The Dumbest Spread Bet?
Paddy Power Trader recently launched competition for clients. It was a pretty straightforward competition. Simply tell them your dumbest, silliest and funniest trade ever for a pair of England vs. Ireland tickets at Twickenham…to help ease the pain.The Winner:
Ken H from England who won it due to his near-agonising honesty…as well as his wit. I think most spread bettors can put their hand on the hearts and say “Yes Ken, we’ve been there too”.The winning entry?
“Hello, my name’s Ken and I’m an a…hang on, that’s the other lot.
So, dumb trades. I can’t compete with the thousands that you guys seem to have blown but I’ve had enough dumb trades that have lost me enough undo a lot of those hard won winners.
The problem isn’t the losing trades, they’re what we expect. It’s the losers that are instantly recognisable as being bigger than they should have been and which we just shouldn’t have been in at all.
My worst was 250 points on GBP / USD at £2 a point. So not a disaster but I’d rather have bought 750 Kit Kat Chunkies. Even a thousand creme eggs. And this was in the last couple of months, it’s not like it was one of my first ever trades. So how did it come about?
Two big boo-boos. And what makes the trade really dumb is that I know I’m prone to these particular mistakes, I know when I’m succumbing to them but still charge on. That dumb.
Boo-boo number one is entering a trade because I’m bored, I want some excitement, I need a thrill. Like there isn’t a cheaper way! So a quick glance at the chart, watch what the price does for a few minutes then plunge in with a £2 short.
Immediate effect, naturally, is that the price starts rising. And keeps rising. No problem, my stop will be triggered and I’ve had a short, sharp shock/lesson.
Oh yeah, boo-boo two is…no stop. So the price goes on up and the losses with it. End of the day, it’s 60-odd points away from where I entered. But, hey, it’s bound to come back down overnight, I’ll wake up in the morning and all will be well (that break out above the trend line is just a spike, right?).
Next day we’re now 2¢ up from my entry. And that’s pretty much where it stays all day, give or take. Now I’m scared. Should close the position, lie down, drink some beer. No, be dumb, leave it open overnight again but stick in a stop at 250 pips above my entry.
Day 3 and things look better. The price has come back down. Now, it’s only 0.5¢ off my entry point and trending down. I’ll soon be all square and can close out having had a wild ride but no financial hit.
Except my stop was taken out on a spike up that was just big enough to hit it. Oh dear.
How hard can it be? PLAN your trade. Set your ENTRY and EXIT points. And STICK with it. Very hard, apparently”.
Well we hope you enjoyed the rugby Ken!
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