My experience with trading to-date is probably quite typical. I sold out nearly all investments at the top of the market and started dealing in CFDs and lost money. Then, I started to trade again via spread betting a few years ago and although I didn’t read much I could day trade and get 7 out of 10 trades correct for a while. I did hundreds of trades then.
At one point I started increasing my stakes and was then hammered on positions I would not stop loss or close…etc Losses started piling up in tens of thousands. I even started betting on oil and indices. In fact, it reached a point I couldn’t stop looking at the ticks day and night. I was also giving my day trading account so much attention that I took my eye off the ball with the conventional stock holding accounts.
However, I never gave up and instead started watching my stakes sizes very carefully which allowed me to dramatically better my trading. I rarely do gamble more than 1{a16d06abe49b7cb280a391e2908a1c67db5c20e235c835a9ae172b47b18e1709} of my pot now. I watch my entry points and try to use the spread directions as a hedge against my existing shares going in either direction. At present in this ‘Bear Market’ I am satisfied to keep my share capital intact by hedging or by using forex bets to hedge against fluctuations in foreign exchange hitting foreign shares owned.
I also have learned the hard way to take a loss and not let a position run and run. The current bull run has baffled me a bit and lost me a bit in my spread account (about 2{a16d06abe49b7cb280a391e2908a1c67db5c20e235c835a9ae172b47b18e1709}) but I have gained a lot more in my share account.
I’d say the golden rule IMO is to keep stake sizes at comfortable level based on pot level. This gives flexibility and ability to run with losses until the tide turns.
I still find it difficult to run profits but I am getting better. Don’t expect to make a fortune but would like to use spread betting as a means to protect capital in these difficult times.
