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Please be patient if this question sounds too basic. Why is it easier to forecast spreads instead of single directional bets? Shouldn't forecasting spreads be more difficult? In spread bets, one needs to be correct on 2 directions since 2 bets are involved. For directional bet, one needs only to...

Hi bone, What are the advantages of doing spreads instead of directional bets? Why do the big boys have this preference for doing spreads? Some size advantage that small retail traders don't have?

Hi MrMuppet, Thank you for your insights. I am a retail guy and I don't know the considerations and problems faced by the big institution guys. As a retail person, we use stop losses to manage risks. For big institutions, if stop losses are totally out of the question, how do they manage risks?

Maybe this oil fund manager's position in oil trade was too huge to get out. I find it hard to believe something as basic as stops which a retail person like me can appreciate can go unappreciated by someone as advanced as this hedge fund manager. He is definitely richer and more successful than...

Even if they are bad at technical trading, they should have stop losses in case their theme did not play out. With stop losses in place, it is hard to imagine how a fund can suffer >20% losses in a single month.

So, is it fair to say his book does provide value to the reader? If James Cordier had followed his own advice in the book, he would not have blow up? I have not read his book. His blow-up catches my attention.

I have not read the book written by this blow-up option seller. I think even if a person blows up, that does not mean he does not write well or does not teach well. I know of failed traders/investors switching career to training traders/investors instead of actually trading/investing. Whitney...

There are hedge funds that specialise mainly in oil. However, there are no hedge funds that specialise mainly in trading USD or AUD or JPY or Gold or bond futures. These instruments are just as liquid. Why is oil so special that there are hedge funds that trade mainly in it? Is it easier to...

It is misleading of OP to open a thread using a news article 1 year ago. I found it hard to believe the headline initially because I thought shorting oil was an easy trade since Oct 2018. Look at the chart and it should be easy for the elitetraders here to see. Why would a prominent oil hedge...

Thanks for all the answers. Some argue against paper trading because paper trading is super slow compared to back-testing. Back-testing is much faster because testing period can be over several years and results appear within minutes. So, why paper-trade when back-testing is far more...

I would like to ask the elitetraders here if they make use of paper trading to improve their trading/investment performance. Is it a waste of time or are there indeed benefits from paper trading? Interactive Brokers provide a good paper trading platform. If it is really a waste of time as I...

There was bloomberg article about them. Basically, the fund closed because returns were declining because the trades became crowded as the strategy caught on. Closure was not closed by losses or blow-up like optionsellers. Investors in the fund made money and had a good ride...

May I ask who is we? Does it include retail customers?

What is meant by QEP? Why don't CTAs market their performance on the website if it's good? Due to regulatory restriction? It's common sense to me and good marketing practice.

It should be safe to short bitcoin through CME futures. Futures are well regulated and CME is reputable futures exchange with a track record to protect.

I thought they stop at disclosing investment can be lost 100%. If they state clearly than more than 100% can be lost, it's fine. Limited risk and unlimited risk are worlds apart and ought to be highlighted clearly to clients.

I assume that funds that disclose performance on their websites publicly are better than those who do not. If I have to email and request, it probably means the performance is bad. Something to hide. If something is worth boasting, it will be on the website.

That's a separate issue. It's about proper risk disclosure to clients.

Thank you very much for highlighting the risk in investing in CTAs. Knowing can save many families of financial hardship just in case bad things happen. Not saying CTAs are bad as an asset class but such a terrible risk should be underlined in bold in the risk disclosures and not clouded in...

That is not being 100% truthful. The 100% honest truth is that clients can lose MORE than their entire investment. When investing in CTA, clients must be aware that the account is separate managed and they can lose more than 100% of their investment.