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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.
 Gold Bounces As Traders Seek Safe Haven
Posted by FT on October 6, 2008
Category: Trade Diaries, Shares & Indices, Currencies by FT 11 Comments

Hi folks,
The global credit crisis has stepped up a couple of gears over the past week; concerns over individual banks going belly up have been replaced with fears that states, and even countries, could soon be bankrupt. Equities look increasingly nervous as the Dow teeters on the brink of sub-10,000 and gold and equities go their separate ways.

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Oct
6
Gold Bounces As Traders Seek Safe Haven

Hi folks,

The global credit crisis has stepped up a couple of gears over the past week; concerns over individual banks going belly up have been replaced with fears that states, and even countries, could soon be bankrupt. Equities look increasingly nervous as the Dow teeters on the brink of sub-10,000 and gold and equities go their separate ways.

Oct
3
For Once, It Is Not All About The Payrolls

Hi folks,

It's a bit rich the UK government giving the Irish banks stick for tempting money away from Barclays, Lloyds et all; do they remember Northern Rock, that UK bank with high savings rates and a government guarantee? It's all very well the Rock turning savers away yesterday, but this has been going on for months now. Yesterday's venture into the bull's paddock (Vix Fear Index Boosts Equities) was amusing; the FTSE Index fell 100 points while I was writing the article and a further 70 after it hit the screens.

Oct
2
VIX Fear Index Boosting Equities

Hi folks,

Hands up who stayed up for last night's vote? I'd committed to a 12.30 vote, but the threatened 2-3 o'clock in the morning sent me packing. In the event going to bed was a good move as all the action had been in the run up. Today I've tried to address the balance of my bearish ranting with a chart that's getting a few traders all bulled up. And look at that Dollar go; it's screwing commodities something rotten.

Oct
1
Dollar Strength Continues Ahead Of Bailout (II) Vote

Hi folks,

And so we await another bailout vote, and if this one goes to plan we can spend tomorrow waiting for yet another bailout vote. In the meantime the FTSE's full of autumnal vigour. And the inconvenience of US manufacturing registering the sharpest one-month decline since 1984 hasn't deterred traders from piling into the Dollar. I've been caught with an awkward position in my shorts, but consoled myself with a small profit in the forex market.

Sep
30
No Bailout But No Armageddon

Hi folks,

So who stayed at their screens last night to benefit from the mother of all sell-offs? The way the vote was reported was straight from Saturday night TV, with running commentary as each vote was counted. I half expected a drum role before Ant 'n Dec announced the final result. I made some great gains on an £8 short bet on FTSE, but saw a lot of that disappear with today's quarter-end rally.

Oct
1
The Bailout Is Dead, Long Live The Bailout

Unless you were on holiday in Mars, or working with BBC3, you’ll know all about the failed US bailout on Monday. Equity markets did sell off immediately, but the widely predicted Armageddon scenario of at least a 1000-point fall just didn’t happen. And Tuesday saw a determined rally across equity markets. So where’s all the fear gone and what are traders hoping for?

Sep
26
Is The FX Carry Trade Dead?

Ok, the carry trade. What’s that? To be short, it’s an FX trading system used by some of the biggest and meanest hedge fund managers in the world. Since the 1980’s, they have made billions from this remarkably profitable trade in stable FX markets.

But in the last couple of years, the FX market has become very volatile. Hedge funds aren’t making their easy buck on the carry trade anymore. Like me, I know that you won’t be losing any sleep over their recent troubles. But I’m interested in making money from the carry trade so, in this blog, I’m going to show you how minnows like us can get in on the act.

Sep
22
Can You Short The Irish Banks?

This article is for information purposes only and does not represent investment advice. If a trader wished to make a short bet on the Irish banks, this is one way they could go about it.

As you may be aware, the Irish Financial Regulator banned the short selling of the big four Irish banks last Friday. This applies to AIB, Bank of Ireland, Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Life & Permanent. As a result all four have seen a huge jump in their share prices. As The Mole said in Friday’s Market Watch “Capitalism has been abolished.”

But there is apparently a way to gain short exposure to back falling prices.

Sep
18
Lehmans and AIG. What is Next?

The last few days have been … I’m struggling to find an adjective. Remarkable? Amazing? Jaw-dropping?

Let’s just have a 30-second recap of what’s been happening:

  • Lehman’s was allowed to go bust. The Fed gave a clear message it would not be the bailout boy in major bank failure.

  • American Insurance Group (AIG) came under massive pressure – then got rescued. The Fed gave a clear message that … errr…. it would be ‘the bailout boy’ after all. Sometimes.

  • The Lehman’s failure triggered what could be the start of a round of mergers amongst banks. Merrills agreed to sell itself to BoA and HBoS has been linked with Lloyds.

  • Stock indices suffered massive falls

Sep
9
Fannie, Freddie and Hank

Evening folks,

Welcome to another addition of US Government Lotto Giveaway, with your host, Treasury Secretary, Hank Paulson. And tonight’s lucky couple are Fannie and Freddie.

Hank’s just promised Fannie and Freddie $200 billion of taxpayers’ money in exchange for their independence. And, just like our shows earlier in the year, you all love a good giveaway. Equity markets rallied between 2-3% (Ireland’s bank-dominated ISEQ put on a cracking 6%) and the good old Dollar nicked between 4-500 pips off the European currencies.

But is this really a turning point for the markets, or yet another nasty squeeze in a bear market? First I’ll talk about what’s going on and then I’ll talk about how it’s feeding into my trading plan.

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