I’m just back from holidays and in the week I came back moved house. In my mind this was a simple process but turned into something larger. As a result of the move I have no TV or Internet access and these things always take time to sort out. So instead of participating I’m hanging back and only occasionally glancing at the markets.

After my holiday I did open a sell trade at 4014 on the FTSE 100 but closed out for a nice 550 Euro profit. Since then I haven’t had the opportunity to trade and looks like it could be another two weeks.

Happy trading.

It’s been a hard few weeks and I haven’t been posting as frequently. At the moment I’m busy trying to move, go on holidays and dabble in a bit of trading. In short I have been spreading myself a bit thin. On the market front it has been a whirlwind ride downwards for most equities and indices. In fact nothing has been moving upwards and the calm downward momentum was starting to have me concerned.

A few weeks ago I opened a silly long on the FTSE 100 for +2.50. This then went the wrong way and I had ample opportunities to close out the position but didn’t. The loss grew and grew with the expiry date nearing but finally I have closed it for a loss. I took some calculated risks and have been playing the upside oversold card for a few days now. Yesterday I cashed out and took my profits and closed my loss. I am now neutral.

Have Equities Bottomed Out?
My suspicion is this is a good time to sell the rally but I’m holding back my itchy fingers for a while. I don’t like open positions on holiday so I think I personally will be staying neutral. I think a few days of subtle moves higher will be wiped out with new lows before the end of the month. April will start off bad and a return to range bound markets for a period is to be expected. As predicted before I think we could test 3200 on the FTSE and so I may start scaling into a short after this rally fizzles out.

On equities I am starting to look at certain sectors and have bought two stocks recently. These are Microsoft (MSFT) and Coca Cola (KO) which were each at their 52 week lows and are part of my five year view. I have been following a list of about 40 stocks for 12 months now and these entered a price I consider reasonable. These are large cap stocks with good performance and I am confidant in their sustainability. They maybe seen as safe stocks but a rounded portfolio is more attractive to me with consistent growth rather than a riskier quick bet. While I accept they may fall further I am happy with the price and hope to continue to pick up stocks over the next six to eight months.

I hope everyone is doing well and not suffering too many war wounds. Happy trading!

Total Profit Week: 233.00
Account Total : 11,146.55

The continuing saga of the Irish banking system took another twist on Friday as tracker funds were mandated to sell the Irish banks as they fell off the Morgan Stanley Composite Index. Allied Irish Bank shares were down 20% at 0.38 cents and Bank Of Ireland were down 30% at 0.19 cents.

Allied Irish Banks report their results tomorrow and it will be interesting to see where the share price ends up. At this stage I wonder what Eugene Sheehy could possibly do or say to pull these shares back from the brink.

Total Profit Week: 237.00
Account Total : 10,914.05