Cost of spread betting

Cost of spread betting UK shares

Hello all,

Attached is my log of transaction costs through various SB firms (mainly CMC of late).

By selecting the company in cell N4, you can see the additional charge applied by the SB company, above the market spread at the time - and the annual interest, which would reflect any spread bet bias (ie it would be high). As it happens, up to now, this isn't evident.

This isn't a fair comparison of companies, as (for eg), I deal with small companies mainly with IG. I will soon develop the filter so the model is comparing like for like, and add some old deals from a previous model.

I will update this every few weeks - mainly to maintain my discipline, but maybe to counter some of the myths about spread bet bias.

Edit - for the latest file - make sure you go to the end of the thread

UTB

Updated spreadsheet attached - with filter for comparing costs by spreadbet firm, index, and comparing to the cost of using a broker.

I think it's self explanatory but feel free to ask if you're interested.

UTB

the blades said:

Updated spreadsheet attached - with filter for comparing costs by spreadbet firm, index, and comparing to the cost of using a broker.

I think it's self explanatory but feel free to ask if you're interested.

UTB

Click to expand...

Thanks, UTB. I think CMC is best in terms of spread. I would be good if we can have a spreadsheet comparing spreads of all spread betting firms.

Cheers,

Hung

hungvir said:

Thanks, UTB. I think CMC is best in terms of spread. I would be good if we can have a spreadsheet comparing spreads of all spread betting firms.

Cheers,

Hung

Click to expand...

Hello Hung,

In fairness the model is a bit skewed because CMC can sometimes be wider than the others, for thinly traded stocks. When they quote these, I use the others or don't trade - so you don't see that here.

In short, you'll pay a fixed extra of about 0.8% with the others. CMC are much cheaper for 90% of FTSE350 stocks. Outside the 350, you've only really got IG with a fixed charge of about 1.2%.

Cheers,
UTB

Hello people
Im a newbie to this forum. But I have visited the intellitrend premises with a view to purchasing.
The guy that met me and showed me the system was very genuine and I did not get the impression that it was a fly by night outfit.
The system seemed to be well thought out and well presented with a simple interface. With what sems to be a reliable back up service.
I am currently undecided as to wether to proceed or not . Mainly due to the bad press that other products of this type have attracted.
I was hoping that I could pick some feedback up from here.

the blades said:

Hello Hung,

In fairness the model is a bit skewed because CMC can sometimes be wider than the others, for thinly traded stocks. When they quote these, I use the others or don't trade - so you don't see that here.

In short, you'll pay a fixed extra of about 0.8% with the others. CMC are much cheaper for 90% of FTSE350 stocks. Outside the 350, you've only really got IG with a fixed charge of about 1.2%.

Cheers,
UTB

Click to expand...

Thanks, UTB.

I've decided to trade FTSE100 shares only, so staying with CMC makes sense. Do you have an account with IG as well? I've heard of very good charting package offered by them to account holders. Is it that good?!

Cheers,

Hung

glenntomo said:

Hello people
Im a newbie to this forum. But I have visited the intellitrend premises with a view to purchasing.
The guy that met me and showed me the system was very genuine and I did not get the impression that it was a fly by night outfit.
The system seemed to be well thought out and well presented with a simple interface. With what sems to be a reliable back up service.
I am currently undecided as to wether to proceed or not . Mainly due to the bad press that other products of this type have attracted.
I was hoping that I could pick some feedback up from here.

Click to expand...

If you do a search on this forum, you'll find that this has been discussed for a while now. But it's not the system but the application that matters I would think.

hungvir said:

Thanks, UTB.

I've decided to trade FTSE100 shares only, so staying with CMC makes sense. Do you have an account with IG as well? I've heard of very good charting package offered by them to account holders. Is it that good?!

Cheers,

Hung

Click to expand...

Hung,

I use IG, mainly when smaller stocks are outperforming, less so these days (as you'll see from the spreadsheet).

I don't use their charting - I'm a basic Sharescope man.

You're right to stick with CMC for FTSE100 companies - though Capital are better than Fins and IG if you use tight stops. My wide stops (I know, I know ) rule CS out. I have accounts with all four of these.

Cheers,
UTB

the blades said:

Hung,

I use IG, mainly when smaller stocks are outperforming, less so these days (as you'll see from the spreadsheet).

I don't use their charting - I'm a basic Sharescope man.

You're right to stick with CMC for FTSE100 companies - though Capital are better than Fins and IG if you use tight stops. My wide stops (I know, I know ) rule CS out. I have accounts with all four of these.

Cheers,
UTB

Click to expand...

Hi UTB,

I used to use Sharescope too. Great software. But as my trades are quite small at the moment, I don't want to pay for anything

Later,

Hung

Blades - Nice spreadsheet.

Glenn - have you gone with intellitrend? They must be expensive they are offering to put £500 in your account if you go with them and dealingdesk

Hung - I searched for Intellitrend and this was the only post on T2W.

Goldline? Intellitrend

Intellitrend are Goldline no questions

Dealing desk is Goldline. I found dealing desk after signing up with wanadoo, clicked on a link which took me to Share Alert where I saw goldline

The only company ever promoted by Share alert was Goldline and on the spread betting part still is the only one. If Intellitrend are promoting Dealing desk then they are definitely Goldlline. I bought goldline after a demonstration of the system. The man who showed me the demonstration used dealing desk in the demonstration.

Dealing desk is just a page over the top of finspreads in the same way as iii have their spread betting part set up. As you may have realised i signed up with all three SA, GL and DD.

Why would Intellitrend a supposed experienced and professional trading system company that could get theri users to sign straight up with finspreads get new people to sign up at ddesk unless they were connected.

Until I read this I was thinking of buying Intellitrend today with the 500 voucher. Same wording, same pictures men sitting at computers pondering! I have not made money on goldline or i would not have written a reply. I may be wrong, but 99% certain im not. I can't believe I was nearly sucked in again.

On the subject of tightest spreads I and the cost of trading etc.

CMC have the tighest spreads. I have made comparisons and have accounts with most now. All spread companies have pros and cons.

IG have the biggest spread but are the biggest company on the market, really good trading platform, they give credit (alway use others money if posible to trade with) and they allow you to trade us stocks to the penny.

CMC have the tightest spread, a more difficult trading platform to use, you can only trade us stock in whole £ which means if you want to take a small position you have to often stake more than you want to.. No credit given

Finspreads and Capitla are much the same in terms of the spreads, no credit given, trading platforms very good.

oohayftse said:

Dealing desk is just a page over the top of finspreads in the same way as iii have their spread betting part set up. As you may have realised i signed up with all three SA, GL and DD.

Click to expand...

I have checked this company out too, but they are actually part of Capital Spreads. I know that FS were recommended by GL a couple of years ago...

Does anybody know the details of the £500 offer?

Dealing Desk

I see how it works now. Thats right Dealing Desk is a part of Capital Spreads.

Having spoken to Capital spreads they said that dealing desk is what they call a White label, Capital take the liability of the bets and the company who set it up get a % of the profit that Capital get on the trades.

As I said before, I may be wrong. Either Intellitrend or Goldline must own Dealing Desk as they are the only two companies other than share alert that promote it.

It will be interesting to find out who owns dealing desk. I know who my money is on. At the moment it is a bit risky for my mind. Until I find out for sure i'm keeping my money in my pocket.

Dealing desk spreads are in the middle of what IG and CMC offer.

http://www.capitalspreads.com/public/affiliate.shtml

oohayftse said:

On the subject of tightest spreads I and the cost of trading etc.

CMC have the tighest spreads. I have made comparisons and have accounts with most now. All spread companies have pros and cons.

IG have the biggest spread but are the biggest company on the market, really good trading platform, they give credit (alway use others money if posible to trade with) and they allow you to trade us stocks to the penny.

CMC have the tightest spread, a more difficult trading platform to use, you can only trade us stock in whole £ which means if you want to take a small position you have to often stake more than you want to.. No credit given

Finspreads and Capital are much the same in terms of the spreads, no credit given, trading platforms very good.

Click to expand...

Hello there,

Just to note, Fins do offer credit - I have a credit account.

Capital's biggest drawback (for me) is that your margin is proportional to your stop. I operate a hedged portfolio and my stops are wide. The money thus tied up with CS adds costs and takes them, in expense terms, next to Fins and IG.

Cheers,
UTB

latest deals attached;

Some annual interest charges have been removed because of the proximity of the deal to expiry, causing wide deviationsin the predicted charge (the problem with predicting 365 days of interest from a few days of premium).

Other than that, 2 higher charges (spurious data or skewing?), but on the whole very low costs involved. I'm still very happy

UTB

Intellitrend / Intellitrend250

bjseed

If you search for Intellitrend250 you will find more threads.

FranP

bjseed said:

Blades - Nice spreadsheet.

Glenn - have you gone with intellitrend? They must be expensive they are offering to put £500 in your account if you go with them and dealingdesk

Hung - I searched for Intellitrend and this was the only post on T2W.

Click to expand...

I am just returning to this thread after a couple of weeks, and I knew that I was right. GOLDLINE ARE INTELLITREND. It drove me crazy thinking that I was getting warped with Goldline and and any advertiser was going to be them or something!

There are now two extra threads stating the connection
http://www.trade2win.com/boards/showthread.php?t=18919&highlight=intellitrend
http://www.trade2win.com/boards/showthread.php?t=18675&highlight=intellitrend250

please someone tell me that im not mad and that the s**ts are doing it again to more unsuspecting people, not me going crazy and that im not the only one who has been done here

latest deals attached, only further confirming (to me, anyway) that this is the cheapest way of dealing in UK shares.......

UTB