Let's do the ugly stuff first. I said goodbye to my remaining Apple holding on Tuesday. Apple has been good to me over the last month but our parting was a frustrating one. Selling pressure saw the price retreat to an old 52-week high at $86.40.

Expecting buyers to come to the rescue here, I added to my existing position, taking on an additional 300 risk. I opted for a very tight stop (under $86) with this one. My initial timing was exquisite, with the stock rising 60 cents within minutes. It didn't last and I got stopped out of my entire position on the same day.

Losses are invariably followed by a cathartic bout of cursing, but I didn't beat myself up over this one.

I had originally bought at $78, so the trade was still a decent one. Losing an extra 300 wasn't part of the plan, but it was worth a shot.

No, the real cursing began on Wednesday morning, when an analyst upgrade (a $110 price target, if you're into such useless guesswork) saw the stock charge out of the gates before ending the day at $89. If that damn analyst had issued his upgrade just a few hours earlier, Market Monkey would be 1,500 or so richer.

Still, while Apple has been a bad boy this week, my other stocks have behaved like model students. Elan has been a cheeky little rascal at various stages over the last month, but it finally obeyed orders and rolled over this week. Wednesday saw me offload half of my short position when the stock traded down to $14.10. It ended the day at $14. A break under that support level would likely see further selling. Elan has given me a few hairy moments over the last month, but I never doubted that being short was the logical position.

I keep saying it . . . the technicals are just awful. If the stock can get back up to around $14.90, I'd get short again. Whatever happens, this trade has been a happy one . . . I'm up over 1,200, or twice my original risk.

My next pupil . . . flash memory maker SanDisk . . . has been remarkably obedient over the last week, closing lower five days in a row. If you're short, like me, you've been laughing (keep this up, SanDisk, and you'll be teacher's pet). The stock's 52-week low is at $37.50. If it gets near that (it's currently at $42), I'll close the position.

This has been an utterly stress-free trade. I've been in profit from day one and was able to offload half of my position at a nice profit within days. Last week saw a minor rally, but the price never got beyond my original short entry. I've moved my stop loss order down to the $47 area, where the stock peaked last week. This happily coincides with my breakeven point, so no need to worry about losses on this one.

Next up, CRH. An uninspired student without