Poll: Which company is the best CFD provider and why?

[OpenMind]

Which company wins the prize of best direct access CFD provider?

Key criteria include:
-----------------------------
Market coverage
Customer service
Costs (commissions/finance/platform charges)
Ease of negotiating good deals
Safety of capital (are the client funds kept separate)?

 

[Paulds11]

This is interesting, Im surpised thier isnt more contribution,
From what I have learned GNI were taken over by Man Finacial and the platform is popular but I have no feedback

I wouldnt touch IG Index with a barge pole because a. the platform didnt work properly on my system and technical could not fix the problem and two having a wide range of products to trade does not neccesarily mean quality, they skew thier markets so many are fake, and on the same platfrorm they include binary bet products which to me is a no no.. CFDs and binaries dont mix that should be reserved for thier micky mouse spreadbetting platform and rediculously bad problems and spreads

Etrade very comprehensive but this platform is whitelabelled to them by SAXO bank, a truely comprehensive and robust platform and no gambling binary bets or fake markets in sight so I believe so far. Probably my personal winner

ODL who on earth are they?

 

[ZEPPO]

This is interesting, Im surpised thier isnt more contribution,
From what I have learned GNI were taken over by Man Finacial and the platform is popular but I have no feedback

I wouldnt touch IG Index with a barge pole because a. the platform didnt work properly on my system and technical could not fix the problem and two having a wide range of products to trade does not neccesarily mean quality, they skew thier markets so many are fake, and on the same platfrorm they include binary bet products which to me is a no no.. CFDs and binaries dont mix that should be reserved for thier micky mouse spreadbetting platform and rediculously bad problems and spreads

Etrade very comprehensive but this platform is whitelabelled to them by SAXO bank, a truely comprehensive and robust platform and no gambling binary bets or fake markets in sight so I believe so far. Probably my personal winner

ODL who on earth are they?

"ODL who on earth are they?" - Brokers; they used to be very good providing futures and options, apparently there are problems with their historical data (or so I read in a thread somewhere).
I suppose that they offer spreadbetting and CFDs so as not to be left behind.
While at it, what can you say about CMC?
Eduardo.

 

[Su-27]

What about TD Waterhouse? I've heard they're quite good.

 

[jmreeve]

You could take a look at this company.

http://www.gt247.co.uk/

They use a professional trading platform and can support semi-pro traders.

 

[England765]

Seems a strangely limited list to choose from?? What about City, or my current favourite GFT? www.gftuk.com ? Miles better platform than IG etc.

 

[neil]

Miles ? better than IG etc ??

etc

Seems a strangely limited list to choose from?? What about City, or my current favourite GFT? www.gftuk.com ? Miles better platform than IG etc.

Miles better - really?

Have you tried both platforms or is miles better merely an opinion?

Miles better platform than IG etc......etc......What companies comprise "etc" and have you tried "etc" ?

 

[Paulds11]

Ahaaaaaa... now I know why thier isnt much contribution....

because CFDs are a proprietary product!!! the price offered on any underlying may be different depending upon the CFD company you trade with.. I went to Saxo bank and they couldnt explain the difference between the CFD price on an index and the underlying... the underlying had an market opening profile of 40points gained at market opening... but thier CFD started high and dropped downward during the same 15 minute period....

They are all charlatans and "scumbags" for being so disingenuous in explaining this simple request... they didnt despite 15 emails over 1 month

The industry is littered with sharks who provide no transparency about how they price thier products at various times in the market... result. DO not TRADE CFDs unless you realise what you are doing.. DMA platform for CFDs is a red harring.. thier is not direct access to market prices becausr the prices are set by the company!! not the market..

it would seem that thier are fewer trading platform options out their than I realised..

 

[dcrane]

What about TD Waterhouse? I've heard they're quite good.

TD is completely outsourced to CI. Just wondering why they (Cityindex) are not listed in the Poll
E*trade is White Label of Saxobank

Best
dcrane

 

[alexander]

DO not TRADE CFDs unless you realise what you are doing..

As I understand it, it works like this:

(1) You place an order to buy or sell a CFD.

(2) The firm quotes a price to you. If you place the trade then:

(3) A reputable broker will hedge their position by buying the stock if you are long or sell short the stock if you are short.

(4) A shark (allegedly) may not hedge but try to find a few funds or dark pools who have an inventory of the stock, probably internal funds, and cause enough volatility until you are dead stopped out of the market. That is why they are offering good margin on CFDs. Any volatility they cause is multiplied by the margin rate to inflict enough pain to a non-professional trader.

Stay away from CFDs if you do not understand the details.

Alex