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Gareth Bale. And why all the football know-how in the world isn’t

enough to maximise returns on the Index

So did you hear the one about the new trader who opened an account with £100 and bought
19 shares on Gareth Bale at £5.19 each. “My mate told me to buy them,” he said. “Can’t lose.
He’s not happy at Real Madrid. Not guaranteed to start any more. So he’ll definitely be off in
the summer. Manchester United are after him. Mouhrino’s tracked him for years. He might
go back to Spurs. Levy’s got a sell-on clause anyway. Remember how Redknapp turned him
from a bloody awful defender into a world class player. Part of the Southampton academy of
fame, back when they were a half decent club .”

New Trader could have bored for Wales with his impressive knowledge of Gareth Bale. (We
think he even knew Bale’s boot size, and had clearly been monitoring his method of dealing
with male pattern baldness . . . that man bun!)

We sat and listened quietly. Our own experiment was about to begin. We were going back to
our Football Index roots, taking the knowledge we’ve acquired over many hundreds of trades
*
and applying it to today’s market with a starting bank of £100.

While we exchanged glances, New Trader continued to bang on about Bale: 24 games before
th
he ended up on the winning side at Spurs. Full international before his 17 birthday. Handy
with a golf club. The list went on . . .

“You two! Wake up!” Finally, the new trader realised he’d lost his audience. “I’ve got £1.39
left in my account. Who should I buy? Any tips?”

W e ’re not cruel people. And the truth is, we bottled it. Neither of us had the heart to tell the
new trader that on Football Index, the most important thing of all is that you UNDERSTAND
HOW THE MARKET WORKS. In other words, you’re going to need to understand what
makes other traders buy and sell players . . . and then try to outwit them!

Unless and until you’ve acquired this specific skill, knowing Gareth Bale’s favourite drink (a
cold glass of water), really isn’t going to cut it.

So let’s go to market!

*Our experiment took place between 30 March – 5 April 2018