Mobile Demo Account?

Hello everyone

This is my first post on your boards. I've read a lot of useful stuff here, much more to go - thanks to everyone for making it possible to learn so much! I'm starting to work out a system I wish to try on indices, and need a mobile demo account plus SMS alerts to make sure I can work it while carrying out a full-time job. However, I haven't had any luck finding a mobile demo account. There is quite a bit on here about SMS alerts, some of it a few years old, so if anyone has any up-to-the-minute advice on the simplest way of getting free SMS alerts, that would be great too. I have T-Mobile including web-n-walk. I'm probably inventing the impossible to imagine I might get a mobile demo account and free SMS alerts all in one?

Many thanks

Megatrader873

hi

i think saxo bank had something of the like. hope it helps

Many thanks, Jacinto. Saxo bank demo platform only lasts for 20 days, and as a total beginner definitely fully signed up to the 'slow and steady wins the race' school, I know I'll need longer than 20 days! Also, I'm not sure that they do spread betting - I couldn't see the terms spread betting or spread trading anywhere on the site - looks like a rather up-market outfit trading at larger volumes than I will be doing - at least to start with!

Megatrader873

Megatrader873 said:

Many thanks, Jacinto. Saxo bank demo platform only lasts for 20 days, and as a total beginner definitely fully signed up to the 'slow and steady wins the race' school, I know I'll need longer than 20 days! Also, I'm not sure that they do spread betting - I couldn't see the terms spread betting or spread trading anywhere on the site - looks like a rather up-market outfit trading at larger volumes than I will be doing - at least to start with!

Megatrader873

Click to expand...

IMHO their spreads are too wide (3 Point FTSE, 7 Point Dow), margin requirements too great (10% on indices since the August volatility!) and their platform is too unreliable and slow. Also for the level 2 data you need to subscribe while ig markets give this for free, CMC give you their own market depth but not proper level 2. Saxo's overnight financing is LIBOR plus 3, which is edging on the more expensive side.

10 Basis point mark up on the Equity CFD's and that isn't DMA. IG's DMA is 10 and CMC's is 8 basis points.

One good thing is the ability to use stocks and bonds as collateral for speculative trading, which I imagine would appeal to people with a mix of long term views and short term. Also 160 fx pairs is very impressive, despite the fact that the spreads are very variable around news and wide for the rest of the time.

Also you find that if you do less than 1/2 a lot on the majors (£50,000 on cable for example, roughly £2.50 a point) you will get a $10 fee to cover administration. Now this wouldn't bother people who trade heavily and have a sizable account but for a newbie £2.50 per point is alot of risk and an easy way to loose money.

Your fund's arn't segregated either but if you hold less than 40,000 euro's then you are protects by the Danish FSA.

They do however offer trailing stops and have a very good analyst team. They also give you UBS, BARCAP and Commonwealth bank of Australia FX analysis for free which is a good perk. In short - Very expensive compared to competition, nice platform and range of fx pairs, but the main thing I would like to stress is that MOST PEOPLE SHOULD USE SPREADBETTING TO TRADE THE FINANCIAL MARKETS. No logical reason not too unless you are a serious full time trader doing big volume and then I understand the switch to IB etc.

Stick to spreadbetting if I where you, and when you feel the need to progress look at IB.

JK

jkplay, there's a lot of useful information in your post - thanks. Yes, I'm definitely sticking to spreadbetting in small amounts per point for the time being. I've actually answered my own question, and others might be interested in what I've found out. By following your threads, I found GFT mentioned as having an interesting platform, so I rang them. They have a fully functional demo account which you can trade for a month. If you want it extended, the account managers usually allow it, but it has to be agreed on an individual basis. Their mobile platform currently only operates for forex, but they are testing their spreadbetting mobile platform, and it will be in use from mid-October. This will be available for demo account customers (as is the one currently available for forex). You can also send yourself free sms messages from their software (as well as move your stops directly from the graph, which sounds quicker than the number of clicks requried to clunk out of graphs into the trading screens on some other systems I've tried). This sounds ideal for testing position trading systems when on the move. In the meantime, I'm using 10p a point on finspreads, where I can use a mobile platform, combined with SMS messages from ADVFN which cost 25p per message +VAT - OK if you only want the occasional message. Using the 10p a point from finspreads is the only way I can get mobile connectivity to test without much risk until the GFT platform goes live.

I have another question. I'm having trouble finding a source to track the real-time prices of the indices- especially the DOW, which I'm starting with - overnight, and over the weekend. I need this information to move my stops to protect against spiking as much as I can. Is there a spreadbetting platform that continues to quote this information 24/7? I've probably missed the most obvious one!

MT