In our conversation after the tests he was surprised that I hadn't already cut caffeine products out of my diet. I had never been advised to do this before and switched my tea and coffee consumption to decaf the same day.

For my daily 4 o'clock diet Coke or Pepsi - a must-have habit of many years - I changed to caffeine-free 7-Up. I found that within a week I no longer craved an afternoon soft drink of any variety.

My tea and coffee consumption however is unchanged by the switch to decaf. And neither is my tinnitus for which I seek more helpful advice than that provided by my doctor. "You'll just have to learn to live with it," he said.

A face-to-face meeting was long over due. I approve of Chris's generally optimistic bottle half-full approach to market prospects.

He doesn't see the Footsie hitting 7,000 this year but he expects it to come close. Behind the caveats that go hand-in-hand with the forecasting profession, Chris takes a pretty upbeat view of the prospects for share prices.

He expects that there will be greater volatility but because equity valuations remain fixed in reality, the general march of share prices should be upward.

A strong rumour about a private equity bid for Next came and went; trading statements from Sainsbury's and Alliance Boots met cheers and shrugs respectively; Woolworths was seen to be soldiering on; B & Q group Kingfisher wants to woo more women customers; Currys owner DSG International admitted a French operation had been the target of fraud; and finally today back to Alliance Boots, subject of a raised offer.

Helping to stir the pot Jessops shares tumbled following another profits warning and all the time we wait on developments which will determine the future of Sainsbury's.

When it comes to high street companies everyone has an opinion and can be their own shares expert. It is more difficult to spot outfits that are so impressive that you want to put money into them but the reverse is true.

I would be worried if I owned shares in a retailer, who consistently disappointed on shopping visits especially if the same faults were spotted at several stores.

Empty shelves could reflect serious distribution problems and unhelpful staff might be the product of weak management and low morale.
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