Robbie Burns is the author of bestseller The Naked Trader (9780857191700), now in its third edition, and The Naked Trader's Guide to Spread Betting (9781906659233). Robbie has been a journalist and writer since he graduated in journalism from Harlow College in 1981. After starting life as a reporter and editor for various local newspapers, from 1988-1992 he was editor of ITV and Channel 4's teletext services. He also wrote ITV's daily teletext soap opera, 'Park Avenue', for five years. He then went on to freelance for various newspapers, including the Independent and the Sun, and also helped set up a financial news service for CNN. In 1997, he became editor for BSkyB's teletext services and set up their shares and finance service. While there he also set up various entertainment phone lines in conjunction with BSkyB, including a Buffy the Vampire Slayer phone line that made him nearly GBP250,000. He left full-time work in 2001 to trade and run his own businesses, which included a cafe in London that he later sold, doubling his money on the initial purchase. While at BSkyB, Robbie broadcast a diary of his share trades, which became hugely popular. He transferred the diary to his website, www.nakedtrader.co.uk, which became one of the most-read financial websites in the UK. Between 2002 and 2005 he wrote a column for the Sunday Times, 'My DIY Pension', featuring share buys and sells made for his pension fund which he runs himself in a SIPP. He managed to double the money in his pension fund from GBP40,000 to GBP80,000 in under three years, as chronicled in these articles. By mid-2011 he had turned it into GBP250,000. Robbie now writes a weekly column for ADVFN.com. Robbie has made a tax-free gain of well over GBP1,000,000 from trading shares since 1999, making a profit every year, even during market downturns. His public trades alone - detailed on his website - have made more than GBP900,000. He lives in a riverside apartment on the Thames with his wife, Elizabeth, and young son Christopher. His hobbies include chess, running, swimming, horse racing, and trading shares from his bedroom, erm ... naked. After all, he wouldn't be seen dead in a thong ... (you might catch him in Speedos).
