I have received an offer to acquire an ongoing financial fixed odds betting manual from someone who calls himself Matthew Shaw Fixed Odds Trader promoted by 'Fleet Street Publications'. Cost of this is £495.00. Anyone know if these people are reputable, i.e. is it worth forking out quids to receive tips on betting on the markets ? They offer tips and advice on what and when to bet. They say the first three months are free. Sounds too good to be true...probably is...the site offering is now www.fixedoddssuccess.com?
 Mr Financial Fixed Odds Matt Shaw |
This was the question I received recently from Dave. Since I thought this might be of interest to our readers I'm publishing the answer here:
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Ok so there is a guy in Pontypool called Matt Shaw, whose grossly overhyped service I do not subscribe to, but whose guidance notes include some genuinely useful hints on how best to exploit the odds that Betonmarkets offer, and which few bets are sometimes worth taking on. These crop up in searches sometimes - but you do need to brush aside all the usual "cannot lose"... "99%" ... bollox.
Fleet Street Publications has been around for a while. They rake in subscriptions from a range of newsletters including 'Red Hot Penny Shares', 'Fleet Street Letter', 'Zurich Club', 'Oxford Club', Personal & Finance', and others, plus the selling of complementary guide books
If you try a google search of review sites you will find that any negative views of their operation are countered by what sound like responses from satisfied users, rubbishing the critics and claiming to have done very nicely from their fleet street publication subscription. Cynics point out that these brief supportive comments are almost identically worded worldwide and have been for ages. (The implication being that someone is tasked with auto-trawling the internet and planting favourable responses where needed) 
. (I have no idea if fsp engage in such tactics; those praises could be genuine).
But as Fleet Street Publications' own small print points out - their share price performances are measured by percentage movement of the mid-price, ignoring costs, ignoring dividend effects and ignoring the bid/offer spread - which is something the investor cannot do. This matters hugely if dealing in the shares of smaller companies where the spread between the price you can buy at and the price you can sell at is often big enough to swamp any apparently beneficial movement in the mid-price. The mid-price is a convenient average of the current buy and sell price, commonly used in charts and single-column price lists such as teletext or newspapers, but irrelevant in actual trades, where the price quoted to buy at is higher than the price quoted to you if selling. This 'spread' is a fraction of 1% on the biggest stocks, can be 10% or more on mid-range stocks, and can be a whopping 20%, 40% or more on small stocks.
In my early days I did try several such newsletters and tipsheets. The majority of them are of very little use and are misleading (or blatantly dishonest) in their performance presentations. They are profitable for the publisher. I nowadays bin anything from Fleet Street Publications and their ilk.
There are newsletters that some investors do hold in high regard. Small Company Share Watch (SCSW) has quite a following. As does Techinvest...
Save yourself some money. If you are keen to try this service out but would prefer more of a DIY-style approach then Fleet Street Publications also offer 'The Idiot Guide to Financial Fixed Odds Betting' for less than £50 (sorry, can't remember the specific price). This guide is also a Matthew Shaw vehicle and uses exactly the same techniques (I use that term loosely!) as per the subscription service. For £495 you get an e-mail alert with a specific trade every 7-10 days. For the £50 subscription you get the guide and e-mail/phone support should you have any questions. Now, for the disclaimer. this isn't a miracle cure and it is not possible to generate the advertised sums of £100/£200/£500 etc without a substantial level of risk in return. And when I say substantial I mean SUBSTANTIAL! :eek: For what its worth, FSP are very prompt with their refunds.
I am not rubbishing the particular guide they are offering you, because I haven't bought it. You might find it very informative and beneficial. And if you are confident you can exploit the free trial without getting trapped into a subscription that you might not want, it might be worth it. But you can expect them to approach you with other offers once you succumb to anything they send you.
My main complaint against Fleet Street Publications is that their performance figures are often unachievable in the real world and should therefore be taken with a big pinch of salt.
But I am just a tightfisted old cynic 
P.S. - Fleet Street Publications is owned by Bill Bonner who also owns Moneyweek magazine and is founder/president of USA publisher Agora Publishing, which produces a wide range of newsletters, including The Daily Reckoning which is free.
P.P.S. - One argument used by Matt Shaw as to how it is possible to make money from the odds offered, is that a very high proportion of betonmarkets players are idiots whose behaviour is quite easily exploited whenever they mindlessly pile in and move the odds.. and that having decided on the direction of a bet, it is possible to gratefully push the button when others have helpfully shifted the price. (Though maybe he is playing to the vanity of every gambler who believes himself cleverer than the crowd.. )
Has anyone else had experience of this guy [Matthew Shaw - Fixed Odds Trader]? If so, I'd like to hear from you about your experience with his advice/tips - how successful have you found it?
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