Spread betting

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24. Some more tips

• Treat your spread betting seriously. It is a serious business.
• Always bet on subjects which you know about.
• Open an account with more than one indexation firm. Bid-offer spreads vary, and it pays to get the best price.
• Bet with your brain not with your heart - eliminate your passion from the equation.
• Remember, the best spreads are often found taking a seller's position against money bet on sentiment rather than rationality.
• Be professional and watch the markets you are betting in. If you are betting in Vodafone shares then follow Vodafone's share price.
• Keep a record of your bets. It will enable you to learn from your mistakes and it will help you keep control and self-control over your spread betting.
• Start out looking for a small profit, not winning enough to retire on. People have made millions out of spread betting, but it is not a get-rich-quick device.
• Cash in your profits when you have made them - as a rule of thumb do not risk your winnings for the chance of making even more money.
• Never chase your losses - you will end up broke.
• Study the early prices as soon as they are posted. On the rare occasions indexation outfits offer great value spreads it is often an oversight or a mistake and is likely to be rectified sooner rather than later.
• If you are going on holiday, check the positions you still have open before leaving and give some serious thought to closing them or narrowing your risk. Tell your indexation company how you can be contacted.

1. What is spread betting? 2. A brief history 3. Spreads on individual equities 4. Spreads on an index 5. Performance spreads 6. Other financial spreads 7. Practical advantages - leverage 8. Practical advantages - going short 9. Practical advantages - hedging 10. Practical advantages - volatile markets 11. Practical advantages - tax 12. Dynamics - think short term 13. Dynamics - the size of the spread 14. Dynamics - upside and downside 15. Dynamics - length of bet 16. Strategy - bet only what you can afford 17. Strategy - cutting losses 18. Strategy - stop losses and limited risk bets 19. Strategy - taking profits 20. Strategy - arbitrage 21. Opening an account 22. Placing a bet and managing your account 23. Regulation 24. Some more tips 25. Conclusion

• The Investors Guide to Financial Spread Betting