Recent content by probookie

You can download an excel spreadsheet from the HBOS website that goes back 20 years, then make your own charts. It's the Halifax index rather than actual land registry data, but over the long term they should average out just the same.

Don't forget network effects - betfair have the market, and there are NO successful competing exchanges, though plenty have tried (and are currently trying). Liquidity is everything - if you want exchange betting, you use the exchange that everyone else is using. Lower commissions or smarter...

Take it to the FSA, Steve.

Steve The part of your post that was not true was the suggestion that we close down "winners" or make it difficult for "winners" to trade. You've clearly skim-read my previous postings; if you read them properly you'll see a full explanation of why we don't bother trying to try to identify...

This isn't true, by the way. I work for IG and we don't (and never have) acted like this. But I'm sure the "legal battle", if it exist, will demonstrate this.

ISX, if you're providing genuine direct market access for futures and CFDs, there is no possibility of you "aggregating" client business for hedging purposes. The client is trading in the real market and you have nothing to "aggregate". So are you genuinely providing direct access, or is the...

You shouldn't lose out from this with a spread bet. If the deal is a futures quote, the div will already have been deducted from the price you opened on (and will no longer be deducted, post-div). So the futures price will be undisturbed by the stock dropping in value as it goes ex-div. If the...

juanbyte Internet or phone, guaranteed stops cost an extra 2 pips. We also do a ftse on an hourly basis for 2 pips (1 extra pip for a guaranteed stop).

As an IG Monkey, I feel honour-bound to point out that we do the dow on a 6 point spread (in hours), as well as offering it on a 4 point spread on an hourly basis, should you trade in a style where you only need to jump in and out quickly.

Fudgestain "A question of my own: where you mention hedging and you have, say, a client who regularly makes big money, would you mirror his play for hedging reasons or simply to make money for your firm? Or would you leave it to your hedging ratio on all business from all clients?" From time...

Bigbusiness I take the view that all trading schemes that you have to pay for should be viewed with extreme caution. I'm not going to name names, but one of the individuals who is well known in this kind of area has lost several times his transaction charges with us over the years. It's a...

Clearly a number of questions to answer... 1: Hedging policy... All SB bookmakers take on at least some exposure. If they didn't, and went away to hedge every single trade, they would make very little in the way of profits. This is for the simple reason that hedging costs money, both in terms...

Binaries Dellboy Binaries are simple "yes/no" instruments on financial market movements - effectively fixed odds bets on where the market will finish today (eg "will it finish up today?", "will it finish up 10-20 points today?" etc). It's difficult to explain them properly, but if you prowl...

Delboy 1. I can't speak for the industry as a whole, but the ratio of winners to losers amongst spread betting clients with my company is not quite as bad as 10:90. It really depends on the product in question and how you define "active"; taking the community of daily Dow traders dealing over...

Salty Dow stocks come in gradually during the first 5-10 minutes. They're usually all going within 10-15 minutes of the opening. However, if there's a stock that's just had a major announcement (say, a profit warning, or a takeover bid), its opening can be delayed - perhaps by as much as 30...