Diary of a swing spread better

[hungvir]

Mistake

I just made a mistake.

Instead of realising half of my profit with the two long positions on the FTSE, I added one more long position by pressing buy. It cost me 7 pounds.

Still long the DOW with the aim of making at least a hundred quids from the two long positions.

 

[hungvir]

Credit or not credit

Spread betting firms have different approaches with regard to offering credit to customers.

When I asked if they provided credit, a CMC customer rep said: "Ah, that's the one thing that we don't do."

But when I openned an account with Worldspreads, they decided to offer me 500 quid credit facility. And this helped me with making money from my last trades longing the FTSE and the DOW. Had I not got this credit, I could not have made the trades because of margin requirement.

I think it's a good idea not to give credit to beginners but then I am not really beginners. Moreover, I can always put 5-10 grands into my account if I need to.

It's funny that it took me quite a while to open an account with Worldspreads. When they did credit search on my name, they found someone with the same name who is politically active. I know there's a group of Vietnamese who want to overthrow the communist government in Vietnam, so that did not surprise me. In the end, it just took a bit longer to open an account.

 

[hungvir]

Lovely DOW

The DOW's chart looks perfect for anyone longing it. Apart from the first 30-60 minutes that we're normally advised to avoid, the Dow went down to near 11006 briefly to shake out the faint-hearted then has been moving all the way up.

I am sitting on about 130 quids profit and will realise half when it comes to 160.

It's been such a good day! Thank you, Mr Markets

 

[pboi]

DOW started on a down trend on friday, sideways for the start of the week, then yesterday began its descent......today is a hiccup..I hope !
FTSE began a down trend yesterday..I hope.

 

[hungvir]

DOW started on a down trend on friday, sideways for the start of the week, then yesterday began its descent......today is a hiccup..I hope !
FTSE began a down trend yesterday..I hope.

Hi Mat,

I am always intrigued by the way you fortune-telling the market

I am only joking of course! Could you sum up what data you use and how you interpret them to arrive at your educated guesses about the market, please! Only if this is fine with you.

Best,

Hung

 

[hungvir]

Taking profit

I decided to take half the profit from my long positions on the DOW. And the trade history looks like this.

The other position will be free to drift around.

 

[hungvir]

What have I learnt?

So, it's been three weeks since I came back to the market and what have I learnt?

I have to admit I have based some of my trading decisions on the mental support and resistance levels.

I went long the FTSE and the DOW yesterday just like some people buying when they hear gunfire. Overreaction to a one off event does bring the market down sharply but only for it to bounce back.

Money management is very important. I've been doing well with cutting losses but not so well with letting profits run. Will have to improve on this.

It's still early days and I haven't developed my own system to benefit from the market yet. I have some rough ideas but they aren't system.

My main aim in the coming days will be to preserve the capital I have and wait to capitalise on sharp pull-backs while watching for opportunities to long/short individual shares.

I won't be shorting any shares with sound fundamentals and the opposite is true for going long.

 

[hungvir]

Rolling plan

1. Short AZN at 2660 if possible, stop buy at 2687, risking 27 points maximum. Otherwise, have a break.

To watch
LSE - reached 870 on Feb 27 and 28 but found no support there. A potential short at 850-870 range.

RNK continues to slide down. Only watch when there's a day up. Same with VOD and RTR.

Still long DOW, CLDN and LLOY. Will look for an opportunity to get out of CLDN. What a dull stock! But it has strong support at 1900 so I let it stay for a while.

Lloy continues to drop. Hopefully buyers will come in when a swing low is established. But by that time I'll probably be stopped out.

Good night!

 

[hungvir]

Mks

Hi Split,

Just had a look at MKS's chart. I am tempted to short this one. The risk is small enough.

Good night!

H

 

[pboi]

'Overreaction to a one off event does bring the market down sharply but only for it to bounce back'

purely out of interest, what was the event that caused the dip on monday.?

 

[hungvir]

'Overreaction to a one off event does bring the market down sharply but only for it to bounce back'

purely out of interest, what was the event that caused the dip on monday.?

People mainly reacted to Google's comment that it'll have to look else where to add values instead of focusing mainly on internet advertising. Its shares dropped 10 per cent, dragging all the internet companies along. And the index.

Yesterday's rebound also had a lot to do with good economic data on consumers' spending and the manufacturing sector.

Cheers,

Hung

 

[pboi]

thanks for that
as for my 'fortune telling '..it simpy comes down to looking at high/low/close/open over time and identifying when the market changes direction - and betting accordingly. If the market continues its trend, which it more often than not does....then I make money.


I am prepared to post when I see the market change direction - and my results accordingly. However I learn more everyday, having only 3 months paper trading under my belt,!

 

[hungvir]

thanks for that
as for my 'fortune telling '..it simpy comes down to looking at high/low/close/open over time and identifying when the market changes direction - and betting accordingly. If the market continues its trend, which it more often than not does....then I make money.


I am prepared to post when I see the market change direction - and my results accordingly. However I learn more everyday, having only 3 months paper trading under my belt,!

You're welcome, Mat!

I have a break, have a kit kat today My profit on the long DOW position halved overnight but I already moved stop loss to break even and can afford to let it do a bit of swinging.

Later,

Hung

 

[pboi]

made > 300 two days ago on my intraday DOW at 5 per point, and sitting on 135£ now 5pp on my DOW March....granted it was a big dip - but I had called a trend change on friday, it was sideways for a few days, then it took the plunge....I hope the trend continues, tho after yesterday it could creep back up----so debating hether o take 135, or let it run...methink as i am still learning, i will let it run ..guess i will see what happens at open.

 

[Splitlink]

Hi Split,

Just had a look at MKS's chart. I am tempted to short this one. The risk is small enough.

Good night!

H

Yes, MKS tempted me in this morning for a short at 521.2.

There are others, but I thought that my stop would be too far away. TATE and RR. These will, probably, be the ones I should have entered- always happens.!

Am still with SPW- hasn't done much today.

 

[Splitlink]

made > 300 two days ago on my intraday DOW at 5 per point, and sitting on 135£ now 5pp on my DOW March....granted it was a big dip - but I had called a trend change on friday, it was sideways for a few days, then it took the plunge....I hope the trend continues, tho after yesterday it could creep back up----so debating hether o take 135, or let it run...methink as i am still learning, i will let it run ..guess i will see what happens at open.

I've noted your bearish tendencies. I'm not convinced there will be anything other than a rest period for a while. My, very rough, signals that will push my buttons are 5800 (FT) and 10500 (DJ).

Monday set the the FT off, but it is above again now. There are some toppy shares, though, I agree.

Split

 

[pboi]

down we go

 

[hungvir]

Yes, MKS tempted me in this morning for a short at 521.2.

There are others, but I thought that my stop would be too far away. TATE and RR. These will, probably, be the ones I should have entered- always happens.!

Am still with SPW- hasn't done much today.

There's simply not enough volatility in MKS today. It barely moves. I would bored to death with positions that just stay there and money squatting

Had I not had my money tied up with LLOY and CLDN at CMC, I would have made quite a bit with shorting LSE when it moved to 870 then moved down to 830. I had a pending order but did not have enough fund to satisfy margin requirement.

Good trading,

Hung

 

[hungvir]

Bearish DOW

I may be wrong, but the DOW has already been chanelling down and I think it will never test the 11100 level again in the next few weeks at least. I'll go short whenever it goes above 11050 risking about 20 points assuming that 11070 would be the make or break level.

A 30 points profit is nice enough.

 

[pboi]

more down..told ya