Trading options in the UK?

[normandysr2]

Ok after searching around a lot I have come to the sad conclusion that you either have to go through the long process of registering with a US broker like IB or OptionsXpress to trade options or go with UK spread betting firms to trade their rather, how should I put it, "hybrid" options.

Now I don't have $10,000 on me to register with IB (which is their minimum) so I'll go with spread betting firms for now.

So How legit are the options offered by spread betting firms? As instead of trading contracts it seems you're trading "pounds per point"!

Anyone have any experience with these and are there any differences in terminology? Also are spread betting options American or European style in terms of freedom to execute before the expiration?

 

[Hittfeld]

Ok after searching around a lot I have come to the sad conclusion that you either have to go through the long process of registering with a US broker like IB or OptionsXpress to trade options or go with UK spread betting firms to trade their rather, how should I put it, "hybrid" options.

Now I don't have $10,000 on me to register with IB (which is their minimum) so I'll go with spread betting firms for now.

So How legit are the options offered by spread betting firms? As instead of trading contracts it seems you're trading "pounds per point"!

Anyone have any experience with these and are there any differences in terminology? Also are spread betting options American or European style in terms of freedom to execute before the expiration?

Well, USD 10k is "a" minimum of IB, but if you meet some requirements (young, or student, or...) you get away with much less:

Why not open an account with IB ( Interactive Brokers UK) through one of their IB`s (Introducing Brokers) like Captrader, Meintrade, Lynx .... They all give you 100% IB at minimum of USD 2k up to 4K.

https://www.lynxbroker.com/minimum-requirements/

https://www.captrader.com/en/

Don`t forget: They all offer the standart IB (TWS...) at lower minimum, but slightly higher fees.