what is an acceptable income for full time spreadbetting?

[zuke]

'trading off the hourly'


what does this mean ?

Trading using an hourly chart to determine trends, entries, exits etc.

 

[zuke]

The answers are not so simple true! But once you figure out that spread betting is the same as futures trading but you get to choose your stake, you get to choose your risk, you get to choose your margins, you get to choose your exit points. I say SB firms are far more flexible that futures brokers, and i would say you get a better service in most cases.
Nothing is for free, and if you are starting trading for the first time the question should be, "What is an acceptable amount of money to loose before i start making money". Learning costs money! I suppose a plan in neccessary.....
Zuke calculating profits by pips or ticks is a way of emotionally de-sensitising your trading, i was offered this idea once. However it all comes down to how much you've made on each trade and you cannot lie to yourself, in the back of your mind it will always be about ££££££££

The thing is MarvinS, when newbies focus on the amount of money they are making per trade, they tend to cut profits very short and let losses run and run. Focusing on a pip/tick target encourages them to try to make profits consistently irrespective of size.

 

[Halzeigler99]

Do not set a level would be my advice! Otherwise you will be tempted to stop trading when you reach your £100 per day target - when you could be on a roll! You can only make what your system and the market gives you and some days will be good - some days bad, so you need to capitalise on the good days and go walk the dog on bad days!
Keep a log and analyse where you went wrong and try to eliminate your mistakes.
In reality how much you make will also depend on how much you are risking - in money terms rather than % of your bank risked on any one trade. To state the obvious - the higher your stake/pip the less pips you need to hit a set target. But you should find a level of risk that you are comfortable with and stick with that providing it gives you the income you need.

 

[RUDEBOY]

Hello, Marvin. I was only joking last night and i hope you realise that. Like other people have already stated, setting monetary targets is way out of line where the markets are concerned...it's totally the wrong way of thinking, it really is, i can't emphasise this enough. I don't know who you are Marvin, i don't know what your trading ability is and i don't know how much money you have behind you and i don't want to know. I'll be totally honest with you Marvin, i've thought in exactly the same way in the past, but it doesn't work like that. It takes time to realistically know what you are averaging per week, how much time, that's a question only you can answer. There is a logical process to be considered when a person thinks they are at the transitional stage. From pupi to caterpilla to butterfly, noob to adept to diong it for a living? Where are you in the scheme, Marvin?

 

[RUDEBOY]

Oh, by the way, Marvin. The last bit was something for you to think about, not to answer in a post on this thread. I didn't mean it in the context of being intrusive.

 

[MarvinS]

That is for me to know and you to find out Rudeboy.... I was in a Bangkok jail for a while doing it too. hehe
No on a serious note you are 100% correct trade a pip not a £. What this ultimately means is DISCIPLINE yourself. If you aren't disciplined i have a great tip for you at Cheltenham tommorow - War of attrition in the Gold cup at 15:15. If it comes in i shall eat my words - and if it doesnt i will DISCIPLINE myself with a few beers. Just learn, trade, enjoy and make money. No more! If you don't enjoy trading and i dont mean getting a kick from it ,do not trade.

 

[RUDEBOY]

Good call, Marvin. Good trading.

 

[tommog]

Its best to think of your daily target in terms of points rather than money. This is for many reasons, thinking about money when trading, psychologicaly, is quite dangerous, its is easier to think clearly when you think i'm down one point so far today than it is to say i'm down £500 today (if you are trading that size) also when you review your trading progress after each month 6 months a year etc points per day are the benchmark that dont vary.

As for what targets to set yourself it depends on the market. Personally i think if you aim to capture a third of the days range you are doing well i.e if your market usually has a 30 tick range i think you should be looking to make 10 points a day. And make sure your daily down limit is no more than your average up limit.

There is a lot to be said for not having an upside target and staying with it when you are doing well but it depends how disciplined you are, where i work i know several people that will frequently be up a few grand by lunch time but often are down a few grand by market close because they didnt know when to stop. A good tactic is to have a target in your mind and when you reach it perhaps reduce your trading size. Personaly if i meet my daily target i congratulate myself and leave for the day theres no way im going to stick around and risk giving it back.

Hope this helps

 

[JasonC2]

Its best to think of your daily target in terms of points rather than money. This is for many reasons, thinking about money when trading, psychologicaly, is quite dangerous, its is easier to think clearly when you think i'm down one point so far today than it is to say i'm down £500 today (if you are trading that size) also when you review your trading progress after each month 6 months a year etc points per day are the benchmark that dont vary.

As for what targets to set yourself it depends on the market. Personally i think if you aim to capture a third of the days range you are doing well i.e if your market usually has a 30 tick range i think you should be looking to make 10 points a day. And make sure your daily down limit is no more than your average up limit.

There is a lot to be said for not having an upside target and staying with it when you are doing well but it depends how disciplined you are, where i work i know several people that will frequently be up a few grand by lunch time but often are down a few grand by market close because they didnt know when to stop. A good tactic is to have a target in your mind and when you reach it perhaps reduce your trading size. Personaly if i meet my daily target i congratulate myself and leave for the day theres no way im going to stick around and risk giving it back.

Hope this helps

That's interesting, targeting a third of the days range,

As for not closing profitable trades, i don't like seeing the instrument fall off highs where i made the decision to "run the winner"

 

[dcarrigan]

i trade the dow mainly. if not a slow moving day i try to get to 20 point profit, then set stop at 10profit and just let it ride, saves watching screen and your guaranteed 10points. that is on a futures ladder so i know my stop will be taken.

 

[BrainStorm]

I would take a look at the 'risk of ruin' first. You really really want ensure your bet size is adjusted so the risk of ruin is negligible. The amount of betting capital and the effiacy of your method will determine roughly how much you should make. Whether you find that 'acceptable' or not of course is completely subjective.

Concentrate on not wiping out and you can take as little or as much as you want by 'compounding' your bet size (within your own comfort levels of course).