Hi All

Looking to gain a small following for an experiment, gonna spreadbet 1,000 of my own hard earned with a view not to stop until I hit 25,000 or lose the lot!!

It'll be across a range of Index, equity & FX trades starting small and building the pot (or lose the lot) will be using flat stops and running profits with trailing stops.

If you want to follow every trade and watch the spiral up or down feel free to follow me on www.twitter.com/eyetrader - where I'll be simply be posting each trade as I click the mouse

BTW this is not spam, I'm not selling anything, I dont want any donations, more of a personal challenge that I'm going to conduct in public!!!! I'm hoping to see a few tips on here as well as my own strategies and ideas.

Lastly I'll be donating 5,000 of the profit (if/when I make it) to charity

May the slaughter commence :)

Eyetrader

Well it is Spread betting with more risks than your normal broker account hilary.

My experience, Goldfinger, is that the risks are normally self-inflicted by punters who over-leverage small accounts and run stops which are unnecessarily tight and easily gunned.

You don't need a list of 100 rules to avoid those mistakes imo.

A relative of mine is a great investor, makes heaps of money, but is a hopeless spreadbetter, and has never made any money at it - he reckons the mindset is different with s/b'ing, and it seems to be to do with timescale, and as Hilary says, over leverage of accounts, no matter what the size.

FWIW I don't think the instruments you trade matter much, whether it's indices, Fx or stocks, as long as you get the leverage right. It's taken a long time for me to realise this!

Lots of similarities in your rules and mine, goldfinger.

I avoid exploration stocks (oils, mines) and risky biotechs. I usually bank profits on the eve of Results (as even if Results are good, they can be accompanied by some unpredicted corporate action). I keep stakes small in relation to overall pot. I occasionally cash in everything and start again - or reduce stakes take a few days break and close out entitre portfolio every now and again. I use trailing stops. I use charts but in a very simplistic way - the fewer indicators the better.


Too early to report progress on my 12 month mission - three days is nothing. But by last night's close (Day 3) my 14,000 was 15,384 which is nearly 10% up (9.89%). The portfolio now has 43 stocks in it, and is 45% cash.

fully agree with Hilary too - it's about capital management and not being over-exposed ie thoughtful risk-management. That means fully understanding the risk rather than just recognising that there is one. I'm very much a kiss man too. My own S/b experience began very slowly with too much caution I suppose, but it did mean that by trading very small positions, I learnt a technique with which I was comfortable and that was profitable overall. I spend far less time p*ssing about with the markets these days as I'm very busy in my profession, but I took 5 years to turn in a 2,500% profit after an original aim of beating the bank's interest rate. I have to say though, that it was easier to do a few years ago, what with less sophisticated trading software and lax rules from the s/b companies. Level 2 was rather easier to read too which made for easier bot-prediction!

and



equals



It's all that the likes of JP Morgan and Rothschild, etc ever had before they invented those computer thingies. They somehow managed to do OK.

I used to draw my own charts on graph paper updated manually every day. Didn't have a computer when I first traded shares - just teletext prices and a dial-up automated sharepricing service. Then got a computer and joined ESI (which some here will remember)

i just use a chequebook!

I've forgotten how those work.

mine don't :-(

this is a nice thread that i enjoy reading.
h
now this is just by eyeballing but i particularly like thsoe three angels represented by the rule, the pencil and it's shadow.
regards
jkd

Good work Juzzle :-)

Nothing much happening in my small portfolio of three stocks, AFR / SBT and the gold dog, ANGM, although the latter is now at b/e despite the rather stupid (but anticipated) large spread!

50% in cash at the moment, so scouting around for a sure fire winner - Lol

Some good stuff posted on here (none of it mine!).

This 'cheque stuff'....

It's 'insurance time' for the tenants of some of my commercial properties - so we send them an invoice for the premium. We give them all the bank details for a bank transfer or online payment, for them to do the remittance.

However, they ALL send a cheque.

OK it gives them a bit of time and a bit of extra cash flow. I'm pleased they ALL pay promptly, which tells me they sensibly give this kind of thing some priority. It also tells me their cash flow isn't too crap.

But they are ALL a bit 'living in the past' with the making of their payments. I feel it's quicker to do it online. I would guess cheques give them at least 6 days in time benefit but the interest they earn is quite minimal.

Does anyone disagree?

PS. Watching a few things make higher highs, I'm pretty much a 'commodities man' at present, myself.

And the fact your tenants pay by c/q has got exactly what to do with the thread subject?

pth: post 51 et seq is the context, I guess.

Binned SBT today at a loss of approx 275, which on reflection is a bit more than I should have tolerated, also indicates to me that the initial bet was too large. rationale for opening the trade was a chart breakout and adjacent results, unfortunately, the results seemed not to inspire and the SP now appears to be trying to fill a gap. Broker downgrade today probably didn't help very much.

Taken a smaller position in AGLD, which seems to have slipped under the 'gold rush radar.' Initially a nice rise of 8% but fell back during the afternoon to +4%, in any event not far from b/e.

My big hope for a really nice return, AFR, has slipped a little today and may test support at 110p; if it bounces from there may well add.

BRK, SLS and WEIR have been my most consistent upbets so far. And ZEN the best downbet. I got stopped out of WEIR today, but it remains on my list for possible reopening (I had temporarily tightened my stops while away).

Came across this excellent appraisal of IG Index, listing good/bad points on their spreadbetting service:

http://www.financial-spread-betting.com/Igindex-review.html

SBT are a joke outfit imo pt , steer clear.

Saw the breakout myself but due to my own experience with them (I'm limited to placing 16 on an evens favourite and less than a fiver at odds over 5/1) then they obviously have a problem with anyone that ever wins with them and for the record I've only placed about 200 of bets with them in 6 months. If I remember right they also had an offer on that would have increased turnover just before period end with refunds / free bets not being credited til following period. 888sport did something similar.

eyetrader - any chance you might include this link in your header?

http://www.financial-spread-betting.com

It is an exceptionally useful information source for anyone looking at spreadbets for the first time, as well as for the more experienced spreadbetter seeking greater guidance on tactics and strategies.