FTSE 100 Index tracker day trading?

[PAH]

Is this possible?

i.e. buy a few grand of shares for 'the FTSE 100' rather than individual company shares, similar to those index trackers intended for months/years of investment, but for quick turnaround to capitalise on daily gains of several percent?

Quite often see rises or falls of up to 5% in a day. If the transaction charges are only fractions of a percent or fixed fee at a few pounds it seems a reasonable way of getting a quick return, certainly better than savings accounts.

Just need to wait to see what direction the FTSE is going in the morning, if it's upwards buy a few grand of shares and sell before closing. Looking at the BBC FTSE it appears rare that it changes direction totally within a day, at worse going back to near where it started, unless some major bad news or event spooks the market during the day. Seems holding overnight is the biggest risk following a day of gains.

Easy money for amateurs or do the charges make it not worthwhile, or is there no such thing as a buy/sell (within the same day) FTSE index tracker?

I guess an automated online solution would be needed to ensure a quick response/turnaround to fully take advantage.

Just thought I'd ask as I know there's a few dirty spekulants on here.

[FRS]

I don't think it would work with a standard tracker fund. Most platforms such as HL don't give you control over when the trades of tracker funds are made and I think they can only be made at the valuation points, i.e. once per day.

You may be able to do it with a tracker ETF's, such as the HSBC EFT FTSE 100:

HSBC ETFs Plc share price | HUKX | Share price and trading information

[IR35 Avoider]

It's perfectly possible to make trades within a day.

You would be mad to try and make money this way. Your odds are about the same as walking into a casino and betting on red at the roulette table. (So you can make money, by sheer luck. But with average luck, after costs and errors, you won't.)

I suggest you spend a year or two reading some books until you understand why this is so. The books "Market Wizards" and "New Market Wizards", although essentially about american traders in the late eighties and early nineties, may give you some appreciation of what it takes to be a trader. A book called "A Fool and his Money" may also help.

[doodab]

You would probably be better off spread betting than trading an ETF.

[DimPrawn]

You would probably be better off spread betting than trading an ETF.

WHS.

A spread of a few pips, no tax to pay (don't start saying you have to pay tax on Spread Betting, no one has paid tax on it), easy peasy lemon squeezy.

[KentPhilip]

I can almost guarentee you'll lose money spread betting on intra-day price movements.
If you're a beginner
Not only because of the randomness of the markets themselves, but because the actions in aggregate of newbies as a result of particular price movements such as yourself can to a considerable extent be predicted by the more experienced operators. Who have a lot of firepower.
What happens is once you have put on a big position and the price moves against you, they'll push it further causing you to bottle it and sell up. Then they put in a reverse position and profit from the return swing.

There is no such thing as trading "the market" there is only trading the other traders. Who are rather better than you...

[MarillionFan]

I've managed to make back 6k of the 7k I lost last week and have started selling shares to close out my positions.

Back into BTL. Bastard landlord again, here I come!

[DimPrawn]

I've managed to make back 6k of the 7k I lost last week and have started selling shares to close out my positions.

Back into BTL. Bastard landlord again, here I come!

Good man! And with and govt doing everything to trash the pound and prop up asset prices such as houses you can't lose.

Throw a few million extra immigrants per year, almost no houses being built and older people hanging on to their bigger houses rather than downsizing and you are on to a winner.

Forget shares, they were the baby boomers invention, no one with any sense buys western equities now. All over priced tulip.

[MarillionFan]

Good man! And with and govt doing everything to trash the pound and prop up asset prices such as houses you can't lose.

Throw a few million extra immigrants per year, almost no houses being built and older people hanging on to their bigger houses rather than downsizing and you are on to a winner.

Forget shares, they were the baby boomers invention, no one with any sense buys western equities now. All over priced tulip.

There's a plan B in there you know and it's isn't BTL

An aging population. Rubs hands.

[PAH]

There's a plan B in there you know and it's isn't BTL An aging population. Rubs hands.

Getting the immigrants to lodge with the oldies as in-house carers?

Got to be a better proposition than the elderly having to flog their house to pay the likes of Bannatyne extortionate care home fees, just so they can be treated like trash by unsympathetic carers.

At least in their own home they are in familiar surroundings, have more control, and can get in a new carer if the existing one is doing a crap job.