Well, well, well. What a day. The FTSE 100 shed around 250 points today. That’s right, it’s not a typo you read it correctly a whopping 250 point which is almost 5% in one day. Now is it just me or is that a massive fall. In fact it could be the biggest daily fall since I started spread betting back in February 2009. Don’t quote me on that as I’m not sure if it’s true but It could be. If someone wants to look it up feel free to do so. All this downward movement comes the day after I suggest we may be about to confirm the existence of a new down trend. Don’t believe me? Well read yesterdays post entitled “New Down Trend for the FTSE 100”
It’s still not confirmed until price falls below the previous low however I suspect this will only be a matter of time before it happens. That’s my opinion anyway. It might not happen but we’ll wait and see.
I do have one confession to make today about my own trading. I played the FTSE 100 a little. I say played because I had no real strategy behind the trades and I really was gambling. I took a few minutes to realise what I was doing before I gave myself a kick up the back side and stopped it. Anyway I made a few pounds, not mega bucks but it was better than a loss. I certainly don’t recommend trading the FTSE in such volatile conditions. It can move 10, 15, 20 points in a matter of seconds and you can easily rack up losses pretty quickly if your not careful. Best thing is to trade a strategy and stick to it. I traded using my Capital Spreads account which I haven’t done for ages. As I mentioned it was my birthday last week and they sent me an e-mail with a £50 top gift for my birthday. I don’t know if they do this for everyone as they certainly didn’t do it for me in 2009 & 2010. I suspect it’s because my account was lying there dormant they thought it might entice me to trade again. They were right it did. However I shall be using the £50 gift to use for my trading strategy, hopefully I can trade my Capital Spreads account back up to where it was two years ago.
I thought it was nice of Capital Spreads to give me the birthday gift. I don’t even think I got a birthday e-mail from the other spread betting companies such as IG Index or SpreadCo. I think it’s a nice touch when you receive things like that, it certainly got me spread betting with them again which I’m sure was the desired affect.
Todays Spread Betting action.
I pyramided into an existing position today. With my two short positions having retraced for the last few days I deemed it would be a good time to pyramid one of them. Why one and not both? Well one has some locked in profit and the other still has risk therefore the one with locked in profit was the one I decided to pyramid. Placing the pyramid put the position back into risk but only by £10 so I’m ok with that. If the markets continue to fall and take my positions with it I should be a happy bunny. There have been no new trades as there are none that meet my criteria. Still I keep checking everyday and should the right opportunity arise I’ll be trading it.
Until next time,
“May the markets be with you!”
Harry,
The Spread Betting Beginner
l also have an account with Capital Spreads but they didn’t send me any birthday pressie. Suspect it is because they like the sterling work you are doing in this area. I must say I enjoy the site and the blogs within.
I think this is a very exciting time in the stock market. I am 25% invested in my spread betting account. I am awaiting further falls before committing a further 25% tranche. I am suffering losses at present and like you I started my spreadbetting days early in 2009. Since then I have learnt some great lessons about keeping cool when everyone is rushing for the exit. I like the FTSE and the DAX because of the diversity they offer (do not put all your eggs in one basket) and also the very tight spreads.And over time they do recover. I find it difficult going short and prefer remaining out until it appears stocks are undervalued and then I will go long. I am looking for 2009 lows (or thereabouts) to come again before fully committing my hard earned cash into spread bets but would look to buying DAX at 4500 to 5000 for the longer term. Do remember the said news that is currently driving the market over borrowing in the States (and here) and the state of the Euro (and the PIIGs’ economies)is all old news that is being rehashed. Come on we have not really had a recovery to speak of, to justify the 2009-2011 bull market, so when the recovery does come WOW-will we see those prices head North!
Have completed reading the Naked Traders Guide to Spread Betting, a very good read. More suited for beginners but lessons within for all, particularly the case histories thee Naked Trader includes regarding spreadbetters that have written to him about their experiences (warts and all).
Keep positive, might even have a glass of wine myself tonight, to toast your birthday!
Very good post especially the bit about pyramiding into an existing position and choosing the one which is in profit.
Like you I am expecting another downleg from the FTSE so shorting seems to be the name of the game at the moment. The complete lack of strategy for politicians is what is driving this bear market and can only add to the woes.
Keep up the good work.
Cheers
David