You are here: Home » Blog

Welcome to the ‘Trade Diaries’ archive

Z is a Paddy Power employee. He spent 10 years being something small in 'the City' before moving to Ireland and has been trading spread bets, on and off, for the last 4 years.

Right now Z is trading occasionally with the aim of supplementing his ‘day-job’ income. His current trading strategy means he tries to:
a) trade just one market (the FTSE)
b) make relatively few trades
c) make lower-risk trades
d) not let the sleep-loss caused by his new baby girl trash his judgement
 We’re In The Press. Ooops. Or Hooray?
Posted by Z on April 23, 2008
Category: Trade Diaries, Funny by Z 8 Comments

Wow. Little old paddypowertrader made the headlines today. Check a few of these out from the BBC, the Guardian, the Scotsman, Sharecast and even Reuters.


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.
 I Had To Buy Sterling On St George’s Day
Posted by FT on April 23, 2008
Category: Trade Diaries, Shares & Indices, Currencies by FT 10 Comments

Happy St Georges Day. And a very Happy Birthday to young Willy Shakespeare.

I just had to buy Sterling on St George’s Day; luckily I chose a time when it was going up.


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.
 Tossed Around Like A Biker’s Girl
Posted by FT on April 22, 2008
Category: Trade Diaries, Shares & Indices, Currencies by FT 7 Comments

After the jubilation of yesterday’s mega-profits it was back down to earth with a resounding BUMP today. After a quietly satisfying start, the afternoon markets tossed me around like a biker girl at a gangbang.


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.
 Better Than Waking Up To Kylie
Posted by FT on April 21, 2008
Category: Trade Diaries, Currencies by FT 10 Comments

I could hardly have asked for a better start to the day, although waking up to Kylie singing, “You’ve just been so lucky. Lucky, lucky, lucky,” would have been pretty damn good.

I must have been sniffing my marker pens too much on Friday because I deliberately ran several bets over the weekend. In Friday’s blog (Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life) I mentioned that, in addition to my scrappy short in Barclays, I’d opened a small short in Alliance & Leicester.


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.
 Always Look On The Bright Side of Life
Posted by FT on April 18, 2008
Category: Trade Diaries, Shares & Indices, Currencies by FT Comment

Hi folks,
it’s Friday afternoon after a long and action-packed week so I thought I’d spend a few minutes playing Devil’s avocado. The question is, “Are we now looking at a recovery play in FTSE?”


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.
 Giving It Away
Posted by FT on April 17, 2008
Category: Trade Diaries, Shares & Indices by FT Comment

I spent most of the day giving away small amounts of money. No, I wasn’t donating to the local lap-dancing charity or giving to the needy that wait outside Sainsburys, armed with an assortment of tragic photos and a collection tin. I was making a pig’s arse of hedging a very warm option position, but I came through with both testicles intact.

Each month I supplement my forex and equity spreadbetting with some income from writing options. Yep, that’s the risky way round; the profit is fixed, the loss unlimited! Most of the time it’s fine, but every now and then (and there’s been a few of those in the past year) it requires drastic action.

I won’t bore you with the details, but hedging the options position is like the mirror image of normal investment practice; it involves buying high and selling low (or certainly lower), which is a tough way of trying to make money. The idea is to time the trades to get out with a profit or a small loss once the option position is safe.

So, that’s really what I was doing today. I had a brief look at the currencies, but realised the danger of trading when I wasn’t fully in touch.

Oh, and I went to the pick ‘n mix counter and placed a couple of sell bets on the banks. I sold a scrap of Barclays at 489p and a bit of Alliance & Leicester at close to the day’s low of 503.62p. These were sighting shots in small size. I reckon the banks got carried away yesterday, dreaming of Sir Gordon on his white charger coming to rescue them. But that’s not to say they won’t stay perky ahead of next week’s expected announcement of help.

Normal service will be resumed tomorrow.

Happy Trading


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.
 Indiana Brown And The Lost Economy
Posted by FT on April 16, 2008
Category: Trade Diaries, Economics, Currencies by FT Comment

After sorting out interest rates and the UK mortgage crisis, trouble-shooter Gordon Brown is off to tell US banks to ‘fess up to their losses. Also visiting the land of the free is the Pope, whose aim is to see Bush, and bash the bishops. Who’s going to have the most fun there then?

Over to the markets where oil and EURUSD reached new highs and equities put their worries behind them to push on once again.


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.
 Friends Indeed!
Posted by FT on April 15, 2008
Category: Trade Diaries, Shares & Indices, Currencies by FT 2 Comments

So UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown is spending “every effort of mine, every day that I wake up” trying to keep the economy on track. What a massive vote of confidence in his chancellor-NOT!!!

Equities are back on the Viagra, but currencies are stumbling around like they’ve had too many magic mushrooms. Yesterday Sterling was testing $1.99, today it’s broken a support line dating back to February. The Euro made a new high against Sterling earlier today, but has dropped almost 100 pips against the Dollar.


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.
 Co-ordinated Closing Of Stable Doors
Posted by FT on April 14, 2008
Category: Trade Diaries, Currencies, Sub-Prime & Credit Crunch by FT 3 Comments

As predicted here on Friday world leaders spent the weekend in Washington talking about food; not only admiring the quality of the mega-big Mac-cheeseburgers, but worrying about how much it was now costing people that had to pay for their food. Yes, rising food prices leap-frogged the current credit crisis as a matter of global importance.


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.
 When Is A Rate Cut Not A Rate Cut?
Posted by FT on April 11, 2008
Category: Trade Diaries, Economics, Currencies by FT Comment

The guys in Ireland could be forgiven for casting an envious glance across the sea at UK interest rates falling yet again; how long before they reach parity with European rates? But to be fair, you’re not missing out on anything. It’s a bit like being p*ssed off at not getting that party invite, only to hear later on that there was no alcohol and all the guests got stung for charity raffle tickets.


Related Links

Information

Paddy Power Products

Contact Paddy Power Trader


Tel UK: 08000 565 275
Tel Ireland: 1800 238 888
Tel World: 00353 14040120

Paddy Power Trader

* Tax law may change
** Promotional terms apply