Spread Betting

[Liability]

Cheers Liability.

I know very little about spread betting but does "£4230 on the stop loss" mean that it would automatically sell if your shares got to -£4230? OR you put up £4230 in the first place?

and secondly

Do you have the same very confident feeling it wasnt going to go down further about BP?

Cheers

Basically - the stop loss was the amount [in this case the price] it was going to go AGAINST me before it closed. The £4k figure was the amount I was sure it wouldnt go less than - but also the maximum I would lose and want to lose.

BP is a longer term bet - when Oil prices go up Oil Company stocks go up [in general] but BP have taken a pounding over the last year due to the issues in Russia and also the CEO change etc. I would expect it to rise over the coming 6-12 months - but its all risk

[SantaClaus]

I gave up IT and started spreadbetting professionally since last February. I've been studying the market for 4 years and only now am I turning a consistent profit.

For your info, CFDs are just as risky as spreadbetting. They are both leveraged products. The disadvantage of CFDs is you pay tax, whereas with spreadbets, you dont.

You should use good money money management and risk no more than 2% of your account on any one trade. Risk/Reward should always be at least 1:2.

And always use a guaranteed stoploss or you will lose more than your account (and your shirt) should the market crash. Yes, your account can go negative and they will chase you for it!

Be aware of tricks that the big boys play every day. Its well know that most traders place their stops above/below the high/low price of the day. Dealers will use the news as an excuse to trigger stops at these levels before reversing the market in the direction it should have gone.
Also lesser tricks are price re-quotes, huge price spikes at quiet times of the day, platform delays, etc.

If you won thousands on one bet, the chances are you risked too much and will hand it back (and more) next time, so be very careful.

And ever wondered why price always reverses on you when you enter a trade?
Maybe one day I'll explain.

[Money Money Money]

I gave up IT and started spreadbetting professionally since last February. I've been studying the market for 4 years and only now am I turning a consistent profit.

For your info, CFDs are just as risky as spreadbetting. They are both leveraged products. The disadvantage of CFDs is you pay tax, whereas with spreadbets, you dont.

You should use good money money management and risk no more than 2% of your account on any one trade. Risk/Reward should always be at least 1:2.

And always use a guaranteed stoploss or you will lose more than your account (and your shirt) should the market crash. Yes, your account can go negative and they will chase you for it!

Be aware of tricks that the big boys play every day. Its well know that most traders place their stops above/below the high/low price of the day. Dealers will use the news as an excuse to trigger stops at these levels before reversing the market in the direction it should have gone.
Also lesser tricks are price re-quotes, huge price spikes at quiet times of the day, platform delays, etc.

If you won thousands on one bet, the chances are you risked too much and will hand it back (and more) next time, so be very careful.

And ever wondered why price always reverses on you when you enter a trade?
Maybe one day I'll explain.

Oh come on... Save me 4 years please.

[backlight]

And ever wondered why price always reverses on you when you enter a trade?
Maybe one day I'll explain.

Is today the day? I'm keen to hear your insight

[SantaClaus]

Is today the day? I'm keen to hear your insight

It's as simple as support/resistance, psychology and money management.

Complex indicators and methods are just there to confuse retail traders.

Here's some more:

Always trade in the direction of the higher timeframes. If you are an intraday trader, this will be the 4hr and daily charts. If you are a position trader, this might be the monthly charts.

Take trades on retracements, not breakouts, i.e., buy or sell on pullbacks in the opposite direction to price.

Never chase price. The market will turn as soon as you do.

Set realistic profit targets. Take what the market is willing to give you according to support/resistance levels.

Battle with your demons. Dont try and get even with the market after a loss. The market doesnt "owe" you anything.

[Liability]

I gave up IT and started spreadbetting professionally since last February. I've been studying the market for 4 years and only now am I turning a consistent profit.

For your info, CFDs are just as risky as spreadbetting. They are both leveraged products. The disadvantage of CFDs is you pay tax, whereas with spreadbets, you dont.

You should use good money money management and risk no more than 2% of your account on any one trade. Risk/Reward should always be at least 1:2.

And always use a guaranteed stoploss or you will lose more than your account (and your shirt) should the market crash. Yes, your account can go negative and they will chase you for it!

Be aware of tricks that the big boys play every day. Its well know that most traders place their stops above/below the high/low price of the day. Dealers will use the news as an excuse to trigger stops at these levels before reversing the market in the direction it should have gone.
Also lesser tricks are price re-quotes, huge price spikes at quiet times of the day, platform delays, etc.

If you won thousands on one bet, the chances are you risked too much and will hand it back (and more) next time, so be very careful.

And ever wondered why price always reverses on you when you enter a trade?
Maybe one day I'll explain.

Good Post.

Ive been doing it since 2001 but merely part time. I would say per year I do around 20 max trades. The biggest ive lost was £7080 in 4 mins! That was in 2003. My heart sank! The most Ive gained was £33,100 on a sell on Oil when it hit its peak.

I use a 10% principle - I started with £10k in my kitty in 2001 - over the years I would estimate I am up at around £84,000 inclusive of obv losses....initially I was more in shares back when the Spread platforms werent available...than switched....a colleague of mine where I worked in 2002-2004 would intra-day on average £50 a point on various and would literally make and lose hundreds per hour - but he knew his limits....thats the trick! Never look back - for example - on Oil I could have actually made around x5 that amount if I went with what I wanted to and decreased the range on the loss - but hell its tax free and pays for my outgoings!

[Money Money Money]

Think i'm best leaving it to you boys! I'm only young and tend to be inpatient,

I'd whack me whole rainy day fund on and lose it!

Cheers though lads, looks like you know what your doing!

[SantaClaus]

Good Post.

Ive been doing it since 2001 but merely part time. I would say per year I do around 20 max trades. The biggest ive lost was £7080 in 4 mins! That was in 2003. My heart sank! The most Ive gained was £33,100 on a sell on Oil when it hit its peak.

I use a 10% principle - I started with £10k in my kitty in 2001 - over the years I would estimate I am up at around £84,000 inclusive of obv losses....initially I was more in shares back when the Spread platforms werent available...than switched....a colleague of mine where I worked in 2002-2004 would intra-day on average £50 a point on various and would literally make and lose hundreds per hour - but he knew his limits....thats the trick! Never look back - for example - on Oil I could have actually made around x5 that amount if I went with what I wanted to and decreased the range on the loss - but hell its tax free and pays for my outgoings!

Wow, that is great Liability! You gotta have a very good win ratio for 10% risk, but you are obviously doing it.

£50 a pip would give me a heart attack! I vary from £3 to £15 and I trade euro$, pound$ and gold mainly. I like the currency markets as they move a lot more than shares.

I know a guy who scalped the market until his doctor told him to stop. I prefer aiming for 50 to 100 pips per trade and the steady as she goes approach

And I agree with you, stay calm about a winning or losing trade. Once that trade is over move on to the next one and make sure it is completely unrelated to the last.

We'll have to chat strategy some time. PM me if you want to!

[Liability]

Thanks SC

TBH each trade I make as itll be my last. After my massive 4 min loss - I learn a bloody hard lesson at how easy it is to lose vast sums of money in minutes and seconds.

I did try forex for a while I think in 2006 but the movements are just soo great it requires constant monitoring which I cant do.

I am now more longer term - Barclays was a one off as it was Hedges that drove the price down.

I dont really have a strategy - I just read and follow whats happening and use events as an indication. I quit with all the strategies when I realised that sometimes the most crazy reasons would and can influence markets.

Right now I am just looking at BP and Brent Crude for 12 monthers...but alot in the mix so closely monitoring events and info from China and India and USA reserves. Gas also should be going down [whole sale] before increasing from what I can see.

[SantaClaus]

Thanks SC

TBH each trade I make as itll be my last. After my massive 4 min loss - I learn a bloody hard lesson at how easy it is to lose vast sums of money in minutes and seconds.

I did try forex for a while I think in 2006 but the movements are just soo great it requires constant monitoring which I cant do.

I am now more longer term - Barclays was a one off as it was Hedges that drove the price down.

I dont really have a strategy - I just read and follow whats happening and use events as an indication. I quit with all the strategies when I realised that sometimes the most crazy reasons would and can influence markets.

Right now I am just looking at BP and Brent Crude for 12 monthers...but alot in the mix so closely monitoring events and info from China and India and USA reserves. Gas also should be going down [whole sale] before increasing from what I can see.

You're right, trading does require constant monitoring, thats why I couldnt hack it whilst I was working in a city IT job. Now I trade full time, its a lot easier.

As you say, no reason why you cant invest rather than trade. I will be managing my new baby's child trust fund and that will be investing rather than trading. Thinking about long term buy on gold and crude oil.