Best Thread Capital Spreads

Yes I think we about reach rock bottom when it comes to spread. At least I am now satisfied with the spread and instrument that I am trading with CS. Spread betting and CFDs is not legal in the US and many US citizen are quite jealous of us being able to participate in this game.

On the other hand, because there's no spreadbetting, those in the US have a huge choice of futures brokers offering minimal commissions and advanced platforms.
 
On the other hand, because there's no spreadbetting, those in the US have a huge choice of futures brokers offering minimal commissions and advanced platforms.
Yes it all depends on what you are after and what level you want to trade on. Tax free on SB is a big plus for some though. We still have an advantage as we have access to CFDs and SB while the US citizen do not have this. What is the cheaper to trade can be debated though looking at the spread we have for example on the Dow.
 
Yes I think we about reach rock bottom when it comes to spread. At least I am now satisfied with the spread and instrument that I am trading with CS. Spread betting and CFDs is not legal in the US and many US citizen are quite jealous of us being able to participate in this game.

I have also heard the americans are very jealous of some of the low spreads we have with no commision particularly on the Dow.
 
Actually traders in the US have very limited Broker choice as there is a big problem over capital requirement levels. Also permissible leverage is far less than in the UK and Comms are generally much higher etc etc. Generally clients have to put up more than the exchange margins to trade with a broker.

To put this into context to trade a FTSE contract (£10 a point) in the US would require some £3000 in deposit (with Capital Spreads you could do so with just £300, although i would not recommend it ). There is no ability to trade in sizes different to contract sizes so (again using the FTSE) you can only trade the equivalent of 10/20/30 etc.... no just have a bit of a punt with a pound a point.

But the clients cannot do anything about it because the US has laws making it illegal for retail clients to trade with non US companies in USD contracts. Even if cfds/spreadbets were legal in the US.... Capital Spreads still could not do business with an American citizen.

The simple fact is that in FX and Futures Broking non-US companies are not allowed to offer their services into the US to ordinary clients. Whilst at the same time our regulators have no such restrictions and indeed give licences to all the US companies that wish to come over here and offer products (even those that are illegal in the US such as CFD's and Spreadbets). This means that there is minimal competition in the USA and massive competition here.

it always confused me as to why all the really big investments banks were american until I got into this business. And then I realised. The point is that for the biggest economy on the planet the financial markets are virtually a closed shop to outsiders and so the operators within that sphere can use the profits generated by the lack of competition to undercut markets in the rest of the world.

Simon
 
Last edited:
You are so unfair to other SB companies Simon - by offering all these low spreads you'll take most of the clients (at least those who can think normally) from others that offer 'FROM SPREADS';)
 
Amazing new spreads.

Has the minimum SL's changed for FX. Looking at the online literature I can only find reference to GS minimum or is this the same.
 
You are so unfair to other SB companies Simon - by offering all these low spreads you'll take most of the clients (at least those who can think normally) from others that offer 'FROM SPREADS';)

And maybe you could point out (no pun intended) to CMC that their claim to have 'the tightest and most consistent spreads in the industry' isn't true?
 
charnock

to be honest i try not to comment on competitor platforms. I dont use CMC but i must admit that it is eye catching.

zen

i wish !

neil

i dont think the minimum stop has changed (to be honest i do not tend to keep an eye on them). The min stop is always visable on a trade ticket when you ask to add an order.. it will say "Points Away Min 5 (or whatever the min is)". FX tends to leap around a bit (although in a slightly more contained manner these days) and so 10/15 point shifts seem to be the norm

simon
 
Yes things are now at the moment very satisfying with CS. Now I only ask for consistency at this level. To be honest CS has been very consistent in the past and that promise good for the future.
 
i am not sure about how IG return funds but i suspect that it is not as 'electronic' as you might think.

You can request a return of funds and get a confirmation message back but as a regulated company we must make checks on a variety of factors fraud/money laundering etc before we send the money back.

this means that it cannot be (yet) automatic.

Simon
 
chart problems. I remember something like this happening before during summer time ending and summer time beginning. The charts still show the old time. It is stuck now. Also what has happened to the Bund? It seems to be closed but other SB open.
 
Chart issue fixed pretty quickly after my comment. Another funny thing happened today. The time jumped from the correct time to perhaps an hour ahead. I had to refresh all the affected charts. Apart from these problems, they are useful for trading. However, it is unfortunate that these incidents often destroy a trading opportunity.
 
received email about upgrade to charts commencing 10th I think. Looking forward to it. I hope the bugs have been resolved. I also hope it is a smooth transition.

Simon, I here the spread of European bond yields against the Bund is mentioned a lot. Are you considering offering this as an instrument c.f. WTI brent difference?

cheers.
 
simon, i cant change the chart time scales on an android htc desire phone since the charts changed. on 1 hour only and i want 3 mins.
email support not great and cant help can you?

i trade by phone so if cant sort then i need to go elsewhere as ig is great on the phone
 
Top