higher levels -what a fabulous share this has been and it won't be long now before I'll have doubled on the first lot bought.  Still buyers around today despite the sell off.

 Intec Telecoms has raced higher this week and consolidated that, now up more than £6,000 plus a dividend as well. It's now nearly doubled.

RM didn't move for bit but it is really scorching up now and profits have rolled in here. 200 could be a barrier and would be tempted to grab profits if it can't get through.

Afren has got through the tricky 100 area which looks promising. Even more promising that it's held that despite the selloff. Micro Focus just rises everyday and is now battling to beat the 500 mark-  around £3k profit there now with more than 100 points profits since the buy. Held up well too.

Avanti has gone nicely higher since I bought the spreadbet and hopefully more to come. Even more interesting that the buying is still coming in.

Nestor Heathcare is now very nicely into profit with the spreadbets now £3,000 in profit - good move this week with some big buying.

It's been a wonderful start to the year but some caution needed here. However most of mine holds ok and the shorts are bringing in some cash. Should be an interesting week next week.

McDonalds reports today. Maybe there will be a MCNuggett of good news?  http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/columns/the_naked_trader/597/you-know-who-to-blame-if-your-shares-are-going-down-0597.html