We have lots of experienced traders on MoneyAM who would be glad to help if you have any trading questions.

Could you please help. On the Trades page what does the letter M mean after a trade? I was looking at the rtd trades. 250,000 M Buy

M means: Market Maker to Market Maker. As the name suggests this is a transaction between two Market Makers who are registered in the security which is being traded.

If you go to "HELP" (top right of your screen) then "Trades" and scroll down it'll explain a lot of things which you will find helpful. When I checked it out for the first time, I found that I was wrong in a lot of the ways I was interpreting things I saw, so still go there on a regular basis to remind me!

I want to ask is it worth to buy some SEO ? but the price of SEO rise a lot today.

little woman

Thanks...I'll do that.

I started investing a couple of months ago and have luckily made a couple of good buys with Forbidden Tech and RTD, but these were done through HSBC bank's trading service and buying and selling takes a long time, not to mention commission and problems with selling large blocks. I'm looking to become a day trader through the inter-net, can anyone advise me on how to do this?

debuwebu
For a broker who allows trading on line, no fees or stamp duty have a look at http://www.uk.cmcplc.com/index.html
Consider doing a training course, there are plenty around but the ones I am involved with are on http://www.ftsedow.com/bigtrain.htm
Best of luck!
D.

dalrymp;Little Woman has mentioned the market maker trade, but you might also find this useful. Market makers tend to trade competitively with each other so will normally deal within the spread. If you see a deal within the spread, generally ignore it as it means that MMs are happy to trade stock (eg 192/198 spread and a MM trade price at 197p). If you see the trade go through at either the bid/offer price(eg 198) it generally means they are happy to trade but not so happy as to help a fellow market maker. If you see a trade go through at a premium (eg 199),it generally means that there is a touch of desperation about and the price could move quickly from here!!

David
Thanks alot for the info

i have been trading on and off for the last few years and hve only recently got back into the market again.. i have only ever brought shares with a view to them increasing their short/long term value. i.e a long position

i feel i have been missing out on the other side of trading i.e taking short positions .. for a number of reasons a) i don't know how you can short, whether ur broker would allow u to sell something u don't actualy own .. is it legal .. i know alot of these questions are probably very basic .. but like i said i am trying to learn .. i would like to explore this side of trading further .. i currently trade with td waterhouse.. do they allow this .. any advice on this subject however basic vll b immensley appreciated..

i have read the above thread over and over again and i have found it very informative.. not saying that i've understood it all.. i'm well impressed with the contributors and their willingness to share information ..esp croc .. thx in anticipation

kantona

I believe some brokers may let you go short by selling stock you don't own - they first have to borrow it from somewhere, but most traders short with either CFD or Spreadbet accounts. These accounts have the advantage of no stamp duty to pay on purchases - and also you can buy stock on margin, i.e. typically you only have to put up 5% of the contract price.
(However margin is dangerous you can easily trade bigger sizes than you should and end up owing more money if you lose.)

Some other points - when you are short the brokers pay YOU interest (but at a much lower rate than they charge when you are long).
Also if you are short when a share goes ex-dividend YOU have to pay the dividend amount to the broker.

Hope this helps.

kantonaYes it is legal and its an essential tool for traders.
Look at deal4Free http://www.uk.cmcplc.com/index.html as a good broker to start with. No Stamp duty, no charges just the spread.
If they have clients buy 1,000,000 Vodaphone of them and 1,000,000 go short on them they are very happy and pocket the spread. No trades are put through the market!
However if they are not equal then they would place a trade on the stock exchange to cover themselves for the difference.
Good points by Kajman above as well!
Basically going short is just the opposite of going long and most traders do both nowadays.

kantona,

try Finspreads as well if you want to start small - for the first eight weeks
you have an account they will let you trade with pennies.

Can you short/long CDF'S on any stock ie. Do the companies [I am with comdirect]only deal with the CDF'S they hold,or can I, if I wanted, short a particular company. Will I be able to do so. For example I wanted to short AZM maybe to protect my investment. How do I go about it.
Thanks in advance.

Not all companies deal CFD's (They are considered high risk, and the companies that deal in them are required by the FSA to prove - and not just pay lip service - that you understand the risks involved before they give you an account. Also some shareholders make it a condition of thier account that the shares they hold cannot be used by the broker for others to short so many brokers just find it easier not to get involved.) The ones that do, tend to specialise in it.

In theory you could short/long any CFD's but if they are shares that are not traded in large volumes the spreads can be very wide. Don't forget the prices you can get are set by the company you have an account with. The traders room have a few threads on the problems of getting the deal they want etc. etc. Shorting to protect longs, don't really work because of the spreads and costs. CFD's are best for dealing short term. They are more like trading options!

deal4free have a facility where you can try out some example deals to see how it works.

thx kajman, croc, + snoball for the words of wisdom ... i vll explore the above sites perhaps start by holding a 'mock' portifolio, get some experience before dipping in.. once again i'm grateful for the advice...

Kantona, also have a look at e-trade. They deal cfd's, 3k min account balance 9.95 per deal each way, but you can set up a virtual 100k account by clicking on their advert below. They will probably let you run it for longe if you want before you open an account. I don't use them but lots do.

Very few of the "traditional" brokers will let you run cfd accounts, and most share dealing accounts do not have a shorting facility.

I've a question re trade types.

I see AT trades going through but my list of types doesn't have this one.

Is it 'automatic' where a limit or stop trade has been triggered?

thanks.

ricardopage:

'AT' is an automatic trade generated by the sets system through the order book.

Regards

Ian

Thanks Ian.

This is for Croc. I think I read somewhere you saying not to hold a losing position. Can you please explain where exactly you would consider a losing position to be. For example below a certain percent or at the end of a days trading when the shares are heading south with more sells then buys.
Thanks in advance.