The portfolio is up again today on a quiet day for news. Pretty much sitting on my positions right now but I have decided to take my profits on the Man Group position (EMG) this afternoon. They have been on a great run since their trading statement a couple of weeks ago and are up 15% in double quick time and a quick gain here was hard to turn down. The sale banked a £460 profit (15%).

I’ve also trimmed some more of the Dialight position (DIA), selling 1000 shares @ 207p to book a £710 profit (52.6%). Now running with 2500 shares which seems about right given the rapid run up here, I’d be inclined to add to my position on a large fall which I am not ruling out as it can be volatile.

My last trade is some portfolio insurance, buying some exposure to S&P 500 990 put option via a spreadbet. With volatility being very low this is a relatively cheap way of getting some downside protection. It expires in mid December so clearly its a bet on a decent fall in the market over the next 4-6 weeks. If it expires worthless then hopefully the portfolio will have gone up more than enough to compensate.

Good to see Telecity moving up today (TCY), seems like its gathering some momentum, hoping for a bullish trading statement here soon. Also heading upwards are Geong (GNG), a decent profit building with this small cap software play now, and Niger Uranium (URU) continues its recent revival.

The FTSE 100/250 is making new highs for the year again today and looking strong. Which makes me nervous as I detect more and more complacency in the market. I will continue to top slice and trade around the portfolio where I see opportunities and gradually look to reduce exposure if the market continues to move higher. There are several stale positions in the portfolio that I should perhaps cut too, I’d hate to give back a lot of the gains accumulated so far this year.