CFD Trading Investment - JSE Report

The JSE ended slightly lower as gold shares lost ground, but platinum stocks bucked the trend to end higher.
A London-based metals analyst told I-Net Bridge fears still lingered of longer-than-expected wage talks, which raised the spectre of lower production and higher prices.
The all share index ended 0.26% lower. Resources fell 0.43%, the gold mining index was down 1.14% but the platinum mining index gained 2.29%.
Industrials fell 0.18% and financials shed 0.21%, but banks gained 0.45%.
The rand was bid at 7.08 to the US dollar, unchanged from when the JSE closed yesterday, while gold was quoted at US657.65 a troy ounce from $656.25 at the JSE's last close.
"There was no clear-cut path for the market after Asia and most European markets traded flat," a Johannesburg-based trader said.
But platinum stocks bucked the weaker tone on the local market.
London-based metals analyst from TheBullionDesk.com, James Moore, told I-Net Bridge that he felt platinum stocks may struggle to go higher but were not likely to go much lower at the moment either.
He explained that the current increase in stock prices was due to supply concerns in a tight market.
"The focus on the market at the moment is the wages issue," he said.
"There is only a small surplus forecast for platinum and if we lose a couple of days it starts pushing it the other way," concluded Moore.
Moore also pointed to the recent shutdown announcement by Anglo Platinum.
Anglo Platinum said today that it would shut down its Rustenburg operations for seven days to implement measures to address concerns associated with safety of employees. As a direct result of this intervention Anglo Platinum said it expects production in 2007 to reduce by between 10,000 and 15,000 ounces of refined platinum and the proportionate reduction of associated by-products produced.
Shares in Anglo Platinum (AMS) ended 2.81%, or 35 rand, higher at 1,280 rand. Impala Platinum (IMP) was up 2.05%, or 4.79 rand, to 238.79 rand and Lonmin (LON) was up 1.35%, or 7.91 rand, to 591.76 rand.
Heavyweight resource stocks were mixed. Anglo American was down 2.25%, or 9.98 rand, to 433.02 rand while BHP Billiton (BIL) was up 1.70 rand to 193.20 rand.
Paper maker Sappi (SAP) was off 1.14%, or 1.60 rand, to 138.50 rand and petrochemicals group Sasol (SOL) was 1.90 rand softer at 268.05 rand.
Among gold counters, Anglogold Ashanti (ANG) gave up 1.62%, or 4.70 rand, to 286.30 rand and Gold Fields (GFI) weakened 1.08%, or 1.25 rand, to 114.50 rand.
Banks were mixed with Firstrand (FSR) improving 29 cents after saying that it would buy the housing loan book of transport parastatal Transnet for 1.4 billion rand.
Standard Bank (SBK) was up 68 cents to 106.79 rand but Nedbank (NED) was down 1.64%, or 2.39 rand, to 143.01 rand.
Industrial investment group Remgro (REM) fell 90 cents to 186.70 rand. It said late yesterday that it has lifted headline earnings per share by 37.4% to 1,445.4 cents per share for the year ended March.
Fully diluted HEPS increased from 1,027.7 cents to 1,401.3 cents.
I-Net Bridge

CFD Trading Investment - JSE Report

The JSE ended slightly lower as gold shares lost ground, but platinum stocks bucked the trend to end higher.
A London-based metals analyst told I-Net Bridge fears still lingered of longer-than-expected wage talks, which raised the spectre of lower production and higher prices.
The all share index ended 0.26% lower. Resources fell 0.43%, the gold mining index was down 1.14% but the platinum mining index gained 2.29%.
Industrials fell 0.18% and financials shed 0.21%, but banks gained 0.45%.
The rand was bid at 7.08 to the US dollar, unchanged from when the JSE closed yesterday, while gold was quoted at US657.65 a troy ounce from $656.25 at the JSE's last close.
"There was no clear-cut path for the market after Asia and most European markets traded flat," a Johannesburg-based trader said.
But platinum stocks bucked the weaker tone on the local market.
London-based metals analyst from TheBullionDesk.com, James Moore, told I-Net Bridge that he felt platinum stocks may struggle to go higher but were not likely to go much lower at the moment either.
He explained that the current increase in stock prices was due to supply concerns in a tight market.
"The focus on the market at the moment is the wages issue," he said.
"There is only a small surplus forecast for platinum and if we lose a couple of days it starts pushing it the other way," concluded Moore.
Moore also pointed to the recent shutdown announcement by Anglo Platinum.
Anglo Platinum said today that it would shut down its Rustenburg operations for seven days to implement measures to address concerns associated with safety of employees. As a direct result of this intervention Anglo Platinum said it expects production in 2007 to reduce by between 10,000 and 15,000 ounces of refined platinum and the proportionate reduction of associated by-products produced.
Shares in Anglo Platinum (AMS) ended 2.81%, or 35 rand, higher at 1,280 rand. Impala Platinum (IMP) was up 2.05%, or 4.79 rand, to 238.79 rand and Lonmin (LON) was up 1.35%, or 7.91 rand, to 591.76 rand.
Heavyweight resource stocks were mixed. Anglo American was down 2.25%, or 9.98 rand, to 433.02 rand while BHP Billiton (BIL) was up 1.70 rand to 193.20 rand.
Paper maker Sappi (SAP) was off 1.14%, or 1.60 rand, to 138.50 rand and petrochemicals group Sasol (SOL) was 1.90 rand softer at 268.05 rand.
Among gold counters, Anglogold Ashanti (ANG) gave up 1.62%, or 4.70 rand, to 286.30 rand and Gold Fields (GFI) weakened 1.08%, or 1.25 rand, to 114.50 rand.
Banks were mixed with Firstrand (FSR) improving 29 cents after saying that it would buy the housing loan book of transport parastatal Transnet for 1.4 billion rand.
Standard Bank (SBK) was up 68 cents to 106.79 rand but Nedbank (NED) was down 1.64%, or 2.39 rand, to 143.01 rand.
Industrial investment group Remgro (REM) fell 90 cents to 186.70 rand. It said late yesterday that it has lifted headline earnings per share by 37.4% to 1,445.4 cents per share for the year ended March.
Fully diluted HEPS increased from 1,027.7 cents to 1,401.3 cents.
I-Net Bridge

"BANK IT!!" buddies

Whooooo...it's great to be back in the sea again. After 2 weeks of "light duty" I went to to the beach at 6.45am to resume my morning swim. It was great to see Babs at his usual spot fishing with a couple of mates. "Where you been uncle" he shouted to me, and then launched into a tale of the 3.5kg Stumpy he caught last week. "You missed it Mitch, should have seen it's big teeth! I fed the the whole neighbourhood!" What a fellow he is, out before the sun,king of the beach, living it. He's an old hand at "BANK IT!!"

The water was very warm, disappointingly so as we need temperatures below 18 degrees celcius for the sardine run to really get to us in any big numbers. I have been reading Roger's BLOG with interest, the sardines are moving up, the pictures are incredible!

Are you in the race?

I watched the Comrades Marathon on TV today - an unbelievable achievement by Leonid Shvetsov of Russia, who set a new mark of five hours, 20 minutes and 49 seconds in winning the down run. He bettered the 21-year-old record of the great Bruce Fordyce, who set a mark of 5:24:07 set in 1986.

After the finish I heard KZN Premier Mr Sbusiso Ndebele in an interview. He made good sense...3 things struck me from his speech

• just start the race
• keep going in the race
• finish the race

Whether on the road on in your life, you have got to get into the race if you want to succeed. And so I challenge you...are you in the race

There is a great story about a Lion and a Gazelle at www.big5photosafari.com...

CFD Investment Trading - JSE Report

Dear Clients,

The JSE ended flat after a volatile session ahead of the futures closeout on Thursday, with some investors snatching profits after Friday's record run.

The all share index ended up just 0.02%. Resources were 0.06% higher, the platinum mining index climbed 2.31% but the gold mining index was off 0.10%.

Industrials added 0.28%, but banks and financials lost 0.74% and 0.56% respectively.

The rand was bid at 7.08 to the US dollar from 7.11 when the JSE closed on Friday, while gold was quoted at US656.25 a troy ounce from $654.10 at the JSE's last close.

"It's been unstable. We opened very strong after Asian markets closed at record highs this morning but around noon we started flattening in line with European markets," said Lavan Gopaul, a trader at Cortex Securities.

He added although overall trading was quiet due to a lack of fresh corporate and economic news, blue chip stocks featured ahead of the futures closeout on Thursday.

Gopaul further noted selective profit-taking after the market's record performance on Friday.

On the resources index, Anglo American (AGL) was off two rand to 443 rand and BHP Billiton (BIL) fell 1.18%, or 2.28 rand, to 191.50 rand.

It was reported today that the Melbourne-based resource group is considering a new $40 billion bid for UK-based aluminum producer Alcoa but BHP Billiton declined to comment.

"We are always looking at our portfolio of assets and analysing opportunities, but we don't comment on market speculation," Bronwen Wilkinson, BHP Billiton's South African spokesperson, told I-Net Bridge.

Highveld Steel (HVL) surged 2.50%, or 2.20 rand, to 90.20 rand after saying that that it expects its headline and basic earnings per share for the interim period ending June to be between 55% and 65% higher than that for the same time last year.

Platinum miner Anglo Platinum (AMS) climbed 2.05%, or 25 rand, to 1,245 rand. It said earlier that it would be suspending underground production at its Rustenburg Platinum Mine's Rustenburg section for about seven days to implement measures to address concerns associated with the safety of employees.

Impala Platinum (IMP) soared 3.085, or seven rand, to 234 rand.

Among gold counters, Anglogold Ashanti (ANG) inched up 75 cents to 291 rand but Gold Fields (GFI) shed 1.25%, or 1.46 rand, to 115.75 rand.

Diversified mining group Metorex (MTX) was 3.40%, or 90 cents, stronger at 27.40 rand. It said earlier that it was in talks, which might affect its share price.

Heavyweight industrial group Barloworld (BAW) shed 1.50%, or three rand, to 197 rand but investment group Remgro (REM) was up 1.10 rand to 187.60 rand.

Among banks and financials, Standard Bank (SBK) gave up 40 cents to 106.11 rand but Absa (ASA) firmed 20 cents to 139.10 rand.

Life insurer Old Mutual (OML) retreated 18 cents to 25.01 rand but Sanlam (SLM) gained 10 cents to 23.10 rand.

I-Net Bridge

Notice:

Please remember to book a seat for the weekly seminars at www.iquotetrading.co.za. These seminars are for your benefit.

Regards,

Paul Venter (CM,Dip(Man),MBA)

CFD Investment Trading - Hold the line

I must say I started to doubt my strategy of holding small positions with no stop losses when my Investec stock dropped to a 12% loss.I had hovered between 5% and 10% for about 10 days, and with no recovery in sight I was thinking of selling out at the loss, and using my free margin in other shares. But I thought back to a saying Roger and I use..."Hold the line!"
The saying is used by cyclists, while when riding in a bunch, if they see a fellow cyclist starting to waver and lose his riding line (which could be disastrous for every one riding), shout "hold the line!"
I held firm, and at Friday's market close my net position in Investec was around a 3% loss! The question I now ask myself is how flexible should I be..?? Should I "hold the line" (this could take months to beak even, or bail out now and employ the capital better?)
I think I will do a combination of both...by putting in a trailing stop loss in case the market bottoms out again, and leave the position open, allowing it to increase in value.

CFD Investment trading - JSE Report

The JSE ended sharply higher, buoyed by rising overseas markets with a strong opening on Wall Street encouraging local investors to push the bourse a few points away from the 29,000 level.

The all share index ended 1.35% higher at 28,988 points. Resources added 1.13%, while the gold and platinum mining indices were up 0.17% and 2.12% respectively. Industrials improved 1.32%, financials picked up 1.86% and banks surged 2.79%.

The rand was bid at 7.16 to the US dollar from 7.23 when the JSE closed yesterday, while gold was quoted at US651.10 a troy ounce from $651.05 at the JSE's last close.

"We opened in positive note with most stocks in a recovery mode after traders overreacted on the downside," said Lavan Gopaul, a trader at Cortex Securities.

He added that a positive opening in New York, after the US released fairly contained producer price inflation, spurred local investors to buy more local stocks. Although the US May PPI rose by 0.9% - above an expected 0.6% increase - Gopaul said while fuel was the major contributor, prices for other items were largely tame.

Fixed line phone operator Telkom (TKG) featured on the upside on vague talks that it might sell its 50% stake in cellular phone operator Vodacom.

Shares in Telkom closed 3.13%, or 5.40 rand, higher at 178 rand.

Business media reported this morning that Telkom and Vodacom were sending out signals that they might part ways.

Cellular phone operator MTN Group (MTN) was up 50 cents to 98.50 rand.

Media group Naspers (NPN) gained 2.65%, or 4.75 rand, to 183.80 rand. It said earlier that it expects core headline earnings per share for the year ended March to be between 25% and 35% higher than last year's restated 714 cents.

On the resources index, Anglo American (AGL) fell 75 cents to 432.75 rand but BHP Billiton (BIL) advanced 1.74%, or 3.30 rand, to a fresh closing high of 192.99 rand. The counter earlier touched a trading high of 193.72 rand.

Junior resource group African Rainbow Minerals (ARI) surged 3.12%, or 4.05 rand, to 134 rand.

Pulp and paper producer Sappi (SAP) climbed 3.45%, or 4.51 rand, to 135.25 rand and synthetic fuels maker Sasol (SOL) picked up 3.47%, or 8.60 rand, to 256.50 rand.

Among gold counters Anglogold Ashanti (ANG) gave up 15 cents to 291.60 rand but Gold Fields (GFI) was up 70 cents to 115.80 rand and Harmony (HAR) inched up 30 cents to 97.30 rand.

Leading platinum stocks also advanced, with Anglo Platinum (AMS) gaining 1.09%, or 13 rand, to 1,202 rand and Impala Platinum soaring 3.09%, or 671 rand, to 224.20 rand.

Industrial investment group Remgro (REM) was up 2.20%, or 3.99 rand, to 184.99 rand, brewer SABMiller (SAB) picked up 2.28 rand to 173.90 rand and Barloworld (BAW) strengthened 2.81%, or 5.50 rand, to 201.50 rand.

Among banks, Standard Bank (SBK) was 3.10%, or 3.20 rand, better at 106.50 rand and Firstrand (FSR) rose 3.22%, or 74 cents, to 23.74 rand.

I-Net Bridge

CFD Trading Investment - 10 % down

With the banks coming under pressure this week I have a couple of shares I bought 2 weeks ago that have been hammered. The Investec stock I bought has dropped by 10%, a huge drop when I am trying to make between 2-3%. What does this mean? Ok, if I put R1000 rand as a margin into the stock, the daily profit or loss (in this case a loss) has dropped to equal my margin amount i.e. R1000. Is this a train smash? Well not really, as I have only got 10% of my entire trading float in this share, so I can afford to hold it (for 2 months if necessary) until the stock recovers. It may not recover fully, but I have a chance of recovery whereas if I had a stop loss in place I would be out of the stock, with no chance of recovering my loss. I am only doing this because I have a very small amount invested in the stock, and won't lose my shirt on the trade.

This is how the trade went. I bought the share for 9800, putting a 2% take profit onto the trade, and no stop loss. The share started dropping as soon as I bought it (typical!) If I had put a 3% stock loss I would have sold the stock when it plummeted through 9506 . It keep up it's free fall, right to 9000. I was reeling, over 10% down. But I hung in and slowly it's started a recovery. I am hoping that it will get back to my buying price, and then I'll get out.

The only question is ...can I employ that capital better somewhere else and make up the losses faster??

CFD Trading Investment Executive

CFD's are becoming more and more popular, I suppose as the ordinary investor wants a product that is simple to use as a stock trading option. The one big reason is that there is no minimum amount needed for you to hold in your trading account before starting to trade. There is also no fixed time period like with Futures, you can literally get in and out of a trade in a day. But beware, and stick to the Golden Rules...
This article shows CFD's coming to Canada and what they mean for the Canadian investor
Investment Executive

CFD Tutorial: Great CFD Trading Tips To Improve Your CFD Trading Skills Immensely

I've just read a great article from my CFD Investment feed (feeds all relevant articles to my email automatically- an awesome tool!) which runs through the mechanics of a CFD trade, working out profit, interest paid and your cost in the trade. It's worth a read. http://www.thecfdtrader.com/cfd-trading-tutorial.php

Out of the Blue

That stray bit of wind I was talking about came through at about 2.45pm. I was sitting skyping Blaine in the UK and Julian's text to come kite surfing came through "MEET AT THE LIGHTHOUSE NOW". Scrambling to shut down and get home to fetch my kites took 5 minutes and 10 minutes later I was pumping up my kite on the beach, ready for a down wind kite surf from Umhlanga to Durban. "BANK IT!!"

There's a lesson in that. Sometimes you have everything nicely laid out, goals mapped and all neat and tidy. Then BAM.. out of left field an opportunity hits. Do you stick to the goals or take the opportunity?? You have to be flexible in life and business, adjusting to the ebb and flow and freak waves. Take every opportunity you can, live your life, kiss your wife and hug your kids often. Take every opportunity to "BANK IT!!"

Goalfree Living

A great friend of mine, Blaine "the Meister" Wilson suggested I look at a good friend of his , Stephen Shapiro's,website. It really is a great site.

I've just read an article on Stephen's site Goal Free Living, an Amazon best seller. It's an interesting article and I am going to get the book but I have a comment. He says "...I discovered that the most creative, passionate, and successful people were NOT goal-oriented"

I think that most creative, passionate and successful people are by their very nature goal driven. They have very concrete ideas about how the world works and what they want out of it. They also have a plan of how they are going to achieve it. They may not write up a plan with goals and deadlines, but they are the people that put in the extra time, and push, push, push, until they have achieved (goal??) what they feel is worth their effort.

I do however agree with Stephen in that if you are 100% consumed with your goals you will never stop to smell the proverbial roses. That's why I like my idea, of setting goals that are "BUYING TIME" and as you go through each day and do something awesome "BANK IT!!"

I'll give you an example..Sue and I plan our holidays at the beginning of each year, set the list of things to do so we end up going on the holidays, and now they are banked. Then we fit the work around the holidays. There will always be enough work to do 24/7, but one of our goals is to spend as much holiday time in great places with out kids.

Business GPS

I was trolling through the old articles in "Pete's Weekly" and came across an amusing article on using a GPS to navigate in a motorcar. I loved the bit about the" wonderful young lady sitting in the cubbyhole" giving him directions. I know Pete personally, he's a wonderful fellow, with a quirky sense of humour a great take on small businesses and how to navigate amoungst the big fish in the business world.

I have used a GPS a lot in a marine application, to locate a good piece of reef and go back there to dive on the spot again. It is virtually impossible (unless you have good land marks, or are well versed in the finer art of charting plotting and sextant use) to find an exact spot under the sea for a second time. Without a GPS that is. The effectiveness of these small, inexpensive tools are staggering, a paint by numbers directional aide to unerringly find your way.

If you had the opportunity to to use a tool like this in your business, I have to ask you, would you pass it up or jump at the opportunity with both hands?! There are some incredible internet marketing tools I use and which, if you follow the directions they give you, will guide you through the labyrinth of internet startup.

The ones I have used and found to be cost effective and accurate are from the Internet Marketing Center. It's so much easier with your own business GPS...

CFD Investment...turning tide.

Last week was dismal, with bank and consumer stocks taking a pounding. I had a small rally in my mining stocks and made a profit on Friday (twice! when I bought and sold the same share twice during the day - that was cool). I shut my computer down and went to Sodwana Bay for the weekend, South Africa's premier scuba diving location, for the Winter Game fish Spear fishing competition.

As my hooked finger is still in stitches I wasn't able to dive, and spent the day as the "bakkie boy", driving the boat for John Girzda and Chris West. They came fourth and third respectively, and I had an awesome day, calm seas and very mild, sunny weather. A glorious day at sea. John and I took our families up, and we had a great weekend with the Sue and Manuela and all our kids.

Back at my desk I am looking at my battered CFD positions and they aren't so battered any more, the banks and consumer stocks having recovered slightly from Friday's close. Still a way to go before I am in profit but, in this instance, having no stop losses has allowed me to still hold the shares, without selling at a loss, my cost the daily interest which is factored into my profit and loss account. I feel it in my waters...the tides a turning.

Gills drying up

It's been three days since I had my finger stitched up and I haven't been in the water since then. I must say, I feel like my gills are drying up. The winter time in Kwazulu Natal is a beautiful season, cool mornings with offshore breezes. A great time to be on the beach... this morning I saw a whale, one of the early visitors to our coast this year. As the month progresses the sardine run moves up the coast from the Cape, driven by the big cold fronts and winter swell we get at this time of the year.

Roger is assisting the BBC in filming of the sardine run and will be based at Umkomaas for the next month. Have a look at his website www.rogerhorrocks , for updates

Money Question:What would you do with a windfall?

I read a great article which posed the question "what would you do with a windfall?" Its posted on an interesting finance blog site called "The Lazy man and Money"

It's well worth a read, and might help your thinking. The interesting part of the article was for me was from Ben, who said he'd start a business...

Fed up...and Gatfol!

Have you ever felt fedup and frustrated trying to make some extra cash by starting your own business because you also want to be "BUYING TIME". You feel like you don't know where to start, and do tons of research but it all ends up as hours and hours of mindlessly surfing the internet. The answer to you dilemma is right in front of you...it's YOU. Look at yourself, start a blog writing about yourself and you will find your way...

I want to share some secrets with you, secrets from 5 people who sound like they know what they are doing:

1. Common sense is more rare than flawless diamonds.
2. It's a numbers' game - if you do the numbers you have a chance (and don't expect results before you do!).
3. 90% of people don't follow through. A very tiny percentage of people will apply some of the actions or strategies they learn. And just a few might follow exactly what the e-book publisher suggests.
4. People would do anything to avoid thinking for themselves. People hate thinking.
5. Your solutions are right under your nose, that's why you don't see them.

Get offline...and get online.

You’ve heard the expression “you can’t see the wood for the trees”. We are so used to thinking conventionally that when we try to think “online” we can’t. So I thought this would help you. You need to see your online business as an offline business, a store you open up each day and wait for customers to call. The difference is subtle… How many customers would visit your offline business in a day: 2...20…200? On the internet your products or services are available to millions. And you want to be “BUYING TIME”. Man... this beats sitting behind a counter. All you need is a couple of thousand visitors on a daily basis, turning 20-50 of them into buyers. And the best part…you can sell exactly the same stuff online as off line!

Setup costs for an online business are a fraction of a conventional business, your time is the same, your leverage disproportional... if you carry on doing the same things expecting a different result...sorry to tell you but you will be disappointed!

Taking a breather

It seems as if a lot of investors took a breather today as the JSE softened. The only stocks that I have that rose slightly were mining stocks...I am told because of the softer rand. I am sticking to the golden rules, and I don't take too much notice of fundamental and technical analysis. I am not a day trader and if the shares fall outside of the golden stock trading rules I don't buy or sell them. You may think this is silly but remember where I am coming from. I will learn slowly, using small amounts of cash on small positions. I need to make an overall 13% average profit on my capital. If I can learn to pick the correct stocks and I do this consistently, I will make a good return.

On the R35,000 I am currently using as working capital, I aim to make a profit of R4,55O per month. If I can trade with R350,000 capital and achieve the same returns, I would earn R45,500 per month. If I am sounding repetitive it is because it is repetitive. I will trade unemotionally, and not chase any shares at all.

"So have you made any money?" you ask

This last month has actually been a bad month. I haven't made any money but I have learned alot. I am happy with my progress, and figure if I have done ok in a bad market I will do better in a good market.

Outsourcing your life

The world is changing and if we don't change with it we will be the dinosaurs of our time. I read this website and it really re-in forced the notion that I don't know to much about the internet and I need to learn. "Out source your life? What's that...??" Well the world is shrinking, and resource and expertise are only a mouse click away. Tim Ferriss' book "The 4 hour workweek" is a great inspiration if you want to move you virtual business to the next level. It'll spark your imagination and keep you wondering into the wee hours of the morning

Priceless Time

I was just thinking this morning how we all take time with our families and friends for granted. I suppose as our DNA dictates, we assume we will live forever and the opportunity to spend quality time with family and friends will always be there. Yesterday I heard that a close friend's daughter was diagnosed with advanced cancer...

Personally I've found the single most effective way of "BUYING TIME" is is by managing the e-zone, the electronic data barrage that gets spewed at us everyday. Control these three things; TV, email and your cell phone and I guarantee you that your will be in the top 1% of the population when it comes to "BUYING TIME", and will be able to spend more quality time EVERYDAY with loved ones.

And controlling them means switching OFF, (thank you voice mail, automated email and PVR), clearing the hard drive between your ears and relaxing with your loved ones. No distraction, no interruptions...just quality time. "BANK IT!!"

Dolphin duel

My early morning swim was incredible. The misty early morning off shore breeze blew out across the jacketed fisherman as they stood on the sea shore waiting for a bite. I walked down to one of the fisherman and as is my custom struck up a conversation with him. Apparently yesterday as they stood fishing a group of sharks chased a young dolphin into the shallows. It's mother was highly agitated, swimming around the young dolphin, protecting it from the sharks. The fisherman said they all pulled out their lines, and watched as the sharks were chased off, and eventually the dolphins headed out for deeper water.

I swam out thinking about the dolphin, swimming like a dolphin...and stepped back on the shore invigorated. "BANK IT!!"

Seafood Squall

This mornings calm, clean seas are typical of Natal waters in May. As I packed my spear fishing gear, a sudden unexpected squall blew in from the sea. Wondering whether we should cancel the dive, John and I decided to drive out to Umdloti anyway and check out the conditions. The blustering conditions worsened by the minute, but the water was so clean...so we swam out into the 35knot squall anyway. Under the sea the conditions were crystal, the surface tumultuous, the wind whipping the waves into a white froth.

We had a great dive, and hit the beach with our quota of eight crayfish each and a yellow belly rock cod to boot. It turned out to be a great afternoon...a squall and a seafood feast.

Who is in charge?

If you are anything like me, your cell phones rings alot. And your email fills up, all day long. You have to ask yourself the question ...who is in charge? YOU or THEM (the technological devices that we can't seem to do without).

A typical day for you probably goes like this...you head to the office and tackle your emails. By 9.00 they are done, and you start putting the important time into thinking about your business...an email pops up, you have to answer it because it is expected in our instant age.. that you do. As you are halfway through your concentration is broken with a phone call. You answer it, because you have to answer your cell every time it rings...after the call you get back to the mail..and so it continues through the day.

When I am busy I put my cell phone off, allowing me to focus on what I am doing. In this way I am 100% more productive. I have a message on my cell which goes like this..."This voice mail does not take messages. If it's important please send me an sms (text)" You know, the important calls do text (so I can get back to them), or call they me back later. i.e.. I control my time

I have just started the same with my emails. I spend until 10.00am on my emails and then I turn them off.It's funny how much more time I seem to have in my day.

Prioritising time is vital if you want to effectively be "BUYING TIME". It also give you extra time in the day to spend doing the great things you want to.

Hooked on Kite surfing

Seven kite surfers set off from Umhlanga Rocks on a downwind, with a fresh NE blowing us down the coast to Durban. It was fantastic, great wind and some swell, so we had some reasonable waves to ride down the coast. After about 10 minutes my main spar opened at the trailing edge and the bladder squeezed out, looking like a bloated sausage hanging out behind my kite. I beached and Alex followed, helping me to sort the distended bladder, and we were off again heading towards Durban.

As we reached Blue Lagoon, my kite twisted, falling from the sky and beating itself to death behind the backline. A bladder leak had deflated the kite and I was unable to relaunch so I started swimming in. Just behind the shore break I unhooked my safety leash, as Glen was waiting on the beach to pull my kite out. Before he could catch the kite, a wave pulled the kite..and pulled the hook on my safety leash through my finger middle finger. I was dragged under the water by the force of the wave pulling the kite...I thought my finger would be pulled off. As the leash slackened off I pulled in some slack, and managed to pull the hook out of my finger.Literally hooked on kite surfing.

Thanks to Glen, Alex and Julian for their quick reaction to the situation. Fortunately it was not lfe threatening, but at another time their speed could have made a vital difference!

A quick visit to the doctor and four stiches later I am good to go!

Getting robbed by the banks...CFD blowout

After chatting to a trader this morning I realised that I was far to over exposed in the banking sector (4 lots of bank shares) and even though I would make a loss if I sold, it would be better to make a loss now, free up the capital and buy a share with a chance of increasing in value. With possible interest rate hikes in the not to distant future in South Africa, the banking sector has little chance of recovering short term. So I sold 3 bank shares, holding one (which I think has a chance of slight recovery) and bought some other shares, and already I am up over all.

Why sell at a loss? So that I have the ability and capital to take advantage of other sectors that are increasing in value. My theory...small positions with small upward moves, banking small profits consistently.