About 18 months ago, with the recession still to hurt us badly, I was sitting pretty. My share balance of assets was almost as high as it ever was and I thought the Footsie (news) would eventually beat the old target of about 6,900. I expected the big index to reach about 8,00 in another two years, to be honest.

Because if you look at the historical records, gang, youll find that share prices keep hitting new highs after each recession. However, we are now an awful long way from 6,900. And this makes me chuckle when people who know little about the economy including many journalists, talk about a share recovery happening now.

Yes, share prices have moved ahead since March. But only very slowly and theyre still sitting around the 4,500 mark, which in the light of nearly 7,000 once, is not so good.

Moreover, Ive heard a few money pundits lately say that the present recovery will be short-lived as heavy profit taking sets in. They point to the lack of growth in the UK and most other countries, and say that share prices are bound to fall now.

Well, I dont think that. True, I do not foresee a rapid recovery from recession, because it was a pretty steep one. But recovery there will be – and that old target will be reached. But it could take three or four years. And my best guess is that the Footsie will only be around 5,000 by the end of the year.

Not until it reaches 7,000 will I get all my money back. By that time I will have lost a few more of my faculties, no doubt. Never mind, share shifting has made me a lot of dough in the last 20 years – without really doing much work at all. So I am still quids in and expect – eventually – to be richer still. Rock on.