Please help boost my confidence in Spread Betting

[tommog]

Hi everyone,

Please can people remind me it is possible to be profitable at this!!

I would love to trade full time but i really cant seem to make any money. I understand all the basic principles of trading including common approaches (M.A, chart patterns, support levels ) and also money management.

But trying to fit in my trading around a full time job i feel i dont have the patience to wait for the perfect chart set-up i could be waiting several weeks to find a trade after having missed several set-ups due to other commitments. Is it realistic to place trades based on end of day data?

I would love to hear some (confidence boosting ) experiences any of you have of going from beginner to full time spread better, can it be done???!

Thanks

 

[Trader333]

Is it realistic to place trades based on end of day data?

Whilst others will disagree with me on this one, in my view you should ONLY consider swing or position trading if using a SB company and not consider intra-day trading at all.


Paul

 

[jsd]

hmm, Elder suggests you become efficient at position trading first before attempting intra day. He likens it to driving a car (position trading) more time to think, plan. etc as opposed to day trading (jet pilot) reaction times, and time to act is immediate.

But its possible to be a top taxi driver as it is to be a top gun pilot . Image difference maybe. Psychological self examination, exploration and the ability to act first without hesitation or doubt. I assume it will come down to your personality, how much control and developing yourself that to act against previuos ingrained beliefs. Including coming to know that "Patience" is a good thing, its shows that you are waiting for the setup with a high probability, low risk, point of entry trade. The exit method also needs to be known before you place the trade.

But you can apply this to any time frame.. I'd perhaps suggest you read Come into my trading room, by Elder (if you havent already) not with the intention of applying his methods(can do if you want) but he does touch on dealing with whats perhaps best for you to start out with, Job commitments etc, markets based on range/volatilty suitable to trade etc. and TIME. how much time you can devote to this. Time studying and learning is valuable that time waiting for your current setup, is valuable for you to continue to learn, as elder says dont rush in to lose your money, wait until the trade comes to you.

Now why do you want to day trade? missing setups due to other commitments ? you need to commit yourself to be available to assume positions of risk.

jd.

 

[stopped out]

tommog
do you have a trading plan, how much money are you planning to use to make trading a possible full time option, waiting for a perfect setup is not a good idea as is very rarely happens and being impatient.. well... I agree with jsd in that you need to take a good look in the mirror and work out if this is the business you want to be in. On a better note, yes it is possible to make a living out of eod trading but it takes a lot of patients. My profile says part IT, part Spreadbetting. this i wiill update to say full time Spreadbetting as i have not done any IT work since Feb 03.

 

[neil]

Hmm

it takes a lot of patients.

Body snatcher

 

[John Cyprus]

wise words from stopped out. I made classic mistake of not having a plan. Got burnt and that made me look in the mirror before my next trade.

I suggest you follow stopped outs comments before getting stooped...

 

[c6ackp]

I understand all the basic principles of trading

Perhaps this is your problem - you'll need to take your experience and knowledge of markets much further than the basic principles in order to elevate your money from the not-so-smart into the smart-money category.

Also, for EOD you'll need wide stops which will cause larger fluctuations in your capital, so you'll need to be using proven strategies, otherwise you may "blow-up".

I would suggest keeping meticulous records and learning as much as possible from each failed trade. I would recommend demo trading *until* you have solid evidence that you have a consistent edge over the market.

There's a huge amount of structure available in the markets to trade off, so keep analysing and never give up

Steve

 

[sid392]

Wise words from c6ackp, Never give up.... I too was in this very same position, trying to hard to make money from SBing, and instead of making money I gave IG Markets all off mine. Then came the PLAN, I put together my trading plan (get intouch with me if you want a copy) and sat down to put it into practice.

60 days of paper trading showed that my plan worked. So i placed £10k in to my IG account and started for real with real money. keeping an eye on the market, and not looking for that big break, just straergy trading, keeping my profits and cutting my loss. NEVER chasing a loss, cos it happens, to us all mate, that is nature of the game. But to give you some support, since I have started my plan, and trading to it, my IG account can now support me, it is at £27k now (in 30 days) thats £17k profit. so never give up mate keep to it, and happy trading.

 

[options]

I would agree with T333, Eod is easier when starting out. Pick a trade, put it on, go about your daily work and check when you get home. You'll get nice surprises sometimes and you will already know your predetermined loss when that happens as well.

you need bigger stops in eod though.

The only annoying thing with this though is when a news spike whacks the stop and then reverses in your chosen direction. Intraday you can avoid this.

But, yes, it can and does work out in your favour.

 

[Jumpin]

tommog, you aren't using d4f are you?
Unless you are shorting or indices betting, perhaps might be better to actually buy the shares? that way you can at least offset your losses. You have to pay a big spread with spreadbetting so that alone eats into your potential gains

 

[aussie2242]

new to spread betting

im new to sb and was looking for some advice from someone in england on how they go about it. sharts and what markets. im young and want to trade full time one day.. how possible is it.. any advice is welcomed thsnks chrisundefined

Wise words from c6ackp, Never give up.... I too was in this very same position, trying to hard to make money from SBing, and instead of making money I gave IG Markets all off mine. Then came the PLAN, I put together my trading plan (get intouch with me if you want a copy) and sat down to put it into practice.

60 days of paper trading showed that my plan worked. So i placed £10k in to my IG account and started for real with real money. keeping an eye on the market, and not looking for that big break, just straergy trading, keeping my profits and cutting my loss. NEVER chasing a loss, cos it happens, to us all mate, that is nature of the game. But to give you some support, since I have started my plan, and trading to it, my IG account can now support me, it is at £27k now (in 30 days) thats £17k profit. so never give up mate keep to it, and happy trading.

 

[jackjones]

Hi, how long have you been trading in this market? Personally I've been in forex/indexes for about 8 months now (after a few years in stocks) and it's been a steep learning curve! From getting over confident and then being humiliated to taking a month off and just reading what ever I could find on the net...but all the time keeping my ultimate goal. I too worked full time (cut down to part time now :cheesy and pretty much spend any spare time watching the market (bye bye life) and I kinda realised it was all experience and I was just a mino in a giants market .

But like a Uni degree or job you have to take the good with the bad and to get anywhere you just have to be patient (the daily grind)...but in this case you could loose you pants! So then I was convinced it was all about capital conservation in the beginning trying to stay out of the games and to trade what you see, buy low sell high and all that, one of the best indicators I'm finding is price action atm btw.. So my advice is to take it slow, don't over trade, don't chase the market and revenge helps no one!.. all the usual cliche's I guess. Who knows maybe i'll come up with my own one day...and don't beat yourself up over missing a "great trade", learn from it and move on.

Good luck.