Spread betting!

BillJones

inversions wrote: »

Thanks for all the info people. You have been very helpful. I'm still not sure I'm going to do it.

The thing for me is that I've been tracking my TSB shares since they started trading. It seems that every day at the end of trading they go up a bit and every morning when they start trading they go down a bit. That is why I'm thinking about it.

This is wrong, and looking at the graph, I can't work out why you'd think it.

Lloyds opened at 75.44 yesterday, and then had a rapid climb to 76.33 over the first few minutes of trading. At the end of the day, it dropped from circa 75.77 to 75.70 on the close.

The previous day it was the same pattern. Both of these look to be absolutely typical noise.

inversions

@BillJones I meant TSB not Lloyds. But as you say it is just noise anyway.

I'm looking at this as I would placing a bet on who's going to win the Premier League. But the bonus is that as long as I don't put too much per point on I can leave the bet open until it is profitable.

I put £500 in the account and currently have £550 and I can close the current bet I have open and gain a further £8.

I've made some mistakes and would be up more, I really need to learn more about setting up automatic closes as when I have tried to do this I have got something wrong. Anyway, I don't think I'm going to make thousands out of it because I'm not willing to risk that much but it is kind of fun!

sabretoothtigger

Its taxed as betting and that is the main gain for people as it wont charge tax on big gains. However most people will lose money from wild markets rather then gain, its a rare person that can be sensible enough to walk away at the right time.

Usually theres some upset, the price goes down for 5 mins and you get stopped out at a loss; then the price regains for the rest of the day without you. The house always wins, IG shares pay a good dividend

UK law is the worlds most liberal on this so its a big gift in a way but harder to use well then it looks

inversions

I understand that. I'm only gambling a little so that the £500 funds should cover unless there is an extremely sharp change. I'm only gambling on the TSB shares and they offer enough of a daily change to make a small amount of cash whilst they also seem fairly stable. I even got through that Portuguese bank problem when I had a bet in the wrong direction without having to add more funds.

Of course the danger is I get cocky and risk too much but I believe I will not do anything that daft!

Edit: I closed my open bet and I am now up a nice little £60. Can't really moan about that.

gadgetmind

inversions wrote: »

Please don't bother warning me off.

No way am I going to warn you off. My wife owns shares in IG and they pay *very* nice dividends. This money comes from people like you, so please, fill your boots and don't be timid.

Are you a man or a MSE?

inversions

gadgetmind wrote: »

No way am I going to warn you off. My wife owns shares in IG and they pay *very* nice dividends. This money comes from people like you, so please, fill your boots and don't be timid.

Are you a man or a MSE?

A mouse it seems. Although I am thinking about buying shares in IG.

Edit: out of interest do normal bookies pay good dividends?

gadgetmind

inversions wrote: »

Edit: out of interest do normal bookies pay good dividends?

William Hill used to be on the radar for this, but I don't hold so am out of touch.

The "HYP practical" board on Motley Fool is the place to really learn about income investing via a portfolio of single company (rather than collective investments such as IT) shares.

inversions

Thanks for your reply.

I do not want to sit here on this forum and say spread betting is anything to be getting into. I see terrible risks and horrible consequences. But I also believe that I can make a few quid out of it..........

I will keep you posted.

gadgetmind

If at first you don't succeed, take out an overdraft and try again. Our dividends need more mugs!

But seriously, don't get carried away. Lose whatever you need to lose to learn a valuable lesson, and then call it a day.

robatwork

Make sure you pop back in 6 months with your figures. Eg.

I bet £1000 and now I have £3.50

Or whatever the outcome is....