(Probably) the Best Computer for Spread Betting

If you spend most of your time working on the web (like me) and much of your time spread betting (like me) you may be beginning to wonder if you need a proper PC at all, and whether one of the stripped back web-browser-only Chromebook computers might be more appropriate for your needs.



Chromebooks will not be for everyone because you can't install traditional Windows PC software, so you'll

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A helping hand towards Better Spread Betting...

I know it's traditional on a trading blog like this one to harp on about a constant string of real or imaginary successes, but how much more satisfying is it to hear that you helped someone else achieve their ambition of making money -- or at least no longer losing it -- while spread betting?



So imagine how pleased I was to read this latest review of my Better Spread Betting book -- which is

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A "Risk Free" Trade on Barratt

Don't get too excited-- I'm not about to tell you how you can initiate a "risk free" trade on Barratt. But I am about to tell you how my own three-step pyramided trade on Barratt has now become "risk free".



You may recall from my Three Steps to (Trading Heaven) article that I had increased my trade size to £3-per-point via £2-per-point from an original £1-per-point. Not only do I now have 3x

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Holy Trinity!

Back on the theme of yesterday, where it paid to have averaged down, I refer you back to a previous "Trade of The Week" on Trinity Mirror where it also paid to have averaged down. And I've referred you back to that prior trade on Trinity Mirror because it sets the scene for what I am about to tell you.



Those original pyramided positions on Trinity Mirror subsequently stopped-out, at a profit

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Introducing "Harriman Intelligence"

You may already know that my Stop Orders book was published by respected financial publishers Harriman House. You might not know that they will soon be launching a new website called Harriman Intelligence, to which they have asked a small number of authors such as me to contribute some content.



You can find my first contribution Stop Orders: Not Just for Stopping Losses now live on Harriman

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Update on my London Capital Group "Trade of The Week"

Following yesterday's Trade of The Week feature, in my warts 'n' all style I thought I should update you on what happened next. Unfortunately, the price of London Capital Group shares fell back thereby triggering the stop order on my original position for a loss of £25.33 including financing costs.



The good news is that by "averaging down" twice and then taking some of the bounce-back profits

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Trade of The Week on London Capital Group

Have you seen what happened to the London Capital Group share price in the past few days? The sudden ramp-up in share price allowed me to bank this quick profit:







I cashed in those few chips so as to demonstrate the handy IG P&L Breakdown Report that shows you exactly how you did -- including financing costs -- on each of the positions you have closed.

I banked a more substantial quick

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Don't Cut Your Losses!

We all know that Warren Buffet is quoted as saying "Don't Lose Money!". And that most seasoned traders laugh at the fact that many novice investors avoid losing money simply by holding on to losing positions until (hopefully) they recover; thereby never registering their "paper losses" as real losses... until it's too late.



I used to laugh at those people, too, and I would have been one of

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Three Steps to (Trading) Heaven

Today I noticed in one of my model "better spread betting" accounts that three positions in the same stock (Punch Taverns) had stopped out for modest profits, as shown here:







Although profitable, I don't regard this as a good result. Not only because of the small amounts involved, but also because of the fact that I think this stock will yet go higher-- so the stop-outs may have been a

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Trade of The Week on Thomas Cook

This week's "trade of the week" is one that I initiated on 24 October last year when Thomas Cook broke upwards from its "flat-line". In the following chart, the lower horizontal line shows the entry price and the higher horizontal line shows the profit I am guaranteed to take (at least) thanks to a guaranteed stop order that I have trailed upwards during the life of this position trade.







I

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Margin Call!

Don't panic, I haven't received a "margin call" (i.e. a request to deposit additional emergency funds to a spread betting account).


No, my headline reflects the fact that I watched the film Margin Call on DVD last night. Our family film night began with all four of us sitting down to watch, then my son dropped out to do something else, then my daughter dropped out, and then my wife fell asleep.

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