Finspreads Charts...

[LiamH]

I have not long started trading and was wondering if applying technical indicators and studying price action on Finspreads or any other SB company charts will give the same results as if applied to a chart which follows the actual market rather than the SB's quoted price?

Or would it be best to use charts with a live feed to the actual market? (I always thought this wouldn't be the case as the charts wouldn't necessarily show the same price)

 

[ZEPPO]

I have not long started trading and was wondering if applying technical indicators and studying price action on Finspreads or any other SB company charts will give the same results as if applied to a chart which follows the actual market rather than the SB's quoted price?

Or would it be best to use charts with a live feed to the actual market? (I always thought this wouldn't be the case as the charts wouldn't necessarily show the same price)

Hi LiamH,

Spreadbetting companies make their own prices, so the prices you see in their charts are pure fiction - do not use them to trade, use your own datafeed from say, Sharescope or e-Signal; there are quite a few providers out there.
Also there are very bad reviews about Finspreads so you want to thread carefully.
The best you can do is to search for these posts and read them before you commit a single penny.
I know about their promises, but spreadbetting companies are full of traps and few of them are worth trading with - it is a real cesspit you have stepped on!
It won't take long before you understand: delayed execution, which usually happen when the price is against you, skewed prices by as much as 20 or 30 points in some indices, stop losses hit while the market never moved there, etc..., you name it, they already have thought about it!
Finspread is also famous for closing accounts - winning traders accounts.
Always read the fine print - you'll be surprised!
Hope this helps.

Eduardo.

 

[LiamH]

Hi LiamH,

Spreadbetting companies make their own prices, so the prices you see in their charts are pure fiction - do not use them to trade, use your own datafeed from say, Sharescope or e-Signal; there are quite a few providers out there.
Also there are very bad reviews about Finspreads so you want to thread carefully.
The best you can do is to search for these posts and read them before you commit a single penny.
I know about their promises, but spreadbetting companies are full of traps and few of them are worth trading with - it is a real cesspit you have stepped on!
It won't take long before you understand: delayed execution, which usually happen when the price is against you, skewed prices by as much as 20 or 30 points in some indices, stop losses hit while the market never moved there, etc..., you name it, they already have thought about it!
Finspread is also famous for closing accounts - winning traders accounts.
Always read the fine print - you'll be surprised!
Hope this helps.

Eduardo.

Hi Eduardo,

Thank you for your comments...

I'm glad the chart issue has been clarified, I've been taking a look at the charts on www.forex-markets.com/webcharts and they seem pretty decent, would you recommend these?

And yes, unfortunately i'm fully aware of finspreads sometimes dodgy tactics.. I was trading off one of there charts and didn't realise that the chart was sometime behind - I guess it was my own fault for not checking the price when i entered but as soon as i put the trade on I was on the wrong side of a breakout and quickly had to close my position for a 60pip loss. I've also experienced the time delays in opening/closing a position although this has worked in my favour as many times as it has worked against me so at the moment i'll give them the benefit of the doubt. Saying that though, I have applied for another account with futuresbetting.com - Can anyone recommend these?

 

[Splitlink]

I do not believe that any spreadbetting company is better than another. Sooner or later disatisfaction will show its ugly head, especially if the trade was a loser. A spreadbetter isU]betting[/U] on a price change and his trade is not registered at the relevant exchange. Because of this the government does not tax the individual.

I shall, probably, be trading with Fins tomorrow, although I am not sure, but my advice to anyone who does not like Fins is to go to a broker. Another spreadbetting company is just throwing good money after bad. Brokers will be more expensive than a spreadbetting companiy as the trader has to trade a full contract. Getting it wrong will be very expensive for a beginner with limited capital.

These are the facts. So many people beat around the bush when it is a question of accepting a bookie or a broker. The alternative is to leave this method of making money.

Would you tell me, please, what you were trading? I ask this because I have been trading shares all through last week without any appreciable problem. Maybe it was another instrument but, if you would tell me what it was, I would endeavor to keep an eye on it next week. I would like to say that I am not a scalper and scalping is not suitable for spreadbetting.

 

[LiamH]

I understand that the finspreads prices are fictional so with this in mind, wouldn't it be better in theory at least, to trade using their charts? I ask this because if I use charts that are directly connected to the market and identify a support/resistance level for an entry and i decide to put my stop say 20 pips on either side and then i place that trade on finspreads, the finspreads quote could take my stop out without the actual market ever hitting that position which would render the 'real' charts useless? Is this correct or am I missing something?

 

[LiamH]

I do not believe that any spreadbetting company is better than another. Sooner or later disatisfaction will show its ugly head, especially if the trade was a loser. A spreadbetter isU]betting[/U] on a price change and his trade is not registered at the relevant exchange. Because of this the government does not tax the individual.

I shall, probably, be trading with Fins tomorrow, although I am not sure, but my advice to anyone who does not like Fins is to go to a broker. Another spreadbetting company is just throwing good money after bad. Brokers will be more expensive than a spreadbetting companiy as the trader has to trade a full contract. Getting it wrong will be very expensive for a beginner with limited capital.

These are the facts. So many people beat around the bush when it is a question of accepting a bookie or a broker. The alternative is to leave this method of making money.

Would you tell me, please, what you were trading? I ask this because I have been trading shares all through last week without any appreciable problem. Maybe it was another instrument but, if you would tell me what it was, I would endeavor to keep an eye on it next week. I would like to say that I am not a scalper and scalping is not suitable for spreadbetting.

I was trading one of the currency pairs, I can't remember which too be honest but it's not something i'm concerned about. I've read many threads about this issue and am very much in agreement with you. Next time I will just make sure that I check the price is the same as on the chart in future!!

Cheers

 

[tomorton]

LiamH - You are pretty much right on the relationship between SB prices and the underlying market - for the various monthly contracts they can be many points off the market when the market is trading. When the market is closed, the SB prices are reflections of the Futures prices and the bias can be much greater: e.g. at ths minute, the FTSE100 is at 4980.2, where it ceased trading Friday at 16:30hrs. At that point, Fins were quoting the October FTSE100 market at mid-price 4999, that is, 5003 to buy, 4995 to sell, the familiar 20pts or so bias to the upside. this makes the TA difficult but not impossible, as the SB prices generally move in line with the underlying index - so if the FTSE100 itself goes up 100pts, so does the SB market.

However, at this minute, although the FTSE100 market itself is closed, Fins are offering (for orders only, not trades) the Oct FTSE100 spreadbet at 4831 to 4839. This is down 164pts from 16:30hrs Friday, so they are showing a belief that the market will drop substantially on tomorrow's open from Friday's close.

If your TA of the actual FTSE100 suggests support at say 4875, and you put a stop there on a Fins long position, even allowing for a 20pts bias, you are already stopped out. So not only do you have to allow for the bias, you have to allow for out-of-hours volatility as well. Its quite possible that by the time we get to 0800hrs tomorrow, the FTSE will open in London at exactly where it closed Friday afternoon, but the out-of-hours movements will have killed so many bulls.

Short-term spreadbetting, intra-day or aciross 2 days, is very tough to win at. Longer-term, over a week or longer, the job is easier, as the SB firms can't stand off 164pts from the market for more than a weekend or overnight, but its still no picnic. Trade small until you're consistent, stay in the game until you can win it.

 

[Splitlink]

Would you show me an instance where Fins have stopped a trade and that has not been corroborated by another independent chart service? Don't get me wrong, I am not defending these people but I do not see the point in closing an account because of dissatisfied traders on a forum.

Someone said, on another thread, that they were unable to trade on Friday because Explorer had been discontinued. I know that I was trading shares, using Explorer. So where does that leave us?

At the same time, there are changes taking place this weekend, so I understand and, perhaps, Explorer will not be in use tomorrow---I don't know. But Friday I used it and the fills were normal. In fact, when I got a box saying that the price had moved on, etc.,I got a better price on one occasion.

 

[ZEPPO]

LiamH, what you need to keep in mind is this: spreadbetting companies are not brokers but glorified bookmakers.
I am sure some people make money using them, but I am also sure that the great majority does not.
If you want to day trade the best option is to do it through a regular broker using Level II info, ie., the order book.
Forex is more of the same but on a lesser scale, that is, the prices they offer, be it brokers such as IBFX, Oanda, etc..., are not "pure", you will find discrepancies between them.
There is also the desk traders who will chase your stop loss; yes, I know, they say that this is fiction and no such thing exist as a desk trader, but in my experience it is much easier to make money using daily and weekly charts and wide stop losses (400 or 500 pips on Cable) that trading intraday, where for some reason the market always move against me if the stop is less than 50pips, hit my stop, then resume its original course...in the direction in which I entered the trade in the first place.
But that's just me; just keep in mind that trading is not as easy as it looks at first sight otherwise everybody would be at it; it is hard, full of traps and, yes, someone is gunning your stop losses, whatever they say.
Thread carefully, use your head, DO NOT OVERLEVERAGE, and learn from your mistakes; you'll be fine.

Eduardo.

 

[Splitlink]

You are right, Eduardo, the whole damned thing is dangerous for the unwary. I, really, do not think that Fins, being a bookie, is any different from the rest. All of them get a pasting on these boards, for one thing or another, at some time or another, from some disgruntled poster. Then the waters calm on the spreadbetting board until it is the next one's turn.

http://www.trade2win.com/boards/spread-betting/40012-cmc-new-charting-package-6.html



Split

 

[LiamH]

Thanks again for your replies... Ultimately I don't have the capital to trade unless I spreadbet so i'm pretty much stuck with it.

I wouldn't say that i've been instantly profitable but had I not made a few certain mistakes (closing trades before they hit my stop just to watch it go the way i initially thought , listening to the news that the ftse would crash last week but instead it rallied ) I would be in a tidy profit so i'm fairly confident that given time I can become consistently profitable.

I've been learning about spreadbetting for more than 2 years in total, i've been through the 'i'll have a ferrari in six months' phase and i'm under no illusions about the difficulty of what i'm trying to do!

A big thumbs up needs to go to Trader_dante, Captain Currency and Mr. Charts because although i haven't posted on their threads, without them I would be nowhere near a profit!!

Cheers

 

[Splitlink]

I just logged into Fins, since I'm up early. Everything seems OK on Explorer although I have not traded. The charts I looked at seem normal. The changes that are to come with the merger were not evident to me. Maybe later.

Split

 

[dick_dastardly]

I haven't had any email notifications from Fin's about any changes to their platform.




Hi Split

You metioned something about " alarm bells are beginning to sound " about Fin's on another thread,

what is it you've heard ?


dd

 

[Splitlink]

Thanks again for your replies... Ultimately I don't have the capital to trade unless I spreadbet so i'm pretty much stuck with it.

I wouldn't say that i've been instantly profitable but had I not made a few certain mistakes (closing trades before they hit my stop just to watch it go the way i initially thought , listening to the news that the ftse would crash last week but instead it rallied ) I would be in a tidy profit so i'm fairly confident that given time I can become consistently profitable.

I've been learning about spreadbetting for more than 2 years in total, i've been through the 'i'll have a ferrari in six months' phase and i'm under no illusions about the difficulty of what i'm trying to do!

A big thumbs up needs to go to Trader_dante, Captain Currency and Mr. Charts because although i haven't posted on their threads, without them I would be nowhere near a profit!!

Cheers

You've, probably, got an outside Forex chart source, with which to compare, but here's one, free, realtime link.

http://www.dailyfx.com/charts/ChartStation.html

Good trading

Split

 

[Splitlink]

I haven't had any email notifications from Fin's about any changes to their platform.




Hi Split

You metioned something about " alarm bells are beginning to sound " about Fin's on another thread,

what is it you've heard ?


dd

Alarm bells is a bit extreme, I'm beginning to get as nervous as everyone else, perhaps, because it seems that the 36 minute delay on their charts could be because of a merger between it and another company. I trade shares, mainly these days, and have not noticed anything different.

I think that the best is to ignore the spreadbetting boards, completely. Life's more tranquil!

The best is to follow your own instincts, mate. Let me say that my account had more in it on last Friday's close than the previous Friday----not much, but, still. . It is best to keep vigilant, though, in these times, I agree.

There seem to be a lot of attempts to make telephone contact with them. I never seem to have the necessity to do that, my trades have been going through without trouble.

Split

 

[dick_dastardly]

I think that the best is to ignore the spreadbetting boards, completely. Life's more tranquil!

The best is to follow your own instincts, mate.

Yes, they do seem to get a continual bad press on here!

You would think they might come here once in a while to defend themselves, ( like Simon from CapSpreads does/did ).

I'm sure they lurk here though.

dd

 

[Lee Shepherd]

Just for the record, I am a happy Finspreads customer and have been for years. I trade full time and average at around 30 contracts per week.

I too have experienced not getting through on the phone but just as splitlink, I do my business over the net. I have on occassions also seen, wrong graphs, incorrect prices, slow fills and not so helpful customer service. I will also add here that having an account with various other spreadbet companies, this is not unusual but have noticed that the incidents remain extremely rare. For this reason, I stay with Finspreads and use the term, 'better the devil you know'.
Even DMA and the exchanges directly have troubles from time to time.
Advice here is simple, use stops! If problems persist, use another SB.

 

[Splitlink]

Great to have an ally! I don't seem to have seen you around for a while--different threads, perhaps?

 

[Lee Shepherd]

Great to have an ally! I don't seem to have seen you around for a while--different threads, perhaps?

Yeah I blew a lot of money recently on some bad trades. It would seem that my time is up on positions for the moment as I have to admit I can no longer judge the market movement enough to make a decent living. My usual writedowns are in the region of 2 weeks, this quarter was almost the whole quarter so worked for a pittance this time round.

I'm currently taking a well earned break and am going through some different trading styles, some low risk, some high. I will update the blog when back in full time play, in the meantime, I'm just making small amounts on a low risk, safe and extremely boring cherry picking system. It will give me an income but wont make me rich, so, a high risk strat is being looked into.

 

[Lightning McQueen]

:-0 Sorry to hear you're having troubles Lee, chin up and work your way through it mate.

I see fins are on 15 min delayed charts and phone only