Interactive UK equities spread betting thread

[barneydunn]

I don't, however im really interested to see how you do. Good luck and do keep it up..
would you care to share what you're looking at, which seems to be a break of resistance, and with the MAs on the chart, clearly looking for confluence of MAs heading in the right direction. what's your exit criteria if you dont mind me asking?

The 10 and the 100 sma's are just a visual guide to the trend but I will use them as s/r sometimes too. The main plan is to get trades to break even and let them run as far as possible. I like breakouts but I will also trade pullbacks to support provided the trend is in place. I'm trading everything long at the moment because despite the last couple of days of selling off the environment is generally recovery/up trend at the moment. If that changes I will be quick to take profit on anything still open and watch and wait. For exits I will trail up behind market structure so when a low is in place I will put the stop behind that. I've looked into a lot of different mechanical exit methods over the years and I like the look of waiting until the 100 sma actually turns down (I use a 30 day lookback on the ma for the colour change which smooths out a lot of the chops) but that can give back quite a bit if price turns around quickly and keeps going down. If price drops below the 100 sma then I'd consider getting out depending on how much support was below it. In some ways my total approach is still evolving but I have the foundations in place from experience. I will keep posting all the time there is anything interesting to post.

 

[barneydunn]

Here are the two trades I put on later today. Croda pinging off the 100 sma. I said earlier it was IMI but it's not, it's Informa. That one not pinging quite so much but I'll see how it goes tomorrow and if it goes down much more I'll just take the loss.

 

[barneydunn]

Interestingly the FTSE closed above the 6950 support level I was watching earlier. Look how many times it bounced from that level one way or another today. That's a 1 min chart, not that I spend a lot of time looking at those but interesting to see.

 

[barneydunn]

So far today everything is turning back up but I will have to keep an eye on it towards the end of the session and decide what I am doing then. I've added a couple of trades this morning including the index again. I took a loss on the informa trade. Here are some charts and the account right now.

 

[srm888]

No replies yet so I'm guessing there is absolutely no one else here who spread bets stocks?!

Yep I do! I have only just found this thread so will be certainly be stopping by every now and again, I do actually post my own content at www.burning-both-ends.com and keep very small contributions on here under journals.

There doesn't seem to be many users on here though.

Not sure why more people dont use spread betting to trade stocks, there are less volatile and easier to understand than some of the other instruments out there.

Looks like you are doing very well, I would be inclined to know more details about your strategy, I guess your have a little bit more of a fundamental insight into the stocks that you trade?

Sean

 

[barneydunn]

Yep I do! I have only just found this thread so will be certainly be stopping by every now and again, I do actually post my own content at www.burning-both-ends.com and keep very small contributions on here under journals.

There doesn't seem to be many users on here though.

Not sure why more people dont use spread betting to trade stocks, there are less volatile and easier to understand than some of the other instruments out there.

Looks like you are doing very well, I would be inclined to know more details about your strategy, I guess your have a little bit more of a fundamental insight into the stocks that you trade?

Sean

My fundamental analysis is more of a macroeconomic view of the current environment and just trading in line with that. You know the old saying, a rising tide and all that. It seems the ftse is rising gently at the moment so you would expect most share prices to be going up right now. I'm just buying into that with limited risk on each trade and hoping to get to break even to hold on for the long term. Ideally I can get to the point where I have a handful of trades all at break even so I can just raise the stops behind the lows until they get stopped out for whatever profit they make. I will always be looking to add on to a trade if it pulls back too.

Entries are usually a hold of support or a break of resistance and I love trades that bounce from the 100 sma as that's my mental line in the sand as to whether it's trending or not. Nothing too complicated, just buying into a rising market and trying to protect the down side as much as possible. If everything tanks I'll just go to cash, take whatever profits and losses I have to and wait for things to turn up again. Yesterday was a bit of a downer as I lost quite a lot of equity in one day but it's not the overall equity that counts is it, it's the balance at the end of the year!

I took a look at your site and it looks good but I can't see any kind of portfolio with the trades you are holding and their P+L like I post my account pictures? I'll have a look now as well for your journal here. It seems there are a lot of watchers here but not many who want to put their balls on the line and show other people what the are doing. I'd be happy to discuss what I am looking at in terms of trades if you wanted and I'd be happy to hear any of your trade ideas you wanted to share.

 

[srm888]

My fundamental analysis is more of a macroeconomic view of the current environment and just trading in line with that. You know the old saying, a rising tide and all that. It seems the ftse is rising gently at the moment so you would expect most share prices to be going up right now. I'm just buying into that with limited risk on each trade and hoping to get to break even to hold on for the long term. Ideally I can get to the point where I have a handful of trades all at break even so I can just raise the stops behind the lows until they get stopped out for whatever profit they make. I will always be looking to add on to a trade if it pulls back too.

Entries are usually a hold of support or a break of resistance and I love trades that bounce from the 100 sma as that's my mental line in the sand as to whether it's trending or not. Nothing too complicated, just buying into a rising market and trying to protect the down side as much as possible. If everything tanks I'll just go to cash, take whatever profits and losses I have to and wait for things to turn up again. Yesterday was a bit of a downer as I lost quite a lot of equity in one day but it's not the overall equity that counts is it, it's the balance at the end of the year!

I took a look at your site and it looks good but I can't see any kind of portfolio with the trades you are holding and their P+L like I post my account pictures? I'll have a look now as well for your journal here. It seems there are a lot of watchers here but not many who want to put their balls on the line and show other people what the are doing. I'd be happy to discuss what I am looking at in terms of trades if you wanted and I'd be happy to hear any of your trade ideas you wanted to share.

I like your idea of raising the stops underneath, its a strategy I try and entertain my self, in the past I used to set too many targets to get out at, but I know from experience I will never hit a home run If I put them in place.

I still use them but only if I see a solid reason to get out.

The strategy I used to use was a trend only strategy and I had a good run with it 2013 to 2017. But it never lasted, and i ended up getting whipsawed out of loads of positions once the markets started getting volatile.

Point noted about the account information, I do keep a lot of notes in excell, so I might consider putting them up at some point in the future. for the record that original £1k has fluctuated up to £1210 and sitting around £875 today. so pretty rubbish at the minute.

do you short the market at all? if not why not?

 

[barneydunn]

I like your idea of raising the stops underneath, its a strategy I try and entertain my self, in the past I used to set too many targets to get out at, but I know from experience I will never hit a home run If I put them in place.

I still use them but only if I see a solid reason to get out.

The strategy I used to use was a trend only strategy and I had a good run with it 2013 to 2017. But it never lasted, and i ended up getting whipsawed out of loads of positions once the markets started getting volatile.

Point noted about the account information, I do keep a lot of notes in excell, so I might consider putting them up at some point in the future. for the record that original £1k has fluctuated up to £1210 and sitting around £875 today. so pretty rubbish at the minute.

do you short the market at all? if not why not?

I will use a take profit sometimes, such as if the trade looked good but was quite a long way from the 100 sma already. It's worth taking some profit on those if you get a good push up. Usually price will pull back to the 100 sma so if it's already a long way away you would expect a pull back to just take the trade out at break even if you left it.

I think you have to trade this sort of thing in the right environment. When most stocks are going up, as signified by a rising FTSE, it makes sense to me to be only buying into that. Anything that's going down is likely to be more choppy and less predictable. When the environment turns I would be more likely to be shorting provided there was a clear down trend. Ultimately if the market has no clear trend direction then I'd be more inclined to keep positions a lot smaller on any trades I did take or just stay in cash and wait for a better environment.

 

[barneydunn]

Not too bad a day overall today, everything has turned back up quite well. Only Smiths is letting things down a little but I will give everything another day to see if this is the start of another up push or just a small bounce up before another drop.

 

[barneydunn]

I knocked the ftse trade off for £90 profit as it looks like it could go anywhere overnight so I'd rather not risk taking the loss.

 

[barneydunn]

Here are some charts I am watching. Admiral is below the 100 sma but that's a good support level and the 100 sma is nowhere near turning. It could just be an extended pullback. Same with Whitbread. Also I'm thinking brewers are never going to go broke and pubs are opening up a bit more from next week. Schroders looks interesting because it's bouncing from the 100 sma but the PA to the left just looks a bit choppy. I'll watch and wait and see what happens. I have some free margin from closing the ftse trade so I may be able to get a trade on one or two of these if they look right in the morning.

 

[barneydunn]

Looks like more than just a pullback here so I have banked everything and ended up with £575 profit. Not bad on a £10000 account in the time I've been trading it but very disappointing as I had some big trades at break even which had potential to make some big money. I'll wait until things look a bit more favourable and then start adding some trades on.

 

[ARBinstruktor]

OK!

Here are some questions!

1, why spread bets? for tax reasons? currency hedge?
2. there are NO swaps shown! Is it a swap free account?
3. Any limitations or extra fees for short positions?
4. Could you post the full list of intruments (stocks AND ETFs, at list for UK and USA)?

Looking forward ...

 

[barneydunn]

OK!

Here are some questions!

1, why spread bets? for tax reasons? currency hedge?
2. there are NO swaps shown! Is it a swap free account?
3. Any limitations or extra fees for short positions?
4. Could you post the full list of intruments (stocks AND ETFs, at list for UK and USA)?

Looking forward ...

Hello...

1) Spread best because the gains are free from tax.
2) Swaps are taken but only a few pounds a day and in relation to the wins it's not truly significant.
3) It doesn't seem so, I was mostly going long but any short trades I took went fine.
4) That would be quite a list! I was trading with ADS Securities who have a reasonable range of the larger UK companies and I was just using those.

I haven't been trading this way for a while as the ftse started getting a bit choppy and all positions were getting pulled about together so I have switched to trading indices on a shorter timeframe. I am doing quite well with it at the moment. If I can keep it going then I will just do that. My friend makes money every day trading dax, he's like a machine. I just need to get into his mindset and I'm never going back to work again!

 

[Majid (boombastic)]

Hi barneydunn,
I just found your thread today and am very happy and excited about it. Keep up the thread, I will write more when I get the time soon, nice work!

 

[jewel3]

It would be really helpful if you could tell us what are the daily funding charges (overnight swap fees) for ADS as a percentage please? Fees were traditionally a percentage above LIBOR. They do add up over years.

As you are in pounds, why do you use them instead of a London based spread betting provider such as City Index (although it is ultimately owned in the USA)?

 

[barneydunn]

It would be really helpful if you could tell us what are the daily funding charges (overnight swap fees) for ADS as a percentage please? Fees were traditionally a percentage above LIBOR. They do add up over years.

As you are in pounds, why do you use them instead of a London based spread betting provider such as City Index (although it is ultimately owned in the USA)?

To be honest I don't know. I know that each positon would cost a few pounds a night to hold depending on the postion size but in relation to the amount I was making per position it was a fraction. I wouldn't be holding for years, likely a month at most and say £30 charge for the overnight holding on a position that made me £3000 would not worry me.

I use ADS as they have an office in London, they offer a good range of instruments at good spreads and city index do not offer the same (or most other spread bet brokers with mt4).

 

[jewel3]

To be honest I don't know. I know that each positon would cost a few pounds a night to hold depending on the postion size but in relation to the amount I was making per position it was a fraction. I wouldn't be holding for years, likely a month at most and say £30 charge for the overnight holding on a position that made me £3000 would not worry me.

I use ADS as they have an office in London, they offer a good range of instruments at good spreads and city index do not offer the same (or most other spread bet brokers with mt4).

Thanks. It sounds as if ADS are offering a longer list of equities for you.
Good luck and let's hope/see it going well.

 

[barneydunn]

Thanks. It sounds as if ADS are offering a longer list of equities for you.
Good luck and let's hope/see it going well.

Thanks, yes they do have a good range of instruments. I've not been daily trading for a little while as I've been day trading indices but I should be going back to the daily shares soon.