Finspreads and ticks

[gododdin]

Hi all - I've seen the various 'not so complementary' posts about Finspreads but I thought I'd open an account to take advantage of their 10p per tick for 8 weeks 'Trading Academy' offer. So today I thought I would have a go just to see how it all works.

I've been watching Exxon Mobil for a few days and on Stockcharts the price closed at 84.38 yesterday. Capital Spreads are offering 84.22 - 84.34 - a 12 point spread (but at a minimum £1 per tick/cent of course) . So far it all makes sense.

But then I go to Finspreads and they are offering 8432.0 - 8447.0 - the spread has gained a decimal point . I phoned them for clarification and the guy said that a tick is 8432.0, 8432.1 etc. So at that rate their spread is not 15 points (bad enough compared to Capital Spreads) but 150 points! So even if I only trade at 10p the spread is still £15 Surely this can't be right???!!! Or is this a 'special price' just for me because I'm trading at 10p? If so their promise of a low-risk start for newbies goes out of the window.

I suspect that it's just me misunderstanding something (and if so, apologies to Finspreads), but I'd be grateful for any clarification please.

On a brighter note - I just finished reading Marc Rivalland on Swing Trading (recommended by another T2W member) and I thought it was excellent!

Cheers G

 

[tomorton]

Hi G -

I use Fins - they're OK when you get used to their quirks. They always honour my stops and orders at the place where I put them in. It is a nuisance when their platform stops quoting and says Suspended or Indicative only or is just so very slow when the market is moving quickly.

Re their Exxon quote this is in cents, nor $. This follows UK normal practice which is to quote shares etc. in pence, not £ but I don't remember seeing US stocks quoted anywhere else in cents. Their info sheet for this one - click i on the platform aganst this quote - shows that you are betting per 1, not per 0.1. The spread on the rolling market is indeed currently 8432.0-8447.0 = 15, which at your max stake would be £1.50. This is tiny, less than 0.2% spread. I suspect someone at Fins is confused - either their operator or their info sheet writer or their quote writer. (Or me. or you. or both of us.)

You could always open a position and see what happens.

 

[gododdin]

Thanks for clarifying that Tom - I had a feeling it was probably me and that it would be per cent, but the whole thing was confused by the response I got from the guy at Finspreads. What I still don't understand though is, in that case, why bother with the 0.1 (or whatever) at all? Seems to me it just confuses the issue.

Thanks again, G

 

[Lee Shepherd]

Clarification

Hello mate,

Just thought I'd clear up the issue with the spread, 150 for Exxon would be rediculous, it barely ranges this per day trading.

If you calculate it correctly or easier still just look at the info provided on the side of the graph on the said market you'll see it's only 15pts spread.

Hope this helps.

By simple checking with any finance house, for example click on this
EXXON MOBIL CP Share Price Stock, Quote | XOM | US30231G1022 | Yahoo! Finance UK
to bring up the price for exxon, bear in mind that its 20 mins behind but should give an example.

Hi all - I've seen the various 'not so complementary' posts about Finspreads but I thought I'd open an account to take advantage of their 10p per tick for 8 weeks 'Trading Academy' offer. So today I thought I would have a go just to see how it all works.

I've been watching Exxon Mobil for a few days and on Stockcharts the price closed at 84.38 yesterday. Capital Spreads are offering 84.22 - 84.34 - a 12 point spread (but at a minimum £1 per tick/cent of course) . So far it all makes sense.

But then I go to Finspreads and they are offering 8432.0 - 8447.0 - the spread has gained a decimal point . I phoned them for clarification and the guy said that a tick is 8432.0, 8432.1 etc. So at that rate their spread is not 15 points (bad enough compared to Capital Spreads) but 150 points! So even if I only trade at 10p the spread is still £15 Surely this can't be right???!!! Or is this a 'special price' just for me because I'm trading at 10p? If so their promise of a low-risk start for newbies goes out of the window.

I suspect that it's just me misunderstanding something (and if so, apologies to Finspreads), but I'd be grateful for any clarification please.

On a brighter note - I just finished reading Marc Rivalland on Swing Trading (recommended by another T2W member) and I thought it was excellent!

Cheers G