Trading the dead zone
It doesn’t happen often, but now and again all things conspire to produce a dead zone in the markets. For racing, we are currently in that dead zone.
Why does it happen?
Racing markets are seasonal and peak and trough around major meetings. The last was, obviously, Ascot. So you can get a trough before a major meeting, but you almost certainly get one after it.
Summer racing can be a bit weak as there are more meetings and the markets can thin out a bit as volume is spread across the various ‘opportunities’. Evening racing is traditionally weaker than afternoon racing. Generally this isn’t that noticeable if you are using standard stakes but is if you are trying to get larger amounts matched.
However, when Wimbledon is on and a high profile match is under way, that can send additional volume away from Racing. It’s interesting to note actually, that Tennis is inversely proportional to Football / Soccer. So when there is good liquidity if football there is less in Tennis and vice versa. See the graph below.
Two year cycles
Of course, this year year we have Wimbledon and Euro 2016 on at the same time. So that tends to be a double whammy for the racing. So if you don’t like the racing markets at the moment, that’s probably the reason. Unfortunately there is nothing you can do about it. It’s going to happen and every other year it will feel much worse.
What to do about it
The answer about what to do is simple. Be more cautious on your Racing and only pick off prime opportunities. But you should also take the time to experiment in other sports or test and refine what you are doing the existing markets. Normal service will be resumed!
So in the meantime you may as well practice and experiment. You should have seen various posts or videos of mine on different sports, so take the opportunity to get stuck into those and move your general knowledge forward. It will be worth it.
Category: Trading strategies
