CMC Markets Old platform users beware

[PC at CMC Markets]

Hi Ross
lets get real about spreads. This industry has to get real when it comes to head line spreads and zero spreads. Clients need a strong professional service with consistent spreads across a strong robust platform. that is our strategy and we will never get into a price war because ultimately it is not about head lines it is about consistent long term service and I will stand by our platform and spreads on that, especially during volatile periods. who else publishes a spread chart. I do not know of any company that does that. why not? nothing wrong in being transparent.
I may me wrong and only time will tell but I suspect electronic real time execution, no requotes, no dealer intervention and a consistent service during volatile periods is more important to you then skimming markets for the odd pip here and there.
I have come from a trading back ground in banks and I know how volatile the markets can be and if you are serious about trading then lets not get into a debate about who has smallest head line spreads because you know there is a lot more to it than that.
You bloggers are what I call professional traders, you know the markets and you know what is real and what is not real so I really do not think we have to debate on who has the tightest head line spreads.
tks Peter

Yes, like the bid/offer facility, but I still think the actual spreads could be narrower. WS now zero spread for larger accounts and Spreadco 0.8pt on main indices.

 

[PC at CMC Markets]

Hi Swandro
Had to wake Craig up again to ask your questions.
In effect a fix is coming, we will have multiple trading screens so you can have as many charts open as possible and access them via your watch list. It is not a difficult fix for us and shouldnt take too long hopefully again in January, it is actually in build at th emoment.
watch this space.
tks Peter

Hi Peter

Thanks for looking into my request and I look forward to the fix in January. You are definitely heading in the right direction with the charting tools. I agree it is easy to select the studies and apply them.

One other thing - can the charts have the usual minimise/maximise buttons? If you have a few charts open, sometimes you want to hide one for a bit, or maximise it for a closer look. The only adjustment tool at the moment appears to be the one that lets you resize it.

Thanks

 

[Ross Spur]

Hi Ross
lets get real about spreads. This industry has to get real when it comes to head line spreads and zero spreads. Clients need a strong professional service with consistent spreads across a strong robust platform. that is our strategy and we will never get into a price war because ultimately it is not about head lines it is about consistent long term service and I will stand by our platform and spreads on that, especially during volatile periods. who else publishes a spread chart. I do not know of any company that does that. why not? nothing wrong in being transparent.
I may me wrong and only time will tell but I suspect electronic real time execution, no requotes, no dealer intervention and a consistent service during volatile periods is more important to you then skimming markets for the odd pip here and there.
I have come from a trading back ground in banks and I know how volatile the markets can be and if you are serious about trading then lets not get into a debate about who has smallest head line spreads because you know there is a lot more to it than that.
You bloggers are what I call professional traders, you know the markets and you know what is real and what is not real so I really do not think we have to debate on who has the tightest head line spreads.
tks Peter

I know that there's more to it than attention-grabbing tight spreads if these are really theoretical. However, in my experience there are SBs that offer good execution with tight spreads, and others that offer the worst of both worlds, ie, wide spreads and poor execution.

 

[hacks]

Hi Peter

Will you be adding a custom indicator feature and a backtester (like in IT-Finance Advanced)?

Thanks
hacks

 

[tim3]

Hi Peter

Yes its bloody freezing up here in Sheffield

Ref Feedback on charts

They are nearly there just a few improvements needed to make them as good as the ones on market maker namely:

Pivot points-something very popular with daytraders which you have already answered

Pop Out Facility which we have with marketmaker would be nice.I think many more serious traders like to have more than one chart open at once to get a better picture of whats going on (say the Nasdaq and the S&p)and the pop out facility makes this much easier and most serious chart packages have this.

The ability to save different layouts would be nice too.

Other than that I think it looks good,probably gone a little to far in cutting the markets traded down so much the S&P FUTURES is one of the biggest traded markets there is and many are familiar with the key levels it trades at so miss not having it there.

To leave on a positive in the years I have been trading, market maker has been by far the most stable platform I have used even in the wildest of markets when key numbers come out (and I read on the boards that other platforms are down or phone only) it nearly always stays up if the new platform does the same then that is a big benefit which some of the newer players on the block struggle with

Kind Regards

Tim

 

[PC at CMC Markets]

Hi Ross

Another day freezing day today. Looks like snow is going to head south.
Fortunately I am not a southern softie as I have some geordie blood in me, my dad was from Newcastle so can tolerate the cold a bit better than the pure southern softies ha ha

point taken regarding spreads. What we are working towards is to have the best technology, most consistent platform and tightest spreads in town. I think we are definitely there on first two points and last point we are nearly there.
we can be beaten on some products but if your look across our product range we are very tight on spreads. If you look at our average spreads on head line products throughout the day then I think our spreads work out better over a period of time. I know one competitor who has head line lower spreads than us but when you look at their published spreads (on their web site) then our average spread comes in lower than theirs on some of the majors. Cannot mention who they are as that is not what this forum is about. It is a way for you our clients, or potential clients to communicate with me directly.

Anyway more to come on spreads from us but you will have to wait for early next year.

have a nice day and if you go outside put on your thermals.
cheers Peter

I know that there's more to it than attention-grabbing tight spreads if these are really theoretical. However, in my experience there are SBs that offer good execution with tight spreads, and others that offer the worst of both worlds, ie, wide spreads and poor execution.

 

[PC at CMC Markets]

Hi Tim

Sheffield eh, I was there last week attending the opening of the Sitran wing of Sheffield University, very nice shook hands with the Queen and had to bow a bit but apart from that very nice day. Didnt get a chance to see much of Sheffield but train journey was excellent, wifi, coffee and nice seat.

regarding your request for charts.
1. Already dealt with pivot points.
2. multiple chart facility is on it's way, Craig our resident chart fanatic has been banging on about this but just wanted to get second version charts out there. multiple chart facilities should be with you some time in January. They may not pop out but you will have chart watch list so you can programme multiple charts and fire them up when you need them.
If you log out of platform all chart patterns and studies are saved. If you close down individual chart window and keep platform open you lose studies. It is all coming. we develop it all in house/contractors but it is our IP. We want to have the best charting out there. We have a whole team of chart fanatics here and they will keep pushing until we get there.


Thanks for your comments regarding our platform. Of course I read the bulletin boards as well and I am proud that our system is very very stable. However, if you know this business we have 17 offices around the world, offering over 3000 real time products so we had to build a global platform. If we were just a local spread bet company then we probably could have saved $100 million over the years which would have been nice but then we would not be the power house we are

I made a point earlier to Ross that it is not just about head line spreads. If you are trading the financial markets you need to be able to execute trades. if the platform is down it doesn't matter what the spreads are if you cannot trade. That is why we have always put a lot of emphasis on platform.

Next time I am in Sheffield will meet up for coffee.
have a good day, England doing bit better in the ashes.

Peter

Hi Peter

Yes its bloody freezing up here in Sheffield

Ref Feedback on charts

They are nearly there just a few improvements needed to make them as good as the ones on market maker namely:

Pivot points-something very popular with daytraders which you have already answered

Pop Out Facility which we have with marketmaker would be nice.I think many more serious traders like to have more than one chart open at once to get a better picture of whats going on (say the Nasdaq and the S&p)and the pop out facility makes this much easier and most serious chart packages have this.

The ability to save different layouts would be nice too.

Other than that I think it looks good,probably gone a little to far in cutting the markets traded down so much the S&P FUTURES is one of the biggest traded markets there is and many are familiar with the key levels it trades at so miss not having it there.

To leave on a positive in the years I have been trading, market maker has been by far the most stable platform I have used even in the wildest of markets when key numbers come out (and I read on the boards that other platforms are down or phone only) it nearly always stays up if the new platform does the same then that is a big benefit which some of the newer players on the block struggle with

Kind Regards

Tim

 

[PC at CMC Markets]

Hi Hacks,

We have some features coming including pattern recognition and back testing soon but you probably wont be able to create your own indicators. maybe when we have got through some of the back log can look at custom indicators

cheers peter

Hi Peter

Will you be adding a custom indicator feature and a backtester (like in IT-Finance Advanced)?

Thanks
hacks

 

[Black Swan]

Hi Ross
Let's get real about spreads. This industry has to get real when it comes to head line spreads and zero spreads. Clients need a strong professional service with consistent spreads across a strong robust platform. that is our strategy and we will never get into a price war because ultimately it is not about head lines it is about consistent long term service

Amen to that...

 

[fibbinstarchi]

It's nice that Peter (if it is him) is taking the time to post on a free bb about his latest promotion, but I'm very suspicious about it all really...I see this as a marketing ploy.

I've made the time to test the charts/platform over the weekend and late last week and this is my conclusion.

I don't like the charts, they are designed to woo noobs. The functionality is poor, you cant size the chart to a small size so you can fit say 10 charts on the page like you can on every other platform, you can't even decide what colour or thickness to have your moving averages or add more basic levels to the fibonacci retracement tool and others.

I give this effort 5/10. You messed up when you stopped using Pro Real Time customisable charts, these new charts run by flash by the looks of them, nightmare.

All the best, but if you're looking for successful traders you're going the wrong way about it?

 

[Black Swan]

It's nice that Peter (if it is him) is taking the time to post on a free bb about his latest promotion, but I'm very suspicious about it all really...I see this as a marketing ploy.

I've made the time to test the charts/platform over the weekend and late last week and this is my conclusion.

I don't like the charts, they are designed to woo noobs. The functionality is poor, you cant size the chart to a small size so you can fit say 10 charts on the page like you can on every other platform, you can't even decide what colour or thickness to have your moving averages or add more basic levels to the fibonacci retracement tool and others.

I give this effort 5/10. You messed up when you stopped using Pro Real Time customisable charts, these new charts run by flash by the looks of them, nightmare.

All the best, but if you're looking for successful traders you're going the wrong way about it?

Never ceases to amaze me how folk fail to see how an SB firm fits into the overall market and what it truly offers specific traders. BTW I saw your original (now redacted post) in my spam e-mail folder...

As for the CEO of CMC taking time to post on this forum I think you and others should just take a little bit of time to consider how useful this truly is. We have Peter, Simon from CS and Connor from Worldspreads all prepared to communicate directly with you on these forums, we only need Matthew at IG to have a full house...well actually not quite, we'd need five, but you get the point.

Never mind wake up smell coffee, pick the beans and grind springs to mind..

 

[PC at CMC Markets]

Good morning fibb

many thanks for your blog so lets answer your points.
1. Firstly, yes this is the real Peter Cruddas Founder of CMC Markets and I do all of my own blogs. I even type them myself. My first job at 15 was telex operator at Western Union and I learnt to type. I can still type 80 words a minute, with all fingers and do not look at keys. so it really is easy for me to bang out my own responses. I even answer all of my own emails on a daily basis sometimes up to 70 emails a day.

2.The results are conclusive that our next gen platform is producing three times more business than the old platform and they are not all new clients. We have a very strong migration rate of existing clients onto the new platform and a strong return rate of old clients and it is still very early days. Next Gen charting is still not finished but it has had overall a positive response and we still have lots more work to do. I appreciate your comments and I have passed them onto the charts team and we will take them on board. However, we feel that we have to develop our own charts because we want them to be an integral part of our trading platform. We could have bought an off the shelf package and added it to the platform but we looked into it and decided that in the long run it would be better if the charting package was integrated to our platform for all sorts of reasons but primarily for the clients sake. I know we are not there yet but we are getting there and we have the time effort and budget to deliver the best charting package around.

4. I am not using this forum as marketing tool. I am here trying to answer all questions. I would have thought that was being helpful to any potential clients, existing clients and is a genuine and easy way for me to communicate with clients and potential clients. I also have face book page and twitter page that I use to communicate with clients. This is just another medium for that. Surely it is better for clients or potential clients to have access to Executive Chairman I might just be able to fast track some of your concerns.

5. Regarding the technical issues with charts.
In January you will see release of dashboard whereby you can save multiple charts a lot more than ten. You will also be able to customise your indicators including colours and thickness.

Hope that answers your questions.
Good luck with your trading.
regards Peter

It's nice that Peter (if it is him) is taking the time to post on a free bb about his latest promotion, but I'm very suspicious about it all really...I see this as a marketing ploy.

I've made the time to test the charts/platform over the weekend and late last week and this is my conclusion.

I don't like the charts, they are designed to woo noobs. The functionality is poor, you cant size the chart to a small size so you can fit say 10 charts on the page like you can on every other platform, you can't even decide what colour or thickness to have your moving averages or add more basic levels to the fibonacci retracement tool and others.

I give this effort 5/10. You messed up when you stopped using Pro Real Time customisable charts, these new charts run by flash by the looks of them, nightmare.

All the best, but if you're looking for successful traders you're going the wrong way about it?

 

[PC at CMC Markets]

Hi Black Swan

Appreciate your comments. I think it is about time that the top brass at Spread Bet firms are more accessible and this is my way of communicating with our clients or potential clients. This is early days and sure there will be negativity and criticism but I believe that over the coming years it will be normal for top executives to communicate directly with the clients. I for one think that can only be a good thing.
On another point it has no always been easy for some body like me to get feed back from clients. Having a blog page like this makes it so much easier and I can respond easily to points raised.
have a good day. first ashes match drawn, as a pom I can live with that.
cheers Peter

Never ceases to amaze me how folk fail to see how an SB firm fits into the overall market and what it truly offers specific traders. BTW I saw your original (now redacted post) in my spam e-mail folder...

As for the CEO of CMC taking time to post on this forum I think you and others should just take a little bit of time to consider how useful this truly is. We have Peter, Simon from CS and Connor from Worldspreads all prepared to communicate directly with you on these forums, we only need Matthew at IG to have a full house...well actually not quite, we'd need five, but you get the point.

Never mind wake up smell coffee, pick the beans and grind springs to mind..

 

[Black Swan]

Hi Black Swan

Appreciate your comments. I think it is about time that the top brass at Spread Bet firms are more accessible and this is my way of communicating with our clients or potential clients. This is early days and sure there will be negativity and criticism but I believe that over the coming years it will be normal for top executives to communicate directly with the clients. I for one think that can only be a good thing.
On another point it has no always been easy for some body like me to get feed back from clients. Having a blog page like this makes it so much easier and I can respond easily to points raised.
have a good day. first ashes match drawn, as a pom I can live with that.
cheers Peter

Glad the first test is over tbh, havn't experienced sleep deprivation since my youngest lad was born..Watching Strauss and Cooke has been a delight..left handed batsmen are the princes of the wicket IMHO. We can take the Aussies deffo.

 

[PC at CMC Markets]

Hi Black Swan
I find I can get to sleep okay but wake up in middle of the night dying to turn on the t.v to see the score. If I switch on TV then I cannot get back to sleep. Have woken up around 4am a couple of times and watched it.
I think we have excellent team, batting in depth and I do expect us to do well. Have to admit weather down there is annoying considering how cold it is here.
have a good day.
cheers peter

Glad the first test is over tbh, havn't experienced sleep deprivation since my youngest lad was born..Watching Strauss and Cooke has been a delight..left handed batsmen are the princes of the wicket IMHO. We can take the Aussies deffo.

 

[The_Duke]

Hi Black Swan
I find I can get to sleep okay but wake up in middle of the night dying to turn on the t.v to see the score. If I switch on TV then I cannot get back to sleep. Have woken up around 4am a couple of times and watched it.
I think we have excellent team, batting in depth and I do expect us to do well. Have to admit weather down there is annoying considering how cold it is here.
have a good day.
cheers peter

PC - I consider your input into this forum outstanding! Not just in terms of quality of information but also in regards to the time you take in responding to various boofheads who think it's their job to criticise you personally.

With regard to your platform, which I use daily, I'm one of those who look forward to your new release. As an Aussie, I think mid next year is our scheduled release, shame, but all good things etc...

Now, to the cricket - fantastic performance by your blokes - boring to watch but a great save on your part and we didn't deserve to win with a very average bowling performance. I think your bowlers are goiong to give us a lot of trouble this series.

Still, I'm going long on the Aussies but keeping my stop loss close - I think you poms may just have what it takes this year, but keep that to yourselves

 

[PC at CMC Markets]

Good morning The Duke
Thanks very much for your kind words of support. I have tried to be balanced in my responses and at all times give honest answers. I know there are some people that use forums to vent their anger and have personal agendas but that is okay I am happy to respond to them providing they keep it civilised and make constructive points. I am here for the majority of people that want to ask serious questions about CMC Markets and what we are up to and how it will affect them going forward. No point in letting a small number of people spoil it for the vast majority of people that have serious points to make. It is actually really rewarding for me to communicate directly with our clients or potential clients. We have this forum so why not use it. I know some of the comments will not be good but that is business. You have to face up to the reality of business and deal with them. That is what I am trying to do. I look forward to blogging every morning and speaking with you guys.

With regards to Australia, you are right it is next year. I could give you a rough time but it is commercially sensitive. What I would say to you is that I love our Australian business and the team down there. We have a physical share and cfd combined front end which gives us a broader financial base in Australia. From a technical point of view it is much harder to launch a combined front end that is why it will be launched next year. will be in first quarter. However it will be worth the wait, next gen technology including charting and some sexy new products as well, combined with physical shares. it's a cracker.

Really I am football fan but I do get interested in the cricket once it gets going especially if England are doing well. I come to Australia at least once a year and so I know how sports mad you lot are. I love Australia and hope to spend more time there in the future. Good luck in the cricket we normally lose down there anyway so any success is welcome.

Good luck with your trading
Peter

PC - I consider your input into this forum outstanding! Not just in terms of quality of information but also in regards to the time you take in responding to various boofheads who think it's their job to criticise you personally.

With regard to your platform, which I use daily, I'm one of those who look forward to your new release. As an Aussie, I think mid next year is our scheduled release, shame, but all good things etc...

Now, to the cricket - fantastic performance by your blokes - boring to watch but a great save on your part and we didn't deserve to win with a very average bowling performance. I think your bowlers are goiong to give us a lot of trouble this series.

Still, I'm going long on the Aussies but keeping my stop loss close - I think you poms may just have what it takes this year, but keep that to yourselves

 

[SB_Beginner]

Hi Peter,

I would like to thank you for dealing with my PM I sent you yesterday. It's not completely sorted yet but at least I know it's being dealt with.

I have to say I currently have mixed feelings about the new platform. I really like the look and feel of it and I think it's certainly more intuitive than the old market maker. That said I think it has a way to go before it gets up to speed. I know just recently the charts have taken a massive leap forwards but there is still further to go in my opinion. Do you know if there will be the ability to write your own stock screeners? I don't know of any other spread betting firm that offers a stock screener and if you added this functionality I'm sure you would be the first to offer it. I currently use external software to run my stock screeners that I have written, If I could do it all within my spread betting platform It would be a big plus .

Anyway thanks again for dealing with my issue I appreciate it a lot.

 

[PC at CMC Markets]

Hi SB Beginner
Many thanks for your response and taking the time to send me your request.
We plan to add very powerful screening tools which are our own screening tools that will screen all asset classes. We are just mapping them out now and Craig who heads up this area is very excited about them. They will go into production soon and should be with you latest first quarter next year.Craig loves charts more than any body I know and he heads up the chart team so you have a great ally in him.

There is so much the boys are adding to charts. We think charts are important to our clients and we do not want to buy an off the shelf product because we want all charts integrated to our platform that is why we have taken our time to get this right. Not there yet but we are working hard and should get there soon.

Thanks for your comments regarding our next gen platform. To be honest it has had a fantastic response even without the charting upgrade and is generally well received. It is different from the rest of the spread bet community but I think it is awesome, I couldnt love it more and when you see the stuff we have planned it will just get better and better.

thanks for your time, good luck with your trading.
regards Peter

Hi Peter,

I would like to thank you for dealing with my PM I sent you yesterday. It's not completely sorted yet but at least I know it's being dealt with.

I have to say I currently have mixed feelings about the new platform. I really like the look and feel of it and I think it's certainly more intuitive than the old market maker. That said I think it has a way to go before it gets up to speed. I know just recently the charts have taken a massive leap forwards but there is still further to go in my opinion. Do you know if there will be the ability to write your own stock screeners? I don't know of any other spread betting firm that offers a stock screener and if you added this functionality I'm sure you would be the first to offer it. I currently use external software to run my stock screeners that I have written, If I could do it all within my spread betting platform It would be a big plus .

Anyway thanks again for dealing with my issue I appreciate it a lot.

 

[Wager]

Could someone please enlighten me about the financing costs for holding overnight positions with cmc spread betting?

I thought the usual basis was roughly;
Libor + or - 3% / 365

However section 9 of the spread betting terms and conditions says (right at the end of 18 pages of small print – why is this vital information not made more visible!?);

''9. Financing
Applying Financing
9.1 In respect of each Bet that remains open at the end of a Business Day, the Bet Financing Cost will be calculated at the end of each day at 00:00 GMT/01:00 BST. The Bet Financing Cost comprises two components: (a) Bet Borrowing Cost and (b) Bet Holding Cost.''
...It goes on to give the formulae for Bet Borrowing Cost and Bet Holding costs, which to be honest I had no idea how to calculate :/

E.g. Bet Holding costs =
(Stake x Point Multiplier x Opening Bet Price x FX Conversion Rate x Holding Rate Long or Holding Rate Short(as applicable) x number of Business Days) / number of days in the current calendar year.

I've searched everywhere on the cmc website and Google, but still can not find what exactly are these rates?