Advice needed on portfolio size and stockbrokers

I posted this up in the General Chat section earlier but had no luck with replies so I thought I'd throw the line in here and see if anyone bites.

I have run into a small dilemma in my short life of buying and selling shares... I dont know what to buy/sell next! I'll be the first to admit that I am a beginner at this game, so I'm going to ask a few questions. First I'll just give a few brief details of my portfolio so hopefully someone on here can point me in the right direction for some advice

Value - $78,700
Stocks Held - AWC AMP BHP BLD BIL CBA CSM FGL IGO LHG MRL NCP OST ORG QBE RPC TLS TOL TWR WMC (each stock is held in a value ranging from $1000 to $10,000)

now, last year I managed to make a profit of 42%, and I was happy with that. All my info that I have based my decisions on has come from the SMH Money section in the paper, that is it. All trades have been done using Commsec

I was thinking of the possibility of getting a broker to advice me, however being only 20 I have no idea how to tell a good broker from a bad broker, or how much the advice of a broker will cost me. With my portfolio being less than $100k I'm not even sure if the cost of the broker will be worth the potential gains had by any increases in profitability of the stocks.

If you were in my position would you:

a) keep doing what your doing
b) find a broker that will give advice
c) go into a service like 'fat prophets'

Also, is my portfolio too big? I am finding it very difficult to follow all the companies and their current situation, let alone look for new companies to invest in. What would be a manageable number of stocks to hold at any one time?

Any advice on my portfolio/share trading (or the name of a reputable stockbroker in Sydney) would be muchly appreciated

-Jay-

Only licensed financial advisers can give you financial advice, anyone else is breaking the law. I'm not qualified so I can't advise. Maybe try ASIC for a list of advisers or speak to your accountant they'll know of one.

You seem to be doing well if you've made 42%pa! Better than I have. There's lots on these forums, might be worth having a look around here if you are serious about managing your portfolio, do the hard yards and you'll be rewarded even once the bullmarket ends.

Or try Noel Whittaker, he's probably licensed and I think he answers people's questions via the Herald, you would know of him if you follow the Money section. Good luck and enjoy your time here.