Newbie Advice Please - Shorting FTSE (Best Plaform)

[Tak]

Hi Guys,

I am pretty much a noob. Back in the 2000's I dabbled in Spreadbetting , made quite a bit of money. Also lost a bit sometimes of stops being hit in the overnight grey market??
With Finspreads at that time had a few arguments with them. IG were no better probably worse.

What I am looking to do is become ideally a fulltime trader. Ideally shorting the UKX Ftse, DOW and DAX as these were always my most profitable trades.
I have no real interest in anything else such as ForEx etc..

My questions are these:

1) Spreadbetting as a vehicle is rather expensive even with a 1 point spread.
What vehicles do the pro traders use to short the FTSE and will the profits be CGT free as Spreadbets are but CFD's are not?

2) I have probably missed the boat on the current cycle, but my paper trades have me in £10k plus profit on my positions.
After some Deadcat bounce on the FTSE probably backup to 6300 by Wed 26th , in the medium term (3-6mths) which direction do you expect the FTSE to goto?
Where on your charts are the Support and resistance levels at this timeframe?

3) I hear alot of online platforms such as

QUOTE MartinC-J
"I use direct market access trading using the Open ECry platform. You get filled at the bid or the ask, and there is no spread to pay. Most people in the UK seem to use spreadbetting to trade the FTSE cash. They pay a minimum of 0.5 points per side in spread, which costs them £10 per trade, which makes it much harder to make a profit when you are scalping. My fees are £1.81 per trade."

Are these platforms Online or downloadable software using live feeds?
Is the CGT rules the same as SB?

4) What do the Pro traders find the most sucessful strategy?
Scalping or med-term with stops?

5) Are there any arbitrage opportunities out there still, taking opposing postions and coming out with profits?

6) I am constantly on the move and require an Android App, which is the best you have come across?

7) What books or articles would you suggest I read on Shorting?
Really need to increase my knowledge.

Thank you for reading me post and hopefuly get some feedback.

 

[f2calv]

6) I am constantly on the move and require an Android App, which is the best you have come across?

There are answers to most of your questions scattered across these forums so I'll not re-post them all here - but would suggest you spend a good few evenings scouring the topics in "getting started" and you should find out most answers.

Regarding trading on the move, I would say most of my worst trades have been when I idly placed a trade via my HTC due to a "gut feeling" and then my account too a needless hit because I didn't know the whole situation.

A mobile app is good to kind of manage an existing position i.e. move a stop to breakeven or just plain close it out. However to plan and place new trades I would say that you need to be sat in front of a good old fashioned screen(s) and use those to do the research of the charts/levels/fundamentals - all of which are damn near impossible on a phone.

 

[Tak]

Thanks f2 for the feedback.

Much appreciated.