Typically February is a dead month…
Aside from October and it’s one of my least favourable months of the year when it comes to trading.
Why? the racing is $h!te, there’s no point beating about the bush. It’s just how it is. Obviously there’s still plenty of cash to be scooped, but it’s never as fun as the summer months. Race-cards are routinely cancelled, poor weather can play havoc with scheduling, and the quality of racing isn’t much better.
I thought I’d take the opportunity to slip in this slightly more personal post after the recent ‘dry’ but useful educational ones.
February Trades…
We started with a bloody good bombing!!!
You know, just a few casual bets of £10,000 plus. It started right at the beginning of the month, although didn’t carry on that long. As always the best opportunities are the first few in which this happens. By the 5th race everyone and his dog are just waiting for it. I posted up on twitter the first time it happened as it looked as though it could have been a genuine gamble.
The second time around I had a look over the road and PeeWee was filling his boots too! It’s times like that you see who’s actually in the markets. It was good to see a few followers done well out it too.
But the fun was short-lived, unfortunately… and we’re back to the usual February racing. Roll on Cheltenham…
February Fun?
It’s not all doom and gloom though. I managed to get out a couple of times this month so far. Once to the races and another to ‘ICE totally gaming’ for a few beers, some scantily clad women and… a lot of fruit machines. Clearly they’re the easiest method of extracting money from the ‘recreational’ punters.
Having seen Peter there he told me he’d been frog-marched away for trying to make a YouTube video in-front of all the machines. Hardly suprising as I’m sure he wasn’t talking about what a good opportunity they are to use…
Either way, it was an excuse to get out the office, catch a few meetings and see what it was all about. I’ll probably not bother going next year thought in truth.
So it depends on how you view it. Is trading the only thing that constitutes ‘fun’? Not for me. There’s plenty of fresh, higher-volume racing just around the corner anyhow!
Coming Weeks…
The only other thought right now is the need for another break away. But where?
Suggestions welcome (comment below).
I’m quite aware I’ve had too a lot of breaks away over the last 6 months. I probably don’t need another, but with everything picking up in March and the flat in April there’s always the urge to make the most of the quiet period.
It’s about time I did some more sensible stuff with the fruits of my labour. What exactly I’m not sure yet, more property seems to be the natural answer from most. It probably has to be done over the longer-term, but right now it looks just like something else that will consume a lot of my time.
Related: Trading Rewards
3 thoughts on “February Fun… (Depending on How You View It)”
The one thing I find frustrating as a new trader trying to hone my skills in February is having a full time job with only the greyhounds in the evening leaving just the weekends for the nags. Roll on the summer I say. Have you tried the Californian west coast? An amazing drive!
I feel your pain, years back i felt much the same. Regards California, not done that just yet… may have to put it on the list! Cheers
Great blog and youtube channel Caan. Just reading my way back through your blog from the beginning and you’ve come a long way since then. Definitely someone to look up to. Obviously trading is a marathon not a sprint and I am very determined to achieve success. I’m reading blogs and forum comments as well as watching Youtube videos of yourself and Peter Webb in action. Also ordered the book trading in the zone. I’ve known how the exchange works for a while as I have a matched betting background but only started trading in January. More downs than ups as you can imagine. I get to trade an hour on my dinner at work which is about 5 races then some on a Wednesday and Thursday night. I don’t get to trade the weekends much as I’m always busy (long distance girlfriend and a season ticket for Man Utd). Results are very erratic yet I remain positive and determined. I’ve chased losses a few times. I’ve not took anything in play yet but I have clicked frantically around the screen not paying attention to anything when something goes against me, Making the loss far worse than it originally was. I’m currently on 46% strike rate. The losses outweigh the wins by some way. Not scratching early enough and then cashing out winning trades too early seems to be a recurring theme (although this has improved slightly compared to last month). I need to relax more definitely. I can go on a run of 5 winning trades and everything clicks. Then a run of 5 losing ones. 1 step forwards 2 step back.
By no means am I expecting to be a pro in 7 weeks. I know this is going to take months and months of hard graft. I just was looking for some reassurance from someone who has been there and got the t shirt that a strike rate of 46% and the losses outweighing the wins by some margin is perfectly normal? Did you experience this too when you first started out? I know you’re busy but any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Cheers