The way you make money in this spread betting game is by knowing and when you know you pile it on. Risked 20% of one of my spread betting accounts today (2.2k) and made 100% in one day! Mind you I thought I knew on Wednesday and lost 10%.

This can obviously work. You identify certain high probability setups that you know work very well. Have strict entry criteria. Only trade the ones you know are high probability, coupled with good risk management.

Problem is you could be waiting for a long time for such a setup. And then if it doesn’t work you don’t know when the next one will present itself. That’s when the virtue of patience comes in. Most people won’t be patient enough and will trade other not so high probability setups. Or takes trades when the entry criteria for a high probability trade has only been partially met. Or they’ll enter the position before a clear signal has been given.

Regarding wipe outs and spread betting:

That’s why it is very important to set a “target” i.e. say 25 points … at x per point …. once that is hit .. you “win” feel good .. cease trading …

the other side… 3 x losing trades ** STOP ** you are wrong, don’t try and fix it, it will get worse….. Day trading is incredibly difficult to scale into positions let alone double up on losers. LOOK AND ANALYSE why it went wrong… you will probably find that you are either:

1. chasing ups and downs in a sideways market ….
2. overtrading late to make up for loses…

I would rather win 25 points 4 days out of 5… you feel good and reinforces good trading strategy…

Don’t mean to make anyone suck eggs …. but plan a trade and trade the plan. Only trade the signals that agree with your plan. If market moves against your plan, stop, reassess i.e. why did you take that view etc…

Are spread betters contrarian by nature?

But are spread betters necessarily contrarian? Spread betters form a quite diverse group of people spanning many different employment types and with different investment perspectives. One of the positives of this trading product is that it accommodates all types as it is as easy to go short as it is to go long, so contrarian types along with people with other outlooks do spread bet.

Spread betting providers like to see volatility in the markets as it gives their clients an opportunity to trade and make money. Financial spread betting is one of the few ways that investors can make money in falling markets so if anything spread betting providers are generally more busy in bear markets.

The thing I believe most spread traders tend to forget is that the market will be there tomorrow….don’t chase…it will always be there; its a 50/50 call I try and stay with one side .. that way my margin for error is halved…so too is my margin for profit…but you never feel bad about making money.