It's not just us. The Chinese are notorious gamblers. Once they get into the act they are going to like it! Maybe, the day could come when all the SB companies will move to Macao. So government regulation could drive them out of the country.
Spread Betting Bubble?
- Thread starter arabianights
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tar
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I think 'bubble' is the wrong word but the OP's original point is probably valid.
Possibly like Online Poker 2 years ago when almost everyone was playing and talking about it. Don't hear too much about it these days though. Which I find is somewhat strage because most of the people who were playing seemed to win the majority of the time, or at least that's what they said
Possibly like Online Poker 2 years ago when almost everyone was playing and talking about it. Don't hear too much about it these days though. Which I find is somewhat strage because most of the people who were playing seemed to win the majority of the time, or at least that's what they said
Financial SB has not really hit the main street, at least not in Sweden. Financial SB, still have a long way to go before it will be as big as online poker, or the sports betting industry as a whole. I think Financial SB has some interesting years ahead, with amazing growth as the industry matures and narrows the gap to DMA.
neil
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Intelligence no guarantee of success
Funny old world
As an aside there was an article on the evils of spreadbetting in the Times today (Saturday- Money Section). Some ex-investment bank analyst ! lost thousands spread betting. He didn't use stops ! IG spokesman said they urge all punters to use a stoploss.
Funny old world
Yes interesting. In any market you can get burned to the ground, if you don't know how to mentaly controll your position, without a stop loss. This past year, these bank analyst have not been doing that good anyway.As an aside there was an article on the evils of spreadbetting in the Times today (Saturday- Money Section). Some ex-investment bank analyst ! lost thousands spread betting. He didn't use stops ! IG spokesman said they urge all punters to use a stoploss.
Funny old world
Tenapenny
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As an aside there was an article on the evils of spreadbetting in the Times today (Saturday- Money Section). Some ex-investment bank analyst ! lost thousands spread betting. He didn't use stops ! IG spokesman said they urge all punters to use a stoploss.
Funny old world
That says it all really!
brasil2000
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As an aside there was an article on the evils of spreadbetting in the Times today (Saturday- Money Section). Some ex-investment bank analyst ! lost thousands spread betting. He didn't use stops ! IG spokesman said they urge all punters to use a stoploss.
Funny old world
A disastrous foray into spread betting left one Times Money reader, who wishes to remain anonymous, £70,000 worse off, drove him to the brink of suicide and incited him to steal from his family.
The 28-year-old Londoner is far from a stock market novice, having worked as an investment analyst in the City. But in the high-risk, high-pressure world of spread betting, his knowledge provided little protection .Having started spread betting with IG Index after he was made redundant last summer, our reader says: “I was able to set up an account in minutes, with few questions asked. I said that I was self-employed but there was no attempt to verify my income or check my credit rating.”
Before he knew it, our reader was hooked and began betting every day. Like many novices he started small, betting a couple of pounds on the movement in stock markets. Initially, he seemed to be breaking even, winning as many times as he lost. This increased his confidence and he soon began to take bigger risks, but the luck didn't last. In September he lost nearly £10,000 in one day.
He adds: “I vowed to stop and went away on a family holiday. By the time I got back I had persuaded myself that I would be able to make back the losses. I topped up my account with another £15,000 and started again.”
It seemed to be paying off as he booked some big wins, but this only encouraged him to start betting bigger amounts. He asked for the margin limit on his account - the amount that he was allowed to bet - to be increased from £10,000 to £14,000.
“I had started to think that I was a genius, but I crashed back to earth when I lost it all for a second time,” he says. “In sheer panic and desperation I stole money from my family and staked £20,000 on a single bet, which I lost. By January I had reached an all-time low and was on the verge of committing suicide and came clean to my family. In desperation my father called IG Index, begging it to pay back some of my losses, which had built up to £70,000, and to close my account.”
Though our reader accepts that he is accountable for his predicament, he believes that spread-betting companies should be forced to be more responsible. He says: “It was like living in a casino and way too easy for me to get addicted and build up huge losses. The spread-betting companies should offer help to those who get into trouble. All that I remember being told was to phone Gamblers Anonymous.”
How the spread-betting industry fails investors who get into trouble
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arabianights
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to be fair, as an investment analyst he was already a certified idiot, so...
(p.s. anyone reckon it was Jtrader?)
(p.s. anyone reckon it was Jtrader?
)No really, after reading the article one feels for the guy. Apparently no money management whatsoever, and a huge risk profile. This behavior has nothing to do with SB, but rather gambling addiction, and the need to win the money back just as quickly as he lost it. The article is targeting the SB industry as the bad guys, but this could happen in any trading environment, especially with the high volatility we have seen this last year. However, the article got a point, this problem will increase as financial spread betting will hit the mainstream. So the SB industry will probably be forced to take some action, in the direction of what is suggested in the article. For instance, in a case, when a low income profile does not correspond with huge account losses.
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N Rothschild
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if it wasnt spread betting it would have been at the black jack tables for people like that
Phil Mibbutz
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As this bloke had been an 'investment analyst in the City', it's surprising the government didn't step in to cover his losses and give him a £100k bonus payment, just in case he took his talent elsewhere.
regarding the "spreadbetting bubble" guys, apparently the government believes 1/4 of the adult UK population will be doing it (both sports and financial spreadbetting) by 2012 and has "promised" no review of the laws governing until then too - - - I believe them but thousands wouldnt lol!
luckystrike23
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where did you hear that *ds-ds*
N Rothschild
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not like the majority of people make money spread betting so they can just tax the profits of the sb company, sorted
luckystrike>>>>>I heard it a while ago when part of CMC Markets (UK spreadbetting company) was being bought by Goldman Sachs. It was cited as one of the major "reasons" behind the deal - i.e. the expected growth in popularity of spread betting which would in part be driven by its preferential tax status being maintained. I believe the article was contained in the Wall Street Journal but I cant be sure now as it was some time ago now.
