CMC Markets

Deal for Free

I've been using deal for free for 3 years now, they have a good platform, however i would only use them for indices for overnight trades or longer term trades. Last year I was on auto fill on the Dow and this was excellent, however I'm now on manual fill (even for a pound bet) and this can take 60 seconds to fill, in fast moving markets this can be a bit of a nightmare.

Also (and this has happened so many times that I personally do not feel it is a random event)it appears that manual fill depends upon the market turns & the way that orders have been filled with speed as it goes against you and slowly when in your favour (& then a requote).

Although spreads quoted are 5 points I found City Index with an 8 point spread to be more effective as fills are instant with them.

However now I have direct access with 1 point Dow spreads i don't use CMC much for indices.

In a positve vein I have heard from fellow traders that CMC are as good as it gets for trading stocks among the spreadbetting firms.

Good luck

Loxy

CMC Service

I have been using CMC for 18 months and until recently was very happy with them. However, they have had horrendous system problems recently which have made the service unuseable for extended periods, resulting in a loss of many thousands of pounds to me. They have not compensated me for my losses and are having difficulty tracking phantom trades. I'm afraid that I'm going to have to take my business elsewhere, because as an active trader, I simply cannot afford this kind of thing.

D4F

As a regular user of D4F they are the outstandingly best UK platform for online trading .. my interest is the Dow. What other platform is there? No offense intended but Finspread does not compare; when you want to trade you have to wait while they bring up a price .. really sweet.

There have been a few recent problems with the D4F platform which are irritating when they occur. The live graph currently appears not to working properly with intermittent dotting instead of the actual price movements but anyhow I use LiveCharts at Quote.com (and recently they went intermittently bad for a couple of days).

But D4F gives you a live, continuous and sensitive 'prices meter' with an instant trading facility. Cool. And then there is lovely tax free feature of all spreadbetting .. bliss!

CMC

They may say Deal for 'Free' but the spread is often wider than quoted if you want to deal in any reasonable size. They will keep you hanging on and waiting to deal even if there are sufficient orders on the book to fill your deal.
Customer service? If you have a problem... don't bother.

Much prefer other brokers to this company, even if it might 'seem' initially you have to pay more.

Opinions about this broker?

What is your opinion about this broker?I am looking for opinions on this broker?

Don't ever Deal4Free!!

Nothing good to say about this company - wouldn't recommend them to anybody.

System is poor, service is even poorer, as for the spreads - don't even get me started!

Please look at every other company possible before you open an account with them.

If I could rate them less than 1 I would.

Deal4Free Spreadbet

This review is from a spread betting perspective.

In comparison to other firms deal4free have the tightest spreads i have seen, i challenge anyone to enlighten me as to a cheaper option here (spread betting only).

They have a broad range of instruments however if you are looking to trade smaller cap US stocks they will not cover these.

Occasionally in fast markets you may get re-quoted price, however this will depend on your trade size and trading £1-5 per point I hardly ever get re-quotes.

Whether you get re-quoted will also depend on your trading style, if trying to scalp (not advised with spread betting) you will undoubtedly get re-quotes.

The trading platform is rather resource intensive, with the new IT Finance Charting system it is the best trading platform of any spread betting firm imo (again I welcome anyone to challenge this) , offering customisable indicators and option to write your own indicators and systems and then back-test them on spreadbet data. The charting is surprisingly good however again is resource intensive, with recent updates to platform I have found it less reliable that it used to be due to increased computer requirements, sometimes charts can take a while to load and sometimes simply wont at all around busy market hours, though once loaded they update fine. However if ur using your own charts package then the execution side of the trading platform is robust.

They also have real-time account monitoring, which keep tracks of positions and account balance. However they keep track of positions at market price rather than bid/offer which doesn’t give you exact profit/loss on eacj trade only out by a few pounds here and there but still annoying. Once the trade has been exited they obviously give exact P/L with executed entry and exit price.

They have a good range of strategy orders with market, GTC and Day Stops, One Cancels Other, Controlled Risk Bet etc.

On support there is a live chat option through which you can speak to different depts of D4F regarding general enquires perhaps on software or to dealers regarding execution. I have always found the chat to be quick and efficient in solving problems.

Whilst Deal4free spreadbet is not the ideal platform for an active day trader to work for, as a spread betting from in general I think it is by far the best out there.

D4F

I have been using CMC/D4F for over 3 years now and I have seen that how their software has grown in functionality and stability and how much effort they put on their system.

I trade forex/index/gold/oil with them and have in past compared their prices with other providers (oanda for example) and their spreads are equal or better.

I do get sometimes "requote" but that is understanable given the trade size or market volatility.

The only time I was not happy with them because I was trading too much and too fast and trying to find someone else to blame for my losses. If I am trying to get 10 points scalp and market moves against me and I also get a requote on top, of course I will be unhappy. But this can happen any where.

Once I have started trading in a discipline, I am making money with them as well as I think they are makign money in the "market making" and "flow".

I do not think their business model is the bookie business model -> suck all blood out of your client.

Tightest spreads and 1-second charts for real HF traders

CMC is perfect for trades lasting seconds or minutes, as they have chart time ranges down to 1 second, which run properly, and offer 0.7 on the DJIA (2 points on IG) and same on FTSE and DAX. Also their 0.7 Dow runs from 7am (IG are 4 pts until 2.30pm when it opens for real). I love this, and do a lot of my index trading on CMC.

Bad points, their US share list is somewhat limited, and their web interface looks like an XBox or PS3 video game, unlike IG and Barclays, which look like a spreadsheet. Also for some reason, their web software times out are a very short time (seems like about a minute) especially if it on a browser tab you are not viewing, whereas IG and Barclays run for hours and hours. The displays use more screen up, and the colour schemes are horrible. Doesn't affect money though which is the main thing.

Overall, the best company for indices day trading. IG are the best overall (IMHO)

Steal 4 Free

This company has a reputation for running stops and moving prices that do not reflect the underlying index.Constant reqoutes and extremely poor service complete the picture.

If you want to get severly worked over this is the company to chose.

Do not ever trade the aussie 200 index with these guys they will kill you.

a nightmare!

CMC Markets is a nightmare! since I signed up 1 month ago I have been loosing on allmost every single trade I made, but I can't really say Im a good investor, Im a beginner right, but I am constantly trying to improve my self, but to loose on 98% of all positons is way off the probability, technically I have a 50% chance since the price either can go up or down, and I did allways enter on favorable positions, doubble tops and bottoms, head and shoulder patterns and reverse, triangles, etc, anyway, by knowing these strategies, I don't think I am that bad, their spread is too wide and it seems impossible to make any money unless you hit something that will hit the roof, I feel they have constantly been working against me since I signed up, a lot of re-qoutes when you are trying to get out at a limit price when the cource has reversed, if you choose market price they will sell way off underprice, further, their software sux, I had to stop using the desktop version because it frooze on me several times, and it is a real hog, eats all my Ram away, the web version doesn't offer much. if you are looking for a good broker make sure they have DMA (Direct market access) CMC Markets don't, they should be avoided at all costs!

At last up scratch.

Pretty good overall.
Some spreads are a little too wide.
Can't 'PoP' Chart windows out.
No Options.
There Volatility Calculations are off.
Voila...enjoy !!

Could do better

I've been dealing with CMC for just over 18 months now. Initially there reputation, or lack of it, on the customer service side was a worry. However whenever I have had to speak to a dealer or ask for assistance they have been great. No problems.

The only gripe I have is with their trading platform Marketmaker. It's a great package and has fantastic charts, it just doesn't always seem to work that well. It freezes at time and candles can be missing or change shape/colour when you next log on. Not helpful if you are trying to ascertain a HLCO scenario. If they could sort out the problems with it then they would do better.

I like it

Been with CMC for 7 months now - German version. Support is very good and charts as well as the software is one of most stable ones I've ever used. I like the fact that your templets get saved on their servers, so wherever I log in I got the same layout. Execution is fast. The data on the charts is not always clean (notrade spaces for example) thats a minus.

Good broker

I have no complaints with CMC - good spreads, good charting and good committment to enhancing the platform. One thing I would say is that you need to ensure that you have good memory on your PC otherwise the CPU can get overloaded leading to the platform freezing.

Great Spreads, Great Platform, Great Service

No complaints at all! I did a spread comparison with other firms and found them either better or equal to other firms for what I trade. Good platform with excellent charting and fast execution. I also found the default layout feature really helpful. 24- hour dealing and customer support, very happy!

Good platform, good value seminars

I've been a CMC customer for a few months and am so far impressed with the company as a whole. The spreadbet trading application is well designed, and a new version has just been released. They do a range of free and paid-for seminars and workshops. The paid-for ones cost around £200 and they teach you a lot. There's no need to pay thousands for certain other trading courses!

STEAL4FREE STILL UP TO THEIR OLD TRICKS

CMC used to trade as TRADE4FREE but their nickname was STEAL4FREE!

Anyone who trades with them should install a screen recording program on their PC
(there are free ones on the net). Then phone CMC and tell them you have a video
record of the transaction that differs from theirs.

I first did this in the early 2000s, when I had to buy a DVD recorder and a module
to connect to the PC, as they were tricking me by the day.
The first time I rang them they asked me to send them the DVD (they thought they
were calling my bluff).
I sent them a copy and after that they just took my word I wasn't bluffing.
I found they just didn't argue and paid up.

You can obtain the official Time & Sales info for that day to confirm what you suspect.

I got fed up of all their trickery, manipulation, deceipt and lies and dumped them,
which I recommend to anyone after reading the current posts.

As for the staff, they generally acted and sounded like East London wide boys just out of school.

I tried others and landed on IG Index. They are professional and honest beyond belief.
What you click on is what you get - no ifs no buts. Their staff are so very helpful.

Poor

Poor execution, price shading, price spiking that doesn't mirror the market.

If you want to position trade without using stops, don't mind losing a tick or two per-side due to requotes and don't mind the dubious small print (for God sake read it) then this broker is for you.

Last Gen

I can't see anything 'Next Generation' about it - lots of slippage and spreads mostly wider than their 'headline' spreads - clumsy, limited platform.