Shortsandlongs

Has anyone used them?

slane4 said:

Has anyone used them?

Click to expand...

Part of Spreadex. Only started in September this year i see. Nice looking site. I too would be interested to hear from anyone who has an account with them.

noticed they have a premium rate telephone number too- not a smart idea.

They kind of "advertised" on here recently, but I noticed later their posting (to which I replied) had disappeared, along with the replies. Anyway, I gave them a try, and was quite pleased. Quite tight spreads. No charts, and markets a bit limited, but still.

I shall continue to use them on a limited basis, but not just them. For a while, I was holding some of their money, but I lost it on Friday Have to win it back next week, won't I?


When coming to place & close trades, I found the interface a bit clunky, but it could have been me; I've just come back to active trading after a few months off. It was nice to start on a new platform, even if I don't really like black backgrounds. Probably ok for you young things

Young thing? Not me - must be Uktradergirl.

I opened an account yesterday.

Good:
Nice website
Tight spreads (on shares at least)
Guaranteed stops FOC.

Bad:
No charts, but not a problem if you have an account with someone else
Only Market and Stop orders, ie no Limit open, OCOs etc
Unknown history so only give them enough money to cover margin...

So far I like it though.

Thanks for the response. I would like to check out their financial status before using them.

Hi everyone
Slane4 - you saved me the job of creating this thread, so thank you.

I did start a thread 2 weeks ago under a new username but it was removed by T2W.
Moderators- Barjon has since given me permission to post.

I will see if I can dig out any of the previous posts...

Ian,
Spreadex

I'm current using them in parallel with CS. Since their prices seem quite close for the instruments I am interested in, CS's charts match well with S&L, so lack of charts in S&L isn't a problem.

I am happy so far, although their range of currencies and commodities is a bit limited.
Spreads are good, although that may just be to entice us in, and for a limited period only

Montmorency,

It's not a marketing ploy, the tight spreads are here to stay!

Ian

TheGoose said:

Montmorency,

It's not a marketing ploy, the tight spreads are here to stay!

Ian

Click to expand...

Thanks Ian. I guess that counts has having it in writing

Do you plan on introducing Orders-to-Open ?

Thanks,
M.

We are planning to add quite a number of features, but on the whole what you see is what you get. The model is ultra tight spreads, guaranteed stops and minimum client contact.

The problem with opening orders is whether you take the margin in advance or wait until the order level has triggered, at which point will the client have credit? Also with the no risk model, a contingent stop would need to be placed and we haven't done that before. Other SB firms have been heavily criticised for their methods on this subject, but we are looking at it.

Feedback is most welcome

Ian

TheGoose said:

We are planning to add quite a number of features, but on the whole what you see is what you get. The model is ultra tight spreads, guaranteed stops and minimum client contact.

The problem with opening orders is whether you take the margin in advance or wait until the order level has triggered, at which point will the client have credit? Also with the no risk model, a contingent stop would need to be placed and we haven't done that before. Other SB firms have been heavily criticised for their methods on this subject, but we are looking at it.

Feedback is most welcome

Ian

Click to expand...

Hi Ian,

The ability to open orders is a very useful and 'necessary evil' and i think whatever policy you decide on people will find something to complain about. To use trading terminology, the risk:reward ratio is definitely in favour of you adding order opening. The risk of upsetting a few people will be more than offset by the further trade you generate by way of people who use orders (or want the flexibility to should they choose).

Surely if people place orders it is up to them to make sure they have the correct margin available at the time the trade tries to open. No margin- no trade execution. Perhaps order-opening could be an 'opt-in' where the client would have to tick a box to agree to these terms before the facility is enabled. (IGIndex have a lot of facilities like this that require you to 'opt-in').

You have a lovely website, and a very clean, neat, simple design which is a lot more aesthetically pleasing than other SB companies. Perhaps, after all, adding my ideas into your website would unnecessarily complicate the design and ease of use, particularly for people new to Spreadbetting. I suppose it all depends on who you are trying to attract- more seasoned spread betters will probably want more functionality- beginners will be looking for something simple to use. Everyone wants good execution, correct prices without 'requotes' and hanging screens though- this is very most important above and beyond all other things.

Umm... not sure the above helped whatsoever. But anyway... i've had my rant .

Website and spreads look good. If the stops are guaranteed and the minimum distance away on the (for instance) Dow is 20pt, does that mean you can theoretically open a bet with only £20 margin?

UKtradergirl said:

Hi Ian,

The ability to open orders is a very useful and 'necessary evil' and i think whatever policy you decide on people will find something to complain about.

Click to expand...

You're not wrong there!

Not too sure how S+L will treat opening orders yet, but at Spreadex we allow you to leave as many opening orders as you want. Once they 'trigger' the trade will only be valid if there is sufficient credit. You can't get any more black and white but some clients still moan (but only if the trade went in their favour )

Thanks for your comments, the more the better.

Ian

Phil

Thanks for the quesiton.
You're right, you would be able to place a £1 trade with a 20 point stop with £20.

There's no 20% buffer or haircut, you can put a stop to 100% of your funds, as long as it complies with the mimium distances.

Ian

Sorry,
I should elaborate on that previous post (and spell minimum correctly).

If the minimum distance was 20pts and you had £20 available in free funds, you could place a £1 trade with a 20 point stop.

I'm sure everyone knew what i meant (but the funds must be available to trade with)

Ian

TheGoose said:

Sorry,
I should elaborate on that previous post (and spell minimum correctly).

If the minimum distance was 20pts and you had £20 available in free funds, you could place a £1 trade with a 20 point stop.

I'm sure everyone knew what i meant (but the funds must be available to trade with)

Ian

Click to expand...

Thanks. Pleased to see someone giving speedy and sensible answers to questions on this thread.
PS. How about 2pt spreads on the Dow during market hours?

TheGoose said:

We are planning to add quite a number of features, but on the whole what you see is what you get. The model is ultra tight spreads, guaranteed stops and minimum client contact.

The problem with opening orders is whether you take the margin in advance or wait until the order level has triggered, at which point will the client have credit? Also with the no risk model, a contingent stop would need to be placed and we haven't done that before. Other SB firms have been heavily criticised for their methods on this subject, but we are looking at it.

Feedback is most welcome

Ian

Click to expand...

Thanks Ian. I had not thought of that complexity. IIRC, IG deduct it in advance, while Finspreads don't. From a cautious point of view, I prefer the former.

Overall, so far, I have no complaints; I like the relative simplicity of the site, and the fairly intuitive interface. A very good start. I am relatively inexperienced compared to many people who post here, but if people like me are among your target market, you have probably scored a hit.

Phil, 2 points? you must be joking! Even during market hours, the future can be a few points wide. Soon clients will want spread-free and then kickbacks!

M, glad to hear you like the site. Interesting to hear you say you prefer the margin to be deducted. Someone was compalining about it a few days ago on another thread!

I'm glad I started this thread. Do I need to open an account to have a look at the trading platform?