Spread Free Spread Betting

[mikeyk]

Hey,

Received an email from Cantor this morning advertising spread free betting. They're calling it the "Magnificent Seven". Each week there picking seven products which you will be able to trade spread free that week and every week you can vote for what products you would like to see spread free next week.

Sounds pretty good to me. They say you will be able to trade them at the futures prices although I dont know how true this is as all SB companies seem to "manipulate" or run there own prices.

 

[peto]

"They say you will be able to trade them at the futures prices "

presumably 'futures prices' means there is a small spread, eg 0.25 as in the S&P500 futures market, and they will attempt to make their profit here??

 

[donaldduke]

Its seems to be restriced to UK shares only.

UK shares arent exactly the most volatile instruments around, so
if you hold for longer than a week youll have to pay half the
full spread anyway.

 

[mikeyk]

Fair play mate,

Only saying, thought it might have been of interest to some people who might not be cantor clients. No ones forcing people to use them.

 

[TheBramble]

If it's spread-free - it's spread free. OK, as an SB they might play around with 'their' version of the price, but it still looks a better deal than paying spread - if you're into SBs at all of course.

It would be interesting to see how Cantor would react to a majority voting in the most volatile indices, stocks...

Of course, that assumes they'd be honest in relaying the voting...

tch tch tch...I am a cynical old Tony this evening.

 

[stevespray]

If a product is advertised as 'spread free' then they are advertising that they are trading it at mid price regardless of market spread. So I'd expect to see the relevent products quoted at a single price regardless of weather you want to buy it or sell it - hence no spread (the spread being the difference between the bid and the offer). Is this actually what they are offering ?

Steve.

 

[knorrie]

Steve - no it's not a single bid/offer price. They are quoting future prices so there is a small spread, what they refer to as spread-free is that they don't add the extra SB spread. It does actually say that if you read the small print, though you could be forgiven for thinking otherwise at first sight.

I had an eye on the 7 shares they've selected for this week today, pretty dull stuff. Next week though from the voting it looks like AZN + RBS will be in the list so could be more interesting.

KenN

 

[seguna]

SB Firms

Hello All

On a somewhat different note, can anyone please share which SB firms they have used which fall into the category, the Good, the Bad and the downright Ugly? Because D4F is so popular with its tight spreads, they have a huge client base and many of the SBers on this site have accounts there. We therefore hear loads of complaints against them but not so much the others, with the wider spreads.

We can begin to build a picture of what these firms are all REALLY like by sharing our experiences - good and bad. Or does something of this nature exist elsewhere?

rgds
S

 

[neil]

Re: SB Firms

On a somewhat different note, can anyone please share which SB firms they have used which fall into the category, the Good, the Bad and the downright Ugly? Because D4F is so popular with its tight spreads, they have a huge client base and many of the SBers on this site have accounts there. We therefore hear loads of complaints against them but not so much the others, with the wider spreads.

We can begin to build a picture of what these firms are all REALLY like by sharing our experiences - good and bad. Or does something of this nature exist elsewhere?

Click on "Reviews" above, then click on one of the SB co's shown under "brokers" to read its' review.

 

[fibonacci]

I'm new to spread betting.I feel like I have been scammed, but I would like the view of other senior traders and guys who have experience of markets.
I traded with IG INDEX on friday going long on the FTSE 100 March at 6181.. with a stop at 6151, the market closed at 6177 at 5:30 on friday. On monday Morning the opening was 6166 and low was 6163 and so far the high has been 6223.

I have been told I was stopped out on friday at 8:10(after the exchange was closed) according to inhouse quoting by IG INDEX as they quote a price 24 hours a day. They say that the low was 6151 right where my stop was and they do this on the basis of other markets that are trading at that time and the fluctuations taking place at that point. IS this a scam on their part ? they have inhouse information as to where all the stops and positions are held by their clients and can make a market in order to stop them out. Please comment

 

[Slapshot]

I'm new to spread betting.I feel like I have been scammed, but I would like the view of other senior traders and guys who have experience of markets.
I traded with IG INDEX on friday going long on the FTSE 100 March at 6181.. with a stop at 6151, the market closed at 6177 at 5:30 on friday. On monday Morning the opening was 6166 and low was 6163 and so far the high has been 6223.

I have been told I was stopped out on friday at 8:10(after the exchange was closed) according to inhouse quoting by IG INDEX as they quote a price 24 hours a day. They say that the low was 6151 right where my stop was and they do this on the basis of other markets that are trading at that time and the fluctuations taking place at that point. IS this a scam on their part ? they have inhouse information as to where all the stops and positions are held by their clients and can make a market in order to stop them out. Please comment

Fibonacci,

There are already answers to your questions on the thread you started in the US indicies section.

I have a couple of questions for you..

1. Which data are you using to record the Open, High, Low, Close?

2. Do you fully understand the principles of spread betting?


You need to bear in mind that the spread betting companies bids/offers are based on the underlying instrument and not an actual quote of the underlying instrument.

As detailed on the other thread, the European markets, FTSE, Dax, CAC etc are all offered 24 hours by IG Index. Therefore, regardless of whether the exchange is closed there will be some alignment to the US markets during that session time.

For instance, if the Dow/S&P etc drop by 50 points lets say on a news annoucement such as the fed minutes (7pm UK time usually) then the European markets quoted by IG will do the same, regardless of whether that markets exchange is open. You are trading IG's market and not the underlying market.

With regard to question 2, please don't take the question the wrong way. You have to ask yourself honestly if you understand the principles involved and the caveats that need to be understood. Unless you fully understand what you're dealing with the you need to stop placing trades and get a handle on how things work within this industry.

 

[fibonacci]

I appreciate the replies i've received. I understand at the end of the day it was my fault for not reading the small print in their hand book where it says that the client is trading 'their' prices rather then the exchange prices. I just felt it is misleading and there is a bias against the clients as they can make markets depending on the inhouse posistions they have. Ah well I wont be putting any more trades through spread betting firms, I'm happy trading off the exchange. Resembles the bucket shop scenarios described in 'reminisence of the stock operator' .

 

[seguna]

I appreciate the replies i've received. I understand at the end of the day it was my fault for not reading the small print in their hand book where it says that the client is trading 'their' prices rather then the exchange prices. I just felt it is misleading and there is a bias against the clients as they can make markets depending on the inhouse posistions they have. Ah well I wont be putting any more trades through spread betting firms, I'm happy trading off the exchange. Resembles the bucket shop scenarios described in 'reminisence of the stock operator' .

Hi Fib, maybe it does. But understanding is the key - you've learned an important lesson that all Spread Betters need to bear in mind when holding positions overnight.

All the best.:|

 

[Slapshot]

I appreciate the replies i've received. I understand at the end of the day it was my fault for not reading the small print in their hand book where it says that the client is trading 'their' prices rather then the exchange prices. I just felt it is misleading and there is a bias against the clients as they can make markets depending on the inhouse posistions they have. Ah well I wont be putting any more trades through spread betting firms, I'm happy trading off the exchange. Resembles the bucket shop scenarios described in 'reminisence of the stock operator' .

There's a lot of discussion about the SB firms and (to their credit) some of them do post on this forum and are willing to discuss how they operate.

As long as you're aware 'how' they operate you can trade within their rules quite happily.

 

[seguna]

There's a lot of discussion about the SB firms and (to their credit) some of them do post on this forum and are willing to discuss how they operate.

As long as you're aware 'how' they operate you can trade within their rules quite happily.

True well said SS.

I remember when I first started with CMC. I used to go ballistic about some of the fills I was getting bcuase I did'nt understand 'where' they were getting their prices from. It takes a bit of getting used to, but at the end of the day, you have to trust the SB firms. Suspicion will mess up your decision making and the result will inevitably be losses.

Either spend the time to understand your operator and their pricing so you can spread bet successfully (I remember the guys at CMC took the time to explain this to me quite a bit back then) OR move to more transparent, exchange based/Direct Access instruments and markets.

rgs
S

 

[tommac]

Hardly ever come here any more but when i do I always see the SB question.(nothing changes) Each to their own but i`ve been using / making a living spreadbetting almost exclusively for many years and never had a problem. I don`t feel the need to feel like a "pro" having done that for an IB
A bit of common sense and if holding positions overnight then stop controls need to be thought about in case of gapping. I`m happy with the spreads and pay no commission and no tax ( thats another subject in its own) all under one roof.