Madness and wisdom

12/03/2010 | By More

Are the racing markets becoming more or less volatile?

I can answer that with a definite YES. Yes they are becoming more and less volatile. Let me explain.

A few years ago I could pop an order in the market and wait for it to get filled. Now, if I go into a weaker than average race, like many this week, that doesn’t happen in the same manner anymore. If I get my staking wrong, the market takes one look at my order and runs away from it. I can almost sense the panic in the market when my order sits there. On a macro basis the market is jumpier, more volatile, than it used to be. It is the madness of crowds, people reacting too much to a short term situation. However, that shouldn’t stop you from trading effectively, you may just have to change your tack a little. Like everything on the exchanges if you spot something or suffer due to something, you can simply invert it. Exchanges markets are beautiful, if temperamental, beasts.

Longer term the markets are getting more efficient at pricing risk. Each year that passes, it gets ever so slightly more efficient. We have also noticed that the long term volatility in the markets is narrowing slightly. This would appear to be a reflection on the wisdom of crowds.

So there you have it, the markets are more volatile, but less. This appears to reflect the dual, or should I say duel, madness and wisdom of this particular crowd. When you look at it from a broad perspective, wisdom is winning.

Tags: , , , ,

Category: Using Bet Angel

About the Author ()

I left a good job in the consumer technology industry to go a trade on Betfair for a living way back in June 2000. I've been here ever since pushing very boundaries of what's possible on betting exchanges and loved every minute of it.

Comments are closed.

Hypersmash.com