CMC commission minimum reintroduction

[Morris]

I have had an e-mail from CMC informing me that from next month, they will re-introduce a min commission.

Anyone else received this information ?

Very disappointing, since the low commissions are the reason I went back to CMC recently.

 

[Kyoto]

Hello Morris,

I think it's telling that this issue has stirred up a complete lack of response here. Does anyone really care about CMC UK any more, much less use them?

The commission change takes CMC back to their 8 gbp minimum commissions on UK equities (for example) that they dropped in November 2008. It seems like a retrograde step to me and as commissions in the industry are generally more competitive now than they used to be, so it looks like they want to milk the stragglers who haven't left yet for all they can. What does this say about the health of their business?

I'm one of the stragglers because even though I've long since switched to someone else I kept CMC as a backup in case my main provider went down and I needed to effectively close out positions by hedging. Along the way I've still dabbled with the account with sub 10k positions and it's just dreadful in my opinion. My experience over the last couple of years is that trades are often held and quotes are regularly outside the market spread on certain stocks even with volume on Level 2. I have a spreadbet account that often ends up being cheaper than CMC's CFDs - where's the sense in that?

With CMC UK looking for all the world like they don't want customers, what scares me is what happened to MF Global. I had a very small account there which was in cash when they went under, and because I didn't really use it I didn't follow the story fully when they imploded. I just figured I would get the money back soon enough because the cash was in a ring-fenced account. How wrong I was. Six months later I've received 25% of it back and the rest is being argued about by the UK and US administrators and God knows who else.

The MF Global situation makes a mockery of the rules and shows that even cash in supposedly ring-fenced bank accounts can be held for months and maybe even years while court cases go on, while you waste time filling in forms and chasing administrators. I don't want to repeat the experience with CMC but the UK operation seems to be sending out all the wrong messages. Maybe they're doing better overseas.

Anyway, I'm closing CMC now, a decision that's long overdue really.

 

[Morris]

Thanks for that reply Kyoto.

I'm looking around for a broker, small trade sizes.

 

[isatrader]

I trade using the CMC CFD tracker account and haven't received an email from them about re-introducing a minimum commission. Can you provide anymore details, a screenshot of the email etc, as a Google search is yielding nothing about this change you mention?

 

[The Leopard]

Hello Morris,

I think it's telling that this issue has stirred up a complete lack of response here. Does anyone really care about CMC UK any more, much less use them?

 

[isatrader]

Ok I've spoken to the live help on the CMC CFD tracker platform and here's the conversation which clears this up:

Me: Is CMC introducing a minimum charge on CFDs?
CMCMarkets: All our commisions are built into the price.
CMCMarkets: Is there anything else I can help with?
Me: It has been stated on a forum that CMC is introducing a minimum charge per trade.
CMCMarkets: That does not apply to the Next generation platform.
Me: The poster stated they'd recieved an email about the introduction of minimum charges which I have not. So I'm trying to find out if it's true or false?
CMCMarkets: That is true for our old Market Maker platform, but not the Next Generation platform, which is the platform this account is held with.
Me: thankyou for your help
CMCMarkets: If you have a Market Maker account, please contact the Market Maker team on 020 3003 8588 choosing option 2 for more information.

So they are not introducing a minimum charge if you use the Next Generation platform which has the fractional position sizing and adjustable leverage, which imo is very important for a trader with a small account as it allows precise position sizing which I haven't found with any other UK platform.

 

[Morris]

This is the e-mail:



This is CMC's own brochure.

 

[isatrader]

This is the e-mail:

Hi Morris, thanks for that. It looks like you have the old Market Maker account that the CMC helpdesk guy mentioned then. So I'd imagine all you need to do is to get them to change it to the new Tracker platform to continue to get no minimum charge as the charges are built into the the spread on that platform. And also as you said you are looking around for a broker for small trade sizes you should look at the fractional ownership that the Tracker platform has, as you can put on tiny positions if you want, as little as 1/1000 of a unit and also use zero leverage too if you want, which is really good for a small trader imo as it reduces your risk and gives you the chance to do proper money management.

Here's the link to the fractional CFDs explanation on their site:
Fractional CFD trading | CMC Markets

 

[Morris]

Hmmm.... any idea what the spread is on the new style account ?

For example BLT or say BP ?

 

[isatrader]

UK spreads are ok, but US spreads are very good I find. Attached is the current prices of some of the UK and US stocks. Also I think they are identical in the demo, so maybe try that to see if it has what you want.

 

[wackypete2]

You guys actually pay those ridiculous spreads for CFD's or spreadbetting?? Almost all of those can be had with 1 or cent spreads max using a real broker or ecn to an exchange.

Peter

 

[isatrader]

You guys actually pay those ridiculous spreads for CFD's or spreadbetting?? Almost all of those can be had with 1 or cent spreads max using a real broker or ecn to an exchange.

Peter

We're talking very small account size of £2000 or so and no commission per trade. With a real broker or ecn I'm imagining you need to trade much bigger position sizes and pay a fee on both sides of the trade? Plus in the UK trading costs are much higher here.

Also there's no additional daily financing costs or rollover period as it's a continuous price with no expiry. You only have to pay financing if you choose to use some leverage, but if you use no leverage then there's no extra costs on the positions and you receive the dividends too.

 

[wackypete2]

Differences in the countries I suppose. Not necessarily better in either one but certainly different.

Peter

 

[Morris]

Thanks ISATrader.

Spreads certainly wider than MarketMaker, and I do like the MakerMaker desktop app, just used to it.

But a Min £16 round trip per trade is just not going to work for me.

What is the trading software like, maybe I should try the demo.

 

[isatrader]

Thanks ISATrader.

Spreads certainly wider than MarketMaker, and I do like the MakerMaker desktop app, just used to it.

But a Min £16 round trip per trade is just not going to work for me.

What is the trading software like, maybe I should try the demo.

I don't like the charts particularly on the new platform, not as good as others as they are trying too hard to be flashy imo, but they aren't necessary for me, as I use a different EOD software for those anyway.

So I just use the platform for trade execution and monitoring the portfolio which is good, and they keep adding new products on regular basis. Like the various US treasuries that appeared last month, and quite a few more commodities like orange juice and lumber etc.

I'd say give the demo a go as it's free and that's the best way to see if it has what you need and compare to the other UK brokers CFD products.

 

[vincifx]

Hi, I received the same email. I'm in Italy and the problem is that here we have just the Market Maker Platform so I cannot switch to the new generation platform in order to do not pay the minimum commission :-( I think I'll have to change broker cause I make small trades and here they introduced a 5€ minimum commission on all European stocks. Does anybody knows If I can open an account at CMC Uk or another broker who doesnt charge minimum conditions?

Thanks

 

[OS_Strategy]

Also got an email yesterday (I am from Germany), stating that the commissions will start with the 30th of June 2012.

Seems like these commissions are also affecting the NextGen platform!

Well, they will lose me as a customer - the only question is where to change to... like to trade stocks in variable sizes and small amounts.

 

[pboyles]

All these gifts have to be paid for somehow you know.


Disgraced Tory treasurer gave £200,000 to the Tories days before he resigned in cash for access scandal - Telegraph

 

[traderj]

So are we to assume that this only affects the old system?

Euro margin requirements have just changed however...

http://www.cmcmarkets.co.uk/sites/public.uk/files/assets/files/european_margin_review_ng_0.pdf

 

[wzero]

I believe the commission minimum will be applied to NextGen platform start with the 30th of June 2012.