subject: Fear and Greed - A Beginners Guide [print this page] Fear and Greed - A Beginners Guide Fear and Greed - A Beginners Guide
I regard my self as a beginner to the world of financial spread betting. Although I have now been spread betting since February 2009 I regard myself a beginner as I have yet to fully master my self which I believe is the most important factor to becoming a successful spread better.
Self mastery is not an easy task. It's one that will take you on a roller coaster of emotions before you settle on your way. I started spread betting with the view "How hard can it be?". When I started to trade with real money I soon realised it's a lot harder than I though.
There is a path that every spread better must walk and it will take each individual on a different route to the same destination of spread betting success. I believe I'm only half way along that path and still have a way to go before I refer to myself as a successful spread better, if it even happens.
When anyone first begins to spread bet they can be forgiven for thinking they have their emotions in check. After all they know a bargain when they see one and know when it's time to walk away from a bad deal. The reality however is very different and I know when I started trading I was shocked to find myself not cutting losses in the hope of an eventual rebound to at least breakeven and selling out of winning trades before the winning had run its course. This is because my 'Fear' & 'Greed' emotions were coming into play.
I don't class myself as a greedy person. As long as I have enough to survive with possibly a little extra if possible then I am Happy. Neither do I think I am a fearful person. "A life lived in fear is not a life worth living". Therefore I thought spread betting would be as easy as selling water in the desert. The only way I have learnt to deal with my emotions is to let the trades take care of them selves. I now have a trading strategy that I stick to and only move stops according to this strategy. I use limit and stop orders to place my trades and use stop loss orders to limit my initial risk and lock in profits as the trade moves in my favour. I still have a long way to go before I can call myself a successful spread better but I believe with time and patience I will get there eventually.
To quote Winston Churchill "This is not the end, it is not the beginning of the end, but it is the end of the beginning". It's exactly how I feel about my spread betting journey. I feel that I have overcome my biggest flaw and can now enjoy the rest of my ride on the path to spread betting success. I don't doubt that I will hit a few bumps in the road along the way, but as long as they don't cause me to crash I should be able to continue to the end, if there is such a thing in this industry. For now the journey continues. Until next time, "May the markets be with you!" Harry, The Spread betting beginner.
