Best Thread Capital Spreads
capitalspreads
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macro
the markets are much more illiquid in the middle off the night and three pips on eur and cable is not feasable given this. (at least for us).
Simon
the markets are much more illiquid in the middle off the night and three pips on eur and cable is not feasable given this. (at least for us).
Simon
Perrington
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Cheers Simon,
Youve gave an infomed answer to all the questions asked, the bias issue can be explained by the rounding equation you provided so this is perfectly acceptable on my behalf. I still favour CS as my SB provider taking all factors into consideration.
Youve gave an infomed answer to all the questions asked, the bias issue can be explained by the rounding equation you provided so this is perfectly acceptable on my behalf. I still favour CS as my SB provider taking all factors into consideration.
I think companies are forced by law to collect a lot of information when you open an account - something to do with money laundering.Malele said:
Finspreads have a special starter / trial account you can open with £100 and they'll take stakes as low as 1p (one penny) while you find your way (max 8 weeks I think then it jumps to min 50p)
http://www.finspreads.com
Simon,
is there any possibility that you would consider taking the Rolling Daily FX pairs from the next contract before the front contract expires?
Ex. right now there is not a lot of movement on the EUR/USD March contract (due to expire in three days), whereas the June contract is more active.
Another question along the same lines: I currently see your June contract for that same pair at 13407 (mid) and my data feed (eSignal) gives me 13422 for that contract. Are you that 'wide off the mark' due to the expiry of contracts or is there another reason?
Please correct me if any of my assumptions above are wrong, or I have simply misunderstood something.
All the best...
is there any possibility that you would consider taking the Rolling Daily FX pairs from the next contract before the front contract expires?
Ex. right now there is not a lot of movement on the EUR/USD March contract (due to expire in three days), whereas the June contract is more active.
Another question along the same lines: I currently see your June contract for that same pair at 13407 (mid) and my data feed (eSignal) gives me 13422 for that contract. Are you that 'wide off the mark' due to the expiry of contracts or is there another reason?
Please correct me if any of my assumptions above are wrong, or I have simply misunderstood something.
All the best...
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capitalspreads
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jyde
all of our forward contracts are calculated from the spot rate so the march contract (which has now expired) should move as much as the June. The FX is one of the markets that we ignore the futures market in favour of the spot becaouse it is the most liquid.
The reason our June price was out of line with the future was because the Libor rates had changed slightly and had not been moved by us. So in this instance we were, in fact, quoting a slightly incorrect price.
We do our best to continually update the interest rate feeds but occasionally one slips through. This gives clients the chance to get one over on us (!!) by trading the qtrly vs the spot as, unless we have made some outrageous error, we will not go back and claim back the odd pip or two.
good luck everyone
Simon
all of our forward contracts are calculated from the spot rate so the march contract (which has now expired) should move as much as the June. The FX is one of the markets that we ignore the futures market in favour of the spot becaouse it is the most liquid.
The reason our June price was out of line with the future was because the Libor rates had changed slightly and had not been moved by us. So in this instance we were, in fact, quoting a slightly incorrect price.
We do our best to continually update the interest rate feeds but occasionally one slips through. This gives clients the chance to get one over on us (!!) by trading the qtrly vs the spot as, unless we have made some outrageous error, we will not go back and claim back the odd pip or two.
good luck everyone
Simon
capitalspreads
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zarif
we added gbp/chf a few days ago it should be there now.
unfortunately it is not the most liquid of markets and our price is probably not great!!
simon
we added gbp/chf a few days ago it should be there now.
unfortunately it is not the most liquid of markets and our price is probably not great!!
simon
fhb22266
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Simon,
I've just moved my account from Finspreads to Capitalspreads because I didn't like the way they 'biased' the prices on the Wall Street Rolling Daily and you stated you do not bias prices.
However today I had a long position opened at 10460 with my stop set at 10461. At 17:38 the Dow dropped to 10463 yet I was stopped.
Why is this?
Forbes.
I've just moved my account from Finspreads to Capitalspreads because I didn't like the way they 'biased' the prices on the Wall Street Rolling Daily and you stated you do not bias prices.
However today I had a long position opened at 10460 with my stop set at 10461. At 17:38 the Dow dropped to 10463 yet I was stopped.
Why is this?
Forbes.
capitalspreads
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fhb
this is a common problem with SB customers as has been commented on in many threads.
We quote our all of our wall street prices from the prices supplied by the e-mini dow future (as this is the most liquid contract associated with the Dow 30). So today our Fair Value on the Wall street rolling bet is minus 22. Which means that we are quoting the Mid Point of our Rolling Dow 22 points below the Mid point of the E-mini future. This Fair Value is quote by Bloomberg and is generally fixed for the whole day.
The reason that we (and all the other SB companies) do this is because the Dow Index price relies on all 30 stocks trading before the index changes price. Of course this takes some time especially in volatile periods, whereas the future continues to give a price feed that is consistent and reliable.
This means that sometimes the Dow e-mini future will move to a low (or high) and then come back before the cash index itself has had time to move. Creating a low (or high) on our trading platform that is not reflected in the actual printed high or lows of the day of the index.
Although this means that sometimes stops get hit at unfortunate levels it also means that traders can often get in at better levels than would be normal.
Remember that the Dow Index is not actually a tradable product. There is no share that is the Dow 30. It is just a mathmatical calculation of its underlying constituent parts (i.e. the shares that are in it). The Dow e-mini future is a derivative of the index and is thus where we hedge our exposure.
I must also state that all our stops are based upon "our quote" and I can fully imagine that if the cash dow print had moved to 10463 then the futures would probably have moved slightly further and our quote is likely to have been at least 10461 - 10466 (or 10460 -65) maybe for a brief moment even lower which would trigger your stop at 61.
Regards
Simon
this is a common problem with SB customers as has been commented on in many threads.
We quote our all of our wall street prices from the prices supplied by the e-mini dow future (as this is the most liquid contract associated with the Dow 30). So today our Fair Value on the Wall street rolling bet is minus 22. Which means that we are quoting the Mid Point of our Rolling Dow 22 points below the Mid point of the E-mini future. This Fair Value is quote by Bloomberg and is generally fixed for the whole day.
The reason that we (and all the other SB companies) do this is because the Dow Index price relies on all 30 stocks trading before the index changes price. Of course this takes some time especially in volatile periods, whereas the future continues to give a price feed that is consistent and reliable.
This means that sometimes the Dow e-mini future will move to a low (or high) and then come back before the cash index itself has had time to move. Creating a low (or high) on our trading platform that is not reflected in the actual printed high or lows of the day of the index.
Although this means that sometimes stops get hit at unfortunate levels it also means that traders can often get in at better levels than would be normal.
Remember that the Dow Index is not actually a tradable product. There is no share that is the Dow 30. It is just a mathmatical calculation of its underlying constituent parts (i.e. the shares that are in it). The Dow e-mini future is a derivative of the index and is thus where we hedge our exposure.
I must also state that all our stops are based upon "our quote" and I can fully imagine that if the cash dow print had moved to 10463 then the futures would probably have moved slightly further and our quote is likely to have been at least 10461 - 10466 (or 10460 -65) maybe for a brief moment even lower which would trigger your stop at 61.
Regards
Simon
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capitalspreads
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Yes Lll you are quite correct
we quote the Diamond Trust Series in the rolling daily US shares list .... what fails to be mentioned in direct access on US shares is that in the united states you cannot actually hit a bid , all you can do is offer your shares at a price and hope somebody buys them off you (this is why there is often no spread in US shares because brokers offer the shares below market price to tempt a buyer to 'take' them). Thus in a falling market it can be difficult to get out of your position (as buyers tend to be short on the ground)
It might be interesting to speculate as to whether this is one of the reasons that US shares are so much more volatile (in general) than european ones.
Using direct access it can also be difficult (and expensive) to hold on to a short position over night.
You will also have to put up rather more margin to trade direct access than taking out a spread bet with Capital Spreads (we generally ask for a 5% minimum margin requirement).
But as Lll says the spread is generally less.... I am not sure about dealing costs, access to the markets costs (commission etc) as I do not use them. As stamp duty in this country is 0.5% and our spread on rolling daily bets is only 0.1% to 0.2% I would suggest that this is an immediate saving already. But no doubt there are other factors involved that benefit the direct access trader in some way.
regards
Simon
we quote the Diamond Trust Series in the rolling daily US shares list .... what fails to be mentioned in direct access on US shares is that in the united states you cannot actually hit a bid , all you can do is offer your shares at a price and hope somebody buys them off you (this is why there is often no spread in US shares because brokers offer the shares below market price to tempt a buyer to 'take' them). Thus in a falling market it can be difficult to get out of your position (as buyers tend to be short on the ground)
It might be interesting to speculate as to whether this is one of the reasons that US shares are so much more volatile (in general) than european ones.
Using direct access it can also be difficult (and expensive) to hold on to a short position over night.
You will also have to put up rather more margin to trade direct access than taking out a spread bet with Capital Spreads (we generally ask for a 5% minimum margin requirement).
But as Lll says the spread is generally less.... I am not sure about dealing costs, access to the markets costs (commission etc) as I do not use them. As stamp duty in this country is 0.5% and our spread on rolling daily bets is only 0.1% to 0.2% I would suggest that this is an immediate saving already. But no doubt there are other factors involved that benefit the direct access trader in some way.
regards
Simon
rjay
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Holding onto margin during winning trades
I've always been happy with Capital Spreads but there is one thing that annoys me and I'm curious to know whether it's just them.
Upon opening a trade an automatic stoploss is placed. Hopefully the trade goes in my direction, so I then move the stoploss to the price I paid (or into profit) .... however that does not "free up" the money in my account that had been used as margin. Indeed, despite the fact that in this scenario I almost certainly won't lose (unless a 9/11 event happens), it doesn't change my trading resources at all.
Capital Spreads say it is because their stoplosses are not guaranteed. So is this what every SB company does ?
I've always been happy with Capital Spreads but there is one thing that annoys me and I'm curious to know whether it's just them.
Upon opening a trade an automatic stoploss is placed. Hopefully the trade goes in my direction, so I then move the stoploss to the price I paid (or into profit) .... however that does not "free up" the money in my account that had been used as margin. Indeed, despite the fact that in this scenario I almost certainly won't lose (unless a 9/11 event happens), it doesn't change my trading resources at all.
Capital Spreads say it is because their stoplosses are not guaranteed. So is this what every SB company does ?
I can make 4 comments here but I don't really know if any of them will necessarily help you (though the third and fourth ones might, I suppose):-rjay said:
(i) There are SB companies who do have guaranteed stops, at a price (and therefore clearly can't use the same excuse!). For example, I believe that IG Index will do guaranteed stops on various currency pairs, but at the price of a 9-pip spread!! I admit that I don't actually know anyone willing to pay it (I'm used to CS 3-pip spreads on Cable and EUR/USD, myself).
(ii) I can tell you (even though they won't like me saying so because it gives them something difficult to live up to) that CapitalSpreads, in my experience, are _very_ good at honouring stops even in fast-moving markets.
(iii) I seem to recall reading, somewhere in the ultra-long "Capital Spreads" thread on this website, something to the effect that someone had a long position running with them, discussed it on the phone with them, and was surprised to learn that he could close the position and re-open it again at the same time and price (i.e. paying no spread) and pocket most of the profit made so far (leaving enough for notional margin and new stop-loss, of course), which is what he did. I was surprised, as well, because I hadn't known that you could do that (and of course, it might have changed since then, because this was a while ago).
(iv) When I open positions with Capital Spreads, I always amend the automated stop-loss about 2 seconds after opening them, and that immediately puts plenty of money back from the position into my "available trading capital" or whatever they call it.
