I've made a few Spread Bet mistakes
Spread Betting Trading Centre: What was your largest gain and largest loss; and did these occur with any sequence of events?
Steve Brown: My largest gain was I believe circa £8000 with a series of up bets on Urals energy literally just prior to last May's crash in the FTSE. This was later followed by a loss of circa £5000 on PartyGaming in October last year when Gaming stocks took a pasting due to an eleventh hour add on to a security bill in the States. That was an invaluable lesson with regard to sticking to sectors that I understand and have a real interest in. And no I did not utilise a guaranteed stop loss!
Spread Betting Trading Centre: What market(s) do you bet in and do you have a favourite? If so why?
Steve Brown: My tendency is to only place bets within the mining sector and I will dabble in and out of the oil and gas sector. I prefer the mining sector as I understand the time schedules involved from exploration through to production. It's easier to weigh up geo-political risks, quality of drill results and general capital expenditure requirements. For me mining shares offer a good long term story to dip in and out of. I also tend to choose dual listed shares as this tends to reduce the market maker games/volatility that takes place in the London markets. There can also be some good arbitrage opportunities to be had in the first 5 minutes of trading in London.
Spread Betting Trading Centre: What mistakes (if any) have you made and what did you learn from them?
Steve Brown: I've made plenty of mistakes in the markets and that was a combination of not taking the bulk of my profits when I should have and not cutting my losses when I should have. The vast majority of my losses have come from taking quick punts in sectors I don't understand. Consequently since sticking to what I understand my profits have increased by a large amount.
Spread Betting Trading Centre: Do you use any strategies (for example using news feeds, portfolio hedging, pairs trading)?
Steve Brown: Strategies that generally work for me always involve utilising level 2, an online currency converter for dual listed shares and having my account open in readiness to open/close a position. This may seem overtly simple for others but usually always works for the best for me.
Page 1 - How I started Spread Betting Page 2 - Don't forget the Spread Betting Stop Losses Page 3 - I've made a few Spread Bet mistakes Page 4 - Some words of Spread Betting wisdom
