HaydnH Posted August 12, 2015 Share Posted August 12, 2015 Anyone else getting hammered by the last few days drop in the FTSE 100 via spread betting or other investments? Bloody Chinese... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian@TORQEN Posted August 12, 2015 Share Posted August 12, 2015 I've quit doing spread betting two years ago, I wish I kept the S&P and Dow til now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeilMH Posted August 12, 2015 Share Posted August 12, 2015 Just a few too many negative signs for my liking so I bailed out today in order to be able to fight another day (it's never wrong to take a profit). Much of what has been seen hitherto has been the product of various government/central bank interventions so we are still a long way away from "normality". It could get nasty (but maybe not - what do I know). I feel like Del Boy - "One day etc". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaydnH Posted August 12, 2015 Author Share Posted August 12, 2015 Just a few too many negative signs for my liking so I bailed out today in order to be able to fight another day (it's never wrong to take a profit). Much of what has been seen hitherto has been the product of various government/central bank interventions so we are still a long way away from "normality". It could get nasty (but maybe not - what do I know). I feel like Del Boy - "One day etc". After losing about 150 points since Friday's close it can't drop much more... I hope! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gangzoom Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 How much are you guys putting into stocks?? I've been looking at it recently, but haven't get the balls to commit any substantial amount..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mudman Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 Just checked my meagre portfolio and no major changes although mine are mainly UK based with few gold mining interests Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaydnH Posted August 14, 2015 Author Share Posted August 14, 2015 How much are you guys putting into stocks?? I've been looking at it recently, but haven't get the balls to commit any substantial amount..... I started spreadbetting with £50 at 11p per point (Finspreads) which is a nice cheap way to learn the ropes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gangzoom Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 (edited) What kind of returns do you aim for? Looking at what to do with £15K lump sum. I've looked at market based products, some have made stupid gains in 12 months (>30%) others have halved in value. Many seem to advise to lower risk long term products, like peer to peer, but the safest of these are giving 5-6%. That may be double what a Santander 1-2-3 account give but for the extra risk am not sure worth it.... I think I'm just too chicken to play the markets with my cash. The other option is to open x3 Lloyds accounts (me + wife + joint) that will return 5% on £2k x 3. Works out as the same interest as compared to £20K in a 1-2-3 account, but clearly for a lot less capital investment?? Edited August 15, 2015 by gangzoom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ebized Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 What kind of returns do you aim for? Looking at what to do with £15K lump sum. I've looked at market based products, some have made stupid gains in 12 months (>30%) others have halved in value. Many seem to advise to lower risk long term products, like peer to peer, but the safest of these are giving 5-6%. That may be double what a Santander 1-2-3 account give but for the extra risk am not sure worth it.... I think I'm just too chicken to play the markets with my cash. The other option is to open x3 Lloyds accounts (me + wife + joint) that will return 5% on £2k x 3. Works out as the same interest as compared to £20K in a 1-2-3 account, but clearly for a lot less capital investment?? Don't forget the cashbacks you can get on top of the San.1-2-3 account interest. And you can have two as long as one is in joint names. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gangzoom Posted August 16, 2015 Share Posted August 16, 2015 (edited) Don't forget the cashbacks you can get on top of the San.1-2-3 account interest. And you can have two as long as one is in joint names. We have two nearly maxed out already. Need the money in about 18 months time, so no point sticking it into a long term fixed of any kind. Actually not looking for the money to make us any noticeable income, it's a short term savings pot thats going to be spent soon rather than a longterm investment pot... Was just considering all my options. Given its a savings pot I don't think I want to take on any risk, so will probably end up with another 1-2-3 account Edited August 16, 2015 by gangzoom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaydnH Posted August 18, 2015 Author Share Posted August 18, 2015 What kind of returns do you aim for? Well that depends, if the FTSE 100 doesn't turn around soon I could be a big chunk down, I'm currently £600 down over the last week! I haven't actually lost that cash yet though as the positions are still open. If it reaches ~6625 again I'll be breaking even and anything over that will be profit @ £5 per point. It was 6800 at the end of July and about 6750 about week 1-2 of August so I have no doubt it will rise again it's just a matter of how long I have to wait before I can close the positions at a profit. Of course there's always the possibility of it continuing to drop, if it dropped to 6000 ish they'd automatically close my positions at about a £3k loss! That's unlikely though... I hope. When I started I spent a lot of time coming up with a strategy, for the first 6 weeks I was betting 11p per point and over 6 weeks my £50 turned in to £160 which is a nice return in terms of percentage. Unfortunately as soon as I upped the cash my strategy seemed to go haywire and I lost about £900, I think that was more to do with my mentality though when real cash was involved. Still, fairly cheap to learn about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gangzoom Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 Thanks for the info, from what I've read it appears stock market investment are designed to be seen as 5-10 year+ products, I think the short term variability is very unpredictable. Certainly it's far too much risk for me to stomach with any decent amount cash (>£5k). Will be sticking to the old fashioned savings accounts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaydnH Posted August 19, 2015 Author Share Posted August 19, 2015 So another 50 ish points down today... ho hum... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeilMH Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 I think (!) the things I have learned over the years are: - it's ok to take a small profit quickly - set limits and stick to them (a bit like auction strategy) - if things are going a pear shaped it's better to take a small loss quickly than hang on doggedly - go with your instinct (much harder than it sounds) - spend us much time as possible studying/watching the thing you're investing in so that you develop a better feel for patterns and potential oversold/overbought situations (admittedly difficult with something as broad as an Index Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gangzoom Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 (edited) I see the markets are pretty much ready to start going into free-fall....Are you guys getting out, or staying put?? Some doom sayers seem to be predicting a fall as big as 1929, which isn't good for anyone. Glad my cash is releative safe, though I see the goverment is slowly but surely reducing the lump sum they gurrantee. Edited August 24, 2015 by gangzoom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian@TORQEN Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 When I use to play I was always on sell, never on buy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy_Baton Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 (edited) My money was split across loads of different funds all from the H&L wealth 150+ and a couple of direct shares, been doing it for 5 years and steadily returned 5-10% per year on average. I'll be honest, I just looked at the estimated yields and picked the ones with the highest estimates whilst trying to diversify as much as possible. Cashed in everything last week. Overall I did okay but I'm fully aware that by starting when I did the market environment made it particular easy. Get in at the bottom get out at the top, think I've fluked it! I think it would be difficult to start now. Best return was 150% return from Netflix in ~6 months. Edited August 24, 2015 by Randy_Baton 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gangzoom Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 (edited) My money was split across loads of different funds all from the H&L wealth 150+ and a couple of direct shares, been doing it for 5 years and steadily returned 5-10% per year on average. I'll be honest, I just looked at the estimated yields and picked the ones with the highest estimates whilst trying to diversify as much as possible. Cashed in everything last week. Overall I did okay but I'm fully aware that by starting when I did the market environment made it particular easy. Get in at the bottom get out at the top, think I've fluked it! I think it would be difficult to start now. Best return was 150% return from Netflix in ~6 months. Sounds like you got your timing on near perfect. The low in the market was about 5 years ago, and you've got out right as things have started going south....So when are you upgrading to a GTR/P1/P90D etc I think I'm tempted to go in once this latest 'crash' levels out - 2017?? Stick in a enough so that if the returns are good it'll make a noticiable difference and but also make sure it's an amount I can afford to loss. One thing is for sure, I'm gald I didnt do anything silly with the T-fund in the last 6 months Edited August 24, 2015 by gangzoom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian@TORQEN Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stocks-plummet-at-open-dow-drops-1000-points-2015-08-24 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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