sikas
Posts: 11 
Likes: 11
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Bots
May 4, 2016 9:10:07 GMT
Post by sikas on May 4, 2016 9:10:07 GMT
Hi guys, first post , i have some money invested in FC - which it seems, what ive read is fairly unpopular on here ..  anyway, ive seen some talk on here about 'Bots' , what are these bots doing? and why are they bad for a normal person like me? Cristo |
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SteveT
Member of DD Central
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Bots
May 4, 2016 9:16:36 GMT
Post by SteveT on May 4, 2016 9:16:36 GMT
They are automated bidding programs that watch out for loans / loan-parts becoming available and buy them before manual bidders (and Autobiddies) get a chance to. On the PM they are mainly targeting E loans and perhaps D loans, especially the smallest ones. On the SM they are typically looking for loan parts that have been offered for sale at an abnormally high rate, which can then be retained or else flipped quickly for profit by selling at a lower rate.
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Post by Butch Cassidy on May 4, 2016 9:21:22 GMT
They hoover up any parts on the SM which are above "fair value" so no human ever gets a look in & on the PM they buy up most attractive D/E loans (especially anything small say , <£25k) preventing most users ever being allowed to buy in at par. This might be acceptable if they were buying to hold, which I would still disagree with, but they put most back onto the SM almost immediately at a premium so it is effectively a tax on normal human users who simply have no choice if they want to buy parts of these loans with attractive rates. FC are fully aware of the practice but refuse to do anything about preventing or restricting it, which is why a lot of manual bidders are fed up with them.
EDIT: Cross post due to slow typing!!!
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sikas
Posts: 11
Likes: 11
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Bots
May 4, 2016 9:47:57 GMT
Post by sikas on May 4, 2016 9:47:57 GMT
oh wow! ok, well thats a bit shady! thanks for the replies! and they're doing nothing about it you say? im gonna email them - well if i wanted to compete how do i get one of these?
Cristo
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SteveT
Member of DD Central
Posts: 6,875
Likes: 7,924
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Bots
May 4, 2016 10:54:10 GMT
Post by SteveT on May 4, 2016 10:54:10 GMT
oh wow! ok, well thats a bit shady! thanks for the replies! and they're doing nothing about it you say? im gonna email them - well if i wanted to compete how do i get one of these? Cristo I guess you need to learn enough about computer programming and web-scraping to write one (or pay someone else to do so for you).
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markr
Member of DD Central
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Bots
May 4, 2016 11:25:29 GMT
Post by markr on May 4, 2016 11:25:29 GMT
I guess you need to learn enough about computer programming and web-scraping to write one (or pay someone else to do so for you). I don't think the second option is really viable. I don't believe the additional returns over careful investing without a bot (in FC or elsewhere) are that significant, so unless you have a lot to invest I doubt buying a bot would pay for itself in a reasonable time frame. From what I understand, bots need maintenance to keep them working when FC changes their website, so it wouldn't even be a one-off cost.
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Bots
May 4, 2016 18:25:05 GMT
Post by GSV3MIaC on May 4, 2016 18:25:05 GMT
Yep, as a careful bot owner, I must say you have to regard it as a hobby, not a money making opportunity, and I'd much prefer FC made them go away (or reined them in below 20% of each loan!). The side benefit is you get to scrape a lot of historic data about loans, when they went mammaries skyward, how many and in what ratio the institutions soaked them up, and who the other bot owners are. 8>.
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Bots
May 4, 2016 21:43:44 GMT
Post by beepbeepimajeep on May 4, 2016 21:43:44 GMT
I was around today when a couple of E loans got posted. They were filled extremely fast, within a matter of minutes. Felt a lot like botters swarming all over it tbh.
Infact I felt kinda dumb cos I just bought a tiny piece of each for myself, I had the opportunity and clearly should have maxed it out.
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registerme
Member of DD Central
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Bots
May 4, 2016 23:34:29 GMT
Post by registerme on May 4, 2016 23:34:29 GMT
Infact I felt kinda dumb cos I just bought a tiny piece of each for myself, I had the opportunity and clearly should have maxed it out. Turn the question around. Had you maxed them out, would you have held them to term? Either way you're playing the same "game", with your capital, that everybody else is - risk on one side, reward on the other.
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Post by brianac on May 5, 2016 5:05:11 GMT
I was around today when a couple of E loans got posted. They were filled extremely fast, within a matter of minutes. Felt a lot like botters swarming all over it tbh.
Infact I felt kinda dumb cos I just bought a tiny piece of each for myself, I had the opportunity and clearly should have maxed it out. Don't buy large chunks, they're harder to sell. most popular (and therefore most liquid) seems to be £20 chunks - which means getting multiple bids in very quickly! HTH Brian
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guff
Posts: 730
Likes: 707
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Bots
Nov 1, 2016 15:49:41 GMT
Post by guff on Nov 1, 2016 15:49:41 GMT
And the award for the fastest bot (or finger) on FC goes to b*******s (no not that) who managed to grab this bargain before I got to the sell page:  |
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acky
Posts: 481
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Bots
Nov 1, 2016 16:45:40 GMT
Post by acky on Nov 1, 2016 16:45:40 GMT
And the award for the fastest bot (or finger) on FC goes to b*******s (no not that) who managed to grab this bargain before I got to the sell page: Is there nothing you wouldn't do for a 9p profit? 
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SteveT
Member of DD Central
Posts: 6,875
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Post by SteveT on Nov 1, 2016 16:57:54 GMT
And the award for the fastest bot (or finger) on FC goes to b*******s (no not that) who managed to grab this bargain before I got to the sell page: I rather like our old friend b**v***s (assuming it was him). He's rapidly relieved me of various bits of crud in the past.
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guff
Posts: 730
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Bots
Nov 1, 2016 17:10:23 GMT
Post by guff on Nov 1, 2016 17:10:23 GMT
And the award for the fastest bot (or finger) on FC goes to b*******s (no not that) who managed to grab this bargain before I got to the sell page: I rather like our old friend b**v***s (assuming it was him). He's rapidly relieved me of various bits of crud in the past. That's him.
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andyp
Stubborn Yorkshireman from the rhubarb triangle
Posts: 150
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Bots
Nov 3, 2016 17:52:40 GMT
Post by andyp on Nov 3, 2016 17:52:40 GMT
Failing Computing seem to have screwed up their loan parts screen and nothing can be purchased at present, but loan parts can still be listed. There seems to be a building logjam of par priced loan parts. Does that mean that all bots will go bananas and explode like a dalek that's had a coat thrown over it?
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