Worldspreads/Finspreads/ODL

As a prospective equities spread trader I'm looking to find a 'broker', if that's the term. I already use ODL for online share dealing, but I'm not sure what are the crucial questions to ask before deciding who to run with. Presumably there are differences in the actual spreads - also in the trading platform facilities, ease of use etc. Perhaps this question has already been covered in another thread.

Personally, I've tried a lot of them, and so far:

Finspreads are good for starting off, particularly for 1p trades for 8 weeks then minimum 50p trades. Their platform can be significantly slow, especially at peak trading times, though.

Worldspreads (same people as Two Way Spreads, right?) are cheap, fast, but don't offer a lot for the starting out trader.

CMC Markets have a pretty platform, but can be a bit of a shambles; requotes are common, and a lot of people complain about their datafeed "spiking" to hit stop losses.

IG Index, who I currently use, are the best all rounder so far. Like FinSpreads they do an introductory course weeks, and they do low minimum trades (10p, then 20p, then 50p, for two weeks at a time).

The reviews section of this site might help. Don't be afraid to open a few accounts and see who you like. Oh, and if you do want an account with IG, I'd appreciate getting referral credit, if you don't mind IMing me a name and e-mail address?

Thanks for your response, rnicoll. If I run with IG you can of course have referral credit. My name and email address are on my profile. Is that what you mean by 'IMing a name' etc?

slane4 said:

Thanks for your response, rnicoll. If I run with IG you can of course have referral credit. My name and email address are on my profile. Is that what you mean by 'IMing a name' etc?

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Well Worldspreads livechat is a bit pants, and they don't do OCO orders (correct me if I am wrong)

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timaru69 said:

Well Worldspreads livechat is a bit pants, and they don't do OCO orders (correct me if I am wrong)

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Think you're right with the OCO orders. Although you can attach a stop/limit to a position, so if the position closes (from either order, or direct user action) the orders cancel, which is close...

Never tried their livechat. Have seemed fine for account enquiries on the phone, never traded with them on the phone...

slane4 said:

Thanks for your response, rnicoll. If I run with IG you can of course have referral credit. My name and email address are on my profile. Is that what you mean by 'IMing a name' etc?

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It doesn't actually list your e-mail address, as far as I can see (which is good; the forums get indexed by Google, if your e-mail address is publically visible spammers will get it eventually). I should have said PM, actually; on the forum thread, click my username, select "Send a private message to rnicoll" and pass me an e-mail address I can forward to IG Index?

IG index is the one I have used for quite a while now. Have tried others but keep coming back to it. Have a few gripes occasionally - I think their prices move a bit further than the actual markets do - so I have seen stop hits that I didn't think should be at certain times - but it's hard to say for sure. Anyway I keep using them so I can't be too unhappy.

Thanks to all for your helpful comments.