Making a living from spread betting

It is surprising that despite spread betting being quite commonplace nowadays and considered a mass market alternative investment strategy, many people have not heard of it.  

Many get quite excited when they start reading about spread betting. After all, it can sound remarkably simple when you hear that you can make money whether the market rises or falls and can place a trade on foreign currency, the FTSE, individual shares, commodities and pretty much anything – all you have to do is predict the direction in which the market will move and wait for the trade to expire. There are professional spread traders out there who make hundreds of thousands of pounds each year spread trading.

However, it is not that simple. It takes a lot of time to acquire the knowledge you need.

Many people become attracted to volatile penny shares that are difficult to predict, or ‘day trading’ systems being sold on the internet. Luck is not something you want to rely upon.

It is important to learn the spread betting terminology and trade; there are plenty of resources to read and you need to learn to cut your losses short and let your profits run, avoid risking too much of your capital, learn to use stop losses and not to become emotionally involved. Anyone can make a living from spread betting, but not easily.