Best Thread CMC Markets owner answers your questions

[PC at CMC Markets]

Re: 1. Bund 2. Platform 3. Reports

Good morning black swan, nice to see you are up and about the weekends.

Thanks for your comments. It is clear from this thread that there are some posters that really see the value in communicating directly with me before they try the system or open an account. Then there are a few others that just want to use the thread to have a pop at anything and everything. You only have to look through the threads to see who is genuine about what we/I am trying to do and the ones that are not.

However, the genuine threads are really worth responding to because there are some excellent questions coming through. This is what keeps me going and I really love being able to respond to genuine questions about CMC Markets and what we are trying to do.
I have to say again. Well done to the moderators for keeping this thread sain and on track.

many thanks for taking the time to post your views.
regards Peter

Agreed to 1000%. The gripes about the length and width of candle shadows, or the width and dark corners on the graphs (from folk who don't even trade on the platform) should not detract from what is a terrific thread. IMO the questions on the ergonomics of the new platform have nowhere left to go, as a subject it's surely exhausted. Whilst the feedback is interesting I'm sure the firm you paid a few hundred grand to get it right have got it right. Folk moan when Amazon make a small change to their 'front page', or the when E-bay layout is refreshed..

The value you imput from your side of the industry, and that you've already shared, has not been lost on some of us. It is unparalleled and difficult to value. it's akin to having Arsene joining in on an independent Gooners website, on a wet winter weekend, after Fabregas has gone hiding in midfield that afternoon.

 

[PC at CMC Markets]

Dear mrscurry

Many many thanks for this excellent post. I have to say when I first read it I got very excited, because this is really good question and is starting to get at the heart of the matter and the type of service we want to get to. To see words like rolling cash commodities, innovation, etfs, contango all in the same post and about our new rolling cash commodities is really exciting for me. Why because this is a high level question and is part of the process I believe in taking financial spread betting to another level.
It is exactly what next generation software and products are all about.

We are very proud of our rolling cash commodities product. I do not know of any other company offering this product on such tight spreads. it is product innovation and there is more to come as we get into releasing new software and products this year.

What I have done is forwarded your question to the quant. team that has written the algorhithm for cash commodities. They will answer the question and I will post it tomorrow.

have a good weekend
Peter

Hello Peter
The rolling commodity bets on the new platform are a welcome innovation in principle but I need some clarification:
Do you propose to track the 'spot' price in all of these commodities in the medium to long term, especially in commodities such as Natural Gas and the 'softs', which experience significant contango in their underlying futures contracts?

If so, HOW? Its fairly well documented that most futures based commodity ETFs are dreadfully inadequate at keeping up with spot prices in anything but the very short term due to the corrosive effects of contango. There have been periods for example where oil and gas etfs have fallen in value even as the spot prices were rising. So if they can't manage it, what's your plan?

Thanks

 

[PC at CMC Markets]

Hi mrscurry

The commodities quant. team are working this weekend so I got a quick reponse to your question. This is their answer

We intend to stick to the cash format - however please note that the price we make is an implied cash price not a spot price (physical price with delivery)

So our price will have the same economics as a futures contract without the expiry, roll over or price discontinuity. Therefore if the market has steep contango this will be reflected in the finance cost.

Hope that helps and thanks for your post.
regards Peter

Hello Peter
The rolling commodity bets on the new platform are a welcome innovation in principle but I need some clarification:
Do you propose to track the 'spot' price in all of these commodities in the medium to long term, especially in commodities such as Natural Gas and the 'softs', which experience significant contango in their underlying futures contracts?

If so, HOW? Its fairly well documented that most futures based commodity ETFs are dreadfully inadequate at keeping up with spot prices in anything but the very short term due to the corrosive effects of contango. There have been periods for example where oil and gas etfs have fallen in value even as the spot prices were rising. So if they can't manage it, what's your plan?

Thanks

 

[jesteruk]

Hi Peter. On a related subject do you intend to add ETF's and ETC's to your platform? Another nice one would be interest rates and bonds.

 

[geewcee]

just try to get used to them because many companies going this way and also on ipad they look brilliant.

Get your iPad app released and your LSE markets expanded to match someone like IG Index and I'll definately give you my business, albeit not much.
I'm becoming tired of getting constant referrals at the moment from my usual SB company. Just whip your programmers a bit harder Peter and get this stuff released out there. Have to admit I hate black charts too but whatever, if the underlying platform is as good as you say it is then I'm onboard.

 

[PC at CMC Markets]

Hi geewcee

Ipad is due to be released in weeks not months. I have seen it and it is awesome, in my opinion. I love it to bits.

I am sorry you are getting constant referrals, I really think that referrals, requotes, ticket time outs, fill or kill, head line rates should be eliminated from the spread bet industry. It is not good for the industry as a whole and our next gen platform specifically addresses these areas, that is why we called it next generation.

New products coming very soon, including more shares, more forex crosses and more indices again in weeks not months. If you give us a try please post your comments on this site so others can read. Feed back always appreciated whether it is good or bad, that way I can get issues addressed by the team.

thanks for taking the time to blog.

have a good sunday
regards peter

Get your iPad app released and your LSE markets expanded to match someone like IG Index and I'll definately give you my business, albeit not much.
I'm becoming tired of getting constant referrals at the moment from my usual SB company. Just whip your programmers a bit harder Peter and get this stuff released out there. Have to admit I hate black charts too but whatever, if the underlying platform is as good as you say it is then I'm onboard.

 

[PC at CMC Markets]

Hi jesteruk

in our next gen release including spread bet and cfds there are various products and instruments that I cannot comment on but they will be in line with what you suggested. Not all on day one but they will keep coming. sorry but some commercially sensitive stuff here that cannot release at moment.

sorry to be vague but if you follow the next gen releases as they occur over coming weeks you will see all sorts of new things coming out.

regards peter

Hi Peter. On a related subject do you intend to add ETF's and ETC's to your platform? Another nice one would be interest rates and bonds.

 

[gle101]

Hi geewcee

Ipad is due to be released in weeks not months. I have seen it and it is awesome, in my opinion. I love it to bits.

I am sorry you are getting constant referrals, I really think that referrals, requotes, ticket time outs, fill or kill, head line rates should be eliminated from the spread bet industry. It is not good for the industry as a whole and our next gen platform specifically addresses these areas, that is why we called it next generation.

New products coming very soon, including more shares, more forex crosses and more indices again in weeks not months. If you give us a try please post your comments on this site so others can read. Feed back always appreciated whether it is good or bad, that way I can get issues addressed by the team.

thanks for taking the time to blog.

have a good sunday
regards peter

Sorry Peter, I cannot go along with your description of the rest of the industry. At least not when it comes to the more established SB companies. The overall service has improved significantly this last year. At least that is what I have experienced being signed up with quite a few. They have to improve along with increased competition, and now comes CMC, another big one, that will hopefully step up the service even more.

 

[XEC10]

Peter,

I choose CMC Markets for CFD trading of US equities because there is no minimum commission charge and I can trade as few shares as I wish. Thats been especially useful during the learning process, as it minimises costs, and I've often traded as few as 10 shares when live testing a setup that I'm not fully confident with. I use Marketmaker because I can have charts scattered over two monitors and I don't use the CFD web trading tool as I never liked the look of it. When the new charting tool becomes available for CFD trading I'll certainly try it, but as it is a web application I've already got doubts, especially so, because for my personal trading method I only need basic charting anyway. I don't use the pattern recognition tool that was introduced a while back as I couldn't get it to produce any useful results for intraday setups. I daytrade and some trades may last a couple of minutes and some may last a few hours but I never hold overnight positions.

What has been lacking from CMC is any facility to backtest trading methods and to program my own automated trading methods. For that reason I always viewed CMC as a broker to start CFD day trading with, in order to take advantage of low trading commisions, and then to switch to a broker that would allow NinjaTrader or Metatrader to trade from. Is there any liklihood that CMC will allow trading via NinjaTrader or Metatrader in the future?

 

[rjmahan]

Hi Peter just received this message letting me know you are dropping AIM shares.

"Please note that from close of trading on 21st January 2011, the AIM index is being de-listed and we will no longer be able to open new positions on AIM shares on Marketmaker.

UK AIM shares can only be closed out or reduced by calling us on 0207 170 8202 (UK) or +353 (0)1 256 3060 (Ireland). AIM share bets that remain open will be closed out at the closing price on 11th February 2011.
"
Simple question - why are you doing this ? I dont currently have any AIM positions with you but I like the idea of competion in this area. You seem to be ceding this territory to your competitors. Is this just an old platform thing ?

Cheers,
Rob

 

[Shakone]

Peter, is it possible to set a preference on a chart? If for example I would like every chart to be viewed as a bar chart, or if I want to open a 1 hour chart. Currently (on demo) it seems to open as a line chart on 5 min timeframe.

Also second the previous comment about having trading stats, win%, ave win, ave loss etc.

 

[arabianights]

PC you keep offering these guys a night out, may I have one please? I took on someone who had been a dealer of yours once (name is Maninka, best not give the surname) - very nice fellow, still works in our back office. He could come too!

 

[Black Swan]

PC you keep offering these guys a night out, may I have one please? I took on someone who had been a dealer of yours once (name is Maninka, best not give the surname) - very nice fellow, still works in our back office. He could come too!

God <or insert other preferred deity> help us...Dave's found the thread...

 

[arabianights]

God <or insert other preferred deity> help us...Dave's found the thread...

You don't want to deny me a night out do you Mr. Swan!?

 

[PC at CMC Markets]

Hi everybody
Was posted a message about our rolling cash commodities by mrscurry and I gave quick answer before but the team have posted me a longer answer which I will post below. Question is on thread 676.
This was the original question
The rolling commodity bets on the new platform are a welcome innovation in principle but I need some clarification:
Do you propose to track the 'spot' price in all of these commodities in the medium to long term, especially in commodities such as Natural Gas and the 'softs', which experience significant contango in their underlying futures contracts?

If so, HOW? Its fairly well documented that most futures based commodity ETFs are dreadfully inadequate at keeping up with spot prices in anything but the very short term due to the corrosive effects of contango. There have been periods for example where oil and gas etfs have fallen in value even as the spot prices were rising. So if they can't manage it, what's your plan?


"Cash commodity prices are an "implied cash price" derived from respective futures. Overtime this implied cash price and its related financing cost will produce the same economic value as futures. So if there is contango in futures this will be reflected in the calculation of the daily cost to carry.

Futures and implied cash prices should not be confused with physical spot prices which can vary due to the difference in quality, delivery location and method. While investing in commodities its important to remember that holding a commodity in physical form costs money. When investors buy a physical commodity they incur carrying costs such as storage, interest on forgone on money tied-up, insurance etc.. "Contango" for the most part represents these carrying cost. So as long as these carrying costs are not zero I'm afraid there is no way of escaping it."

Hope this is clear and good enough

Risk warning
Spread betting, CFDs and FX are leveraged products and carry a high level of risk to your capital. It is possible to lose more than your initial investment. These products may not be suitable for all investors, therefore ensure you understand the risks involved and seek independent advice if necessary.

 

[PC at CMC Markets]

didnt realise you liked bingo

PC you keep offering these guys a night out, may I have one please? I took on someone who had been a dealer of yours once (name is Maninka, best not give the surname) - very nice fellow, still works in our back office. He could come too!

 

[PC at CMC Markets]

Good morning rj

Thanks for the post and taking the time.
We are de-listing the aim stocks on market maker because we wanted to focus on the core liquid markets, all of the major markets and we have started that process now. if you look at the way we automate the execution on next gen spread bet that means focusing on all the major liquid products. we need automated execution on precision pricing real time. we will have an extensive list of products on next gen which will cover all of the major markets. we will look at aim stocks etc for next gen but we are not there yet. will keep you updated.
thanks peter

Hi Peter just received this message letting me know you are dropping AIM shares.

"Please note that from close of trading on 21st January 2011, the AIM index is being de-listed and we will no longer be able to open new positions on AIM shares on Marketmaker.

UK AIM shares can only be closed out or reduced by calling us on 0207 170 8202 (UK) or +353 (0)1 256 3060 (Ireland). AIM share bets that remain open will be closed out at the closing price on 11th February 2011.
"
Simple question - why are you doing this ? I dont currently have any AIM positions with you but I like the idea of competion in this area. You seem to be ceding this territory to your competitors. Is this just an old platform thing ?

Cheers,
Rob

 

[PC at CMC Markets]

hi xec

The aim for us is to ultimately have a complete charting package that allows you to test your own patterns and studies and then place trades. That is why we have decided to build our own charts around our next gen platform.

problem is, it takes time and with a heavy work load of next gen spread bet, next gen cfds global release and continuous chart updates we are not there yet.
Ultimately we want to offer our clients a free complete charting package that does everything you need it to do. In my opinion it is only a matter of time before we can deliver that and the aim is for it to be completely free for our clients.

as I said we have a heavy work load, no you cannot test your own patterns yet but in the future that is the aim

many thanks for taking the time to post your views.
regards Peter.

Peter,

I choose CMC Markets for CFD trading of US equities because there is no minimum commission charge and I can trade as few shares as I wish. Thats been especially useful during the learning process, as it minimises costs, and I've often traded as few as 10 shares when live testing a setup that I'm not fully confident with. I use Marketmaker because I can have charts scattered over two monitors and I don't use the CFD web trading tool as I never liked the look of it. When the new charting tool becomes available for CFD trading I'll certainly try it, but as it is a web application I've already got doubts, especially so, because for my personal trading method I only need basic charting anyway. I don't use the pattern recognition tool that was introduced a while back as I couldn't get it to produce any useful results for intraday setups. I daytrade and some trades may last a couple of minutes and some may last a few hours but I never hold overnight positions.

What has been lacking from CMC is any facility to backtest trading methods and to program my own automated trading methods. For that reason I always viewed CMC as a broker to start CFD day trading with, in order to take advantage of low trading commisions, and then to switch to a broker that would allow NinjaTrader or Metatrader to trade from. Is there any liklihood that CMC will allow trading via NinjaTrader or Metatrader in the future?

 

[PC at CMC Markets]

Hi shakone.

This build is in production now and will be released with next gen charting upgrade. should be here hopefully end of February but work on mid March to be safe.

cheers Peter

Peter, is it possible to set a preference on a chart? If for example I would like every chart to be viewed as a bar chart, or if I want to open a 1 hour chart. Currently (on demo) it seems to open as a line chart on 5 min timeframe.

Also second the previous comment about having trading stats, win%, ave win, ave loss etc.

 

[PC at CMC Markets]

hi swandro

already on it and you will be able to print the inverse of the chart so white back ground if you choose. will be in next gen chart upgrade due end of February.

thanks peter

Peter

Not wishing to extend this rather extensive discussion about dark backgrounds too far beyond everyone's patience, I would like to make a point which, as far as I can see, no-one else has raised.

I love black backgrounds and always use them. However, many traders, including myself, often have a need to print a chart, and printing a chart with a dark background is quite annoying. Firstly it uses a lot of expensive ink, and secondly, printing a big block of black will sometimes make the paper wet and wrinkly. Maybe it's just me, because I use cheap paper and a cheap printer, but I suspect I am not the only one.

I use SierraChart and they have solved this by providing a print option that always sets the background to white. It might be useful if you could consider doing the same.