Thanks for your replies. Looking for all opinions/information available. Completely new to trading and considering starting with small day and/or swing trades in FTSE 100 shares. I have approx £60,000 in total with £30,000 to trade, initially with small percentage on each trade from this £30,000.
Hi Freedomtrader2012,
Welcome to T2W.
If you trade U.K. equities, keep in mind that you may have to pay
Stamp Duty. You could avoid this by trading a derivative product like CFDs or, alternatively, spread betting. However, the bid / offer spreads on instruments offered by spread betting companies do not favour day trading. The good news is that under current U.K. tax laws, any profits will be tax free. Profits made via CFDs or trading actual shares via a direct market access broker are subject to Capital Gains Tax. If you want to compare and contrast spread betting with CFDs - check out
this FAQ
As for making the profits you desire, it's been done before and, doubtless, will be done again. However, it's a very big ask starting from scratch. My advice would be to not think about potential profits at all. Not seriously, anyway. Start with a demo account and, once you're confident in your approach, move on to a live account and trade the smallest size possible to begin with. Based on your live trading, you'll see exactly what you're P/L is. Keep in mind that it's far easier to make money when there is only a few pounds at risk than it is when serious money is involved. Scaling up proves to be a major problem for a great many traders. That said, it's better to have a vague idea of what you might be able to achieve based on your own results - than it is to speculate based on a random set of answers from people you don't know on an online forum.
Tim.
PS - This FAQ goes into more detail:
Realistically, How much Money can I Expect to Make?