Dow Broke the 50MA in the Weekly Chart 12650, it hit 12596 bounced back above 50MA, then back below, then it failed the pull back at 50MA resistance. It it cannot break back above 12650, next stop is 12445.

have a nice day

I dunno, it closed at 12845?

That said, I just placed a £1 sell bet on a 'Wall Street September' spread at 12939 (expires 20/09/07). looking at bloomberg.com, futures price at the mo is 12944. I think people must know something i dont as it'll surely drop quite a bit (especially over the next month) won't it? / (limit is set at 12700, stop is 13000)

sorry, newbie spreadbetter here and a bit worried i might not be seeing the wood for the trees...

cheers

Like I said, 12650 was the Key, the Dow made a Higher Low @ 8.24pm UK time after rejecting 12650 2 minutes earlier. That was when it powered out of the blocks. I entered Long @ 8.11pm on the Day Low + 6 points, went 1 point against me, then whoosh. My best trade of the day as it happens.

Friday 3rd August the Dow lost 281 points, Monday it gained 287 points. This market is all over the place, so who knows what tomorrow will bring. But I bet London sighed with relief at 9.00pm tonight.

it sure is all over the place!

still, no-one makes any money in a stagnant market so long may it continue i guess.

I set up a dummy spreadbetting account last week and placed a £1 sell bet on FTSE 100 December. It closed itself for me on monday £992 up! This huge gain in fake money has seen me trying my luck with the real thing now... i'd settle for a fraction of that kind of gain!

Good luck

I just went short on the Dow at £6 per point with a guaranteed stop at 14,200. The contract expires in December. I'm a newbie to this and I have to admit a little scared now

I can't get a December spread (capitalspreads) who are you using?

cheers (good luck)
Nathan

I'm using IG Index and I'm £138 down already

Here's hoping it turns round

as and when yer in the black, don't be greedy like me an sit waiting for more or you can end up losing the lot! a bird in the hand etc

went short on FTSE100 Dec at 6435 with a stop at 6520.

fingers crossed.

how much per point out of interest? Good luck

cheers

only £1, got my fingers burned a little before so slowly clawing back... (at present... one min down £30, next up £30 etc etc, good old volatility)

Took the £46 and ran off for a bit.

With today's big drop, I'm £1200 up already. I can't bring myself to cash any of it in though. It feels nice to be right, even if it is just for 1 day...

Next week, the Fed could cut rates and my cash will be down the drain...

I only intend to keep this one spread open until I make a real decent profit - I won't be making a habit of this as it is essentially gambling and it is easy to see where these spread betting companies get all the money for their glossy brochures.

Congrats on your profit!

Couple of thoughts....

1. Set a stop to get you out still in profit if it rebounds up. Stick to it. It is sickening watching a good profit go down the toilet.

2. Consider taking part profit now and run the rest. (if you are using spreadbetting, this is much easier if you use multiple smaller positions. You can close 1/3 or 1/2 etc to protect your gains). If you only have one trade, consider closing it and opening 2 1/2 sized positions. (or 1 if you want to bank half etc).

Good luck!

Thanks Red Kharma - that is good advice. I think the markets are due a big drop but moving my stop and locking in my profit is probably sensible. That way, if I get stopped out and the market goes up again, I can just reopen the bet and wait for those big falls that I reckon we are due. Will keep you posted.

Advice always welcome by the way as this is my first real toe in the water with taking a position on the financial markets.

I hope you took RK's advice Bear Monger. The DOW seems to be bouncing back.

Shorting is a difficult game to play, IMO. Especially if you are betting against a trend. I found this out the hard way when I shorted Countrywide. Now I only use spreadbetting to follow trends. It's boring, but it's worked (so far).

Apologies for not posting an update. I did take RK's advice and got closed out making £900 (Thanks RK!).

I'm just waiting to open my bet again as I reckon we're still in a for a big fall but I'm not sure what is going to happen next week with the Fed rate decision. I know that I'm riding my luck...I think I will wait another day or two and then open a bet setting a close stop in case the Fed decision goes against me.

This is definitely gambling in my opinion (although with a little bit of research to help my odds) and I won't be doing this again. I just want to make some easy cash off what I see as an inevitable stock market tumble from now until December.

Will keep you posted and advice is welcome.

Inevitable is a word that will cost you money when applied to markets. What makes you think it will fall?

You may be correct. I'm no economist but I think that the credit markets will uncover some nasty surprises and that the loan defaults in the US will undermine stock performance and force a bank or two into bankruptcy. I think in some ways, it is beneficial to be observing from afar and not complicate what I see too much with detail. The stock market looks like a bubble to me and I think we are due a correction. Like I said, I'm no expert but then who is?