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Mr FT is a self-employed spread better. After 18 years in fund management he was given the choice of moving to London or .. not. ‘Not’ won out.

FT has been trading full time from home for two years, with nothing but four kids and a beach to distract him .

He fills his spare time with weight training and rugby, though more coaching than playing these days.

FT mostly trades the forex markets and although he plays FTSE on occasions his bread and butter market is £$.

He likes to think that his technique is evolving but still hasn’t the temperament or money to back the big calls. He prefers to trade between 1 and 3 times a day, aiming to take regular small gains, but feels part of the evolution is in not dealing if the conditions don’t feel right.
 Sorry, You Are The Weakest Link
Posted by FT on February 5, 2008
Category: Views & Opinions, About Trading by FT 1 Comment

In case you hadn’t noticed, paddypowertrader have a competition running to find the dumbest trade ever.The prize isn’t bad - two tickets to Ireland vs England in the Six Nations, so check it out.

When it comes to dumb trades I can’t help but think that the worst are caused by excessive emotions.Books, fancy software, trading strategies, a hot news service and a dealing desk built by NASA. They don’t count for Jack if your head ain’t right. The key to a lifetime of rising profits is controlling the demons within.


Mr FT is a self-employed spread better. After 18 years in fund management he was given the choice of moving to London or .. not. ‘Not’ won out.

FT has been trading full time from home for two years, with nothing but four kids and a beach to distract him .

He fills his spare time with weight training and rugby, though more coaching than playing these days.

FT mostly trades the forex markets and although he plays FTSE on occasions his bread and butter market is £$.

He likes to think that his technique is evolving but still hasn’t the temperament or money to back the big calls. He prefers to trade between 1 and 3 times a day, aiming to take regular small gains, but feels part of the evolution is in not dealing if the conditions don’t feel right.
 Get Shorty
Posted by FT on January 31, 2008
Category: Views & Opinions, About Trading, Graphs & TA by FT Comment

Get Shorty
He-he-hey! Tell you what, I’m six foot four, and I love being short!
That’s why I prefer spread betting to investing. As a rule of thumb, investors lose money in a falling market, but for us traders it’s 3 oranges in a line, Kerching!

A recent newspaper headline read “Private investors steer clear of volatile markets.” Last quarter there was a net outflow of £600 million from equity funds, and not at the top of the market I’ll bet!


Mr FT is a self-employed spread better. After 18 years in fund management he was given the choice of moving to London or .. not. ‘Not’ won out.

FT has been trading full time from home for two years, with nothing but four kids and a beach to distract him .

He fills his spare time with weight training and rugby, though more coaching than playing these days.

FT mostly trades the forex markets and although he plays FTSE on occasions his bread and butter market is £$.

He likes to think that his technique is evolving but still hasn’t the temperament or money to back the big calls. He prefers to trade between 1 and 3 times a day, aiming to take regular small gains, but feels part of the evolution is in not dealing if the conditions don’t feel right.
 Making Money From Melting Markets
Posted by FT on January 25, 2008
Category: Views & Opinions, About Trading, Shares & Indices by FT 2 Comments

Stock market meltdowns, a time when fortunes are made and lost on markets around the world. At such times rational analysis, logic and computer keyboards go out the window. “Surely the market can’t go any lower.” “It just has mate.” And, like earthquakes and West Ham victories, they occur a lot more than you think they do. But a cool head and a list of do’s and don’ts can help you to profit from, rather than fear, such events.


Mr FT is a self-employed spread better. After 18 years in fund management he was given the choice of moving to London or .. not. ‘Not’ won out.

FT has been trading full time from home for two years, with nothing but four kids and a beach to distract him .

He fills his spare time with weight training and rugby, though more coaching than playing these days.

FT mostly trades the forex markets and although he plays FTSE on occasions his bread and butter market is £$.

He likes to think that his technique is evolving but still hasn’t the temperament or money to back the big calls. He prefers to trade between 1 and 3 times a day, aiming to take regular small gains, but feels part of the evolution is in not dealing if the conditions don’t feel right.
 Equity X-Factor: Part 2
Posted by FT on January 18, 2008
Category: Views & Opinions, About Trading, Shares & Indices by FT Comment

Think of last week’s article (Equity X-Factor: Part 1) as the voice coaching, choosing the right song, pitching a wide range of notes; it was all the preparation necessary to make the next stage successful. This article shows the screening process that I used, the results and how I plan to make money from them.


Mr FT is a self-employed spread better. After 18 years in fund management he was given the choice of moving to London or .. not. ‘Not’ won out.

FT has been trading full time from home for two years, with nothing but four kids and a beach to distract him .

He fills his spare time with weight training and rugby, though more coaching than playing these days.

FT mostly trades the forex markets and although he plays FTSE on occasions his bread and butter market is £$.

He likes to think that his technique is evolving but still hasn’t the temperament or money to back the big calls. He prefers to trade between 1 and 3 times a day, aiming to take regular small gains, but feels part of the evolution is in not dealing if the conditions don’t feel right.
 Equity X-Factor:Part 1
Posted by FT on January 14, 2008
Category: Views & Opinions, About Trading, Shares & Indices, Dummy's Guides by FT 2 Comments

Think back a couple of weeks to that drunken New Year’s party, waking up with a banging headache and your auntie’s knickers on your head, wondering what resolutions will come back to haunt you…

One of mine was to reach outside the comfort zone of currencies and indices and find a couple of shares to trade from time to time.


Mr FT is a self-employed spread better. After 18 years in fund management he was given the choice of moving to London or .. not. ‘Not’ won out.

FT has been trading full time from home for two years, with nothing but four kids and a beach to distract him .

He fills his spare time with weight training and rugby, though more coaching than playing these days.

FT mostly trades the forex markets and although he plays FTSE on occasions his bread and butter market is £$.

He likes to think that his technique is evolving but still hasn’t the temperament or money to back the big calls. He prefers to trade between 1 and 3 times a day, aiming to take regular small gains, but feels part of the evolution is in not dealing if the conditions don’t feel right.
 Those New Year Thingies
Posted by FT on January 7, 2008
Category: Views & Opinions, About Trading by FT 2 Comments

Well, that’s Christmas over and done with; I’ve put the wife’s birthday in the new diary, filled my kit bag with Christmas shower gels, sworn at the credit card statement and made a few New Year’s Resolutions.

I didn’t waste time with unrealistic targets; I won’t be a millionaire by next Christmas and I’ll never get that close to Kylie, but with my trading it’s always useful to look at ways of improving, which will hopefully lead to even bigger profits this year.


Mr FT is a self-employed spread better. After 18 years in fund management he was given the choice of moving to London or .. not. ‘Not’ won out.

FT has been trading full time from home for two years, with nothing but four kids and a beach to distract him .

He fills his spare time with weight training and rugby, though more coaching than playing these days.

FT mostly trades the forex markets and although he plays FTSE on occasions his bread and butter market is £$.

He likes to think that his technique is evolving but still hasn’t the temperament or money to back the big calls. He prefers to trade between 1 and 3 times a day, aiming to take regular small gains, but feels part of the evolution is in not dealing if the conditions don’t feel right.
 My Five Crap Trades Of 2007
Posted by FT on December 24, 2007
Category: Trade Diaries, About Trading, Shares & Indices, Oil, Gold & Commodities by FT Comment

Ho Ho Ho, Christmas is here and it’s time for those seasonal lists. You know, top 5 Ronaldo dives in the penalty box, worst 5 ‘celebrity’ programmes, Pete Doherty’s top 5 ‘hits’ and Britney’s best 5 exits from a car. As this is my last blog of 2007 I thought a bit of self-indulgence was in order, so here’s my 5 crappiest trades of 2007:


Mr FT is a self-employed spread better. After 18 years in fund management he was given the choice of moving to London or .. not. ‘Not’ won out.

FT has been trading full time from home for two years, with nothing but four kids and a beach to distract him .

He fills his spare time with weight training and rugby, though more coaching than playing these days.

FT mostly trades the forex markets and although he plays FTSE on occasions his bread and butter market is £$.

He likes to think that his technique is evolving but still hasn’t the temperament or money to back the big calls. He prefers to trade between 1 and 3 times a day, aiming to take regular small gains, but feels part of the evolution is in not dealing if the conditions don’t feel right.
 An Office Inspired By Noah
Posted by FT on December 21, 2007
Category: Views & Opinions, About Trading by FT Comment

“So, what’s it like doing that whatever-you-do at home all day?” is a question I get asked quite a lot. Others include “Dad, what is your job?” “What can I put you down as on this form?” and “How tall are you?”

With the markets winding down for Christmas I thought I’d give you an insight into life as a full-time trader working from home.


Mr FT is a self-employed spread better. After 18 years in fund management he was given the choice of moving to London or .. not. ‘Not’ won out.

FT has been trading full time from home for two years, with nothing but four kids and a beach to distract him .

He fills his spare time with weight training and rugby, though more coaching than playing these days.

FT mostly trades the forex markets and although he plays FTSE on occasions his bread and butter market is £$.

He likes to think that his technique is evolving but still hasn’t the temperament or money to back the big calls. He prefers to trade between 1 and 3 times a day, aiming to take regular small gains, but feels part of the evolution is in not dealing if the conditions don’t feel right.
 We Need An Oh Bugger Category
Posted by FT on November 21, 2007
Category: Trade Diaries, About Trading, Currencies by FT Comment

You’ll have noticed that all the blogs are filed under different categories in the menu on the right. So if, for example, you want to gen up on graphs and technical analysis or the sub-prime crisis they’re just a click away.

But I reckon we’re missing one; we need an ‘Oh Bugger!’ category for the trades that just slipped away, or worse still, just tickled the stop loss into action before reverting to the direction of the original trade. I’ve had one of each in the past 24 hours.


Mr FT is a self-employed spread better. After 18 years in fund management he was given the choice of moving to London or .. not. ‘Not’ won out.

FT has been trading full time from home for two years, with nothing but four kids and a beach to distract him .

He fills his spare time with weight training and rugby, though more coaching than playing these days.

FT mostly trades the forex markets and although he plays FTSE on occasions his bread and butter market is £$.

He likes to think that his technique is evolving but still hasn’t the temperament or money to back the big calls. He prefers to trade between 1 and 3 times a day, aiming to take regular small gains, but feels part of the evolution is in not dealing if the conditions don’t feel right.
 Trailing Stop Losses. Like Female Bodyguards
Posted by FT on November 1, 2007
Category: Views & Opinions, About Trading by FT Comment

Right, you planned your trade, entered at a good level and you’re in the money. You could book your profits and buy those tickets for the Heineken Cup quarter final, but you reckon it’s a good trade and the legs on it are like Sonia O’Sullivan’s so it could run and run.

Why not take a profit but stay in the trade using a trailing stop loss?

OK, you know the old saying about running and walking so let’s start with a quick re-cap on the ordinary stop loss.


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