A few weeks ago at the beginning of August, Cape shares slumped by some 40%. I went in at my token £1-per-point (long), with a guaranteed stop order in place just in case the worst should happen (again) shortly afterwards. The worst didn’t happen, and in fact the best happened, with the share price up at […]
Archive | ig index
Trade of The Week: Bottom Fishing for Borders and Southern
By Tony on August 24, 2012 in capital spreads, etx capital, financial spreads, ig index, intertrader, stop orders, trade of the week
On 16 July, oil company Borders and Southern Petroleum gapped-down massively from about 60p-per-share to less than 20p-per-share. Pity the fools who were holding a large position through this gap-down, which all goes to show why it is important to diversify or to employ guaranteed stop orders. So, what did I do immediately after the […]
Spread Betting for Cautious Investors
I know that many “cautious” investors are put off spread betting because they perceive (or are encouraged to perceive) it as dangerous gambling. I think they’re wrong, and that spread betting need be no more dangerous than any other form of stock trading and investing. Look at it this way: If you invest £1000 in […]
Trade of The Week: Textbook Pyramiding of Home Retail Group
By Tony on August 20, 2012 in etx capital, ig index, position trading, stop orders, trade of the week
This week’s “Trade of The Week” is a really interesting one because it provides an almost textbook example of pyramiding into a trending stock. (If you’re wondering which textbook I’m referring to, I mean my Position Trading book, of course) The IG Index chart (aren’t they great?) illustrates it nicely: Having established an initial £1-per-point […]
Seasoned Spread Bettors, Start Here!
By Tony on August 20, 2012 in capital spreads, financial spreads, ig index, intertrader, malcolm pryor, position trading, stop orders
As seasoned spread bettors, we may be tempted to think that we know it all. But the markets have a nasty habit of humbling even the best of us from time to time, and we discover that we all have something to learn after all. That’s what this web site is all about: how to […]
The Upside / Downside of Diversification
By Tony on August 17, 2012 in capital spreads, diversification, financial spreads, ig index, intertrader, spread co, spreadco, spreadex
Over on The Motley Fool (for whom I used to write), Malcolm Wheatley asks How much diversification is enough? First of all, I think there are two reasons to diversify: On the downside we need to diversify to spread our risk, because any stock can suffer a sudden collapse and take much of our portfolio […]
First a Position Trade, then a Day Trade on FirstGroup
By Tony on August 15, 2012 in capital spreads, financial spreads, firstgroup, ig index, intertrader, resistance, support
The first thing I did this morning (apart from having a shave) was to take a punt on FirstGroup when it was announced that the company had been awarded the West Coast rail franchise ahead of the incumbent Virgin / Stagecoach combo. Sir Richard Branson was single-mindedly in the opinion that the government had made […]
Can’t Move Guaranteed Stop Orders When Markets Are Closed
By Tony on August 14, 2012 in capital spreads, ig index, intertrader, spread co, spreadco, spreadex, stop orders
I’ve been out walking and enjoying the sunshine today rather than trading or writing, and when I got home I was keen to review and adjust my stop orders so as to lock in more of the profits on of today’s rising positions. Except that I couldn’t, because for the most part my stop orders […]
Trade of The Week: Trendy Tesco
Whoever thought I’d find myself describing Tesco as “trendy”? The trendiness of Tesco will not have been helped by it reportedly receiving an investment not so long ago from Warren Buffett — who is probably one of the least “trendy” people on the planet (no offence)! But Buffett’s interest may have helped the share price, […]
On a buying spree…
Ever since I used guaranteed stops to conjure additional trading funds out of thin air my trading accounts have been all dressed up with no place to go; so today I’ve been on a bit of a buying spree which has also been helped by freeing up yet more funds by trailing the guaranteed stop […]