Independent Investor

Talibi’s books “The Black Swan” and “Fooled by Randomness” argue, reasonably convincingly, that extreme events are under priced in the current market due to a lack of experience and the over reliance on mathematical models in trading.
To take advantage of this they advocate a “dumbbell strategy” which basically is that 80% of assets are kept in the safest types of stocks, blue chip corporate bonds or government gilts which slowly bear interest.  The other 20% of assets should be kept in stocks that will …

If you’re thinking about shorting the market either through contracts for difference or financial spread betting it must seem quite tempting now.  The market is having a bad January so far.  But the question is whether it will keep falling.
As always we can give one answer with total certainty: We don’t know.  All that follows are guesses.
Firstly the market has been rising for a very long time since its lows in March.  In March the market was on the floor so it was perhaps …

As human beings we are blessed (or otherwise) with not knowing when we will die.  This means that we are not quite sure where we are in our physical lifecycle.  However we actually have a pretty good idea of where we are in our investment lifecycle.
The investment lifecycle is simply where you are in your life and what your investment should be doing for you at that time. It also helps to decide what your priorities are when it comes to risk and return, …

One of the worst things about trading in the Christmas period is the volatility.  One of the best things about trading in the Christmas period is the volatility.
The Christmas period, which lasts from the third week of December to the second week of January is a notably frisky period for just about any trading, and financial spread betting – which is more exposed to volatility than ordinary trading – is even more exposed to this.
The reason for this is quite simple; a lot of the …

Trading plan must have complete sets of rules, which cover each aspect of trader’s trading.
What instrument (forex, shares, financial spread betting, options, CFD and so on) you would like to trade & why? I trade stock & forex not just because I like forex or stock market I have an definite reasons for trading all those, you have to know why you trade an individual stock and not index?
What is the best time to trade and why? (Suppose for the forex London open is a …