Good morning Ross.
thanks for posting.
Firstly I am not bothered about competition but we have a programme to make new releases and will stick to that. I have told you about the changes and more to come but I just want them to come through now. Not long to wait.
I think you raise an interesting point. Spreads are only half the story. Execution will become key over the coming months. It is pointless if you have low spreads and you are constantly reading clients. That is why we have put so much into our execution programme. I think it will turn into an execution war not spread war and because of our execution we are in good shape. I see one of our competitors offers price improvements but to me if you are messing around with the execution in any way this would cause concerns for me. First question I would ask is are you passing on the whole price improvement or keeping something for yourself.
We always pass on whole price improvements (and if market moves against you). It is clear and transparent. That's the way I like it and I suspect the trading community does as well.
When a price is quoted, it should be based on the market price, and yes to a certain extent your position, but it should not be slanted outside of the under line markets. That it is why clients need to pay a decent spread when trading. If your spread is too low you have to base your prices off your position. Because our spreads are 0.7 if you hit us against our position we can cover it instantly and still make a turn on the trade.
It could turn into a price war. If it does we are ready because we have the technology.
remember we have been building next gen for over two years. In one of our offices they handled ten times the normal account applications to open account.
This industry needs to grow up and starting delivering high levels of technology and execution. I think we have taken a different slant on the issues or pricing, execution, spreads, and re quotes. It is early days but because of the way we handle business now the rest of the industry will have to look at it and decide whether to follow suit. Ultimately clients will decide the right way to work but with next gen you have a bench mark to work from.
remember spread betting is a leveraged product, you should understand the risks before you trade.
best regards Peter
Cheers pc
QUOTE=Ross Spur;1668784]I'm drooling at the prospect, PC.
Don't know why you're bothered about the competition. They can advertise all they want, but If CMC has the tightest (actual) spreads, auto execution, low margins and decent charts with direct trading, then people will gravitate towards you and stay. Although I think you're going to start a spread war, probably with AN Other SB offering 0.5pt on FTSE and DAX, their platforms won't be able to handle that without 'reading' the trades by having a preselected buy or sell for entry.[/QUOTE]