Friday 23 August 2013

Automation

In the video below, I am scalp trading a high liquidity Group 1 York race from yesterday.  I find this type of trading very mentally exhausting.  You have to make many decisions really quickly and just concentrate intensively throughout the pre-race period.

What if I could automate this!

Well that would be amazing to have some automated bot do all that mind draining work for me.  So, it's early days but I'm going to add looking at the Betfair API to my long todo list.

Tuesday 13 August 2013

My new workspace

I have completely declutted my desk, bought a second 24 inch monitor and moved the keyboard and mouse onto the top of the desk.  They were on a sliding tray beneath the desk which was uncomfortable to use for long periods.  I think I was getting repetitive strain injury.  I've also subscribed to Racing UK so live pictures can only help.

Well, I've got the tools now so need to produce the goods!

Tuesday 6 August 2013

The Art of Scratching

For those readings who don't know, scratching is the same as when you buy and sell at the same price therefore making no profit but more importantly not making a loss too.

From this race of last week's Goodwood, you can see I am constantly placing orders, assessing if it's a good deal or not and then sell or buy at the same price if I consider it's not good deal.  I have literally milliseconds to make these decisions and this skill is essential if I am to master scalping.  I think I'm getting better at this and can only improve with practise.


Friday 2 August 2013

July review

I'm £20 down in July and that's fine.  I think my trading skill level has increased in this month more than any other time.  I can scalp, scratch without hesitation and read the market better recognising potential price swings.

My downfall is still going in-play and not cutting losses quick enough.
I guess it's good that I know what my problems are but unless I reduce these weaknesses, I cannot use significantly increased stakes.  So, for now I will concentrate on this side of trading, minimising losses.

Here's a good video, 15:25 Nottingham, which demonstrates I am reading the market better and reacting in a sensible manner to avoid any danger. Initially, the prices were bouncing around and I couldn't work out which horse to trade then with about 02:30 remaining, it was obvious at the time.  Although, looking back, I missed an outsider, Rising Breeze, steaming in which would have been an even better move to get on.