A few weeks ago at the beginning of August, Cape shares slumped by some 40%. I went in at my token £1-per-point (long), with a guaranteed stop order in place just in case the worst should happen (again) shortly afterwards. The worst didn't happen, and in fact the best happened, with the share price up at around 230p-per-share this morning (30 August) relative to my buying price of 176.56 in an IG
Thursday, 30 August 2012
Tuesday, 28 August 2012
In my Position Trading book I raise the possibility of notching up whipsaw profits by employing guaranteed stop orders. These are 'notional' profits (i.e. avoided losses) that accrue when the spread betting company is obliged to stop you out at your guaranteed stop order price at a time when you can re-purchase immediately at the more favourable gapped-down price in expectation of a subsequent
Sunday, 26 August 2012
Saturday, 25 August 2012
I'd like to introduce you to a brand new book about the psychology of investing and trading: The Emotionally Intelligent Investor by Ravee Mehta. I'll admit up-front to an interest in this book; not an ongoing financial interest, but I did help out with the editing and preparation for publishing. It means I know the content inside out, and also I know the author's credentials, and on both counts
Friday, 24 August 2012
On 16 July, oil company Borders and Southern Petroleum gapped-down massively from about 60p-per-share to less than 20p-per-share. Pity the fools who were holding a large position through this gap-down, which all goes to show why it is important to diversify or to employ guaranteed stop orders.
So, what did I do immediately after the share price gapped down? Why, I bought in, of course, two days
So, what did I do immediately after the share price gapped down? Why, I bought in, of course, two days
Wednesday, 22 August 2012
I know that many "cautious" investors are put off spread betting because they perceive (or are encouraged to perceive) it as dangerous gambling. I think they're wrong, and that spread betting need be no more dangerous than any other form of stock trading and investing.
Look at it this way:
If you invest £1000 in (for example) Barclays Bank shares at 200p-per-share, you're risking £1000.
If you
Look at it this way:
If you invest £1000 in (for example) Barclays Bank shares at 200p-per-share, you're risking £1000.
If you
Dear readers,
Thanks for tuning in. Judging by the number of page hits, email subscriptions, and purchases of the Better Spread Betting book, I seem to be doing something right here -- but I'd like to be doing better.
If you like what you see here, and if you find it informative and interesting, then please help me out by spreading the word about betterspreadbetting.com. The more you help me,
Thanks for tuning in. Judging by the number of page hits, email subscriptions, and purchases of the Better Spread Betting book, I seem to be doing something right here -- but I'd like to be doing better.
If you like what you see here, and if you find it informative and interesting, then please help me out by spreading the word about betterspreadbetting.com. The more you help me,
Monday, 20 August 2012
This week's "Trade of The Week" is a really interesting one because it provides an almost textbook example of pyramiding into a trending stock. (If you're wondering which textbook I'm referring to, I mean my Position Trading book, of course)
The IG Index chart (aren't they great?) illustrates it nicely:
Having established an initial £1-per-point long position in late July at a price of 73.24
The IG Index chart (aren't they great?) illustrates it nicely:
Having established an initial £1-per-point long position in late July at a price of 73.24
As seasoned spread bettors, we may be tempted to think that we know it all. But the markets have a nasty habit of humbling even the best of us from time to time, and we discover that we all have something to learn after all. That's what this web site is all about: how to become a better spread bettor by practising -- you guessed it -- Better Spread Betting.
As a more seasoned spread bettor, you
As a more seasoned spread bettor, you
Saturday, 18 August 2012
When you've been spread betting and writing about spread betting for some time, like I have, it is all too easy to get caught up in the technicalities of (for example) reviewing sample trades. And easy to forget that some readers will be just starting out with spread betting for the first time.
If you are just starting out from scratch, and perhaps with a more traditional "investment" mindset,
If you are just starting out from scratch, and perhaps with a more traditional "investment" mindset,
Friday, 17 August 2012
Over on The Motley Fool (for whom I used to write), Malcolm Wheatley asks How much diversification is enough?
First of all, I think there are two reasons to diversify:
On the downside we need to diversify to spread our risk, because any stock can suffer a sudden collapse and take much of our portfolio value with it. If we're going to take Warren Buffett's alternative advice to "put all our
First of all, I think there are two reasons to diversify:
On the downside we need to diversify to spread our risk, because any stock can suffer a sudden collapse and take much of our portfolio value with it. If we're going to take Warren Buffett's alternative advice to "put all our
Thursday, 16 August 2012
One of the golden rules of trading and investment is to never average down, despite the fact that logically this should lower your average purchase price thereby enabling you to break-even much sooner. As I see it, the problems with "averaging down" are twofold:
1) If you're not careful, averaging down on your falling stock positions can attract all of the cash away from your profitable
1) If you're not careful, averaging down on your falling stock positions can attract all of the cash away from your profitable
Wednesday, 15 August 2012
The first thing I did this morning (apart from having a shave) was to take a punt on FirstGroup when it was announced that the company had been awarded the West Coast rail franchise ahead of the incumbent Virgin / Stagecoach combo.
Sir Richard Branson was single-mindedly in the opinion that the government had made a mistake in taking the contract away from him, and that FirstGroup had made a
Sir Richard Branson was single-mindedly in the opinion that the government had made a mistake in taking the contract away from him, and that FirstGroup had made a
Tuesday, 14 August 2012
I've been out walking and enjoying the sunshine today rather than trading or writing, and when I got home I was keen to review and adjust my stop orders so as to lock in more of the profits on of today's rising positions. Except that I couldn't, because for the most part my stop orders are all guaranteed now, and you can't move guaranteed stop orders when markets are closed.
It's one of the
It's one of the
Friday, 10 August 2012
Whoever thought I'd find myself describing Tesco as "trendy"? The trendiness of Tesco will not have been helped by it reportedly receiving an investment not so long ago from Warren Buffett -- who is probably one of the least "trendy" people on the planet (no offence)! But Buffett's interest may have helped the share price, which certainly has become trendy over the past few months as shown in the
Wednesday, 8 August 2012
Continuing the timeline that I had begun in my Better Spread Betting book, and which I last updated on here, I can now confirm that the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) has now sent me a cheque for the money I was owed by the now-defunct spread betting company World Spreads. They didn't owe me very much -- less than £1000 -- but it's nice that it's finally back in my own pocket. If
Tuesday, 7 August 2012
I don't usually day trade, but this morning I was simply too tempted to try and get a quick profit out of Standard Chartered, the bank that was accused of money laundering for Iran.
I heard on the morning news that the shares had fallen overnight in Hong Kong, so I knew they would fall in London at the open. I also knew that there was no way to get in before the fall; so the only way to benefit
I heard on the morning news that the shares had fallen overnight in Hong Kong, so I knew they would fall in London at the open. I also knew that there was no way to get in before the fall; so the only way to benefit
Monday, 6 August 2012
Ever since I used guaranteed stops to conjure additional trading funds out of thin air my trading accounts have been all dressed up with no place to go; so today I've been on a bit of a buying spree which has also been helped by freeing up yet more funds by trailing the guaranteed stop orders on my existing positions which have been rising today.
I've not been too reckless, but have taken the
I've not been too reckless, but have taken the
Sunday, 5 August 2012
I just realised it was over a week since I last posted a "Trade of the Week" feature. How lax of me! The previous one was my Lucky Escape from Lamprell, and this week I thought I'd provide an update on the same trade, not least because it gives me another opportunity to show off the IG Index and ETX Capital charts that I like very much. I like them because they allow me to visualise existing open
Friday, 3 August 2012
A very experienced publisher once told me that "reviews sell books". Although I think there's a bit more to it than that, I hope he's right because so far I'm pleased with what the reviewers on Amazon.co.uk are saying about my Better Spread Betting book.
The consensus opinion seems to be that the book is very accessible for beginner spread bettors while also containing more in-depth (but still
The consensus opinion seems to be that the book is very accessible for beginner spread bettors while also containing more in-depth (but still
Thursday, 2 August 2012
Some people think that there is more money to be made by buying the betting firms than by placing bets with them. Suppose you thought that your favourite spread betting firm itself was onto a winner (or a loser) and you wanted to back your judgement.
If you thought that the underlying operator of your Capital Spreads, InterTrader or Financial Spreads spread betting platform was onto a winner,
If you thought that the underlying operator of your Capital Spreads, InterTrader or Financial Spreads spread betting platform was onto a winner,
Wednesday, 1 August 2012
Exclusive offer for readers of this blog / newsletter who don't already own a copy of the Better Spread Betting book:
You can get the PDF Edition of the "Better Spread Betting" book for just £1 until one hundred copies have sold out. CLICK HERE to see if you can get your cut-price copy now! (and ssshhh, don't tell anyone else)
Subscribe to Better Spread Betting by Email (I won't tell anyone
You can get the PDF Edition of the "Better Spread Betting" book for just £1 until one hundred copies have sold out. CLICK HERE to see if you can get your cut-price copy now! (and ssshhh, don't tell anyone else)
Subscribe to Better Spread Betting by Email (I won't tell anyone
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