Since my last email to you on 22 November, the market has continued to trade sideways at its lows of 2004. This can be seen from the weekly chart of the ASX 200 below.

If you have recently subscribed to my website or for some reason you did not receive my last email you can view it by clicking here.

Whilst some shares have still continued to fall, many have paused their downtrends and are moving sideways. There are still no technical signs that the health is back in the markets and the ASX 200 index is clearly still in a downtrend. I have continued to profit through short selling and below you can see how my current trade I showcased in my last email has progressed.

I also have a new product available, in the form of a trading diary, that will give you the opportunity to see exactly how I trade the markets. Read below for more information.

Watch my trade continue to progress

Last email I showcased a short trade that I had open and active, which I called XYZ share. I purposely left the share name off the chart and will disclose this share once the trade is closed.

When I last emailed you this share was trading at 81c and my stop loss was set just above $1. The share has still continued downwards even further and is now trading under 50c. I short sold a CFD on this share on 21 October at $1.68 when it came up in my daily system scan and gave me a short sell signal (these signals are donated as small blue arrows in the chart of the share). The blue line on the chart shows my trailing stop loss indicator and as you can see the share has still not crossed this price and I still have half the trade open.

I sold half my position on 27 November when the share had more than halved in value and this is one of my windfall profit rules that I have in my trading plan. I am holding the remaining half in this trade and have my stop loss sitting at 55c. While the share continues to stay below this trailing stop loss level I will stay with it. If it moves lower my stop will continue to move lower until eventually it will be hit and I will be taken out of the trade. I will continue to monitor this trade and keep you updated on its progress in the New Year.

My CFD Trading Diary: How I turned $5k into $20k in a 6 week period

I have a special new product available for you in the form of a personal trading diary. I kept a trading diary which I have shared with my Smart Traders Mastermind group in our December teleconference call. This diary was over a 6 week period from 1 October to 6 November. During this time I undertook a total of 18 CFD trades and increased my CFD trading account from $5k to $20k - that's a 300%* return in just 6 weeks. I have decided to make this diary available for purchase, so that you too can have a chance to see how I trade the markets.

In the diary you will discover how I make all my trading decisions each day, why I opened every trade during that period and how I managed each trade. You will also see what I do each day and week as part of my trading routine and I showcase my daily CFD account balance as it appeared on my daily email trading statement each day, along with the charts of every trade I have opened and a final review of each trade 5 weeks after I finished the trading diary, along with my trading statistics.


Plus, when you purchase the diary you will also get access to an exclusive discussion forum that I have set-up to help support you with any questions as you read through my trading diary. This will also give you the opportunity to share and connect with other traders that have also purchased this diary and have a similar interest to you. This forum will be available for you to access until 28 February 2009.

If you have recently purchased the Smart Trading Plan & System Development Course, the diary is available for you to view. Simply log-in to the website and go to the Bonuses section.

Merry Christmas

I would like to personally wish you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. 2008 has been one wild stock market ride and this Christmas Card that I received via email recently pretty much sums up what the year was like.

Make it a plan to complete your trading plan in the new year and include lessons from 2008, if you have not done so already. If you need help in getting started with a plan or completing it, you can pick up a copy of my book Smart Trading Plans. It comes with a free Trading Plan template to assist you in doing just this.

Cheerio

Justine Pollard
Author, Private Trader & Trading Mentor
'Discover the Smarter way to trade'
www.smarttrading.com.au
justine@smarttrading.com.au

*The returns reported are provided for information purposes only. Results of past performance are no guarantee of future returns. No assurance is given that you will incur any profits or losses in your own trading and it should not be assumed that you will experience results comparable to those as reported. Any trade examples listed within this website or associated material are either ficticious or historical and in no way should be interpreted as a recommendation to invest in any particular stock, CFD or investment. Smart Trading Pty Ltd as Authorised Representative No.336312 of CDM Pacific Pty Ltd AFSL 223682 assumes no responsibility for your trading and investment decisions or subsequent results. There is a high degree of risk involved in trading and as such we always recommend that you seek independent financial advice by a licensed professional prior to making any investment decision.