Which Spreadbet broker ?

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A quick question for you as a former Updata user - what did you replace it with & why? Are there other Updata users out there? I am a relatively new user and wonder if there is a more efficient use of my dollars s I am moving more to US shares and in particular QQQ trading. I think the charts are great per se but wonder about paying for the 47 different types of oscilators etc etc.....any thoughts would be much appreciated....cheers P
 
Pollux,
I changed for numerous reasons, not least being that the support service became rubbish.. The wanted you to pay £100 per year to join the Updata 'club' and for that you were allowed to actually speak to the support people by telephone. If you didn't pay, then support was by e mail only and it took them 3 days to reply, and more often than not they got it wrong.

Their charting lacked a feature that I was after at the time.

And I am against laying out a wedge of money for the software and then being urged to go on a training course that will cost you a further few hundred quid just to learn how to use the software.

They were good when they first started. But got too greedy by trying to charge for everything.

software froze on a few occasions, and there are a few stories on here about that from other people.

I moved over to Market Eye which had the same set up with the data coming by tv signal so no net connection needed.

Updata have just gone internet I believe and Market Eye I think will do the same.

Now though I am using Sierra charts and an IB feed for real time stuff.

All the best.

Options.
 
Just to add my two penneth...

I used to love CMC. Great spreads, good stops and not a bad trading platform. I hated fins cos it was so cumbersome and a bit mickey mouse imo

Trouble is, and I am not the only person experiencing this, when you start to succeed taking money off the sb companies they start slowing you down. I used to regularly cream CMC on AZN and RBOS then one day I found those two stocks execution times went to 30 secs a fill - ridiculous. All other stocks were still at 1-2 secs. So I moved to concentrating on a couple of others, namely GSK and RB. What happened 2 weeks later the whole lot were placed on a 30 sec execution time. Result unusable.

They will deny that there is no marking on your account but I as well as many others know better.

On the other hand FINS now have rolling cash which is pretty good except the collapse of their system when things hot up a bit.

Result - SB good for those trading for a small slice regularly. However for those wanting to trade for a living, no tax and a doggy doo platform does not warrant the effort or risk imo

The other sbs are more or less the same but will charge you for the privelage of course
 
I started off using Fins, mainly because they allowed very small bets. I now use both Fins and D4F. Fins for their DOW daily cash (I know their spread is greater than D4F- but their action is quicker) and D4F for shares - they deal in a number of shares after hours.
I haven't attempted a DOW bet on D4F because their moves are lightening quick, and it takes forever to place a bet, then place a stop. At least on Fins you trade, then place a stop reasonably quickly. (Maybe I'm just a coward).
Also I find Fins method of giving changes, up and down, in the market much easier to follow. D4F gives only prices. When sitting watching this Fins data is easier to follow.
Not all will agree, but I find trading with what is comfortable to me is best if not the most econonomical.
 
Hi Orchard and All.
At least on Fins you trade, then place a stop reasonably quickly. (Maybe I'm just a coward).
Click to expand...
I don't think it's cowardly at all. It's common sence.
What are you looking for with a broker?
  • Small Spreads
  • Cheap comissions
  • Speed of Execution
Having 2 of these are no good. You need all 3 in a broker. It's no good having small spreads and cheap commissions if you're waiting around for ages to execute a trade.

Just my thoughts :)
 
Trading Spreads

I have an account wth finspreads and have traded with them
for 3 months or so - if you are trading the indices then you need
to have a system that puts you on the right side of the bias - this
bias can kill any profits stone dead even if your trade is a winner

so check out www.tradingspreads.com its system works well and
its all FREE - this is a must for anyone trading spreads IMO.

with finspreads you can trade for as little as .50p online

:D
 
all good stuff !
but my preference is for d4f as you can let a position rollover both into Dow time but also day after day.
with Fins, they pull your teeth first because you have to decide in advance that rollover is what you want to do.
and with Fins watch out for their end of day dealing cut off.

having said that I have accounts with Fins, D4f and IG.
firstly to pick the best price and secondly these platforms do crash.
so when they do,I am able to exit on any and square the books later.

hope this helps.
 
In Cantor's latest literature they write "we aim to hedge all client bets in the underlying markets".

Is this true do you think?

Also has anyone got a clue where Dan Benton of Finspreads has gone to?
 
Mind you Cantors prices are the widest (the worst ?) in the industry !! barring occasional 'special offers' .

So whether they hedge or not is pretty academic. I am a bit confused about this hedging bit.... if you put a tenner on the 3.30 at kempston down at the 'bookies' it would hardly bother u if he didn't lay u off.
y does it seem to matter to some people that a spread betting company does or does not hedge in the market. It hardly matters to u as u will still either win or lose regardless.

(or does misery love company)
 
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smallpotatos

it would certainly bother me if the spreadbetting company hedged or not - but only because most companies like this in the industry are run by failed traders - and once these failed traders get into a spot with the company like a spreadbetting company - as soon as they can - they want to start initiating clever ways for the spreadbetting company to make more money - and the obvious one is not to hedge against consistently losing clients - so they start off with a fairly controlled way of doing this - but over time since all people who uses spreadbetting companies lose - the failed trader running the speadbetting company appears to be clever - so he gets more free rein - sooner or later one of these spreadbetting companies is going to be fully unhedged at the same moment in time that the majority of their clients have all bet one way - and a massive market move is going to take out a spreadbetting company

so i would care since - spreadbettors have a great business model - based on just making the spread - and they only need take trades or pay out trades when they want - but when these failed traders get to run the business and screw with the business model - there is a good chance they will one day - when you hit pay dirt - not be able to pay out your bucks - since they will have gone belly up
 
stevet

just thought I would put a little bit in here

every spread betting company runs VAR (value at risk) models and has to report to the FSA on PRR exposure. This ensures that they are not over exposed on risk to client positions. All SBs have senior risk managers who monitor the dealers positions.

as my dealers are not actually 'failed' dealers from anywhere and run our books on a very responsible basis I feel that I must take issue with your blanket dismissal of their trading abilities.

Of course I cannot speak for the other SB companies but you could use the same arguements for any company taking private client business.

Simon
 
simon

i still stand by what i said - although your comments are certainly correct to a degree - and as your company has a trading background - i will admit that it maybe safeish to exclude you from analysis

but VAR is the route of the problem -not the solution - since a)it is floored and b) reliance on it removes the simple concept of running the spreadbetting company on a business model that only involves making profit on the spread -and if the spreadbetting companies want to make more bucks - they should market more to get more clients or come up with other innovative products - but the basis of their business model should remain taking the spread only and not ending up being a quasi trading company by seeking to run unhedged positions - even when you know your client is the worst - but most determined gambler in the universe!

ps - the you in the last paragraph is a generality - and does not include you!
 
Stevet

I can only agree with you. In principal (of course).
In fact even for the really big SB companies the numbers are not as huge as you might think. ... The bigger risk is often with hedged positions (especially in shares) which move massively, i.e a profit warning where the clients cannot afford the margin calls but the SB company has made a big loss on the hedge. As was in the news recently with a client with massive positions with two SB companies and the share halved (one client / one £5m margin call) !!

Simon
 
capitalspreads

unfortunaly - as in all things - if the **** had hit the fan already - we would be having a different discussion

the fact is that as each stretch of the deviaton rubber band rebounds - it further reinforces the ability to ignore the prior errors and allow an even greater level of deviation to be accepted - but as with all humble rubber bands - just as you think it will never break - wap - it gets you in the eye

the example you gave - which i had not heard of - but i guess if a stock halves overnight or with a huge gap during the day - there is little escape - but if the spreadbetting companjes (not yours!) spent more time getting their analysis systems in place - they would not have taken that trade at the size they did - again - if that trade was out of proportion to their normal book - they should either not take it or sell it on - they just saw the profit - not the risk - which kinda get back to my original point!

but what happens when this happens at the same moment that unhedged positions blow up on you as well ( general you - not you of course) - this is the kinda thing no form of analysis can allow for - and again - why i say unhedged positons are bad news - but now i will add - that trades should fit the normal course of business and any trade which seems to good - as in all trading - is probably gonna wack you! ( not you - them!)

and perhaps -
 
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fair call steve...

as with all risk it must be equated to the size of your company and the level of risk the authorities allow you to take. In the instance I quoted the companies concerned are v large and can afford those risk levels. Most of the SB companies are owned by much bigger outfits for whom even the nominally huge positions are tiny (or at least manageable) compared to the overall company risk/balance sheet.

The problem is if everyone just puts all their trades through a smaller and smaller number of bigger and bigger companies (all in the name of risk reduction) firstly clients will then end up with less choice and probably worse prices/commission rates and secondly, as we have seen over the last few years, if all the eggs are in one basket ..... when the big one happens ......

so its either the devil you know or the devil you dont.

Simon
 
I no longer spread bet but when I did, I used Financial Spreads.

I had no problems whatsoever with these people, I liked the first 8 weeks where you can trade at 1p a point and I found that any problems I encountered were speedily dealt with by their help desk.

If you want to spread bet you could do a lot worse than go with this crew I reckon.
 
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