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Chapter 21 - Diary of a trader

“Sell in May and Go Away.” If only I had followed the old market cliché. Instead, I squandered far too much of my inheritance from Great Uncle Gareth: When the markets began to take a dive, during the second week of the month, I carried on buying. BIG MISTAKE.

I am too embarrassed to tell you how much I lost. But if you’re a true sadist, you can turn to page 141 of Bets and the City, where all is revealed.

So how come someone like me ends up writing a book on spread betting? Isn’t this a bit too much like Anne Diamond on effective diets? Or José Mourinho on tact and diplomacy?

Er, yes.

Well, almost.

What happened is that just when I was cursing myself for being so stubborn (sensible Finspreads customers made large amounts by going “Sell, Selll, SELL!” when the markets tumbled), I was emailed by financial publishers Harriman House, who said they were keen to turn my spread betting adventures into a Proper Book.

I assumed this was a cruel joke and ignored it. But the publishers were persistent. And more to the point, when I declined to go into hard copy as a rubbish trader, they suggested I got some help.

“See a psychiatrist, you mean?” I asked suspiciously. OK, so some of my friends think I should have my head examined for persisting with spread betting, but had it really come to this? At least I would get to stretch out on a couch somewhere in Hampstead....

“No, Sally,” said the publisher. “Have you ever thought about taking your trading seriously, and going to talk to a guru or two?”

So that’s what I did. During the summer. I picked the brains of three trading gurus. And guess what?

My trading shows serious signs of improvement!

I’ve learned exactly what’s meant by strategies and methodologies.

  • I know all about risk management and money management
  • I’ve fallen profitably in love with binary bets
  • I’m no longer too stubborn to cut my losses (mainly!)
  • And there’s money to be made simply by trading FTSE 350 shares.

So Bets and the City ends on a positive note. My spread betting adventures have taken me – so far – from naive optimist to hardened pessimist, and I’m now in the process of becoming a wised-up realist.

You’ll get the full story in the book. And you’ll also learn about my life as a writer... hanging out with the celebs in Primrose Hill, where I live.... my date with Paul McCartney (honest!),,, my dud internet dates... oh, and all about the Happy Happy Day when I finally seemed to have mastered spread betting, and I turned my computer into a cash register.

 

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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