Hi

As I'm writing the FTSE hasn't quite settled down for the day but it's looking to be down 3 or 4 points; so a disappointing day all round by the looks of it.

My porfolio is a sea of red with a few greens to prevent total disaster! Actually it could be worse - in fact I'm down about £45 on the day at £1286 (£486 profit). It always amazes me how perspective and expectations vary with the progress of a portfolio; two months ago I would have been over the moon with a £100 profit and now I'm really disappointed because I've fallen below £500 again...

Best performer today was FRENCH CONNECTION GROUP which gained a useful 5 points. Amazingly I'm £30 in profit with this position, and I can't for the life of me understand why I even opened it - ah well, a profit's a profit. Lots of poor performers today (!!), the worst being MARSTON'S PLC down by 5.7 points.

Well, considering the amount of red splashed across my portfolio I can't really complain at being £45 down and, as I've said on numerous occasions, you have to have the down days as well as the up.

No stop outs (though PATAGONIA GOLD was perilously close for a while) and no new positions executed. Hoping for a small improvement tomorrow!

Cheers, Big Al