More oil

I am beginning to wonder whether the mere fact that people are betting on oil moving to $200 a barrel will not in some way become a self fulfilling prophecy. The interesting thing about options trading is that the easiest way to go broke (other than writing puts) is to buy deep out of the money options.…

Details

CFDs

The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) in a profound act of ignorance and nannying has called for a ban on investors trading derivatives such as CFDs until they can prove that they are capable of doing so. ”In our experience, the only investors who trade in CFDs successfully are sophisticated traders who watch and manage their…

Details

More oil

I am beginning to wonder whether the mere fact that people are betting on oil moving to $200 a barrel will not in some way become a self fulfilling prophecy. The interesting thing about options trading is that the easiest way to go broke (other than writing puts) is to buy deep out of the…

Details

The Science of Traffic Jams

You might ask what do traffic jams have to do with trading but have a look at the graphic below and think about how natural systems have a tendency to bunch, trend and have differing level of synchronization. Traders often think that markets are somehow distinct from the natural world – I think this view…

Details

Dow

Traders often complain about ranging markets and the difficulties they present. However, this is once again a reflection of the short sightedness that traders have and the belief that if the market is not doing something, whatever that something may be then it will never do anything ever again. I have a slightly different view…

Details