David Fuller's view I left too many paper profits on the table. The short-term percentage play was to take profits near range highs, which we could clearly see for gold and platinum. Silver and palladium were likely to follow their lead. The other option was to place some breakeven to slightly in-the-money stops and hope that renewed interest in precious metals, suggested by some upward dynamics within ranges, was sufficient to keep prices firm prior to fuelling upside breakouts. Clearly a majority of short-term traders backed the former strategy. I thought about it but opted for the latter. Consequently, three more stops were triggered today. Sequentially, my September silver long purchase at $26.909 on 21st June was stopped out at $27.376 today. My remaining September palladium long purchased at $575.7 on 29th June was stopped out at $578. An October platinum long purchased at $1456.1 was stopped out at $1460. These prices include all spread-bet dealing costs. I still have some gold, platinum and silver and these positions are under water at the moment.

Among other trading positions, my JGB short is still in the red and half of the recent gains in my Nikkei long is protected with a loose stop. Among trading candidates, I may repurchase Arabica coffee in the event of a further orderly pullback. However it is difficult to get much timely information on it so this would remain a purely technical play. Gasoline also beckons as a long, if it pulls back a little further into the range. Feeder cattle futures are a possible short, due to rising feed costs but look temporarily oversold at the moment.

In my long-term equity investments, mostly a SIPPs account, family ISAs and a couple of small pensions, I will put some accumulated dividend capital to work in the near future. It will definitely go into a yield play, but preferably one with growth potential. My favourites for this last year were Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB LN and quoted elsewhere) (monthly, weekly & daily) which I topped up in 2011. I like it a lot but already have an overweight position in RDSB. My other yield purchase last year was the Aberdeen Asian Income Investment Trust (AAIF LN) (monthly, weekly & daily). It is performing well and I expect to hold AAIF for the long term since dividend growth is likely to be faster in Asia than elsewhere.