Very wary these days. Either i'm investing in low priced long term bets or buying in and out every day. A big fall is not unlikely and could wipe out everything. It's not a bad idea simply monitoring the fastest gainers for the day and picking them up in the morning and selling in the afternoon. It's just as good a strategy as any other.

The debate about short term versus long term holdings: some fund managers criticise and demonise short term holders, but this is completely misleading: a) It's all about profit. b) long term holders (fund managers) need to blame someone for their lacklustre performances - lets face it, they're getting paid a heck of a lot for simply mirroring the FTSE, DOW etc. c) Jealousy. Short termers often take the risks and make more profit than the long termers. They're the trailblazers. d) Long termers are mad holding onto mature stocks. If you want to hold onto stock, make sure you buy at the beginning and wait until maturity; if you simply hold onto mature stocks, all you're doing is matching inflation. And there is no guarantee do to even that.

Some time ago I was told that making money on the markets was easy: just buy blue chips and hold onto them. In 20 years they'll be worth more. Oh yes brainbox, just look at the top companies 20 years ago and the top companies today. How much of a match is there?

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