Ludlow (Weds)
15 hours ago
Thursday, May 27, 2010
busy couple of weeks ahead
I've just been looking at the calender and I've a load on with work in the next couple of weeks so I'll have to put this on ice just for a bit as I won't be about during the daytime much to trade. I'm well ahead of target thankfully and I'll pick it back up soon when I get some more time. Will post back shortly when back in business.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Wed, 26th May 2010
Starting bank: €1,000 (beginning of May 2010)
Target for end May: €1,050
Today’s opening bank: €1,218.06
Today’s closing bank: €1,236.69
Today's profit: €18.63
Today's turnover: €38,926.77
Today’s overall profit on the machine was €76.01 - however only €18.63 was from pre-race trading so that’s what gets added to the totals.
Didn’t get to do much trading today, just a couple of hours but I had one or two traditional bets which topped up my day overall. Pretty pleased all the same with €18.63 added to the trading total. Normally I use a separate account for traditional bets but I needed to get on late and my trading account was open.
Nothing startling or strange to report really – the markets seemed fairly normal and steady today. The turnover was quite hight though - possibly because I traded quite a few short priced favourites in which case the stake on each side is large.
One new thing I’ve tried with a couple of pennies has worked well over the past few days. Basically, once I green up the group for a good amount, I’ll take a chance with a €2 back on 3-4 big priced outsiders with a view to laying off for say 15 ticks in-running. Before I back, I reverse the book to make sure I’m getting the best price. I’m not saying it’s a profitable strategy going forward – but it’s sometimes fun to try once I have a nice green book and have a couple of euro to play with. If most of your bets get matched, you have nothing to lose but if a big outsider goes in, you can get a nice couple of bob.
Target for end May: €1,050
Today’s opening bank: €1,218.06
Today’s closing bank: €1,236.69
Today's profit: €18.63
Today's turnover: €38,926.77
Today’s overall profit on the machine was €76.01 - however only €18.63 was from pre-race trading so that’s what gets added to the totals.
Didn’t get to do much trading today, just a couple of hours but I had one or two traditional bets which topped up my day overall. Pretty pleased all the same with €18.63 added to the trading total. Normally I use a separate account for traditional bets but I needed to get on late and my trading account was open.
Nothing startling or strange to report really – the markets seemed fairly normal and steady today. The turnover was quite hight though - possibly because I traded quite a few short priced favourites in which case the stake on each side is large.
One new thing I’ve tried with a couple of pennies has worked well over the past few days. Basically, once I green up the group for a good amount, I’ll take a chance with a €2 back on 3-4 big priced outsiders with a view to laying off for say 15 ticks in-running. Before I back, I reverse the book to make sure I’m getting the best price. I’m not saying it’s a profitable strategy going forward – but it’s sometimes fun to try once I have a nice green book and have a couple of euro to play with. If most of your bets get matched, you have nothing to lose but if a big outsider goes in, you can get a nice couple of bob.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Greening up the boys in green!
Starting bank: €1,000 (beginning of May 2010)
Target for end May: €1,050
Today’s opening bank: €1,171.22
Today’s closing bank: €1,218.06
Today's profit: €40.83
Today's turnover: €19,350.65
A great day once again for the Betfair balance with a profit earned of €275.21 of which €40.83 was from pre-race trading (I went to the trading room again today to do some in-running which worked out very well).
I’ve also just greened up the Ireland match there too so I’ll get 93 quid if they win, or 19 quid otherwise. I wanted to keep more money on Ireland as I hope they win. I don’t normally trade on football but I thought I’d chance on Ireland getting a good early start. I only had two losing markets today which is a little frustrating – I’d love to have a day where I win the lot!
The profit of forty quid on the pre-race trading is very satisfactory and of course, puts me well ahead. As mentioned before, I won’t get to trade as much in June/July so I’m glad to have a head-start into those months already.
Target for end May: €1,050
Today’s opening bank: €1,171.22
Today’s closing bank: €1,218.06
Today's profit: €40.83
Today's turnover: €19,350.65
A great day once again for the Betfair balance with a profit earned of €275.21 of which €40.83 was from pre-race trading (I went to the trading room again today to do some in-running which worked out very well).
I’ve also just greened up the Ireland match there too so I’ll get 93 quid if they win, or 19 quid otherwise. I wanted to keep more money on Ireland as I hope they win. I don’t normally trade on football but I thought I’d chance on Ireland getting a good early start. I only had two losing markets today which is a little frustrating – I’d love to have a day where I win the lot!
The profit of forty quid on the pre-race trading is very satisfactory and of course, puts me well ahead. As mentioned before, I won’t get to trade as much in June/July so I’m glad to have a head-start into those months already.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Saturday, 22nd May 2010
A good day for the balance with a profit of €43.10 - however, most of that was from in-running punting in the IFSC and not from pre-race trading.
My pre-race trading showed a profit of €6.01 which is disappointing by the standards I've become used to but is good considering my target.
I also had a decent bet on Canford Cliffs in the bookies at 11/4 with some good old fashioned cash - I put him up as my main bet of the day in the Irish Independent so I'm pretty pleased with that.
In some ways, Saturday can be a pain in the arse because there's so many markets to chose from and when you are betting in-running too, it gets a bit hectic. I know I have the option to pick and choose my races but the fear of missing something can niggle you sometimes. I feel more relaxed with the midweek stuff when racing is spread out evenly - although the liquidity is a lot less.
Won't be trading tomorrow - going to enjoy the sun and head to Killiney beach with the family.
My pre-race trading showed a profit of €6.01 which is disappointing by the standards I've become used to but is good considering my target.
I also had a decent bet on Canford Cliffs in the bookies at 11/4 with some good old fashioned cash - I put him up as my main bet of the day in the Irish Independent so I'm pretty pleased with that.
In some ways, Saturday can be a pain in the arse because there's so many markets to chose from and when you are betting in-running too, it gets a bit hectic. I know I have the option to pick and choose my races but the fear of missing something can niggle you sometimes. I feel more relaxed with the midweek stuff when racing is spread out evenly - although the liquidity is a lot less.
Won't be trading tomorrow - going to enjoy the sun and head to Killiney beach with the family.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Strage feel in the markets today
Starting bank: €1,000 (beginning of May 2010)
Target for end May: €1,050
Today’s opening bank: €1,160.49
Today’s closing bank: €1,171.22
Today's profit: €10.73
Today’s turnover: €19,406.11
Today was quite laborious although a small profit of €10.73 was achieved so I shouldn’t really complain.
Not sure what it was today – I just found the markets tricky to figure out and didn’t get a good feel for it. I was caught by a number of spoofers today too (someone puts in a big back or lay order and you think the price is going to move but they instantly withdraw it as soon as you’ve taken a position). It’s only 4.30 as I write this and my brain is fried so I’m going to quit for the day. As I say, I’m not complaining with the profit but it should have been a lot better and at one stage, I was sixty quid up. It started going downhill after 3pm or so and once I got that urge to chase my losses, I decided it was time to quit. Going to go for a walk and maybe a quick pint to clear the head.
Going back into the trading room tomorrow hopefully but I’ll be keeping my in-running betting separate so I should be able to trade as normal too.
Target for end May: €1,050
Today’s opening bank: €1,160.49
Today’s closing bank: €1,171.22
Today's profit: €10.73
Today’s turnover: €19,406.11
Today was quite laborious although a small profit of €10.73 was achieved so I shouldn’t really complain.
Not sure what it was today – I just found the markets tricky to figure out and didn’t get a good feel for it. I was caught by a number of spoofers today too (someone puts in a big back or lay order and you think the price is going to move but they instantly withdraw it as soon as you’ve taken a position). It’s only 4.30 as I write this and my brain is fried so I’m going to quit for the day. As I say, I’m not complaining with the profit but it should have been a lot better and at one stage, I was sixty quid up. It started going downhill after 3pm or so and once I got that urge to chase my losses, I decided it was time to quit. Going to go for a walk and maybe a quick pint to clear the head.
Going back into the trading room tomorrow hopefully but I’ll be keeping my in-running betting separate so I should be able to trade as normal too.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Thanks Archie!
An great day for the Betfair balance with a healthy profit of €273.80 – however, I won’t be recording this in the totals for the trading challenge as most of it was earned from in-running punting in the exchange room at the IFSC http://www.ifscsportstrading.com/
I did do some pre-race trading on each race and while I made some money, I wasn’t recording the totals properly so it would be unfair to include it in my challenge total.
Had a very enjoyable day of in-running punting though and I got lucky late-on with a horse called Agent Archie when I put on €30 instead of €3! Just as I was about to get out of my bet, the horse rallied so I held my nerve and it won, netting me a lovely profit of over two ton.
I’m certainly not one for backing names, but it’s funny because my late father’s nickname was Archie and I was thinking of him this morning at a funeral I attended. I guess the horse just stood out then, but it was overpriced in-running and I backed it (albeit with the wrong amount). I used to joke with my father that when he died, he should to give me a sign for a nice winner now and then so I guess he held his deal!
I’ve often made mistakes that have cost a packed so it’s nice to be on the good end of one for once.
Taking away the win on Agent Archie, I still made the guts of 70 quid so it was a very productive day regardless.
I’ll be trading as normal from home tomorrow as I’ve to do some writing in the morning but I may go back to the trading room on Saturday.
I did do some pre-race trading on each race and while I made some money, I wasn’t recording the totals properly so it would be unfair to include it in my challenge total.
Had a very enjoyable day of in-running punting though and I got lucky late-on with a horse called Agent Archie when I put on €30 instead of €3! Just as I was about to get out of my bet, the horse rallied so I held my nerve and it won, netting me a lovely profit of over two ton.
I’m certainly not one for backing names, but it’s funny because my late father’s nickname was Archie and I was thinking of him this morning at a funeral I attended. I guess the horse just stood out then, but it was overpriced in-running and I backed it (albeit with the wrong amount). I used to joke with my father that when he died, he should to give me a sign for a nice winner now and then so I guess he held his deal!
I’ve often made mistakes that have cost a packed so it’s nice to be on the good end of one for once.
Taking away the win on Agent Archie, I still made the guts of 70 quid so it was a very productive day regardless.
I’ll be trading as normal from home tomorrow as I’ve to do some writing in the morning but I may go back to the trading room on Saturday.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Wednesday, 19th May 2010
Starting bank: €1000 (beginning of May 2010)
Target for end May: €1050
Today’s opening bank: €1116.17
Today’s closing bank: €11160.49
Today's profit: €44.32
Today’s turnover: €22,206.14
I was minding my daughter yesterday (Tuesday) so I didn’t do any trading but we had a nice day out at the park following a visit to the graveyard to see my old man’s grave. He loved his racing and betting and I often wonder what he’d make of all this trading lark! He’d a good head for sums though, so I’d say he would have found it interesting.
Today was another excellent day on paper with a profit of €44.32 but it wasn’t stress free…
My Internet connection (Eircom Broadband) went down for no reason while I had some positions open. I got quite panicked as I was potentially exposed for around €300. The race went off and I didn’t know my fate. Eventually, I found my USB stick (Meteor) and got a connection again. Thankfully most of a counter-trade had gone in and I only lost €1.55. I also was a little bold by letting two races go in-running so I’m a little disappointed with myself over that. One race cost me around 19 quid and the other won me as much so it balanced out but I shouldn’t have let it happen.
Now that I’m starting to use bigger sums of money, I’m going to have to think of having a back-up connection at all times as a break in connection can leave me open for a very big loss.
Still, the rest of the day went smoothly and this puts me well ahead target-wise. In fact, I’ve now cleared my target for May, June and July so I may need to reset some targets. That said, I’ve a lot on in June/July so I won’t be trading so much in them months and it may balance out.
Once again, I’ve a few bits and pieces to do later so I’m not going to bother with the evening stuff.
I’m looking forward to the next few days as I’m heading into the trading room in the IFSC to try some in-running stuff. I done it before and made some money at it - but it’s been a while so I'll start with small stakes.
I’ll still be trading pre-race and so I’ll record that separately as the in-running stuff is not really trading.
Target for end May: €1050
Today’s opening bank: €1116.17
Today’s closing bank: €11160.49
Today's profit: €44.32
Today’s turnover: €22,206.14
I was minding my daughter yesterday (Tuesday) so I didn’t do any trading but we had a nice day out at the park following a visit to the graveyard to see my old man’s grave. He loved his racing and betting and I often wonder what he’d make of all this trading lark! He’d a good head for sums though, so I’d say he would have found it interesting.
Today was another excellent day on paper with a profit of €44.32 but it wasn’t stress free…
My Internet connection (Eircom Broadband) went down for no reason while I had some positions open. I got quite panicked as I was potentially exposed for around €300. The race went off and I didn’t know my fate. Eventually, I found my USB stick (Meteor) and got a connection again. Thankfully most of a counter-trade had gone in and I only lost €1.55. I also was a little bold by letting two races go in-running so I’m a little disappointed with myself over that. One race cost me around 19 quid and the other won me as much so it balanced out but I shouldn’t have let it happen.
Now that I’m starting to use bigger sums of money, I’m going to have to think of having a back-up connection at all times as a break in connection can leave me open for a very big loss.
Still, the rest of the day went smoothly and this puts me well ahead target-wise. In fact, I’ve now cleared my target for May, June and July so I may need to reset some targets. That said, I’ve a lot on in June/July so I won’t be trading so much in them months and it may balance out.
Once again, I’ve a few bits and pieces to do later so I’m not going to bother with the evening stuff.
I’m looking forward to the next few days as I’m heading into the trading room in the IFSC to try some in-running stuff. I done it before and made some money at it - but it’s been a while so I'll start with small stakes.
I’ll still be trading pre-race and so I’ll record that separately as the in-running stuff is not really trading.
Monday, May 17, 2010
17th May 2010
Starting bank: €1000 (beginning of May 2010)
Target for end May: €1050
Today’s opening bank: €1067.98
Today’s closing bank: €1116.17
Today’s turnover: €18,129.48
I was minding my daughter over the weekend as my wife was working so I didn’t get a chance to trade, hence no report. Today however, was excellent with a profit of €48.19.
There’s still plenty more racing left but I promised myself I’d quit around 4.30pm and go for a walk to get out of the house.
Nothing really to report only that one of my trades stung me for twenty quid – I could have reddened up the book but left it. That was a bad start but luckily for me in the next, I caught a big move and made it all back. Those are the breaks in this game and it could have easily went the other way.
Other than that, it was pretty easy going.
Most people don’t trade until the previous race has finished and I’ve always went along with that idea but today, I found that some of the markets were quite easy to make money from early on – from say 15 mins before the off. It’s a lot slower of course but easy to get in front of the queue.
All the daytime racing was on ATR which is very handy as it means you don’t have to keep channel hopping. It’s much easier to keep a handle on things when all the racing is spaced out nicely like today and on the same TV station.
Regarding the overall picture, I’ll well ahead of my May target – in fact, I’ve already reached June’s target too so I certainly can’t complain!
Target for end May: €1050
Today’s opening bank: €1067.98
Today’s closing bank: €1116.17
Today’s turnover: €18,129.48
I was minding my daughter over the weekend as my wife was working so I didn’t get a chance to trade, hence no report. Today however, was excellent with a profit of €48.19.
There’s still plenty more racing left but I promised myself I’d quit around 4.30pm and go for a walk to get out of the house.
Nothing really to report only that one of my trades stung me for twenty quid – I could have reddened up the book but left it. That was a bad start but luckily for me in the next, I caught a big move and made it all back. Those are the breaks in this game and it could have easily went the other way.
Other than that, it was pretty easy going.
Most people don’t trade until the previous race has finished and I’ve always went along with that idea but today, I found that some of the markets were quite easy to make money from early on – from say 15 mins before the off. It’s a lot slower of course but easy to get in front of the queue.
All the daytime racing was on ATR which is very handy as it means you don’t have to keep channel hopping. It’s much easier to keep a handle on things when all the racing is spaced out nicely like today and on the same TV station.
Regarding the overall picture, I’ll well ahead of my May target – in fact, I’ve already reached June’s target too so I certainly can’t complain!
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Thursday, 13th May
Had a lot of writing work on today so I didn't trade. However, I wrote an article about 'resistance point' trading on Betfair:
http://betting.betfair.ie/irish-racing/horseracing-trading-on-betfair-130510.html
http://betting.betfair.ie/irish-racing/horseracing-trading-on-betfair-130510.html
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
New trading video
Here's the video I made today. I'm trading two horses at the same time, if you are a beginner, I'd recommend that you just stick to one!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGNGMrpEpSs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGNGMrpEpSs
Wed, 12th May 2010
Starting bank: €1000 (beginning of May 2010)
Target for end May: €1050
Today’s opening bank: €1043.45
Today’s closing bank: €1067.98
Today’s turnover: €10612.46
Didn’t trade a huge amount of races today so I’m very very pleased with a profit of €24.53. It also puts me well past my target for the month which is very exciting and allows me to relax a little more and try some new things with small stakes.
One type of trade I done a lot today was ‘resistance point’ trading and I’ve made a video to explain which I’ll be putting on youtube later.
Nothing huge to report good or bad so I’ll sign off for now and stick the video up when I can.
Target for end May: €1050
Today’s opening bank: €1043.45
Today’s closing bank: €1067.98
Today’s turnover: €10612.46
Didn’t trade a huge amount of races today so I’m very very pleased with a profit of €24.53. It also puts me well past my target for the month which is very exciting and allows me to relax a little more and try some new things with small stakes.
One type of trade I done a lot today was ‘resistance point’ trading and I’ve made a video to explain which I’ll be putting on youtube later.
Nothing huge to report good or bad so I’ll sign off for now and stick the video up when I can.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Monday, 11th May
Starting bank: €1000 (beginning of May 2010)
Target for end May: €1050
Today’s opening bank: €1028.93
Today’s closing bank: €1043.45
Today’s turnover: €25,962.97
A pretty good day today with a profit of €14.52
I did commit one venial sin however, and let a race go in-running. I just didn’t fancy the horse and layed it with with a view backing out at a higher price. I think this is the problem when you are a horse racing fan. The traders out there that don’t know anything about racing have an advantage in some ways as they don’t get that overwhelming need to click pink about a horse that is underpriced.
Another thing I’ll have to thing about is making red books. In the past, I normally levelled the profit or loss on the trade. Recently, I’ve been greening up a good trade but taking a chance on the bad trades that the particular horse won’t win (if it loses, the book is settled at zero). In this way, most of the bad trades will be settled at zero but the horses that do go on to win will cost a fair whack. Perhaps I should just level up the book regardless? I dunno – I guess these things level out in the end.
I’m well on target for the month although it’s clear that I have one or two discipline issues that need checking again.
Good points for today:
* a decent profit was made
* I kept (most) of most of my stop losses – I moved one or two when it made sense (just outside a previous resistance point for example)
* I ignored any markets I couldn’t get my head around instead of looking for some action for the sake of it
Bad points for today:
* I brought my opinion on a horse’s chance into my trading. Although the trade went well, it could have wiped out the day’s profit
* I made one or two minor mistakes (forgot to click certain buttons etc). I have a check list for things I need to do when I set my software up for the day but I ignored it. It only cost me a couple of pence but it could have been worse
Without being too philosophical about the whole thing, trading makes you learn more about yourself and your personality. I’m finding it difficult to stick to certain rules and I’m surprised and disappointed about that as I always considered myself very disciplined. It’s weird because you sometimes find little quirks in yourself that you didn’t know were there. On the upside, I don’t mind my own company and I don’t seem to get as lonely/bored cooked up in a room all day as I did in the past. I mess around on the Interweb and do little bits of work in-between races I’m not trading.
I do get quite tired however and won’t trade the evening races. My eyes are sore from staring at the screen all day. Besides, I’ve a webinar with a financials company at 6pm as I’m trying to learn about trading stocks and shares (mainly to see if the principles can be applied to the exchanges).
Below are today’s profit and a graph showing the projected/actual profit for the month.
Target for end May: €1050
Today’s opening bank: €1028.93
Today’s closing bank: €1043.45
Today’s turnover: €25,962.97
A pretty good day today with a profit of €14.52
I did commit one venial sin however, and let a race go in-running. I just didn’t fancy the horse and layed it with with a view backing out at a higher price. I think this is the problem when you are a horse racing fan. The traders out there that don’t know anything about racing have an advantage in some ways as they don’t get that overwhelming need to click pink about a horse that is underpriced.
Another thing I’ll have to thing about is making red books. In the past, I normally levelled the profit or loss on the trade. Recently, I’ve been greening up a good trade but taking a chance on the bad trades that the particular horse won’t win (if it loses, the book is settled at zero). In this way, most of the bad trades will be settled at zero but the horses that do go on to win will cost a fair whack. Perhaps I should just level up the book regardless? I dunno – I guess these things level out in the end.
I’m well on target for the month although it’s clear that I have one or two discipline issues that need checking again.
Good points for today:
* a decent profit was made
* I kept (most) of most of my stop losses – I moved one or two when it made sense (just outside a previous resistance point for example)
* I ignored any markets I couldn’t get my head around instead of looking for some action for the sake of it
Bad points for today:
* I brought my opinion on a horse’s chance into my trading. Although the trade went well, it could have wiped out the day’s profit
* I made one or two minor mistakes (forgot to click certain buttons etc). I have a check list for things I need to do when I set my software up for the day but I ignored it. It only cost me a couple of pence but it could have been worse
Without being too philosophical about the whole thing, trading makes you learn more about yourself and your personality. I’m finding it difficult to stick to certain rules and I’m surprised and disappointed about that as I always considered myself very disciplined. It’s weird because you sometimes find little quirks in yourself that you didn’t know were there. On the upside, I don’t mind my own company and I don’t seem to get as lonely/bored cooked up in a room all day as I did in the past. I mess around on the Interweb and do little bits of work in-between races I’m not trading.
I do get quite tired however and won’t trade the evening races. My eyes are sore from staring at the screen all day. Besides, I’ve a webinar with a financials company at 6pm as I’m trying to learn about trading stocks and shares (mainly to see if the principles can be applied to the exchanges).
Below are today’s profit and a graph showing the projected/actual profit for the month.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Monday, 10th May
Nothing to report today really. I was checking out the markets but just couldn't get a 'feel' for them. Hard to explain but I decided not to trade as the moves looked funny. I played around with some place betting (using a different account) but nothing strange or startling today.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Saturday, 8th May 2010
Starting bank: €1000
Opening bank today: €1024.18
Closing bank today: €1028.93
Turnover: €8088.57
Made a profit of €4.75 which is pretty good considering the target for the day was around €3.33.
I took a very disciplined approach today using sensible stakes and I’m pleased to say it was a stress free day. I stuck to all my stop losses which I’m proud of too. I was trading at €1 per tick (that is, for every tick move that went wrong/right you lose/win €1) which meant that stakes were small but it was a sensible thing to do. Of course, greening up the book (or making it go red) reduces the €1 further so I was generally making about 20-40 cent per trade.
I turned over nearly nine grand which was OK considering I was using small-ish stakes. At one stage, I was up to €7 profit for the day but as the day wore on, I started to make some mistakes. I’m not sure if this was tiredness setting in but I was letting my guard down a little and entering some positions I shouldn’t have. By 5.45 I decided to call it a day – I’ve a small bit of other work to do later anyway.
In summary, I’m pretty pleased with today and sticking to the stop losses definitely made it fairly stress free.
I realise that some readers may think that four quid profit is brutal for a day of work. However, it more than meets the daily target and if I turn my bank over by 5% at the end of the month, I’ll be extremely pleased.
Again, you may not think that 5% sounds like a lot but if you did that every month for 10 years, your bank would be well over 350K. Now there’s a thought!
Not saying it’s as simple as that but it puts the 5% into perspective and pennies make pounds as they say.
Opening bank today: €1024.18
Closing bank today: €1028.93
Turnover: €8088.57
Made a profit of €4.75 which is pretty good considering the target for the day was around €3.33.
I took a very disciplined approach today using sensible stakes and I’m pleased to say it was a stress free day. I stuck to all my stop losses which I’m proud of too. I was trading at €1 per tick (that is, for every tick move that went wrong/right you lose/win €1) which meant that stakes were small but it was a sensible thing to do. Of course, greening up the book (or making it go red) reduces the €1 further so I was generally making about 20-40 cent per trade.
I turned over nearly nine grand which was OK considering I was using small-ish stakes. At one stage, I was up to €7 profit for the day but as the day wore on, I started to make some mistakes. I’m not sure if this was tiredness setting in but I was letting my guard down a little and entering some positions I shouldn’t have. By 5.45 I decided to call it a day – I’ve a small bit of other work to do later anyway.
In summary, I’m pretty pleased with today and sticking to the stop losses definitely made it fairly stress free.
I realise that some readers may think that four quid profit is brutal for a day of work. However, it more than meets the daily target and if I turn my bank over by 5% at the end of the month, I’ll be extremely pleased.
Again, you may not think that 5% sounds like a lot but if you did that every month for 10 years, your bank would be well over 350K. Now there’s a thought!
Not saying it’s as simple as that but it puts the 5% into perspective and pennies make pounds as they say.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Friday, 7th May - plenty to discuss!
Today’s starting bank: €1000.00
Today’s finishing bank: €1024.18
Amount turned over: €22,630
On paper, day one of my challenge went very well as I earned €24.18 which is nearly half my monthly target but it was an incident filled day that could have been a lot smoother so the figure is down to luck in some ways.
First, the positives: I only lost on two races today (out of fifteen) which is extremely positive. The target for the day was €3.33 and I had that earned after two/three races. To get such a head start is great and it means I can relax a bit more now that I’ve bagged a few bob.
But there were a couple of things today worth discussing…
One race went against me and I let my discipline slip by moving my stop loss further back. Eventually, the stop was hit and I had a red book. I should have just accepted this and moved on but the horse in question is always slow to start and usually makes a dash late on. When trading, you’re not really supposed to get into this type of thing but I layed it at the off and then backed it in-running for a profit in the knowledge that he’d probably drift in-running. While I made a profit on the race in the end, it’s not the type of thing I want to be doing.
The second incident was terrifying! I was trading jus t before the off in the 5.55 Ripon where Saltergate was fairly short in the betting. I had already made €0.10 on the race but got out of the market because I didn’t like the feel for it.
The wife came in and I decided to call it a day as I was getting tired anyway and didn’t want to do the evening stuff. But when I went back to turn the laptop off, I got greedy and went for one last big trade to top off the day. I suspected that Saltergate ‘s price would come in so I backed with around €600 in total. This was way too much but I had decided that I would get out instantly if the market didn’t go my way.
Then… Absolute chaos in the market. I’m not 100% sure what happened but when I looked at the TV screen, the jockey was off the horse, possibly thrown off. He then got back on and the race was off but I wasn’t sure if he was taking part or not. The price drifted out to 100 and I was staring at a €600 loss!
Thank God, there was a rule 4 for the horse and the money appeared back in my account!
I took a screenshot (below) to remind me not to be so bloody stupid and greedy! It was taken as the race ended and as far as I was concerned, I was looking at that loss. The other screen shot is of today’s profit.
Lessons for today:
1. Stop moving my stop losses.
2. Stop using my own form knowledge in-running – this is just punting my opinion and should be kept separate.
3. Get out well in time before the off.
4. Don’t go back to a market that I have dismissed as difficult earlier.
5. Don’t use silly stakes looking for a quick buck to finish the day on a high. It very nearly blew most of the bank.
In fairness, I got out with a very good profit but some of it was down to luck and I don’t want to put my nerves though that again. I’m off out shortly for a run to clear the head. So in summary, today was a good day profit wise but it was way too stressful. That said, a turnover of 22 grand was good for the number of races traded and I got my money though the market each race a number of times over.
I'm looking forward to tomorrow where the markets should have plenty of liquidity and hopefully it will be a relatively incident free day.
Today’s finishing bank: €1024.18
Amount turned over: €22,630
On paper, day one of my challenge went very well as I earned €24.18 which is nearly half my monthly target but it was an incident filled day that could have been a lot smoother so the figure is down to luck in some ways.
First, the positives: I only lost on two races today (out of fifteen) which is extremely positive. The target for the day was €3.33 and I had that earned after two/three races. To get such a head start is great and it means I can relax a bit more now that I’ve bagged a few bob.
But there were a couple of things today worth discussing…
One race went against me and I let my discipline slip by moving my stop loss further back. Eventually, the stop was hit and I had a red book. I should have just accepted this and moved on but the horse in question is always slow to start and usually makes a dash late on. When trading, you’re not really supposed to get into this type of thing but I layed it at the off and then backed it in-running for a profit in the knowledge that he’d probably drift in-running. While I made a profit on the race in the end, it’s not the type of thing I want to be doing.
The second incident was terrifying! I was trading jus t before the off in the 5.55 Ripon where Saltergate was fairly short in the betting. I had already made €0.10 on the race but got out of the market because I didn’t like the feel for it.
The wife came in and I decided to call it a day as I was getting tired anyway and didn’t want to do the evening stuff. But when I went back to turn the laptop off, I got greedy and went for one last big trade to top off the day. I suspected that Saltergate ‘s price would come in so I backed with around €600 in total. This was way too much but I had decided that I would get out instantly if the market didn’t go my way.
Then… Absolute chaos in the market. I’m not 100% sure what happened but when I looked at the TV screen, the jockey was off the horse, possibly thrown off. He then got back on and the race was off but I wasn’t sure if he was taking part or not. The price drifted out to 100 and I was staring at a €600 loss!
Thank God, there was a rule 4 for the horse and the money appeared back in my account!
I took a screenshot (below) to remind me not to be so bloody stupid and greedy! It was taken as the race ended and as far as I was concerned, I was looking at that loss. The other screen shot is of today’s profit.
Lessons for today:
1. Stop moving my stop losses.
2. Stop using my own form knowledge in-running – this is just punting my opinion and should be kept separate.
3. Get out well in time before the off.
4. Don’t go back to a market that I have dismissed as difficult earlier.
5. Don’t use silly stakes looking for a quick buck to finish the day on a high. It very nearly blew most of the bank.
In fairness, I got out with a very good profit but some of it was down to luck and I don’t want to put my nerves though that again. I’m off out shortly for a run to clear the head. So in summary, today was a good day profit wise but it was way too stressful. That said, a turnover of 22 grand was good for the number of races traded and I got my money though the market each race a number of times over.
I'm looking forward to tomorrow where the markets should have plenty of liquidity and hopefully it will be a relatively incident free day.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Trading Challenge!
€1,000 to €1,050 - and beyond! (hopefully)
Here’s the deal...
I’ve been doing pretty good at trading in recent times but it’s always been a bit hap hazard and at the moment, I only trade when I feel like it. I want to get back into it properly and challenge myself again; so I’m going to set some targets, starting off with a bank of €1000.
Basically, I’d like to earn 5% on my bank if possible each month. I’m sure it won’t be plain sailing and some months will be better than others but if I have a target, I can start setting some goals and monitor my trading better. Some people don't agree with setting such targets and I can see where they are coming from. However, I'm the type of person that works better if I have my eye on a bigger picture and it keeps my trading in perspective. I won't be a slave to the targets but they are a rough idea of where I want to go.
For some people, turning a bank of €1,000 into €1,050 doesn’t sound like a big deal - it's a lot of work for fifty quid.
But believe me, a 5% return on your bank in a month is excellent.
Put it this way – if a bank said to you that if you lodge a grand into an account and after five years, they would give you back €18,000 would you be the first in line with your cash? Of course you would!
But that’s the exact same thing as turning €1,000 into €1,050 in a month (a 5% increase).
So if I’m successful after one month, the bank should be around €1,050 but hopefully higher. Assuming I can turn the same 5% profit on the new total following month, my bank would then become €1102.50 after month two. After a year, the bank would be €1710 and so on.
Earning fifty quid doesn’t sound all that much but here’s how turning a 5% profit would make the bank look each month:
€1,000.00
€1,050.00
€1,102.50
€1,157.63
€1,215.51
€1,276.28
€1,340.10
€1,407.10
€1,477.46
€1,551.33
€1,628.89
€1,710.34
I’m starting a little late in the month so I’ve a bit of catching up to do for May but I’ll see how it goes. I reckon I’ll be trading around 15 of the remaining days of the month so I’ve to try make roughly €3.34 per day to get the bank to €1050 by the end of the month.
I’ll report back here each day and post the odd screen shot to keep it updated.
Hopefully it will go well, but if not, I’ll be honest and say so.
Why am I posting it here? I dunno really but I find that I’m more disciplined if I think people are watching and I like putting my thoughts down – even if no-one reads it.
Also, I hope some people may find it interesting and I’d welcome any trading strategy discussion along the way.
Here’s the deal...
I’ve been doing pretty good at trading in recent times but it’s always been a bit hap hazard and at the moment, I only trade when I feel like it. I want to get back into it properly and challenge myself again; so I’m going to set some targets, starting off with a bank of €1000.
Basically, I’d like to earn 5% on my bank if possible each month. I’m sure it won’t be plain sailing and some months will be better than others but if I have a target, I can start setting some goals and monitor my trading better. Some people don't agree with setting such targets and I can see where they are coming from. However, I'm the type of person that works better if I have my eye on a bigger picture and it keeps my trading in perspective. I won't be a slave to the targets but they are a rough idea of where I want to go.
For some people, turning a bank of €1,000 into €1,050 doesn’t sound like a big deal - it's a lot of work for fifty quid.
But believe me, a 5% return on your bank in a month is excellent.
Put it this way – if a bank said to you that if you lodge a grand into an account and after five years, they would give you back €18,000 would you be the first in line with your cash? Of course you would!
But that’s the exact same thing as turning €1,000 into €1,050 in a month (a 5% increase).
So if I’m successful after one month, the bank should be around €1,050 but hopefully higher. Assuming I can turn the same 5% profit on the new total following month, my bank would then become €1102.50 after month two. After a year, the bank would be €1710 and so on.
Earning fifty quid doesn’t sound all that much but here’s how turning a 5% profit would make the bank look each month:
€1,000.00
€1,050.00
€1,102.50
€1,157.63
€1,215.51
€1,276.28
€1,340.10
€1,407.10
€1,477.46
€1,551.33
€1,628.89
€1,710.34
I’m starting a little late in the month so I’ve a bit of catching up to do for May but I’ll see how it goes. I reckon I’ll be trading around 15 of the remaining days of the month so I’ve to try make roughly €3.34 per day to get the bank to €1050 by the end of the month.
I’ll report back here each day and post the odd screen shot to keep it updated.
Hopefully it will go well, but if not, I’ll be honest and say so.
Why am I posting it here? I dunno really but I find that I’m more disciplined if I think people are watching and I like putting my thoughts down – even if no-one reads it.
Also, I hope some people may find it interesting and I’d welcome any trading strategy discussion along the way.
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