Chapter 12 - Diary of a trader

That's right. No more trades. My passionate relationship with Google, while more than a one-night stand, clearly wasn't going to go the distance. In the cold light of day, the evidence was all too apparent.... continuing my relationship with Google was going to Get Me Into Trouble.

I had taken to dreaming about Google. Smiling from ear to ear every time I thought about Google. Boring my friends with all my talk about Google. Believe me, I was even thinking of sending thank you e-cards to Larry Page and Sergey Brin or perhaps their mothers.

But in my heart, I already knew the truth. If Google was a car, it was a Ferrari. Capable of trading in a range of 700 points in a few hours. While I was a driver with a provisional licence. And even though the trend was Up, Up & Away, there were still enough short-term reversals to make me skid.

"Adieu, Google." I deleted the name from my Watch List. "It's been great, and I'll treasure the memory. But we both know that if we carry on meeting like this we'll spoil what we had. Much as I love you, I simply can't afford you."

And that was how I came to quit while I was ahead.

It meant I could boast a balance of £4,233.63 in my account. As you might remember, I started out back in the summer with an initial credit of £5,000. Now, thanks to the Google bonanza which included individual wins of £436.45 and £319.85, my biggest successes by a mile! the likelihood of going broke had been replaced by the heartening possibility of break-even.

Next question. What did I intend to trade instead of Google? What was the fastest way to make the £766.38 I needed to declare a profit?

Well, I quickly discovered that the Daily Dow was the fastest way to lose £100. Then came Christmas... followed came some serious writing deadlines... and the next thing you know, the crocuses are appearing.

Meanwhile, the Welsh Bloke at Finspreads is getting a steady stream of phone calls from my loyal readers asking what's happened to Sally Nicholl.

This had the good effect of W.B. inviting me to lunch.

"I'm not sure what to trade," I confessed over a plate of barbecued smoked octopus which tasted nicer than you might imagine.

"Well, your trading style to date is rather like this meal." He gestured at our tapas selection. "Most of our successful traders don't do that."

Ah, this was getting interesting. Welsh Bloke was finally going to spill the (figurative) beans. I leant forward.

"Think about becoming a specialist. Just trade one or two instruments, instead of spreading yourself too thin."

Fortified by a slug of Spanish brandy, I returned home to discover a gift. From John Bartlett, whose spread betting for beginners course I attended last year.

He'd sent me a DVD called Currency Trading For Beginners. No time like the present... I loaded it up, and off we went.

"The Forex market is worth $1.5 trillion a day," I learned. Sounded promising surely I could pick up a few points along the way. I listened closely. "Which way is the market moving? How far up will it go? And when will it go the other way?"

Alas, John was not about to provide the answers to these pertinent questions. I suspect I didn't get full benefit from his course, because I ignored the section that wanted me to download trading software sounded like too great a commitment.

Apart from that, I went through the sections from start to finish, and my verdict is that I think brand new traders would find it useful, as it covers all the basics. However, a lot of what John says applies equally well to trading shares or indices, as opposed specifically to currency, so I was a little disappointed in that respect.

Nonetheless, I was encouraged to try a spot of currency trading, and I cast my eye over sterling against the dollar not least because when I visited New York in January I had gleefully taken full advantage of sterling's buying power. There's a clear trend, and I decided to follow it.

The hardest thing was finding a decent, real time chart to follow. In the end I located one, and to save you hunting, go to: http://www.fxstreet.com/nou/graph/streamingchart.asp

I followed this up with a Google news search, and discovered sterling had climbed back above $1.90 for the first time in seven weeks.

My first attempt to BUY with Finspreads ended in failure The Daily Cash £/$ spat out my 50p trade, informing me I needed a minimum of £2 a point. Too rich for my blood... I retreated, and sat watching my chart.

I have to say, I timed it beautifully. The minute-by-minute chart was going up and down like an Alpine range. Instead of feeling I needed to trade right away, at all costs, I have learned instead to be patient. I waited until the price had just lurched towards the Deep South, and then placed my trade at 1.9061. Immediately, the price began to rise.

A couple of hours later and I was 67 points up. Following John Bartlett's advice, I adjusted my stop/loss. Now the worst that could happen was that I would return from lunch with a profit of £10.

But then again... why take the risk? I sold the trade for a profit of £33.50. (And naturally, when I got back from lunch, the price was still rising but what the hell.)

Today, I placed another trade: £/$ 50p BUY at 1.9199. At the time of writing I'm 25 points ahead!

If you'd like to know more about John and his courses, his site is at www.learntrading.co.uk and it has lots of interesting content.

I am now resolved to trade £/$ - and nothing else for the next little while. I'll let you know how I get on!

Sally Nicoll is a writer and a Finspreads customer whose career to date has embraced journalism, broadcasting, and advertising copywriting She lives in London and is currently writing her second novel. Feel free to contact her at veryluckymoney@hotmail.com.
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