Help with spreadbetting (newbie strikes again!)

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superstag

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Hello all,

Let me introduce myself - My name is Lloyd and came across this site very recently. Essentially Ive been wanting to get involved with trading, specifically medium to long term trading via spreadbetting. A few months back, a friend gave me Vince Stanz. workbook which I found interesting yet very simple. Ive read the posts slating his workbook but anyway, I would like some further education; other things that would become useful. I understand the demand and supply nature and I suppose I need to get experience by paper trading for example. Im also in the process of saving for a capital outlay of £3000. So, if any of you kind soles have any advice, further reading - Methods etc etc etc I would be most grateful... I really want to make a good go out this trading lark and be successful with it!

Cheers

Lloyd
 
Hi Lloyd,

I am in exactly the same position as you i.e. currently building up capital. It is taking a while but I have been reading a lot of posts on this forum and also lots of books on the subject of trading.

I was also introduced to trading by VS, I bought his workbook after reading the article in the Observer about spread trading.

The books I have found useful (and entertaining reading) so far have been:

How I Made $2m on the Stock Market by Darvas
Rich Dad, Poor Dad
Bringing Down the House (not really to do with trading but good entertainment)

Also, I have researched a lot on the internet and there are several good sites out there with advice about money in general and not just trading:

fool.co.uk
msn.co.uk (the money section)
bbc.co.uk (business section)
Sally Nicoll's diary on Finspreads.com

There is more to add but I will have to think about it.

Ben
 
any ideas on whether you want to trade indicies, stocks, forex...?
 
superstag said:
Hello all,

Let me introduce myself - My name is Lloyd and came across this site very recently. Essentially Ive been wanting to get involved with trading, specifically medium to long term trading via spreadbetting. A few months back, a friend gave me Vince Stanz. workbook which I found interesting yet very simple. Ive read the posts slating his workbook but anyway, I would like some further education; other things that would become useful. I understand the demand and supply nature and I suppose I need to get experience by paper trading for example. Im also in the process of saving for a capital outlay of £3000. So, if any of you kind soles have any advice, further reading - Methods etc etc etc I would be most grateful... I really want to make a good go out this trading lark and be successful with it!

Cheers

Lloyd
Click to expand...

Lloyd,
I'm very new to trading also.
Check out tradertom.co.uk
It's a free web-site and will give you an excellent feel for the markets and how they work
 
Ben,

Cheers for the reading - I have read Rich Dad... good read that! Look forward to more recommendations!

ChrisW,

Forex interests me loads as well as commodities. To be honest, I would like to be able to trade various markets rather than focus say exclusively on shares. What I do not want to be doin is sitting in front of my computer all day...
 
Lloyd, you could do a lot worse that start by reading a post by timsk on another thread here, developing a trading plan.

then when you've burned your £3K cos you didn't follow it, read it again.
 
Lloyd,

I trade forex personally but I'm probably not the best to speak to since I do sit in front of my computer all day!!

there is alot of information on these boards, and I would highly recommend a few days reading through it all.
 
With spreadbetting make sure you get your entry right because they widen the spread and for indices they move the spread around rather fast..
Very hard to daytrade using spreadbetters, you would be better off doing something like direct access CFDs that can really move fast against you as it is trading on margin.
Spreadbetting is as well so you have to be careful.
Paper trade for quite a while, but remember doing it for real is completely different, it is not the same at all when you have fear/greed and adrenaline to fight. You need to be able to control your emotions at all times.
Read about psychology, read about crowd behaviour.
Do not think you know how to trade even if you have done it for years!
Try going short and long at different times on the same share or index.. that way you get to see the fear and greed in the movement from both aspects
And good luck!
 
When I first joined these boards I hoped to find a thread that would anwer all my questions and tell me how to profitably trade. I soon learnt it's not that easy.

If I was to impart some of my minimal wisdom I'd say the most important thing you can do is open a demo account and spend months learning, studying, practising, learning some more, reading some more...

I would say the 3 most important things are -

Knowledge (you don't get a degree without years of study)
Discipline
Small stake size

And the 3 to NOT DO are -

Buy systems
Let your losses run
Get cocky after a few of good trades - you will lose, it's inevitable

Youi'll read plenty of different opinions on spreadbetting on here also. I use Capital Spreads and I'm happier this way, but it depends on the instrument and style of trading you do. For scalping the DOW you'd have a hard job in front of you!

just my 2 cents worth!

Good luck
 
Cheers for the input Chris. One further question- Is Forex a good market to use as a spreadbet in your opinion?
 
correct chrisw its hard scalping the dow spreadbetting even though they are now 4 points. you need IB to scalp if you are looking fo 5 to 10 points its the only way. but unless you are looking for 30 points target you can get away worth a 4 point spread, just about.
 
I've been live trading for about 4 months now (us stocks) and Chris is absolutely right in your first few years your nothing but learning and your NOT gonna make money,keep your stake to a minimum and don't let losses run.
Just to add my little piece is take profits you can fine tune entry and exits later, good luck

Millsy
 
No problem, hope I helped...

I trade spot forex on a half hour or hourly chart so it works for me since I'm looking for +50 pips (well, hoping!) per trade so a few pips here and there doesn't effect the overall totals too much.
 
A few good books to read

Come into my trading room by Elder
Swing Trading by Marc Rivalland
A beginners guide to day tyrading online by Toni Turner
Market Wizards by Schwager

a few pearls of wisdom.

Paper trade for 6 months
Develop a plan and stick to it
Learn about yourself and fit your trading style around you (what type of trader?, end of day, buy and hold investor, day trader etc)
Stick to one instrument (this was my hardest, as I was always looking for the next opportunity) whether it be FX, US stocks or indices. Stick to them like glue, learn their moves
Pick an instrument that is not too volatile, i.e. you want to still be in the game after lots of losses.
Learn to love your losses! Learn from them, analyse them, where did I go wrong...was it the entry?


theres loads more, I'll post later
 
Interactive brokers mate, run a search (via discussion button at top) theres plenty about them.
 
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