At a time when interest rates are rising (making cash look more attractive) and other assets (such as property and commodities) have been booming, the last thing investors are going to do in practice is to look to increase their exposure to the stock market.You only have to examine sales of equity unit trusts, which fell precipitously last year, to see that most advisers - who drive the majority of unit trust sales - must be taking a similarly cautious view in their advice to clients. There is nothing inconsistent about saying that you expect the returns from shares to be modest over the next few years, while also believing that this year might turn out to be another good one in which to have increased one's tactical exposure to the stock market.Of course, there is always risk in any such position-taking. Readers can track the share challenge at , 0800 389 2324. As with generalship, one of the most important things in investment is to be able to distinguish strategy and tactics - or to put it another way, to differentiate between the long game and the short game. (Wellington in the early stages of his Iberian campaign comes to mind.) The only sensible approach for most investors is to adopt the stance of a far-seeing general: aim to get the long-term strategy right and then spend a little time, if you can, playing around with tactical overlays, recognising that most of the time you will be operating in the "fog of war", when nothing seems as clear-cut as you would wish when making decisions.Thus, it seems perfectly possible to be relatively bearish about equities as a class from a strategic point of view, but to be quite bullish on a shorter-term perspective. It is perfectly possible, if a little confusing, to be both bullish and bearish at the same time: just as a good general can be both in tactical retreat and yet still advancing from a strategic point of view. Yet the expert is quick to add that the rising market reflects the fact that investors are relying on fundamentals rather than fear when choosing stocks - and that's good news for seasoned professionals with analytical expertise like himself.

"As the market improves, we will see less indiscriminate rallies and pricing will be based more on the underlying health of a company's balance sheet," says McLean.Next week: The competitors select their first stocks using the Bullbearings website, a virtual stock market for those who want to learn about stocks and spread betting without putting real cash at risk. In mid-2003 The Wall Street Journal had featured the Ritz-Carlton in a report on new and improved pools at luxury hotels, highlighting its pool-side fireplace as the "fanciest feature" Heated outdoor pools are 10-a-penny. But a heated pool-side patio on which guests could relax after their evening swim, wearing nothing warmer than a towelling robe? I couldn't wait to try that.I'm still waiting. Set beside the steepish ski slope and enclosed on the other three sides by the Austrian-gingerbread, stone-and-log buildings of the resort, the pool is pleasant but fairly unremarkable, except for the copse surrounding the Jacuzzis: encircled by young-growth trees, the bathers looked as if they were taking part in some pagan ritual.

As night fell, however, the stone brazier at the corner of the pool remained stubbornly dark. When I asked when it would be lit, I was told that ash carried on the breeze into the pool had irritated bathers and water-filters alike; and the pool-side was no longer heated.The previous month, however, the Hotel Hochschober, at Turracher H?in the Austrian province of Carinthia, provided an unusual and utterly gratifying swimming-pool experience. "We really look into our shares before investing and we try not to pay too much attention to the stockbroker tips touted in the newspapers," he said. Dana Petroleum is one of the club's most recent small-cap successes, its share having doubled off the back of higher energy prices.