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Share Trading...

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    Share Trading...

    I've noticed a lot of posts from people talking about trading. I've always been advised that short term dealing is too risky and rarely makes the sort of profits you can attain over long term investments...

    How are the day traders on these forums going about it? what sort of costs do you have to pay to trade and how do you generally operate? if you don't mind me asking :]

    What are the tax implications if you do make decent profits?

    #2
    If you want to trade over the short term, spread betting makes more sense than actual share trading.

    No tax
    No commission
    No Stamp Duty
    Huge range of financial instruments and can easily go long or short

    Comment


      #3
      now that is even higher risk isn't it?

      And you'd need to know what you're doing, which I most certainly don't!

      I was trying to ascertain what sort of profits can be made with general day trading.

      Does anyone know any good resources that would help me get set up?

      Comment


        #4
        I traded for a while after reading some books and doing a course. Firstly with shares, then with futures. Couldn't make a decent go of it though.

        There's a good book by Alexander Elder - Trading for a living I think it's called. Do some research before putting real money on the line.

        You also need a very strong system as to when you will buy and sell and what indicators you expect will cause upward or downward movement in the share price. I was trading with on purely technical (chart based) system, which mostly ignored the fundamentals so I kind of lost faith in it.

        The best "trader" of our time is probably George Soros and even he makes 20-25% return year on year so be skeptical if people say you can consitenly double your money every year or whatever. Warren Buffet makes a similar return to Soros by buying and holding good quality shares pretty much forever. Personally I find this an easier and less stressful way to make money, and there's no tax on gains until you sell, if at all.
        Don't ask Beaker. He's just another muppet.

        Comment


          #5
          That's why I raised the question, all the major money makers preach about long term investments - Warren Buffet loves a nice economic moat!

          The way I see it is trading short term means you have to have a pretty big margin between buy and sell price to make a decent profit when trading costs are added on... how often on a daily or even weekly basis are price swings significant enough to create such a scenario?

          forgive me if I seem niave, it's something I've only read about, never dabbled in...

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by FCSimmo View Post
            now that is even higher risk isn't it?
            No, you'd be trading essentially the same instruments without capital expenditure on those assets.

            Originally posted by FCSimmo View Post
            And you'd need to know what you're doing, which I most certainly don't!
            not anymore than you would with day trading! I'd suggest playing with a pot of pretend money first, see how you get on with different strategies etc.

            Originally posted by FCSimmo View Post
            Does anyone know any good resources that would help me get set up?
            www.igindex.co.uk for good spread-betting guide.

            I've always considered day trading to be a quick way to early hair-loss so I've never read any books specifically about it...
            ‎"See, you think I give a tulip. Wrong. In fact, while you talk, I'm thinking; How can I give less of a tulip? That's why I look interested."

            Comment


              #7
              I use the Barclays site.

              http://www.barclays-stockbrokers.co.uk/

              Prob not the cheapest but I like it. It's just a hobby and I started with an amount I was willing to lose. So far I've doubled my initial modest stake using a very conservative strategy.
              Hard Brexit now!
              #prayfornodeal

              Comment


                #8
                Try a system where you shadow a number of things: share trading, spread betting, horses etc.

                This will give you a feel for the markets and at least let you have a play without putting any money on the line for the time being. Also there are a number of sites, BBC used to do it, where you can use a artificial or real market scenario and see how you do.

                Also pick a placebo which just does things at random, see how the results vary.
                "Wait, I still function!"

                Comment


                  #9
                  Cheers Moscow...

                  nice Witty moto by the way

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Well you only have to have a large difference in buy and sell prices if you're only dealing with (relatively) small amount of money.

                    Suppose you buy 1,000 shares at £1. Adding on 0.5% tax and 2 transaction fees of say £10, you would need the shares to increase to £1.025 to break even. 2.5% in one day may be a big move for your share. If you bought 1,000,000 shares however, it only needs to increase by 0.5% to break even.
                    It's about time I changed this sig...

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