The Sports Trader

Monday 10th September 2007

The Sports Trader had a very quiet day today with only 8 horse races and 1 tennis match traded.

I started in the early hours of the morning with the USA Open tennis final where I had laid Federer at the start hoping that Djokovic would get a set or at least brake federer's serve. In the end there where chances to get out very early on but I decided to hang in for more profit. This was the wrong decision and I was left chasing the game to eventually get out with a loss of £3.

My race trading got off to a bad start in the 14:10 at Bath where I backed Blue Zenith for £164 @ 1.92 only to see her beaten on the line by a short head to cost me £164.

In the next race at Bath, the 14:40, I managed to claw back most of my opening loss as I backed  Palm Court for £230 @ 1.70 to result in a profit of £161. My next to trades both resulted in small profits.

My next trade was in the 16:45 at Galway where I laid Rekaab for £26 @ 10.00 for a profit of £26. Next came another small winning trade.

In the 18:45 at Galway backed Zaffran Star for £74 @ 1.28 to result in a profit of £21.

The final trade of my day came in the 19:15 at Galway. I backed Our Little Club for £34 @ 1.20 when attempting to lead from the start to the finish of the race but he was headed in the finla 50 yards to cost me £34.

My day had finished with a profit of £12. 

Sunday 9th September 2007

A good performance again from the Sports Trader after trading on 1 football match and 13 horse races.

My day started in the late morning as I watched the U17 football match between Spain and Nigeria. I started to trade late in the second half, when the score was still 0 - 0, with a back of the draw for £46 @ 1.42 which I laid off @ 1.31. Then in the 88th minute I backed the draw for £760 @ 1.25 and laid off @ 1.13 for £46, 1.11 for £295, 1.10 for £131 and 1.06 for £297. I had one final lay at 1.02 for £40 to partially green up and I finished the match with a profit of £124.

My horse race trading got under way with the 14:35 at Cork which resulted in a small profit. In the 14:50 at York I laid Tugalu for £30 @ 3.00 to result in a profit of £30.

Next was the 15:15 at Fontwell where I had backed Mapilut du Molin for £50 @ 3.00 only to see him overtaken soon after the last hurdle to cost me £50. This result broke my record streak of 45 trades without a loss. My next trade resulted in a small profit.

In the 15:35 at Stratford I backed Ellerslie Tom for £47 @ 1.82 before only managing to lay off £29 @ 1.59, which resulted in a loss of £18. My next 6 trades all resulted in small profits.

In the 17:30 at York I laid El Alamein for £13 @ 9.00 to give me a profit of £13. The final race trade of my day was in the 17:35 at Galway where I backed Cool Running for £199 @ 1.25 to result in a profit of £50.

My day had finished with a profit of £175.

That was the end of my best week for a while where I ended up with a profit of £1989.

Saturday 8th September 2007

Another good day for the Sports Trader with 17 horse races and 1 football match traded and again no losing trades.

The first trade of my day was in the 14:05 at Haydock where I backed Indian Trail for £169 @ 1.60 to result in a profit of £101. My next 9 trades all resulted in small profits.

In the 16:10 at Haydock laid Little Big Boy for £121 @ 7.80 before backing back £14 @ 12.00 to result in a profit of £107. Next I had 3 more small but profitable trades.

In the 16:50 at Stratford I backed Waterspray for £111 @ 2.00 and then laid off @ 1.35 to result in a profit of £72. The final 2 race trades of my day both resulted in small profits.

My race trading had finished with a profit of £321.

Later in the evening I watched the Portugal v Poland UEFA European Qualifying football match and I backed the draw for £151 @ 1.18, with the score at 2 - 2 and with 2 minutes of normal time to go, which resulted in a profit of £27.

My day had finished with a profit of £348. 

Friday 7th September 2007

A good solid day for the Sports Trader with 11 horse races traded and no losing trades.

My day got under way with the 13:50 at Newbury where I laid Slam for £100 @ 2.00 to result in a profit of £100. My next 3 trades all resulted in small profits.

In the 14:55 at Newbury I backed Gulf Express for £20 @ 2.10 to give me another £22 profit. I had a similar result in my next trade, also at Newbury, in the 15:30 where I backed Beaver Patrol for £50 @ 1.30 to result in a profit of £15.

In the 16:30 at Kilbeggan I laid Dr Swanini for £50 @ 3.00 and then backed back £20 @ 4.00 and £5 @ 4.50 to result in a profit of £10.

My next trade was in the 16:45 at Haydock, and here I laid Mirthful for £40 @ 7.00 to result in a profit of £40. I followed this with 2 small winning trades.

My final race trade of the day was in the 21:20 at Kempton where I laid I Have Dreamed for £15 @ 5.30 before greening up with a back for £3 @ 8.50 to leave me with a profit of £12.

My trading had finished for the day with a profit of £215.

Thursday 6th September 2007

The Sports Trader had a very slow day today and only traded on 7 horse races and 1 football match but with no losing trades.

My day got underway with 5 small winning trades. In the 16:40 at Salisbury I backed Tranquil Tiger for £50 @ 2.00 before laying off @ 1.60 to result in a profit of £20. I followed this with another small winning trade.

That was the end of my race trading and it had produced a profit of £48.

In the evening I had a small trade on the Stafford Rangers v Halifax football match where I backed Halifax for £125 @ 1.13 during injury time to produce a profit of £14.

My day had finished with a profit of £62.

Wednesday 5th September 2007

The Sports Trader was having a reasonable day until an hour of bad results in the evening which  left me nursing a loss.

I started my day with 2 small winning trades. Then in the 15:35 at York I backed Echo of Light for £20 @ 2.20 to give me a profit of £24.

Next was the 15:55 at Hereford, and here I laid Bollitree Bob for £67 @ 5.80 before backing back £28 @ 8.00 and £23 @ 7.00 to result in a profit of £16. I followed this with another small winning trade.

In the 17:10 at York I laid Daryl for £20 @ 12.00 to give me a profit of £20.

Now came my hour of bad results, it started with the 18:35 at Clonmel where I backed Hansom Prophet for £76 @ 2.94 to lose me £76.

In the next at Clonmel, the 19:05, I backed Spiriton for £68 @ 1.71 when leading but again I just got touched off on the run in to cost me £68.

The last of my losing run came in the 19:35 at Clonmel where I had backed Present D'Aze for £183 @ 5.00 to lose me a further £183.

Thankfully things got a little better after that as my next and final race trade resulted in a small profit.

My race trading had ended up losing me £247.

Later in the evening I had a small trade on the Davydenko v Hass tennis match which resulted in a profit of £18.

Mt day had therefore ended with a loss of £229.  

Tuesday 4th September 2007

The Sports Trader had a good day after trading on 10 horse races, 1 football match and 1 cricket match with just 1 losing trade.

My day started slowly with 2 small winning trades. In the 14:45 at Lingfield I laid Steal My Fire for £110 @ 2.60  before backing back £90 @ 2.68 to leave me with a profit of £20.

Next was the 14:55 at Sedgefield where I laid Armentieres for £30 @ 21.00 to result in a profit of £30. I followed this with a small winning trade.

In the 15:20 at Lingfield I laid Confucius Classic for £7 @ 6.00 and Bucharest for £5 @ 32.00 to result in a profit of £12.

My next trade was also at Lingfield, in the 16:30, where I laid Zalkani for £12 @ 11.00 to result in a profit of £12. I followed this with another small winning trade.

My only losing trade of the day came next, in the 17:15 at Sedgefield, where I laid Court One for £4 @ 9.50 to lose me £34. The last trade of my day ended with a small profit.

My race trading for the day had produced a profit of £52.

In the evening I traded in the under 2.5 goals market on the Oxford United v Exeter football match. I started with a back of the unders for £220 @ 2.40 after the first goal had been scored and laid this off at  an average price of 2.13. After the second goal had been scored I backed the unders for £817 @ 2.20 and laid this off at  an average price of 2.02. I then made further lays to green up my position @ 2.00 to leave me with a profit of £90 whatever the result.   

Later in the evening I caught the final few overs of the Kent v Surrey cricket match where I backed Surrey for £85 @ 1.06 before laying off £100 @ 1.01 to produce a profit of £4.

My day had finished with a profit of £146.

 

Monday 3rd September 2007

This has been one of the most enjoyable days of trading for the Sports Trader, not just because of the result but as there were a few really good trading opportunities. I ended up trading 2 tennis matches, one at either end of the day, 4 horse races and 1 football match.

My day started with the Ginepri v Wawrinka tennis match that had started the evening before but didn't finish until the early hours of today. I am still trying to get used to trading tennis so I was using very small stakes but still came out with a profit of £20.

My first race trade was in the 14:40 at Lingfield where I laid Contented for £100 @ 3.00 to give me a profit of £100.

In the 16:35 at Roscommon someone must have made a huge mistake as with the price for Graceful Star around evens all of a sudden about £2k at 1.20 became available to lay. I took what I could get and ended up with £795 @ 1.20. I put up a back @ 2.25 for £250 but only got matched for £45 so I ended the race with a loss of £103. Even though I lost money it was still a good trade and I so nearly came away with a decent profit.

My next trade was in the 17:00 at Wolverhampton and this resulted in the best result of my day, no week, no month as I backed Opal Haze for £1294 @ 2.00. I did lay off just £10 @ 1.70 before cancelling my lays as it became apparent that she would win. I therefore ended the race with a £1287 profit.

In the 17:10 at Lingfield I laid Almahaza for £22 @ 21.00 to result in a profit of £22.

My last race trade of the day was in the 19:15 at Roscommon where again I had a brilliant opportunity to make a good trade, but alas this one slipped away. With less than 2 furlongs to go Seeking Justice was in a clear lead but I still managed to back her for £28 @ 82.00, for a potential profit of £2270. I put up lays @ 5.00 but could only get matched for £15. I also laid Teffia Native for £7 @ 3.00 so I ended the race with a loss of £7. Seeking Justice eventually finished 3rd and less than a length from the winner.

So my race trading had finished with a profit of £1298.

I watched the Blackpool v Hull football match in the evening  but did not get involved until in injury time when I backed the draw for £83 @ 1.20 which appeared to be a great price, however as many people know to their significant cost a goal was scored in the 4th minute of extra time to give Blackpool a win and cost me £83.

Finlay later in the evening I traded on the Hass v Blake tennis match and managed to come out with a profit of £37.

My day had finished with a profit of £1272.

Away from trading altogether, I came across a website the other day that gives people the chance to invest in small businesses in the developing world. I have always been a little reluctant to give to charities as I do not like the thought that a large slice of the money donated goes to pay the salaries of the administrators and even to corrupt officials instead of the people in need. Kiva is an organisation that allows you to lend money directly to individuals in developing countries that are trying to run a small business to support their families. They have raised over $10 million and have a default rate of just 0.28%. So although it is a charity, any money you invest will be returned at the end of the loan term which is typically 6 - 12 months. The idea is that you would then reinvest the money into other worthy small businesses. I think it is a great idea and have got involved already. Normally you can only invest $25 / business so your investment is spread over many businesses and therefore spreads your risks. Yahoo News has just released this video about Kiva, its well worth watching.   

Sunday 2nd September 2007

It was a strange day for the Sports Trader where I traded on 16 horse races and 1 football match but where all my trades ended with just small profits or break-even.

My race trades ended up giving me a profit of £83.

The football match that I traded was the Villarreal v Real Madrid game where the final score was 0 - 5, a very entertaining match and luckily I had got out of my position to finish the match with no profit or loss.

So my day had finished with a profit of £83. This left me with a profit for the week of £802.

Regular readers may have noticed that I have put up a new link to the Trading Tennis blog.  I only trade tennis on a few occasions throughout the year and have found this blog to be very useful in understanding the way other traders approach this sport. The two writers of the blog give a live commentary pre and during important matches to enable readers to follow their trades.

Saturday 1st September 2007

The Sports Trader has managed to get September started profitably after trading on 16 horse races and 1 football match.

The first trade of this new month was in the 14:25 at Newton Abbot where I laid Tension Point for £5 @ 3.60 to start with a loss of £13. My next trade ended with a small profit.

In the 15:00 at Newton Abbot I laid Quick for £16 @ 10.00 and a further £10 @ 12.00 to result in a profit of £26.

My next trade was also at the same venue and was in the 15:35, here I laid Chilling Place for £18 @ 30.00 and for 314 @ 34.00 to give me another £32 profit. I followed this with 2 small winning trades.

In the 16:15 at Sandown I laid Gleaming Spirit for £31 @ 5.10 to result in a profit of £31.

Next was the 16:30 at Down Royal where I backed Temlett for £17 to lose £17. I followed this with another small but profitable trade.

In the 16:40 at Kilbeggan I laid Uncle Junior for £48 @ 5.00 for a profit of £48 and in the 17:15 at Newton Abbot I laid Frosty Jak for £26 @ 11.00 before backing back £4 @ 18 to result in a profit of £22.

The worst result of my day came next, in the 17:30 at Musselburgh, where I laid Cool Ebony for £20 @ 5.33 to cost me £87.

Next I had two small but profitable trades and followed these with the 19:25 at Musselburgh where I laid Blazing Heights for £20 @ 8.50 to give me a profit of £20.

The last race trade of my day came in the 19:40 at Kilbeggan where I laid Damien's Oscar for £52 @ 10.00 to result in a profit of £52.

My race trading had finished with a profit of £142.

In the evening the live Spanish football match was between Real Zaragoza and Racing Santander and as usual I traded on the under 2.5 goals market. I started with a back of the unders for £92 @ 1.82 and then a further £4 @ 1.68 and started laying off @ 1.58 for £46 followed by lays @ 1.53 for £20, 1.36 for £10 and 1.30 for £10 and then I had one further lay to green up my position for £28 @ 1.16 to leave me with a profit of £28 whatever the result.

I also backed the draw in the injury time for £149 @ 1.14 to result in a profit of £21.

My day had finished with a total profit of £191.