Spread Betting Strategies for New Traders: By The Spread Bettor

LONDON, March 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Spread betting offers a fantastic entry level into a range of markets for new traders - and I should know, I myself was a new trader not so long ago.

When I started trading with a City Index spread betting account, my confidence and knowledge was low (you'll find, especially as you begin trading, that these two can sometimes go hand-in-hand). However, they offer a wide selection of trading education tools and resources, from in-house seminars at their London office, to webinars that I could fit around work.

On that note, I - like many new traders - work full time and spread betting is a part time hobby. Which leads me to my next point; the City Index mobile apps allow me to trade on the go from wherever I am, and whenever I want, with full and secure access to my account and their professional trading platform.

At this early stage, you're going to require some guidance; where to go, how to go and what to do. Well, to start, we're going to cover your trading strategy.

To give you an idea of how important a trading strategy is - it is highly recommended by experienced traders to never place a single trade, until you have one in place.

Trading Strategy

A trading strategy offers you guidelines and goals to trade by, making sure to avoid impulse trades or let emotions take over (which can often happen when a market moves in your favour).

Joshua Raymond, Chief Market Strategist at City Index commented: "One common mistake I find from spread bettors is that they can go into a position without having a clearly defined profit or loss strategy.

"This can make trading very difficult and leave spread bettors open to what I call 'impulse trades' where they may enter or close a trade prematurely."

He adds that before a trade, having a defined trading strategy and risk management plan is an 'important step for beginners, [in order] to understand the market that they trade'.

Managing Risk

As you start researching more, you'll start to hear about various types of 'orders'. To summarise, these orders are risk management tools to help you limit your losses.

Stop loss orders stops your losses at predetermined levels set by you through your trading strategy, with the aim to reduce your risk.

First, you must consider how much you are willing to lose before you place your spread bet.

Conclusion

Spread betting with City Index has opened up a world of opportunities for myself and other traders choosing to trade with them.

From trading on the move with mobile apps; a professional trading platform with a suite of trading tools; and extensive trading education tools to help me learn to trade and continue to evolve as a trader.

The Spread Bettor

Spread betting and CFD trading are leveraged products which can result in losses greater than your initial deposit. Ensure you fully understand the risks.

About City Index:

Today more and more individual traders are discovering the benefits of derivatives, and many of them are discovering them through a City Index trading platform.

As a group, we transact in excess of 1.5 million trades every month in over 50 countries. We provide access to a wide range of instruments including margined foreign exchange, CFDs and, in the UK, financial spread betting.

We constantly look to improve the performance of our platforms and expand our range of services. The result is our customers benefit from innovative trading tools with transparent pricing, competitive spreads, and a high standard of customer support. Visit http://www.cityindex.co.uk/ for details.