Overall I think Deal4Free have the tightest spreads, but probably the second-worst customer service in the industry (I think Finspreads are probably even worse!).
The second-tightest spreads are overall are at CapitalSpreads, who certainly have the best customer service in the industry and rightly pride themselves on it and are setting the standard for all sorts of major improvements throughout the industry.
Cantors are noted for not holding the other side of your position (hedging everything), but not for tight spreads.
The bigger firms IG Index and City Index are very reliable and easy to deal with, but again not noted for tight spreads.
TradIndex are generally under-rated and they're actually pretty good all round, IMHO.
The only one I have seriously vowed never to touch again is Fins, who seem to me (and plenty of others, here and on other boards) to incorporate absolutely the _worst_ of everything.
But there are nearly as many opinions as traders - and quite a lot of them on these boards if you do a search!
The second-tightest spreads are overall are at CapitalSpreads, who certainly have the best customer service in the industry and rightly pride themselves on it and are setting the standard for all sorts of major improvements throughout the industry.
Cantors are noted for not holding the other side of your position (hedging everything), but not for tight spreads.
The bigger firms IG Index and City Index are very reliable and easy to deal with, but again not noted for tight spreads.
TradIndex are generally under-rated and they're actually pretty good all round, IMHO.
The only one I have seriously vowed never to touch again is Fins, who seem to me (and plenty of others, here and on other boards) to incorporate absolutely the _worst_ of everything.
But there are nearly as many opinions as traders - and quite a lot of them on these boards if you do a search!
Racer
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I think d4f would be the worst but for the appearance of the tight spread.. but that is not all it seems, e.g. if you watch the daily dow, they move it in jumps as opposed to fins, so the spread would really be wide but they create an illusion, so from discussion with lots of traders d4f gets the top slot for the overall worst!
Roberto said:Overall I think Deal4Free have the tightest spreads, but probably the second-worst customer service in the industry (I think Finspreads are probably even worse!).
Interesting that you feel that way about FS. I have always found there customer service really good and great for a beginner like me!
Racer
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I have had an account with fins for quite a while, haven't had any problem with them. In fact when their site went down and I couldn't trade, and by the time I spoke to someone to close the trade (I phoned straight away) it had moved quite a lot against me.. they cancelled the trade!
Fair enough, John. They will be, towards beginners, won't they?john88888 said:
I hope that continues for you, anyway.
I honestly think that if you look around all the various threads in various internet forums over the last year or two, you'll find that my point of view is actually pretty representative of experienced traders. The general consensus certainly seems to be that Finspreads have an awful lot of thoroughly deserved bad publicity. I certainly won't be using them again, and I know many others who feel the same way.
Their "mini-stakes" understandably attract a lot of beginners, but they only allow you to use those mini-stakes for 8 weeks, I believe. After that, they want your money.
Roberto
Experienced SB's should have a look at FuturesBetting.com because they show the actual underlying future and make a fixed spread around the bid/offer. The more you bet the smaller the spread. Basically the FTSE future spread goes from 0.4 (equivalent to £4) added to the bid or offer, as low as 0.045 (45p) The demo looks good too http://www.futuresbetting.com/softwaredemo/FBcDemo.htm
Experienced SB's should have a look at FuturesBetting.com because they show the actual underlying future and make a fixed spread around the bid/offer. The more you bet the smaller the spread. Basically the FTSE future spread goes from 0.4 (equivalent to £4) added to the bid or offer, as low as 0.045 (45p) The demo looks good too http://www.futuresbetting.com/softwaredemo/FBcDemo.htm
USD/CAD, AUD/USD, EUR/JPY, EUR/GBP, NZD/USD, this sort of thing. Would also need some independent corroboration of their regulatory body (i.e. how like the FSA they are): I'm aware that SB firms tend to be far better regulated and their customers far better protected than for most forms of brokerage, but not having dealt with anyone offshore before, you know ... ... ...mike001 said:
The reality is that nowadays, the UK Forex SB punters are used to a tight spread and a £1 per pip size minimum, so these Gibraltar people, welcome and interesting though they may be, have got a lot to prove ... ... ...
c6ackp
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I've requested a futuresbetting brochure - looks like they might be a viable alternative to IB...
Minimum account balance is 10k compared with IB's 1.45k
This statement always intrigues me...
Q. Does FuturesBetting.com take positions against its clients?
A. No, we do not take positions against our clients; all bets are hedged by us in the underlying market.
Surely, they don't hedge every position in the underlying market? They'd be fools not to offset all their client positions, wouldn't they? So why don't these companies spell out exactly how they make money?
If a company is offering very tight spreads, no commission, not manipulating the price, not offsetting client positions and placing every deal in the underlying market then the only way they can make money is by using client funds for their own investment purposes (these guys state that they don't pay interest on client account balances).
Unless someone out there knows different...
Steve
Minimum account balance is 10k compared with IB's 1.45k
This statement always intrigues me...
Q. Does FuturesBetting.com take positions against its clients?
A. No, we do not take positions against our clients; all bets are hedged by us in the underlying market.
Surely, they don't hedge every position in the underlying market? They'd be fools not to offset all their client positions, wouldn't they? So why don't these companies spell out exactly how they make money?
If a company is offering very tight spreads, no commission, not manipulating the price, not offsetting client positions and placing every deal in the underlying market then the only way they can make money is by using client funds for their own investment purposes (these guys state that they don't pay interest on client account balances).
Unless someone out there knows different...
Steve
A Dashing Blade
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c6ackp said:
Looks like the bet size you have to do is in multiples of the underlying future so . . . client clicks the mouse, trade done (Client/FB) while (effectively) simultaneously the trade is hedged out on the electronic exchange (FB/Exchange).
ITwise that's pretty trivial technology these days (I know of what I speak!) & looks, prima facia, to be a pretty good business model!
dr_d_michaelson
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Yes it looks interesting, and yes they're the first people in Gibraltar to be given a license to operate a SB business, and yes they clearly hedge all positions (as some of the London ones do too, by the way, however silly you might imagine it to be). But IMHO it's a good idea to check the _practicalities_ of their regulation and security procedures before sending them any money. Just due diligence. Admittedly the fact that they are SB and not a bucketshop is strongly in their favour, IMO. If their regulatory body turns out to be identical in powers and practicalities to the UK's FSA, they will be ok, but one needs to know this for sure, and that's not going to be easy. All IMHO of course.
A Dashing Blade
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dr d-
I think u are right- one needs to see how much power the Gib authorities have ?
Also, their min account size at £10k means no small fish allowed............
Just wondering exactly how much above the mkt the spread is, say for the S&P futures...........
Al
I think u are right- one needs to see how much power the Gib authorities have ?
Also, their min account size at £10k means no small fish allowed............
Just wondering exactly how much above the mkt the spread is, say for the S&P futures...........
Al
SIMONJ1968
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Its about time these SB's have lowered their huge spreads. I have been hit many times by these spreads and I decided to pack the whole thing in and moved to trading Options! This has transformed my returns and I am very happy with this as you can expect, although now the spreads are more reasonable, I may be tempted to trade them alongside Options!
