Which is the best spreadbetting site?

[Slorm]

I find IG's new platform much *better than the old one. CMC's platform is too resource hungry and the charts, although from the same provider, look weird at times.

*eg runs on Firefox without frequently crashing.

How reliable is the IG platform (fill speed, disconnects etc)?

I've been testing the CMC one for the last couple of days and so far that seems pretty reliable (no delay in fills, no disconnects so far). I don't like the lack of a pl on individual trades (they average all trades on an instrument) and yes I agree the charts do behave a bit oddly now and again (looks like a scaling issue).

To me, reliability is far more important than spread size. They all seem to swing the prices a few points to suit themselves which is something we just have to live with, so reliability followed closely by a good trading platform tops my list of requirements

 

[lurkerlurker]

How reliable is the IG platform (fill speed, disconnects etc)?

I've been testing the CMC one for the last couple of days and so far that seems pretty reliable (no delay in fills, no disconnects so far). I don't like the lack of a pl on individual trades (they average all trades on an instrument) and yes I agree the charts do behave a bit oddly now and again (looks like a scaling issue).

To me, reliability is far more important than spread size. They all seem to swing the prices a few points to suit themselves which is something we just have to live with, so reliability followed closely by a good trading platform tops my list of requirements

Don't get me started on the P&L. The first time I traded with them, I didn't think that I had closed my position because it was still displayed under "Spreadbet positions", and I ended up reversing the position accidentally! Not very nice at all!

 

[fibonelli]

How reliable is the IG platform (fill speed, disconnects etc)?

I've been testing the CMC one for the last couple of days and so far that seems pretty reliable (no delay in fills, no disconnects so far). I don't like the lack of a pl on individual trades (they average all trades on an instrument) and yes I agree the charts do behave a bit oddly now and again (looks like a scaling issue).

To me, reliability is far more important than spread size. They all seem to swing the prices a few points to suit themselves which is something we just have to live with, so reliability followed closely by a good trading platform tops my list of requirements

Slorm, I'll let you what happens when I place a trade. Please note that many of my trades would be "if done" orders rather than market orders.

 

[Slorm]

Lurkerlurker

I did much the same thing myself today. I sent an email to their Helpdesk suggesting that they add the pl, they replied that they'd pass it on to the relevant person.

Fibonelli

Many thanks, look forward to seeing how it works out

 

[glamllc]

I posted this in another thread and didn't get any response. Hope I have better luck here.

I've not been engaged in sb for perhaps over a year and just noticed today that CMC seemed to have widened the spread between bid and ask quite a bit. It used to be about 1p or half of a p for UK liquid shares and 5 cents for US liquid shares (e.g., Citigroup (C), now 9 cents spread).

What happened? Is it due to recent volatility or has it been like that for some time. If latter is the case, it is harder to make money even swinging trading. Any active traders know?

Regards

 

[Slorm]

I had a look at the GFT platform as well, which comes out as my favourite. Unfortunately the minimum trade is per pip on the Indices effectively making the minimum £10 per point which is a bit rich for my taste.

I really hate that aggregated pl on CMC otherwise a nice platform. As I have a top end pc the resource issue of downloaded software isn't an issue.

I took Lurkerlurker's advice and opened an account with IG, their spreads are okay though not as good as CS. OTOH they have a great range of instruments and (so far) seem reliable, though as I haven't deposited funds with them yet can only comment on connectivity, and it is a nice platform.

I've been with CS for a while but they do seem to be getting a lot of IT problems lately. From the CS thread I gather they are due to upgrade their systems shortly, hopefully that may sort out their issues.

As I have an intraday datafeed, I had a look at how their daily rolling cash bets shadow the undelying market using the FTSE 100. They're all pretty close when the market is quiet but in volatile times the variance is pretty high.

All of them can be 4 points adrift and CS I've seen upto 8 points adrift on one occassion. If you're on the right side of the bet this can be to your advantage but it's an important consideration when setting your stops and needs to be considered as an added risk in your trading plan. I've not used Finspreads for a while because of their appalling reliability problems but from memory they kept the closest to the underlying market.

The bottom line is that SB companies are there to make money NOT for you to make money so the price manipulation is something to always bear in mind. Sometime a sudden price change indicates a change in the underlying market but on many occassions it's a false signal. I suspect it's used to panic traders to close positions like "shaking the tree" as practised by some MM's in the small cap market at times.

ADDENDA: I've just received an email from Equifax alerting me thar IG Index has conducted a credit check. I've never had that from a SB firm and it seems odd as I only applied for a limited risk account.

 

[shadowninja]

Reliability-wise, IG Index's new javascript (?) system is much better than their old Java system. I trade every other day on it. Also, I use their graphs and have been testing stuff on Tradindex... everything seems to correspond (ie graph goes up, value moves in correct direction).

 

[tightstops]

i found them all much of a muchness except for cmc who it seems will go out of their way to make it hard for you. theyre probably still claiming to have tight spreads - whats the point in that if theyre just going to requote you making the spread twice what they claim all the time. worse still is the delayed requote they like so much where you wait 5 seconds to be given a requote making the spread 3 times larger. none of them are ideal but give cmc an especially wide berth.

 

[compare bets]

platforms

easy2spreadbet (owned by Finspreads) have just introduced a new flash based platform. Really easy to use. Good for beginners because you can stake small amounts.

I've used CMC as well. You actually have to download and istall their platform. I did have some problems with setting java permissions etc, but, otherwise it's really good. CMC offer tight spreads. But do not have a small minumum stake.

If there's any newbies reading this. I'd say easy2spreadbet. ** tip ** if your starting out the most important thing is money management. Cut your loses and let your winners roll. Take your trading bank and divide it into points. £1000 bank. 10000 points. = 10pence per point. Never risk more than 4% of your bank. Risk = distance between your entry and stop loss.

comments welcome

 

[jacinto]

easy2spreadbet (owned by Finspreads) have just introduced a new flash based platform. Really easy to use. Good for beginners because you can stake small amounts.

I've used CMC as well. You actually have to download and istall their platform. I did have some problems with setting java permissions etc, but, otherwise it's really good. CMC offer tight spreads. But do not have a small minumum stake.

If there's any newbies reading this. I'd say easy2spreadbet. ** tip ** if your starting out the most important thing is money management. Cut your loses and let your winners roll. Take your trading bank and divide it into points. £1000 bank. 10000 points. = 10pence per point. Never risk more than 4% of your bank. Risk = distance between your entry and stop loss.

comments welcome

please remove the link from your signature.

edit: I have just removed the link from the signature. it is against site guidelines, which i suggest you read

I see you have registered as a vendor, which is fine. please refrain from using a link in your signature

 

[lurkerlurker]

easy2spreadbet (owned by Finspreads) have just introduced a new flash based platform. Really easy to use. Good for beginners because you can stake small amounts.

I've used CMC as well. You actually have to download and istall their platform. I did have some problems with setting java permissions etc, but, otherwise it's really good. CMC offer tight spreads. But do not have a small minumum stake.

I am a customer of CMC, and I have just been invited to beta test their new web platform. I don't know if I am allowed to say much more than this, but I am impressed so far, so watch this space. Their margin requirements aren't great though. However, if you want to trade forex, they have the tightest spreads.

If there's any newbies reading this. I'd say easy2spreadbet. ** tip ** if your starting out the most important thing is money management. Cut your loses and let your winners roll. Take your trading bank and divide it into points. £1000 bank. 10000 points. = 10pence per point. Never risk more than 4% of your bank. Risk = distance between your entry and stop loss.

comments welcome

Thanks for pointing out easy2spreadbet. They are run by City Index, who AFIAK are providing the backends for TD-Waterhouse SB and Barclays SB (you get £100 credit on your first trade with both of them, however the minimum stake is £1pp-£3pp depending).

 

[fibonelli]

I am a customer of CMC, and I have just been invited to beta test their new web platform. I don't know if I am allowed to say much more than this, but I am impressed so far, so watch this space. Their margin requirements aren't great though. However, if you want to trade forex, they have the tightest spreads.


Thanks for pointing out easy2spreadbet. They are run by City Index, who AFIAK are providing the backends for TD-Waterhouse SB and Barclays SB (you get £100 credit on your first trade with both of them, however the minimum stake is £1pp-£3pp depending).

Hi LL,

Does the beta version offer "if done orders" and ideally "fill or kill" orders? Or, are they still ignoring customer requests?!

Cheers

Fibonelli

 

[lurkerlurker]

Hi LL,

Does the beta version offer "if done orders" and ideally "fill or kill" orders? Or, are they still ignoring customer requests?!

Cheers

Fibonelli

They still have limit orders which are fill or kill. Their market orders are effectively fill or kill - if you don't get filled they will requote but you do not have to trade. If-Done orders - I've heard that these will be in the pipeline for the next release, but unfortunately nothing there yet.

Also, they still haven't done a Dow daily future - I hate trading the "cash" index, especially since they appear to be able to play with FV to suit themselves.

 

[lurkerlurker]

CMC / If-Done

Hi LL,

Does the beta version offer "if done orders" and ideally "fill or kill" orders? Or, are they still ignoring customer requests?!

Cheers

Fibonelli

Received this today:

Dear Client,

CMC Markets is once again pleased to announce that we are enhancing our
product offering. On Thursday 6th September 2007, we will introduce the
following changes to Marketmaker®:

If-Done Orders

You can't always be watching the markets so Marketmaker® now offers
If-Done orders to help you plan your trading. Using the new If-Done
ticket, you can place contingent orders to help your trading strategy.

An If-Done order is a way of linking two conditional orders together, so
that if one of the orders is executed, then the other order is placed in
the market as a result. For example, a trade may use a stop-buy order to
open a long position with an associated stop-sell order to limit any
potential losses. Therefore, if the stop-buy order gets executed, then the
stop-sell order is placed in the market. However, if the stop-buy order is
not executed, then the stop-sell order does not become active in the
market.​

 

[jkplay]

Good!!

They have had it on the CFD platform for some time and finally migrated it to SB.

Let the technical analysist's move tax free with CMC! (patented marketing slogan lol)

JK

 

[fibonelli]

Received this today:

Dear Client,

CMC Markets is once again pleased to announce that we are enhancing our
product offering. On Thursday 6th September 2007, we will introduce the
following changes to Marketmaker®:

If-Done Orders

You can't always be watching the markets so Marketmaker® now offers
If-Done orders to help you plan your trading. Using the new If-Done
ticket, you can place contingent orders to help your trading strategy.

An If-Done order is a way of linking two conditional orders together, so
that if one of the orders is executed, then the other order is placed in
the market as a result. For example, a trade may use a stop-buy order to
open a long position with an associated stop-sell order to limit any
potential losses. Therefore, if the stop-buy order gets executed, then the
stop-sell order is placed in the market. However, if the stop-buy order is
not executed, then the stop-sell order does not become active in the
market.​

better late than never!

 

[Pat494]

I am amazed at the "apparent" amount of orders on Fins. I did 2 trades this morning. The second trade was within 2 min -ish and over 80 orders according to the order numbers had been made in that time. Big Xmas bonuses coming up boys !?