Carver - Leveraged Trading: A professional approach to trading FX, stocks on margin, CFDs, spread bets and futures for all traders

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Leveraged Trading

A professional approach to trading FX, stocks on margin, CFDs, spread bets and futures for all traders Robert Carver

Contents

Abou t the Author

Who should read this book?

How does this book differ from my first book, Systematic Trading

?

Whats coming

The mistakes that losing traders make Why leverage is dangerous

Why you should use a system when you start trading How is this book different from other trading books?

Chapter One : Types of Leveraged Tra ding Product Introduction to leveraged trading

Three key characteristics of leveraged products What products are there for leveraged trading, and how do they work?

Products and underlying instrument are different Chapter Two : Getting Ready to S tart Trading 1. Choosing your trading software, hardware and data feed 2. Choosing which product to trade

3. Choosing your broker

How much money do you need?

Chapter Three : Introduction to Tra ding Systems Why you should use a trading system

Common arguments against using trading systems What makes a good trading system?

Why you should avoid third party trading systems Part Two: Start ing to Trade

Chapter Fo ur : Concepts

Some definitions

Risk and return concepts

Minimum trades and minimum capital

Costs

Chapter Five : Introducing the St arter System An overview of the system

Which instrument and product to trade?

When should we open positions?

How large should positions be?

When should positions be closed?

Chapter Six : Trading the St arter System Before you start trading

Tasks on day one

Tasks on subsequent days

Trading diary

Summary

Chapter Seven : Adding New Markets

Advantages and disadvantages of diversification The theory of diversification

Trading the Starter System adapted for multiple instruments Chapter Eight : Adding New T rading Rules The case for diversification of trading rules My suite of trading rules

How do we use multiple trading rules?

Using multiple trading rules in practice Part Four: Adva nced Trading

Chapter Nine : From Discrete to Contin uous Trading Why it can be safe to trade without a stop loss Continuous trading

Practical trading without a stop loss

Chapter Ten : Positio n Adjustment

Adjusting position size for confidence: non-binary trading Adjusting position size for risk

Adjusting position size without incurring heavy trading costs Practical non-binary trading

Chapter Eleven : What Next?

1. Improvements to the Starter System

2. Back-testing and designing your own system 3. Semi-Automatic Trading

Appendices

Appendix A: Useful Information

Further reading

Useful websites

Appen dix B: Costs

Transaction costs

Holding costs

Total costs

Minimum capital and costs

Smarter execution to avoid the spread

Appendix C: Calculations

Back-adjusting prices

Instrument risk calculation

Moving average calculations

Breakout calculations

Performance ratio

Ackn owledgements

Publis hing details

Reviews of Systematic Trading by Robert Carver

A remarkable look inside systematic trading never seen before, spanning the range from small to institutional traders. Reading this will benefit all traders.

Perry Kaufman, author of Trading Systems and Methods

Rob goes into a level of depth which most trading book authors either deliberately avoid or simply lack knowledge of. Robs background in the industry is beyond reproach and the informational contents of his book shows his experience and depth of knowledge. If you want to enter the professional systematic trading field, Robs book is a must.

Andreas Clenow, CIO Acies Asset Management and author of Following The Trend

Being a hedge fund manager myself and having personally read almost all major investment and trading books, this is by far one of the best books I have read in over 15 years on a tough subject for most.

Josh Hawes, Hedge fund manager

Robert has had very valuable experience working for many years in a large quant hedge fund, which makes the book doubly worth reading.... Well worth a read for anyone who trades, in particular for systematic traders (whether youre a novice or more experienced)!

Saeed Amen, FX trader and author of Trading Thalesians Reviews of Smart Portfolios by Robert Carver

Ive been a fan of Robert Carvers work for quite a while now, and this book definitely adds to the knowledge and experiences he willingly shares with others. Carver skillfully mixes theory and practicality, making this a great reference guide for intermediate and very experienced traders alike. Highly recommended!

Kevin Davey, Champion full-time trader, author of Building Winning Algorithmic Trading Systems

In Finance (like many other subjects) there is a large amount of research that is smart but impractical and an equally large amount of popular literature that is practical but dumb. This book is in that rare category of smart and practical it is also an entertaining read in its own right.

Francis Breedon, Professor of Finance, Queen Mary, University of London and former global head of currency research at Lehman Brothers

The book is a solid piece of work so check it out... Its about the process and there are some really practical ways,

mathematical ways, to put a good process in motion for your life.

Michael Covel, author of Trend Following

When you combine ignorance and leverage, you get some pretty interesting results.

Warren Buffett, legendary investor

the best minds were destroyed by the oldest and most famously addictive drug in finance, leverage.

Carol Loomis, Fortune magazine 1998

Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 81% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how these products work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Risk warning from a brokerage web page About the Author

Robert Carver is an independent trader, investor and writer. He spent over a decade working in the City of London before retiring from the industry in 2013. Robert initially traded exotic derivative products for Barclays Investment Bank and then worked as a portfolio manager for AHL one of the worlds largest hedge funds before, during and after the global financial meltdown of 2008. He was responsible for the creation of AHLs fundamental global macro strategy, and subsequently managed the funds multi-billion dollar fixed incom e portfolio.