Product Description

Should we be afraid that in the digital era, anyone with a
broadband connection and a few hundred pounds can gatecrash the elite world
of City traders - even if, like Sally Nicoll, they are numerically
dyslexic?

Sally is looking for a source of extra cash to fund a sabbatical, while she
writes a novel, and decides spread betting is the answer. She tries to open
an account with Finspreads - their web site has the best colour scheme -
only to discover she's been credit blacklisted. Instead of being thankful
for divine inter vention, she complains to the marketing department and is
hired to write an online trading diary.

Bets and the City is based on Sally's enormously popular column for
Finspreads. She says, "I soon discovered that most traders and spread
better s go broke within the first year. And I was determined that wasn't
going to happen to me. I come from a gambling family, and it looked pretty
easy. Just BUY or SELL. How hard is that? I reckoned that even if my novel
failed to hit the best-sellers, at least I wouldn't find myself living in a
garret. So I approached the markets with magnificently misplaced optimism.
And made sure not to tell my financial adviser or my big brother what I was
doing, as they'd only have stopped me."

Bets and the City takes you inside the dealing room of the UK's leading
spread betting firm as Sally begins her transformation from naive beginner
to hardened pessimist. Her Spread Betting Diary is frank, factual (these
are all real trades) and fun - especially when she unwittingly finds her
self inadver tently elevated to the status of a trading Agony Aunt. "The
best advice I can give is that you should do exactly the opposite of what I
do. That way, you're much more likely to win," she tells one fellow trader.
"This is an ideal Christmas book for the gambler in your life. In between
the funny bits, there's some really useful information. For example, you
never take a holiday in Cornwall when you're speculating on sterling
against the dollar."

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4213 in Books
• Published on: 2006-11-15
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 219 pages

Synopsis
Bridget Jones meets Wall Street - "Bets and the City" is the hilarious diary of a novice spread better. It's the first spread betting book that manages to be educational and funny. Join Sally Nicoll on a journey that results in her being hired by top city firm, Finspreads - who commission her to write an online trading blog. She and her accomplice (Dow Jones, the Jack Russell!) take you for a romp through the City and introduce you to their home - star-studded Primrose Hill. The book also includes a GBP50 reader offer from Finspreads - helping you to kick-start your own spread betting adventure.

About the Author
Sally Nicoll has a ready-made fanbase, and the word is about to
spread a whole lot wider. Before squandering her fortune on financial
trading and novel writing, she spent many years as an advertising
copywriter, persuading people how - and where - to spend their money. She
will be actively involved in the marketing of Bets and the City, with radio
appearances already booked

Customer Reviews

A great fun read.
A well written, easy to read book. Full of fun and facts essential to those interested in spread betting. Not full of jargon like so many of the other stuffy books on the subject. Money well spent, so you can learn from the Authors mistakes and dont have to suffer the pain of making them yourself.

10/10

Buy this if you're new to spread betting. Buy it anyway!
This is a great book. If you are thinking about spread betting it will give you a very good idea of the highs and lows of spread betting plus some valuabable information that beginners don't usually find in trading maunals and glossy brochures. Its funny and entertaining, working as well as a story as it does for the guide to spread betting and was well overdue in the often dry world of finance. Very clear, easy to read and well worth the money. Start here then go on to Malcolm Pryor's book on spread betting, keeping an eye out for Ms Nichol as a storyteller elsewhere.

Some insight but a bit precious
I know it is based on a blog. And, yes, it does give some insight into the mistakes novices can make. However, it seems to me that the best advice is to read everything one is able about the subject as it isn't a way to easy money.

The 'middle classness' of the writing and the girlie bits are downright irritating after a while. And we all get left a chunk of money to gamble up with .... except for me. Quite how this does Finspread any good beats me!