Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To consider this to be a really stupid idea?

32 replies

FoofooLeSnoo · 07/06/2016 21:24

Dh has been looking into something called binary option trading, or I think that's what it's called. He's been doing practice trading for a few weeks and watching various webinars from supposed experts. He reckons he's pretty good at it.
Now he wants to put £750 quid of our money on it, and if he does well he might make our fortune!! (And quit work)!!!!
Anyone who's been on the relationship board will have seen that we are going through a lot of marriage issues and stuff to do with his bipolar. I'm at a point where I've said to him just do the £750 and if you lose it that's too bad. He thinks I've been un encouraging and narrow minded about it so I just think sod it now let him do it!
But he is being foolish isn't he? Or does anyone know any self made millionaires from this?

OP posts:
AnotherTimeMaybe · 07/06/2016 21:28

Confused! You ok with him gambling 750 or not?

AndNowItsSeven · 07/06/2016 21:30

Is that matched betting? If so its not gambling.

AndNowItsSeven · 07/06/2016 21:31

Ignore me it's not.

19lottie82 · 07/06/2016 21:33

It's total and utter bollocks.

If these people were so good at trading, hence rolling in dosh, why would they waste their time running these seminars?

They wouldn't!

19lottie82 · 07/06/2016 21:34

Sorry I read the whole thing totally wrong. Ignore my last post.

Back to the OP....... Why does it need to be £750? That seems a very specific amount (and quite high for a first attempt)

Original poster
FoofooLeSnoo · 07/06/2016 21:35

No not OK with it but tired of his stupid sulking and stropping about it!
Apparently it's his calling in life and he simply has to give it a go. He's doing it together with his friend who is putting up the other half so £1500 in total!
His friend is fairly sensible normally, so I can't just blame Dh's bipolar disorder and possible mania. He doesn't seem manic atm.

OP posts:
AnotherTimeMaybe · 07/06/2016 21:36

All this is 'gambling'! I did something index trading (I think) years ago and I didn't make a penny
I do know someone who's made over 100K but it's very rare not the rule
If he really wants to do it can he do it with less than 750?

AnotherTimeMaybe · 07/06/2016 21:36

You ok if he looses it?
Do you have DCs? Will the impact be quite bad?

Original poster
FoofooLeSnoo · 07/06/2016 21:37

Its called minute candles or something. I must admit my eyes glaze over a bit when he tries to tell me about it. It all seems too good to be true so must be a load of bullshit.

OP posts:
AnotherTimeMaybe · 07/06/2016 21:40

You could let him try but bear in mind he will get addicted one way or another

Original poster
FoofooLeSnoo · 07/06/2016 21:40

Its a lot of money for us, from our savings. If he loses it he will realise what a fool he's being. I think I have to humour him.

OP posts:
TapStepBallChange · 07/06/2016 21:41

it's gambling, I don't normally link to the Daily Mail, but they are quite rightly working quite hard against these

www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/experts/article-3500340/TONY-HETHERINGTON-Returns-2k-week-Stay-clear-binary-options-firms.html

Original poster
FoofooLeSnoo · 07/06/2016 21:42

If he does get addicted he'll be on his own. That will truly be the final straw!

OP posts:
IamAporcupine · 07/06/2016 21:43

I didn't know what it was so I had a quick look and found this:
www.forbes.com/sites/investor/2010/07/27/dont-gamble-on-binary-options/#e48a77f19084

LaurieFairyCake · 07/06/2016 21:56

If you can do it with £750 you can do it with a tenner

If you do decide to 'let' him do it with your joint money be really sure he can't get access to the rest to 'make it back'.

It's gambling. It's addictive. And obviously the house always wins.

Wdigin2this · 07/06/2016 21:57

If something sounds to good to be true...it usually is! Reminds me of the Pyramid Selling scams in the 1980's!

edwinbear · 07/06/2016 21:58

My husband is an FX trader, who had traded currencies for 25 years for a major bank. When he was made redundant in 2012 he looked into this and did some 'paper trading' ie practice trading, with the view he could possibly make a living from it, - if someone who had traded hundreds of millions of dollars daily, for 25 years couldn't make a living from it, who could? He was back in paid employment (as a currency trader) within 3 months as his view was not.

exWifebeginsat40 · 07/06/2016 22:03

it does sound like mania though, but i'm aware you know your DH better than i do! is he on top of his meds?

Original poster
FoofooLeSnoo · 07/06/2016 22:03

Wow edwinbear that says it all doesn't it? I'm thinking I might change the passwords to that account just in case. He can access more money from a separate sharesave thing he has through work but unfortunately I won't be able to stop him doing that without my knowledge.

OP posts:
Original poster
FoofooLeSnoo · 07/06/2016 22:08

exWifebeginsat40 your username is brilliant by the way. Im not sure with him. He's very low and anxious lately and making some very dubious assessments of things such as our apparently failing and irreparably broken marriage. I just don't know who he is anymore.

OP posts:
travellinglighter · 07/06/2016 22:09

From wikipedia

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have issued a joint warning to American investors regarding unregulated binary options.[4] and have forced a major operator, Banc de Binary, to cease operations in the US and pay back all customer losses. Many binary option "brokers" have been exposed as questionable operations. With such binary option brokers, there is no real brokerage; the customer is betting against the broker, who is acting as a bucket shop. Manipulation of price data to cause customers to lose is common. Withdrawals are regularly stalled or refused by such operations.[5]

edwinbear · 07/06/2016 22:09

It would be a particularly bad idea in the run up to 23rd June. I also work on a bank trading floor and we are already, and will continue to see, some big swings across all asset classes in the run up to the referendum. In the (unlikely) event we vote out, all hell will let lose. I would not want to have open positions over it. Why not ask him to carry on paper trading over it and then see how he feels afterwards? It will buy you a bit more time at least.

Tartyflette · 07/06/2016 22:13

I seem to recall there are some VERY dodgy outfits in binary options, plus there was a programme on R4 just a few days ago naming names (some were trying to buy into British football clubs but they had bad records, including convictions, for fraud in the U.S. and elsewhere.
If you can afford to kiss goodbye to the lot, then perhaps he could go ahead, it would be a salutary lesson. But the problem might then be to keep him away from throwing good money after bad.....

GarlicSteak · 07/06/2016 22:13

Yes, I think you may have to act like his parent/boss/gaoler here. Sorry news as that is.

If he's in a manic phase, could you direct his attention to something more likely to pay off? Like the lottery erm, poker or spread betting? I've forgotten the proper term for spread betting on finance, but this is a particularly exciting time to be doing it, what with everything tanking pending the referendum.

If somebody's offering to teach you how to make easy money: it doesn't work. Their easy money trick is selling the dream, not the system they're flogging!

trafalgargal · 07/06/2016 22:13

Tell him to look at matched betting instead ....a lot less risky.

Swipe left for the next trending thread