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Brexit of course continues to make markets confusing.......

Published: 15:52 28 Feb 2019 GMT

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Brexit of course continues to make markets confusing.

The pound goes up if there is any sign of a delay or we are going to stay in.

Though seen as good news by markets it isn't good news for the top companies as the currency pushes their prices up and down.

What's confusing is some shares like a delay or no brexit, some prefer a no deal etc and it's all on currency moves.

So the FTSE could be down a lot but shares you own up and vice versa.

I'm just continuing to wait the whole thing out with a heavy cash pile.

That doesn't mean to say I'm not going to look for opportunities (I really hate double negatives, how did I end up with such an awful sentence?)

But anything at the mo is for small money. However. There is the old saying buy at the point of fear. But then there is also Fools rush in where Angels fear to tread?

Which old cliche to go for?

Marks and Sparks and Ocado reckon the deal is a "win win".

I suspect it's a "lose lose". Waitrose shoppers want Waitrose.

M and S is ok for a quick shop if you want a treat. We all know it's expensive, fine for a treat. A nice pack of posh biscuits, chocolate, a pudding, a sandwich, a ready meal.

But not the staples. Everything is pretty much pricey in Marks. I doubt many would want M and S delivered.

I guess Waitrose customers will just revert to the Waitrose delivery service though apparently it's not that great.

Win win? Looks like it just makes everyone pissed off. Hang on this reminds me of something else going on... beginning with B....

Anyhow this is a long-winded way of saying I'm short of M & S again. I got a voucher this morning for 20pc off its awful clothes. Make it 90pc and I'll buy something.

I bought some IG Group. (LON:IGG) You may remember I made nearly £9,000 by shorting these from the 800s to the late 500s.

They went down after being hit by new regulations affecting spreadbet and CFD firms. In essence they can't offer as much leverage as in the past which means less profits.

A warning from CMC and Plus have pushed the share price down further but this looks like a good point to actually buy some.

That's because IG looks a decent company not only doing spreadbetting and CFDs but also Isas and normal stockbroker services giving it a wider range. I wonder whether it might even become a bank and do banking services soon too. I don't know why it doesn't re-enter the sports market, seems like money for old rope there. Sports betters always lose eventually.

Anyhow it looks somewhere near a bottom with bad news in the price and no good news there at all. The boss bought some shares around these levels. The risk? A warning. A guaranteed stop with a spreadbetting firm then!

I've bought some more of Gb Group (LON:GBG). I've held these for many years (since 20p!) and made a lot - the website positions show profits of nearly £50,000. Time for a new buy here.

The company is in a sweet spot in a very exciting area of the market - identification.

Everyone wants to know who we are and it works in all areas of the ID market. I suspect face recognition is going to be a pretty big thing.

It is spending money buying up other companies in its area and just raised £160m to snap up IDology.

This money was raised readily, a good sign. GB should continue to grow. Downside? The shares are not cheap - but sometimes I don't mind paying for quality over value so for now I expect to ignore volatility and try and hold on perhaps buying some more on any weakness.

Looks like a great buy and shutaway for an isa and come back in a couple of years.

I've taken a short in Card Factory (LON:CARD) (Betting on it to go down). I can't see any appeal in this one at all.

Though it makes a decent profit they aren't forecast to climb much. It has a big debt. The upcoming generation just doesn't buy cards anymore and competition is huge.

So as I don't get how this could grow at all it seems like a likely short and so I am in for it to go down.

I have added to my short in Devro (LON:DVO) after results.

It makes little sense to value a company at £300m. Fine if you just look at the profit.

That is up a bit but it is the net debt that is the worry, up to £142m from £135, a bad sign. Also growth looks limited.

If you were Warren Buffet, would you spend £300m on a company making £32m but owed £142m? I don't think so! I would suggest it's only a buy at nearer £200m. I'd expect it to gradually sink to 150 where there is fair value.

The sunday papers were full of not great stuff about ITV in fact results were pretty much signalled in advance. I sold half just in case to bank a profit of £165 and kept the rest. Bought back after results. Shares fell on results with Britbox looks a bit of a "meh".

Trouble with ITV (LON:ITV)  of course is, you get bored and sell and the day after that of course will be a bid! I'll probably pick some more up and sit it out. The weaker the share price the higher the chance of a bid.

So I bought back. A buy in the 120s will probably reap benefits at some point, with patience.

Some profits banked. Fcrm reached target nicely so sold for a profit of £699. It might repeat the 45-54 trading range one more time.

A loss taken of £295 on the recent Redde trade. I blame Jeremy Corbyn, Brexit, Donald Trump and the sunny weather for my loss. It wasn't my fault at all, obviously.

The results weren't terrible, I just hadn't figured on the net debt figure. There's nothing badly wrong - there just isn't anything to push the price higher and I exited fast after the report to take the loss. Best to just bank a loss fast when you realise it wasn't what you thought. Hanging on usually just becomes painful.

Time to take substantial profits on a long-termer, BTG (LON:BTG). It has been bid for, and I was hanging about for a rival bid.

Doesn't seem worth holding anymore so rather than wait a few weeks for the cash I've taken it and profits for the website banked are £21,323.

A lot more for me personally so over the years it has been a nice one. Thanks!

And a profit take in Ramsens of £2,472.

A weird reason for selling maybe! It was tipped by a major mag tipster. This guy usually pushes up a share price by a lot. He triggered an avalanche of buying yet the price only went up a touch. 

Since then it hasn't much moved despite a lot of buying interest. That means there must be a big seller out there. So for now I've taken profits.

I have a few cos reporting in March and I'm trying to figure out whether to sell a few before results or not.

A lot have done well but the problem is on even a good report shares can go down on results day as people take profits or decide the price is too high. I'll have a good look at each and decide whether to bank a bit of profit, a loss or a break even! Probably do it before heading for the relaxing Spanish break.

There are quite a few sudden warnings about so time to be careful.

If a Brexit deal is done (even a crap one) we could see a nice bounce on the way in which case my cash pile will be deployed.

Interesting times!

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