CFD Providers

[Rainmaker]

I'm looking around for a new CFD broker and would welcome suggestions from users of this Board. I have traded FTSE 100 stocks so far (spreadbetting and CFDs), but am looking to trade stocks outside the FTSE 100, with caps of over £200m.

Anyone recommend a good provider?

Thanks.

 

[knorrie]

Have a look at E*Trade, you can trade almost all of the FTSE 350 stocks with them. You can use their quote driven service with fixed commissions of £9.95, or their new direct-access platform with integrated Level 2 for starting commissions of 0.2% min £20 (negotiable down to 0.1% I believe). You can actually trade either way from the same account, although I haven't enabled the DA system yet, their quoted platform is fine for me.

I've been using them for 18 months now and have been very pleased with both their execution (instant fills at the quoted price every time) and customer service. I also have my ISA/PEP accounts with them.

You can download a free trial of the CFD platform, which is actually the real thing with live prices, just using a fake account. Check it out at:

https://accounts.uk.etrade.com/cfd_page.htm

KenN

 

[Rainmaker]

Many thanks indeed Ken - I will take a look.

Have you traded CFDs outside the FTSE 350 with them?

 

[knorrie]

No, as you can only trade what is selectable from the list on the trading platform, about 320 or so the last time I checked. I suggest you download the demo app, and have a look at the LSE stocks list to see if what you're looking for is in there.

KenN

 

[peterpr]

You should also check out IG Markets.

So far as I am aware they are the only CFD provider that allows you to deal directly with the market on individual shares through a L2 interface. ALL the others provide their own quotes - some very fast like ETrade - but quotes none the less with a spread built in. With L2 you can place orders directly within the current MARKET spread. Their system causes your CFD trades to purchase/sell the underlying stock in their name. The rub is you pay them a (pretty hefty to start - but negotiable) commission on every open and close. The upside is you are dealing with the market itself rather than an intermediary setting its own spread on each deal.

Peterpr

 

[Paulds11]

I had huge technical problems with the IG product, dont do IG.. in addition they throw in some distracting other products which act like Casino One arm bandits sucking your money called binary bets..(unnecessary, deliberately distracting and a huge revenue earner for IG if you play, plus the price (moving spread) are not necessarily proportional with the market at all.. rather behaving like a stubborn/lazy option) and this to me seem to be at odds with the market and type of product they are offering. As such I believe the markets are fake variations of the real thing.. AVOID FAKE MARKETS.. its the equivalent to bookies doping the horses to fluff your bet..why play that kind of product? This makes me believe IG should be avoided as a CFD platform.