Do some brokers deliberately cause you to lose?

. . . I couldn't find highburyfx's post in those 18 pages mate...:(
Hi sharesr4us,
I suspect darktone just meant to look at highbury fx's posts in general. As you rightly say, he's not contributed to that particular thread. The connection is that highbury fx is an industry professional with extensive experience working on the other side of the screen for brokerage firms in the spread betting industry. To find posts by him, visit his profile page.
Tim.
 
@ tomorton, first you make a lot of excellent posts, and I do very well know that and respect that.

However, with respect, you've made a questionable point here.

"You can't adjust your guaranteed stop level, so if your GBP/USD long goes straight up from your entry, your guaranteed stop can be left stranded hundreds of pips below, you've already paid for it and you're only allowed one per position."

What you said used to be true, but you should note that in recent years, all guaranteed stops with IG and the others with whom I've accounts, *can* be amended, as long as the relative minimum stop distance is maintained. That is, a guaranteed stop definitely nowadays *can* be amended after a bet/trade is opened, and is well worth doing if e.g., you've a trailing strategy.


To the OP

I've been spreadbetting since before the 2's. And I can assure you for the last decade, spread bet firms have been behaving professionally and fairly. Nevertheless, the reviews you have been reading may seem like BS to people who've not had earlier experience, but to a few like myself, I can assure you that things weren't always as smoothly nor fairly run, in earlier times.

It was true, *over* a decade ago, that certain spreadbet firms used to (do such unheard of practises nowadays as) freeze your platform, place phantom trades on your account, prevent you from logging in etc. etc, etc., *if* you made one too many winning bets. I know this is true as I experienced same from certain firms in the early years for myself. The forums of old were literally awash with such complaints in the early days . OTOH, the people who are saying that such reviews are nonsense, are *relatively* right, i.e., BUT *only* as far as today's firms are concerned. When it came to the s/b industry at the turn of the century, things were very different indeed.

The reviews you see, weren't just written by losers with sour grapes to bear, I can assure you! Sure, some of course were written by losers etc., but not all - by any means.

Anyway, please don't worry about such factors when reading reviews now, because such complaints really don't apply any more. There is too much competition and openness in the industry, that no s/b firm worth its esteemed public status would be bothered trying to make any client lose, these days - no matter how well he is doing. What's more, as 'Highburyfx' would tell you, most s/b firms would actually lay any consistently winning spreadbetter's bets on the underlying itself, if they ever made it to the elite and prized "A book" status.

Just concentrate on what a s/b firm has to offer - range of instruments, tightness of spreads and competitive margins - and you'll be good to go. HTH :)
 
@ tomorton, first you make a lot of excellent posts, and I do very well know that and respect that.

However, with respect, you've made a questionable point here.

"You can't adjust your guaranteed stop level, so if your GBP/USD long goes straight up from your entry, your guaranteed stop can be left stranded hundreds of pips below, you've already paid for it and you're only allowed one per position."

What you said used to be true, but you should note that in recent years, all guaranteed stops with IG and the others with whom I've accounts, *can* be amended, as long as the relative minimum stop distance is maintained. That is, a guaranteed stop definitely nowadays *can* be amended after a bet/trade is opened, and is well worth doing if e.g., you've a trailing strategy.


Cheers for that. Yep, you're right, this is a poor aspect of trading specific to the spreadbetting firm I use, Capital Spreads. They're fine in other ways.
 
Thanks darktone, timsk and peakoil. I spent the last few days slowly reading those 18 pages and did a bit more research and yes your right darktone...it seems that there is very little if any manipulating behaviour that would have been common in the past, so my mind does feel at rest.

Regarding the trading platform - I find only two broker whom seem to be providing a solid performance and that IGIndex and CMC. The problem with CMC though is it's not very clear when you place an ORDER if your buying or selling.

I'm wondering what type of strategies people take on to make their money...or is that a secret?

Thanks again everyone.

PS: I tried a strategy on the demo a/c, but got burnt, lol. The strategy was to sell as soon as I'm 1 pip in profit, but it backfired and I lost a few thousand...luckily it's a demo.
 
"You can't adjust your guaranteed stop level, so if your GBP/USD long goes straight up from your entry, your guaranteed stop can be left stranded hundreds of pips below, you've already paid for it and you're only allowed one per position."

What you said used to be true, but you should note that in recent years, all guaranteed stops with IG and the others with whom I've accounts, *can* be amended, as long as the relative minimum stop distance is maintained. That is, a guaranteed stop definitely nowadays *can* be amended after a bet/trade is opened, and is well worth doing if e.g., you've a trailing strategy.




Hello everyone, first post moment - here goes!!!

Hi Peakoil,

I asked IG these questions a few days ago.

Q1 - after entering a trade with a normal stop loss in place, can a GSL be ‘introduced’ to an existing order

A1 - It is not possible to add a GSL into an existing trade. It can only be placed before the trade is confirmed.


Q2 - are GSL’s compatible with trailing stops

A2 - It is not possible to have a guaranteed trailing stop loss.


Q3 - do GSL’s get me out of an overnight / over weekend trade if it gaps?

A3 - Yes it will. A guaranteed stop will mean that you will never loss more than you've stipulated in the dealing ticket.


Q4 - would a GSL have guaranteed getting me out of the market after the SNB Sfr/Euro announcement on 15th Jan?

A4 - If you had ticked the GSL section then you would've been closed out at your requested level. IG would take the hit.

Next day, I asked Q2 again in a different way (to be sure)...


Q5 - If a trade is entered with a GSL, can an ordinary stop loss still be used to protect profits without affecting the original GSL?

A5 - It will not be possible to put a GSL with a trailing stop and or with a non- GSL.
You will have to choose which tool you intend to use but a trailing stop can be used for no GSL’s.

What do you think?
 
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I'm wondering what type of strategies people take on to make their money...or is that a secret?
simple MA cross over can work well.
Fire up the demo and set a 8 and 24 period average (or any other ma u like) on a 1min chart (plenty practise). Doesnt matter what instrument as long as its volatile and costs are low. Dax is nice.

Starting out
Use as small a size as you can and just stack the limits,dont worry about total exposure, dont use stops.

To enter:-
long - stack limit orders below the market.
6099-darktone-albums-eeeeeeee-picture3496-long-entry.jpg


short - stack em above.
6099-darktone-albums-eeeeeeee-picture3498-short-entry.png


To exit:-
Close out using limit orders as best you can when the MAs flop the other way.

Further down the road
When youre happy handling orders as above you can focus on managing exposure / size.

Give yourself a desired size, say 20 units (example might be 20 units at 10 pence pp = 2pounds per point total size)

If you get to big then aim to scratch at better prices as price action allows.
A short example
6099-darktone-albums-eeeeeeee-picture3500-managing.jpg

In the first wave up 7 units were sold.
The first wave down 2 units were scratched bringing exposure down to 5 units.
The second wave up a further 5 units were executed taking the total to 10 units short.
In the second wave down 3 units were scratched, total exposure down to 7 units. and so on and so on.

Thats the basic jist. Explore, make it your own.

----------------------------------

So thats the easy bit done. The other 90% is psychological.
Imho, the aim is to arrive at a place where you feel no stress when trading. A place where you can just execute, regardless. This can range from kinda easy (for the select few) to utterly impossible (folks that simply believe otherwise).
Im all done with the typing. Trading in the zone is a good place to start. Theres a link in my sig. TiTZ
 
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