No new spread bets yet again for me. I had some time to check today and I adjusted a few stops but there is nothing really jumping out at me as a potential trade. As I mentioned yesterday I’ve been re-reading Vince Stanziones trading system and I’m really keen to try and run some back tests on it. Although Vince offers a few spread betting strategies there is one which is really sticking out in my mind and it’s a very straightforward system. I think it’s a system that should work for any market although I want to try and implement it for the UK share market as Indicies, FOREX or commodities are just too rich for my blood at the moment.

Interestingly the system would see you currently short The FTSE 100 & The NIKKEI 225. I’m sure there maybe others as well but I haven’t checked. I wish I could reveal the system to you but unfortunately because of copyright laws, and my own moral stand point I can’t. How I said though I aim to writing a full review so if you are interested in his spread betting system you can read my review which will hopefully help you make an informed decision.

I mentioned yesterday that I had an Idea to modify the system slightly to suit my own needs. The basics will stay the same but I will ensure that I only take on opportunities that suit my risk requirements. My biggest problem is just getting the time to do all this. Work is hectic at the moment and I was hoping it may quieten down by the end of the week but that doesn’t seem very likely anymore. All that said this weekend I know I will have some time. I just hope it’s enough to try and catch up with everything that I want to get done.

Until next time,
“May the markets be with you!”
Harry,
The Spread Betting Beginner

As I Expected I didn’t get time to post an update on Friday, or at any point over the weekend for that matter. I was out all day Friday with work and then I had a friends 30th Birthday to attend on Saturday which pretty much meant I had no time over the weekend to do anything. Today hasn’t been much different. I’m really swamped with work at the moment and I’ve had no time to look for new trades so spread betting it literally on the back burner at the moment. Things should start to quiet down towards the end of the week and I think I should have some time at the weekend to dedicate to my spread betting.

I’m trying to go through Vince Stanziones course material again with the aim of adding a review to the site shortly. As I’ve been re-reading it I’ve had a few ideas that I may look to put into practice at some point. The main one being reducing the number of instruments/Shares where I look for potential trades. With Vinces systems being trend following systems they basically ensure that you will always be on the right side of a trend should one develop. So my train of thought is basically only trade say 10 shares that all fit with my own personal risk criteria and always be long or short all 10 stocks. The systems all indicate when to enter and exit trades and clearly define which direction you should be trading. My idea of only trading 10 shares would mean that at some point they all should trend up or down and using the system would mean I’d be long or short and enjoy most if not all of the trend until I received an exit signal. The main drawback with switching from long to short and vice versa is that I would suffer lots of small losses until the big trend came along. At the moment It’s an idea that I am still working on and clearly it needs some more thought but I think it maybe an interesting concept to explore further. I’m possibly going to look into back testing the idea on a few stocks that I think might fit the bill, when I get the time that is.

Until next time,
“May the markets be with you!”
Harry,
The Spread Betting Beginner

My spread betting action today consists of, well, nothing! I literally have not done anything. It was not for the want of trying. I checked for new trades, nothing fits the bill. I checked my stops to see if any need adjusting, no change there. So todays post really is short and sweet. It’s a good job really as I’m having the week from hell with work. The week started well and I should’ve been on track with everything then Monday afternoon hit and it all went ‘Pete Tong’ (Wrong!). Things just started to happen which were out of my control and then things took way longer than they should and here we are at today. I’m amazed that I managed to squeeze in any spread betting along the way but I managed some how.

Tomorrow I’m out the whole day so I doubt I’ll get chance to do any trading or even post an update. If I do it will be late tomorrow evening. I still need to do that post I mentioned earlier in the week about pyramiding but I haven’t gotten round to it yet. The list of things to do for the site keeps growing and growing. I’m not sure where I’m going to find the time to do it all. Still there’s no rush and I’ll get there eventually.

I know I’ve asked this before but if anyone finds them selves with loads of free time on their hands(“free time what’s that?”) and has this sudden urge to write about anything spread betting related please do get in touch. I’m sure I can find somewhere to put it on the site or you can write as a guest author for the blog.

Until next time,
“May the markets be with you!”
Harry,
The Spread Betting Beginner

By recent standards my spread betting activity today has been a flurry of action. I closed a position manually, moved some stops and made a new trade. First the spread bet that I closed out manually. It was my position in Booker. My stop level was set at 53.5 but should’ve been set at 54. I couldn’t get it closer than 53.5 because it was a guaranteed stop with IG Index. I think it was a case of I should’ve tightened the stop but couldn’t because it was out of hours and by the time I got chance to move the stop level the closest I could get it was 53.5. So when I checked the charts earlier today and saw that the super trend had changed to down trend mode I decided to cut my losses there and then and exited at 54.21. It was a £2 per point long spread bet so I saved myself £0.40 Woo Hoo! That said It was a losing spread bet and I lost £10.10 on the trade Boo!

One new Short Spread Bet

The new trade that I made is in Vodafone. It’s a short trade at £0.80 per point. It’s a super trend cross with a recent possible double top. With the FTSE and indeed the whole world markets falling yesterday it was hardly surprising that there were loads of super trend selling opportunities available. I went through some of them and Vodafone looked the best pick. I deliberately only picked one for a few reasons. Firstly some of the others were too expensive for me and secondly because I don’t want to rush into selling everything only for the markets to turn on some good news. I suspect however with everything that is going on the worst is yet to come. It’s new territory for me. Since starting spread betting in February 2009 the markets have been in uptrend mode. Is this the start of a new down trend mode? I know I’ve been saying this for weeks but I think it may just be the start of something more sinister in the financial markets. As always I’m probably wrong.

Until next time,
“May the markets be with you!”
Harry,
The Spread Betting Beginner

Spread betting has taken a back seat again today. I’m just swamped with work at the moment so today’s update is going to be short but sweet. One thing I forgot to mention yesterday is that I pyramided my Taylor Wimpey position. So I’m now long £2 per point with at new risk of £4. The current position is over £9 in locked-in profit so the new £4 risk reduces this to £5. Still if it continues upwards then I’m long £2 per point for any further rise. I’ve been reading more about the turtles trading system and I want to write more about their pyramiding strategy, or at least my interpretation of it. I don’t have time at the moment but I’ll get that done later in the week.

Todays Spread betting Action

Well there has pretty much been none today. I’ve adjusted a few stops and that’s about it. With FTSE 100 sinking as low as 5600 today I wonder if I’m right to be bearish? Will the markets continue to tumble or is it a temporary dip due to recent world events. I know it’s not really right to be talking about this stuff while there is so much tragedy in Japan. My heart really does go out to all the families of people that have been affected by the earth quake and Tsunami. If you would like to help the people of the Tsunami you can make a donation via the red cross website.

Until next time,
“May the markets be with you!”
Harry,
The Spread Betting Beginner