The Naked Trader

How anyone can make money trading shares

Robbie Burns

• Publisher: Harriman House
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9780857197825
• Edition: 5
• Topic: Betriebswirtschaft
• Subtopic: Finanzbuchhaltung

Ever thought about investing in shares but got frustrated by all the gobbledygook? Bored by all the jargon? Then The Naked Trader is for you! This is the book on stock market investing that you can actually enjoy, written in plain English, packed with real-life trading examples and full of candid advice that you just can't get anywhere else.In this completely updated and expanded new edition, Robbie Burns (aka the Naked Trader) gives you the lowdown on what you need to make money from today's markets without having to sit at a screen all day or swallow a financial dictionary. Even better, he shows you how to do it all tax-free!The first four editions of The Naked Trader flew off the shelves as glowing reviews mounted up. This brand-new edition contains even more of what made it so popular. There are more exclusive tips and ideas, more winning trades shown from start to finish, and more real-life trader tales of triumph and disaster. Not to mention tons of proven strategies that you can use to make money in the markets and a breakdown of some of the trades that have helped Robbie make more than £3 million tax-free.In between cups of tea, rounds of toast and watching Four in a Bed, Robbie tells you all you need to know to become a successful trader: from how to find good shares in the first place, to the best times to buy and sell, as well as how to make sure you have the right mindset for long-term success. You can also find out how Robbie has made money during market meltdowns – and what his biggest mistakes have been, so that you can avoid them.If you're a complete beginner, The Naked Trader is the best place to start. But it's also absolutely perfect if you're already trading and want to learn some new, common-sense trading ideas that really work. So whether you just want to make a few quid on the side while you're at work, or want to go on to make money from the markets full time and quit work like Robbie, The Naked Trader is everything you've been looking for. Grab some tea and toast and start trading the naked way!

Part One: Getting Started

“Money can’t buy you happiness, but it does bring you a more pleasant form of misery.”

– spike milligan

1. Escaping the Rat Race

My story

In 1998 I remember sitting in a grim office overlooking a dismal carpet warehouse on the A4 and thinking: ‘Is this how I want to spend my life?’*

I was earning quite a bit, but I wasn’t happy. I didn’t want to be in a horrible office working for a big company anymore. I knew what I wanted: freedom!

I quit the rat race in 2001 and have never looked back. I love my lifestyle. No moody bosses or targets. Just me! Of course, there are no office politics – but I can live without them. By 2014, lucky me had pretty much become financially independent forever. I bought a second property with some of my gains, so there is always a source of income there if I need it.

I realised working for someone else – unless you absolutely love what you do – is a mug’s game. You’re just there to pay the mortgage every month. So while I worked for BSkyB, I also worked for myself. I had a shiny Reuters machine on my desk and, after the cleaner had been, I learned everything about the markets through practice.

I quickly discovered I could make a lot more money trading than in my full-time job, and in 2001 I quit to trade more or less full time. Before this, though, I had to get some extra money to trade with.

The delectable Buffy

So while still employed I started to develop other income streams – one of which was a Buffy the Vampire Slayer information line. This made me £250,000 over four years! It simply involved me reading out the latest Buffy news on my phone at home – eager viewers would call the line to hear the recording and I made money out of each call. Sadly, the series ended in 2000, and with it the line.

I started it for a bit of a laugh… but on its first day the guy who owned the phone company called me up and said: “Bugger me, it’s just taken £400!”

Happiness is… residual income

And I sold mobile phones and cut-price phone calls and energy for a company called Telecom Plus. I got – and still get – a cut of every phone call made or bit of energy used by customers who signed up through me. It’s called residual income and it pays all my bills even now. I still earn from customers I sold to in 1999!

Armed, therefore, with a huge pile of cash, I quit my job and decided to trade full time. But I didn’t go crazy. I started off by just putting £7,000 into a stocks-and-shares ISA and £10,000 into a spread betting account. I only added small amounts over the years (the government don’t let you add more than a certain amount annually to your ISA). I did not want to lose my capital.

I also wanted a bit of a fallback in case I wasn’t such a great trader, so I bought a café near a tube station in Fulham. That proved a lot of fun and I made quite a bit of money. My wife and I improved it till it made £1,000 a day instead of £300 – it was very successful.

So successful, in fact, that it actually became a pain in the neck. More customers, which led to more staff, which led to more problems. Classic growing pains.

Sometimes staff didn’t turn up and I found myself making coffees at 7am! There were all kinds of things I didn’t like doing: firing staff; dealing with customers complaining there was fish in their fish pie; and handling all the mess a café brings.

The worst incident I can remember was when all the staff were sick, and I was on my own behind the counter trying to serve a huge queue of people. I shouted out: “I need help! Anyone want a short-term job? £10 an hour.” And one of the customers came to my rescue and started serving. There was a lovely community spirit and I met a lot of great people.

But with my son arriving on the scene it became too much effort to run it – enough was enough.

I had originally intended it to be the start of a chain, and I nearly bought a second café, but I didn’t want to be a retail mogul. Too much effort – I’d rather have less money and enjoy relaxing.

So I sold the café for roughly double what I paid for it. Interestingly, running the café helped my trading because a café business is quite complex, and learning the accounts helped me evaluate stock market businesses.

A lazy life

So now I just trade and run my website www.nakedtrader.co.uk (and watch a lot of TV box sets).

I also hold five or six seminars a year, where I show readers my techniques using live markets on a big screen. I really enjoy them and they get me out of th...