Big orders messing up the markets

The Challenge: to increase my trading bank by 5% per month.

The story so far...

Starting bank: €1,000 (beginning of May 2010)
Target for end August: €1,215.51
Today’s opening bank: €1,481.25
Today’s closing bank: €1,526.99
Today's profit/loss: €45.74
Today's turnover: €13,132.59


***

Even though I should be delighted with a 45 quid profit, tonight's trading was far from comfortable.

There was some strange happenings tonight and someone with a huge bank was trying to manipulate the markets. I got stung a few times and it really pisses me off.

I'm not quite sure what his strategy is or how he's trying to make money but I hope he gets his fingers burned and stops messing about. Basically, markets with a small few quid (a few hundred on each side) were being manipulated.

For example, he'd leave a back order for say 50K in a lightly traded market and I'm assuming it was to move the price down. When the price would move, he'd lay and take out thousands in one go. The market would settle again then he'd back and take out another few thousand. Not really sure what the heck he's doing (or if he knows himself) but I'm assuming that it's one guy from looking at the orders going in and out. I've heard of this on some other blogs this week but hadn't really seen it happen myself until tonight.

I got taken out a couple of times and tonight's profit and loss is very inconsistent. It spoiled a cracker of a trade in the place market where the place price had gone out of kilter with the win price. I knew the win price was partly due to the each-way backers on course so was happy to lay the place and I made the guts of 90 quid which felt amazing when I completed the trade. Most of it got wiped out however when that idiot took out half the market in one race later on.

Thankfully, I got out of jail with a fantastic trade on Edinburgh Knight which I'd backed around 7.8. I was going to get out for a tick or two profit but the price kept going and I eventually layed out at 5.6 netting me 61 quid.

At that stage, I felt very lucky to be ahead so I decided to call it a day.

Two days are never the same in this game. Even though I made roughly the same profit as yesterday, tonight was much more difficult and I didn't like the feel in the markets.

Yesterday was as smooth as anything and I even managed a clean sweep but today was up and down like a yo-yo. Not good for the nerves.