Best Thread Capital Spreads

[techcherry]

like I promise ...

they sort it out the problem crediting my account with the difference , so I was quite pleased with it, but they said is a gesture of good will... which i don't agree,because what they say is you can have various limit for the some bet, even after receiving the email confirming the new limit, but the system always trigger the lowest one; what I can not understand is how is it possible the system aloud more then one limit when actually you change the limit you have the time span option , which are :
1- good 'till cancelled

2- good until ( uk time)

3- good until end of the day( markets closure)

in my case I always choose good till cancelled, which by logical one new one going to cancel the old one , no?at least is what I thought...now you all know, don't make the same mistake!

...success !!

 

[seguna]

We never bias any market ....

This is not the case (except for times when the market is quiet).

CS

What's your definition of a 'quiet' market? How does this differentiate from 'normal' to 'hectic'? Is there a standard way of defining this in the SB industry? Is it based on the level of activity in your books or in the underlying market?

rgds
S :?:

 

[seguna]

SB Pricing

CS

While you are it, can you also please offer your thoughts on why it appears SB firms generally don't offer fair/consistent prices and thereby earn their profit off 1. the spreads and 2. losing traders, who are usually the majority?

This of course is my view (and partly experience) and also that of several posters across this board.

rgds
S

 

[LittleWhiteBull]

thanks for the warning TC

I've only had chance for a couple of hours trading today to put the Demo through its paces so haven't had chance to really test things - I will try the limit orders next week - extensively!

Still having trouble getting used to trades closing - thought I had it cracked but messed up when a trade closed an hour early - and then reopend again for a short while!

Is this normal?

Can someone please help explain futures to me - I'm dumber & dumber on this one. If you are trading an index which has June or Sept on it what is this all about?

LWB :?:

 

[Skimbleshanks]

LWB:

Those are the contract quarters, so for example the June one will expire on the 3rd Friday of the month (but check to see precisely when the SB company expiry date is as it may vary).

The expiry day is called witching, and the market can be quite volatile during this period. When the quarterly contracts expire it used to be referred to as triple witching but nowadays it is quadruple witching - this is the day that futures, S&P options, individual stock options and single stock futures expire. So just make a note in your diary, and if you don't like to be whipsawed around, just stay out of the market during the morning trading on that day.

It is usual to trade the nearest month, in this case June. If you notice, you will see that the spreads are nearer the true price, whereas the September ones are further away.

If you were to trade the September contract then you could put a trade on and leave it until you had to close on expiry in mid September - so ideal for long-term buy and hold traders. And if it was coming up to June expiry, and you wanted to hold a trade for a couple of weeks, you would need to trade the September contract as the June would expire in the meantime.

Hope that is a suitable introductory explanation for you.

 

[pmaa]

Can someone please help explain futures to me - I'm dumber & dumber on this one. If you are trading an index which has June or Sept on it what is this all about?

LWB , It simply means the bet will expire at this time ,if you click on the small I on the instrument your looking at it will tell you the exact time and date of expiry , hope this helps ,nite nite .

 

[LittleWhiteBull]

thanks pmaa/Shimbleshanks - very helpful

So if I opened a bet on one (which I did!) and then it expired without me closing it (which it did!) do I lose the amount I bet?

Only a demo thank goodness!

LWB

 

[capitalspreads]

Seguna

the two parts that you have connected do not refer to each other. The comment about quiet markets was to do with the accuracy of the Daily Dow quote against the dow index ticker that you may see on Bloomberg TV or some such. Our quote is based upon the Dow Future (which moves rather faster than the cash index) so that in times of fast market moves the Dow Index price that you see on the Bloomberg etc.. will be completely different to the quote you will see on our site. In dull market conditions (or quiet markets!) our quote will be, generally, pretty close to the index price.

can I repeat "we never bias our prices".

On your other point I am afraid that I really cannot comment on other SB companies policies .

Limit Orders

If you place a Limit Order and then decide to change it you must, on our platform, go into the Customer 'Order Book' and amend the existing Limit order. If you just create another one, both orders will still be in existance and the first one to be hit will close the position and cancel the other Limit Order.(I have tried this on several trading platforms in our office and they all do the same thing!).

If you are using Limit, New and stop orders etc you must occassionally look in the Order book if only to check that you havnt left an order working that you dont want!

 

[capitalspreads]

Little White Bull

Expiry of Bets

as pmaa says if you click on the little I icon at the end of each market it will give you the last trade time (and date) of each bet.

If you leave a bet over expiry we will close it out and apply our expiry price to the bet. At this point you will win (or lose) the difference between your bet price and our expiry price multiplied by the bet stake that you have placed.

If you buy the FTSE 100 at 4555 in £10 and the expiry is 4572 you will have made (4572-4555)X10 or £170. If you had sold the same bet you would have lost £170.

The Expiry Market Conditions are shown in the 'Market Information' pages which you can see by clicking on the RH column on our screen.

Hope this helps bye bye

 

[LittleWhiteBull]

Thanks for that cs

I see that I got credited next day for that error - which I didn't really deserve as I had messed up - but it was only a demo. Learn best by mistakes I find, it could have cost me.
Lucky it was a bullish day.

I have found the demo excellent to use and have found the telephone helpline good too. I didn't think I'd get on with Spreadbetting as the spreads can be quite a hurdle to get by, but it's working well and I have learnt alot.

LWB

 

[bracke]

capitalspreads

How do you operate a stoploss when you are closed?

eg. I buy the dow at 10500 with a stoploss at 10400. After you close the stoploss is hit. Does your system automatically close the bet,or do you look at the prices when you open up next day and if the index has risen above my stoploss leave the bet in place or even if the index has risen above my stoploss the fact that it was hit means that you will still close the bet.

Regards

bracke

 

[capitalspreads]

Stop Losses

We do not activate Stop Losses when we are closed. If the market goes through your stop loss level and then back up again in out of hours trading we ignore the Stop and leave your position in.

BUT (warning) we do apply slippage ..As per our terms and conditions .. so if the market closes just short of your stop level and then opens up the next day a long way through you will be stopped out at the level that the market opens up at the next day and not at your stop level.

So... a bit of give and take you might say !

Simon

 

[seguna]

CS

I may be wrong but you've appeared to 'skillfuly' avoid my questions.

1. How do you define quiet or dull? Is it non-volatile, narrow price range, low volume or some combination of these or other variable?

2. I know your price works off the future (as does everybody elses) since cash index is meaningless for tradability. What I wanted to know is how 'quietness' affects the difference between your quote and the futures bid/offer.

rgds
S

 

[neil]

Simon
What about stops in the 24 hour forex market. Are they only activated when you are open or are they activated at the time
( say 1am in the morning)?

 

[capitalspreads]

Seguna

you have missunderstood my answer. We do not define quiet markets in any way.

Our bid/offer spread will stay the same in any but extreem market conditions.

Our bid offer should at all times reflect the relevant real futures bid and offer but it must be realised that sometimes our price will be out of line with the futures because our price only updates every 1-2 seconds (which can be a long time in financial markets).

 

[bracke]

capitalspreads

Thank you for your reply. I have another question.

When the 9/11 tragedy occured and the market plunged how did you operate stoplosses and guaranteed stoplosses?

Regards

bracke

 

[seguna]

Bracke

I don't think CS were functioning as SB marketmakers then. Perhaps maybe in Forex and other instruments. Over to you CS and thanks for the feedback.

rgds
S

 

[capitalspreads]

brake

ummmmm we have only been open for six months so I will try to answer as a hypothetical situation...

we have NO guaranteed stops (as per the real market) .. if the market moved massively through stop levels etc we would apply stops at the level that the market reopened. Painful as that might be. Losses would be payable even if the funds were not in your account to cover them. (i.e we would ask for more funds to cover losses)

 

[capitalspreads]

niel

fx stops are treated in the same way as any others. Our market is closed so any stops can only be activated after 7 in the morning so all of the above criteria would apply there as well

 

[seguna]

FX Trading

..therefore, if you are serious about FX trading, you should consider more dedicated FX brokers who offer true 24 hour trading, with guaranteed screen prices and yes, guaranteed stops around the clock e.g. FXCM. At least that's what they unambiguously claim to offer.

If 0% tax is important to you, then of course you'll have to stay with the 'price fuzzy' SB boys. That's the basic choice between efficient execution, narrow spreads & tax VS fuzzy execution, wide spreads and 0% tax.

You always pay for it somehow.

rgds
S