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First published in Great Britain in 2009 by Harriman House.
This eBook 2011.
Copyright © Harriman House Ltd
The right of John Piper to be identified as the author has been asserted
in accordance with the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988.
Charts © IG Index, Tenfore and Updata.
ISBN: 978-0-85719-140-3
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A CIP catalogue record for this book can be obtained from the British Library.
All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of the Publisher. This book may not be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise disposed of by way of trade in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published without the prior written consent of the Publisher.
No responsibility for loss occasioned to any person or corporate body acting or refraining to act as a result of reading material in this book can be accepted by the Publisher, by the Author, or by the employer of the Author.
All betting and trading involves risk. To stay safe more than you can afford to lose.
This book is for all those traders out there looking for an edge!
Biography
John has been trading markets since the mid ‘80s, mainly writing options but also trading futures. The highlights have been trading right through the ‘87 Crash (mainly selling put options – hence the lack of hair!), annual turnover exceeding £2m of option premiums on his personal account, managing money in excess of $1m, winning a TV trading contest and generally spending far too much time glued to screens. Whilst abusing himself in this way he also decided to help other traders and started The Technical Trader in 1989 and which has become the leading trading newsletter in the UK. The Technical Trader filled a void and the business has helped many traders over the years. The newsletter can now be found on the web.
Over the years John has developed a number of trading techniques; he summarises his approach as Psycho-Trading – meaning getting into the mind of the market. John spends his time in the Surrey Hills but makes frequent trips to warmer climes with the Hash House Harriers – a club for those who like a drink but who have a running problem!
John runs two market services and one of these exclusively covers binary betting.
Other books by John Piper:
The Way to Trade
The Fortune Strategy
Financial Cataclysm Now!
Binary Betting
If you would like to receive John’s free news sheet send a blank email to [email protected]
The author welcomes feedback and can be contacted at:
[email protected]; his website is www.johnpiper.info
Preface
Anyone who has read my introductory guide to binary betting and wants to know more. The first book was written to explain the basics of binary bets – this one goes a whole lot further!
Those who have been struggling with spread betting, or other forms of betting and trading, who want to find a better way.
Experienced traders will also find a lot of value within these pages. I have traded futures and options for 20 years and there are some very good reasons why I now use binary bets.
Those who do not like paying commissions.
Those who do not like paying tax – because your profits from binary bets will be tax free!
I am writing this advanced book to follow on from where my earlier book, Binary Betting, left off. The earlier book was specifically designed as an introductory guide accessible to experts and novices alike. This second book assumes some knowledge but only as much as you can get from reading the first book. Binary bets offer those who bet on sporting events and trade financial markets some of the best deals available. In this book I am going to take you on a ride through my trading approach and through many trades I have done myself.
Let me give you one example which goes to the heart of why binary bets are so attractive. Chapter 5 is all about trading the news. Most traders run a mile when the news comes out as it can produce sharp moves in both directions, albeit not usually at the same time, but with markets as they were in October 2008 even that would have been no surprise! But with binary bets we welcome the news as a great profit opportunity. Our risk is 100% controlled and the sharp moves which we often see when the news comes out are like a gift from heaven for the binary trader.
Of course you have to choose the right bets. Read on…
Whatever you do in life there is risk and there is a potential reward. When you place a bet you want the maximum reward for the minimum risk. That is a magic formula, a winning formula – and it is a formula which binary bets offer. But only if you handle them correctly – this book tells you how to do just that.
The first chapter kicks off with a “Day in the Life”. In the text I say it was tough but I spent that particular day trading from the tropical paradise that is Phuket and making a decent profit – it does not get much better than that! (I very much enjoy trading and I also very much enjoy tropical paradises. I see no reason at all not to combine the two.) In this chapter I explain why I took the trades I did and we begin to look at how we can trade the market (FTSE in this case) using binary bets.
In Chapters 2 and 3 we leave practice behind and look at some theory. Chapter 2 is concerned with a number of different approaches to trading the markets with binaries and Chapter 3 looks at some of the key bets and outlines ways in which they can be used.
Those three chapters comprise Part I of the book and we then move onto Part II – the Strategies.
In part II we learn how to trade:
longer-term bets with a maximum of six months duration
the news
the waves (Elliott Wave Theory)
the spikes (Market Profile)
the mind of the market
trendlines and moving averages
Part III is a critical part of this book and explains how you, as a human being, interact with the market and how to develop your trading approach.
Part III also includes a lot of essential information on statistics – stuff traders need to know in order to survive.
Finally, in the Appendices you will find a wealth of material to back up some of the key information in this book, including the 5 point trading plan – something that may inspire you!
Introduction