£26 in 26 seconds – Volatile markets….

Fast Money?…

After my last post, where I mentioned that for every strategy there is an alternate one, I thought it would be a good idea to post something slightly different.

Most of the full-timers, myself included, often focus on bigger events like the Grand National. These events typically offer better opportunities as the markets behave differently, making it easier to get larger stakes through.

But it’s not all about turning over huge stakes. Sometimes, thinner, poorer-quality races can throw up a good opportunity too. The key to success in these markets is avoiding what I call “maybe trades.”

This afternoon, there were some thin racing markets on offer—not the best quality at all. But I used the time to experiment with a few different things, and an interesting opportunity cropped up!

(Click image to enlarge)

Take a look at the market overview chart on the left. It’s a short-term chart, and you’ll see the line plotted for Mohaayed has dropped from 3.10 to 2.66 in a matter of seconds—crazy.

Before this, Mohaayed was trading around 3.25. It doesn’t take much common sense to realize that such a quick, 19-tick movement is a bit unrealistic.

To add to the mix, there was some large money chasing it down—possibly someone caught out or on the wrong side of things. There would have needed to be significant market support to keep it at that lower level after such a rapid move.

If you’ve read the guide, you’ll recognize this as a lower-quality race where you wouldn’t expect the price action to be very fluent or “true.”

So it made perfect sense to lay Mohaayed at the bottom, just as the flurry of movement started to subside.

On the right screenshot, you can see exactly why this was a good call. Possibly one of the easiest trades all day. I laid it for just under £500, which may be more than most aspiring traders would use, but you can’t argue with the result—a £26 profit in 26 seconds (£27 by the time I fully exited the stake).

If only every return could be that quick!

While big events are great for putting large volumes through the markets, there are also plenty of smaller events that can bring a solid return for the complete opposite reason.

The only mistake I may have made here was not backing the original favourite, Zafilani, too… but maybe that’s just me being a bit greedy. Over-exposure and using larger stakes is often the downfall in weak-quality markets, as the volume isn’t there to manage the risk as effectively. But with a move as extreme as this, it wasn’t all that bad.

For a Sunday, which I don’t trade as heavily as I used to, the markets felt pretty sweet.

There was some unusual activity mid-afternoon with huge stakes sitting around, although that’s becoming more of a norm these days.

If you’re in a Monday-Friday job, it’s a good time to gain experience with these weaker markets. And with evening markets available now, there’s loads of opportunity—so make the most of it!

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