SPREADBETTING - yes or no?

[beast_cj]

Hi, although i have dabbled in trading in the past, i find myself in a position where i can trade on a more frequent basis. However I am forecasting my costs and the fee's to trade with brokers (i.e. open up to 5 positions and close within the same trading day) are to be frank unfeasible.
Thus a simple question for all you traders out there? -

HAVE YOU MADE MONEY WITH SPREAD BETTING FIRMS?

 

[townage]

Morning beast

to answer ur question, yes there is money to be made from spread betting provising you use the right frim which has tight spreads, what are you looking to spread bet on?

 

[beast_cj]

just looking to SB indeces and for the moment uk equities. I would definately call myself a range trader. my system highlights when a stock falls out of one, I do some research look for reasons why, and then either a) take up a position , or b) dont take up a position. Quite simple really. However I find that with back testing my resources are most efficiently used over the course of one day rather than several weeks.
If I had more wonga I would keep with my broker, economies of scale etc . . . . so really the issue just lies with trust of SB firms.

 

[HaloTrader]

I have spreadbetted for about 4-6 months on and off now.
Personally, and this is all about my style of trading - I feel completely disadvantaged compared to trading on the real exchange in terms of probability. If i want 10 pips with a 6 pip stop loss i need an 11 pip movement and i have a 4 pip stop loss, significantly reducing my odds on a 50/50 entry.
Furthermore the spreads are too wide for a day-trader only looking for 3-10 pips at a time and i've had to change my trading to suit spreadbetting rather than changing my broker to suit me.

For that reason i will be moving on from SB forever and trading DMA futures.

 

[anley]

Trade longer term but if you trade shorter term then pick your days and spots otherwise as you rightly point out there's little if any chance of making money as the cost of doing business will get ya.

 

[SanMiguel]

The spread can't be that bad surely...half a point with some stocks. Even in forex the markets move much more than the spread would cause concern for.

 

[ns1000]

There is definitely money to be made. Range bound markets, or markets which trend slowly are generally those that SB companies make the least in, as traders tend to get it right. IG's annual reports focus closely on the volatility of the underlying markets; when they get choppy, clients lose more money. From a psychologicakl point of view, it's much easier to pick support and resistance when it's constantly reinforced. Rumour has it that CMC have made a trading loss the last couple of months. I don't know how true that is - we should see soon when they file their annual returns- but if so shows that SB isn't just the huge rip-off some would have you believe.

 

[SanMiguel]

There is definitely money to be made. Range bound markets, or markets which trend slowly are generally those that SB companies make the least in, as traders tend to get it right. IG's annual reports focus closely on the volatility of the underlying markets; when they get choppy, clients lose more money. From a psychologicakl point of view, it's much easier to pick support and resistance when it's constantly reinforced. Rumour has it that CMC have made a trading loss the last couple of months. I don't know how true that is - we should see soon when they file their annual returns- but if so shows that SB isn't just the huge rip-off some would have you believe.

They're doing something wrong if they're making a loss as they should be underwriting their position. So, all the money they make should be made from the spread.
I don't see why spreadbetting should be a rip off, the principle is similar to spot forex or any kind of gtrading for that matter.