"Two questions please following on from recent comments regarding spread betting.

"Firstly, whether you value or ever use the guaranteed stop loss? I wonder if it is worth paying a little extra in the initial spread in order to avoid any slippage on exit?

"Secondly, you have mentioned in the past your 'baby steps' approach to trading commodity futures (eg. Silver). I know this is a naive question but presumably one cannot change the size of the bet once opened so the baby steps must be a series of small positions built up over time so that eventually, if the trend persists, one has numerous positions open on the same commodity?

"Many thanks for the first class service."

David Fuller's view I have never personally used the guaranteed stop facility with spread-bet trades, feeling that it is an unnecessary expense for what is usually a very good service.

Baby steps is primarily a range trading system, ideally for markets that are fundamentally undervalued and in a probably base formation, or overvalued and in a probable top formation.

My original Baby Steps article appeared in FM93, 14th February 1992, in the 'Mind Traps' series and is now in the Subscriber's Forum. Here is the direct link.