I’ve not posted an update on my Trading Trail demonstration position trading account lately, which is hardly surprising since I prefer to sing when I’m winning and things haven’t been going so well.

Considering what I’m going to write about today, I couldn’t help going for the pun Reaching for the Skye!, because it’s all about Skyepharma.

This morning I received a series of order executed emails relating to Cable and Wireless Worldwide, and a quick check of my trade history (see below) revealed that I had almost-simultaneously bought and sold the same stock.

Although I’ve not been documenting my trades recently — but I might, when things really pick up — I did make a trade this morning which is notable by the fact that it is an exception that proves the rule about never ‘buying higher’ something that I last sold lower.

My previous trading trail update attracted the following comment from Andy: I’m a little puzzled by your reluctance to buy back a share unless at a lower price. I know most people have a mental block against buying back higher, but surely this is something which needs to be overcome?

I thought I’d use this week’s short Trading Trail update to mark the point at which my reference position trading account got back to par with the performance of the FTSE 100 index as demonstrated in the equity curve below.

It’s time for another trading trail update, with a little educational piece that is related to the portfolio thrown in on the subject of pyramiding. I’ll update you on the portfolio performance first, then I’ll tell you the tale of my two pyramids.

You may remember that in my last feature I started to explore the issue of taking money off the table periodically (as a full-time day trader might, to pay the bills) vs. keeping profits on the table (as an traditional investor might, so as to compound his gains).

I don’t know if you noticed, but in January the markets embarked on something of a bull run. I noticed because of the positive effect on my Trading Trail portfolio, and I even read somewhere that this has been the best start to a year for eighteen years.