Advice on which SpreadBetting site to join

Quimby

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Hi All,
Pretty new to all of this, but am now at a stage where I am looking to join an SB site, but the question is which one do I choose????

Your views/pros/cons would be most welcome:)
 
Hi All,
Pretty new to all of this, but am now at a stage where I am looking to join an SB site, but the question is which one do I choose????

Your views/pros/cons would be most welcome:)

Does that include Trading in general? Apologies if not, but if so, why do you want to join a SB site?
 
Does that include Trading in general? Apologies if not, but if so, why do you want to join a SB site?

Thinking about it, advice on both would be good.

SB because of the tax free advantages I suppose, although I do realise that the risks are high.....
 
Thinking about it, advice on both would be good.

SB because of the tax free advantages I suppose, although I do realise that the risks are high.....

Well, if you are new to Trading then I would leave SBetting alone until you have (at the very least) a basic outlined strategy on how you will enter and exit a trade AND a basic understanding of Risk / Money Management.

A lot of newbies assume that SB is a strategy in its own right. Its not!!! Its basically a method that allows one to take advantage of leverage, which in turn, allows one to take more positions. Thats it!!!

Newbies are drawn to SB for the only reason you gave :rolleyes: (its Tax Free benefits). But a lot of them fail to realise that if one loses all their money, there's not much benefit in the Tax Free incentive.
 
If you really want to do trading I fail to see why the OP should be advised to leave spreadbetting alone! If he does conventional trading he will essentially face the same risks without any of the advantages of spreadbetting: If you get the direction right you'll win money, and if you get the direction wrong - you'll lose money. The difference is that in regard to normal trading you will actually win less money - as under half of that will have to go to those above us...
Start small and develop the art of patience! Just stick to small bets of 1 pound per point until you are beyond feeling comfortable to do so. And stay away from 1, crude and 2, forex until you really know what you are doing!
Everyone has to start somewhere, and spreadbetting the market is as good a way as any other; plus it has its advantages over normal trading. I would strongly advise the OP to join more than one spread betting company. They all act fairly when they have a loser on their books, but it's how they act when you start consistently winning that shows their true colours. When I was new and losing most of the time, I could not recommend CMC more. Certainly they played fairer when I was a regular loser than IG ever did. However now that my tune has changed, so has theirs. Alas... Alas, indeed. Now, I am currently looking for a new s/b company and am trialling GFT. It seems to be quite a complicated interface and there is much I don't like about it and much that seems better at face value than what CMC offer. Anyway, good luck in finding a few s/b companies to join but never just join one. That is *good" advice and time will show you why!
 
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I have a thread where I list all the spread betting companies I'm aware of giving bonuses for shining up and I'd choose one of those. If you private message me I can introduce you to capital spreads and we'll both get seventy quid (best option in the whole world ;)) alternatively there are a few who are paying a ton at present.

IG index have the best reputation and invented financial spread betting but I won't mention those because I won't get paid.

Oops.
 
I have a thread where I list all the spread betting companies I'm aware of giving bonuses for shining up and I'd choose one of those. If you private message me I can introduce you to capital spreads and we'll both get seventy quid (best option in the whole world ;)) alternatively there are a few who are paying a ton at present.

IG index have the best reputation and invented financial spread betting but I won't mention those because I won't get paid.

Oops.

It took only four replies for someone to actually answer his question. Dave, if you didn't butt it, I bet he would have got advice about what colour shoes to wear. Damn you. It is amusing how people just give unsolicited advice when some one asks a simple question. I am surprised no one yet told the thread starter to use tight stops or have a plan, or any number of cliches.

I trade with IG index and they are good, by the way.
 
Re "It took only four replies for someone to actually answer his question."

Mine was the 4th reply and in case it escaped your attention, I recommended CMC for a newcomer, *but* with qualifications, which I took the time to explain. I'd hope that the original poster took some value from my comments. Meanwhile, I fail to see why it's better just to answer: "I recommend xyz sreadbetting company because they are good". By the way, I certainly would not recommend IG (as you have); one reason being that I could park a bus between their spreads for most instruments (The thinner the spread the easier it should be to make money).

Alas, if only it were as simple as saying "go for this s/b company and forget about all the others". Which is partly why I also gave the advice to open more than one account. Sometimes there isn't a simple answer to a simple question. And that's also why those responding take the time to elaborate: we are only trying to help in the way which seems most helpful to us.
 
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Thanks for your advice guys.....i'll have a look around and we'll see how I get on ;)
 
Re "It took only four replies for someone to actually answer his question."

Mine was the 4th reply and in case it escaped your attention, I recommended CMC for a newcomer, *but* with qualifications, which I took the time to explain. I'd hope that the original poster took some value from my comments. Meanwhile, I fail to see why it's better just to answer: "I recommend xyz sreadbetting company because they are good". By the way, I certainly would not recommend IG (as you have); one reason being that I could park a bus between their spreads for most instruments (The thinner the spread the easier it should be to make money).

Alas, if only it were as simple as saying "go for this s/b company and forget about all the others". Which is partly why I also gave the advice to open more than one account. Sometimes there isn't a simple answer to a simple question. And that's also why those responding take the time to elaborate: we are only trying to help in the way which seems most helpful to us.

Quite true. All of them must have some drawbacks, it depends on the preferred instrument, I think. I trade indices, SP 0.6 spread, Footsie, Dax and Dow 2 points. FT shares can be too wide for my taste, but higher volume ones, like BP and RBS, are 1.5.
Some moan about Fins, but I have had no problems. Now, maybe the commodity traders may have some, I don't know.

Split
 
Morning Quimby and welcome to the world of spreadbetting.

I have used Capital Spreads and have always found them a reasonable company to deal with. I have, over the years had few issues with them, but on each case I felt that I was given the benefit of the doubt. I do take some money out of my account, but not much - but never with any difficulty.

One of the most attractive features about Capital Spreads is this forum:

http://www.trade2win.com/boards/spread-betting/16595-capital-spreads-438.html

It does speak volumes about the company's transparency. I also run an account with IG Index and I now have a direct account with Alpari. No problem with any of them, but first choice is Capital Spreads.

Good luck
 
There are some good tutorials on Paddy Power Trader which will give you a basic understanding.

My best advice is use a demo account for six months like I did. The site above has a free demo account with 10,000 in it. My theory was if I could make money on the demo account I would open one for real. Two demo account later I opened a real account and am still going a year on.
 
Spreads futures/cash

Hello,
I am not familiar with spread trading. My actual broker in the US does not allow me to make a spread futures/cash (example long sp500 futures --short SPX). I wonder if this is possible with any of the so called ''spread trtading companies''.
Thank you for your insights.
berbo
 
I want to start betting higher amounts on the FTSE at £10 per point. My current broker will charge me £10 per transaction but tax free. If I used a futures broker, I might be able to trade for 85p per leg but it would cost me anything from £55 to £100 in tax on each trade I make 25 points on. Does anyone know of a spread better that lowers their cost for larger size but where you still get the benefit of trading tax free?
 
Hello,
I am not familiar with spread trading. My actual broker in the US does not allow me to make a spread futures/cash (example long sp500 futures --short SPX). I wonder if this is possible with any of the so called ''spread trtading companies''.
Thank you for your insights.
berbo

it is possible to trade both contracts with the same SB company.
if they don't allow you then open another account with the same broker on your family member or with different SB company.
 
I have used capital spreads for a couple of months now and did plan on signing up to a few other SB sites to see what different they offer but I am getting on just fine where I am so why move?
 
Hi All,
Pretty new to all of this, but am now at a stage where I am looking to join an SB site, but the question is which one do I choose????

Your views/pros/cons would be most welcome:)

Try one which offers an audio news stream - IGIndex, for example, provide slighly delayed information from the Real Time Analysis and News (Ransqwauk) for free which can be very helpful if you are trading alone and need some explanation for why the markets are bouncing around.



Tony
 
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