Spread Betting Firms

Discussions about brokerage firms for futures, stocks and other tradeable instruments.
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JAM
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Location: Toronto

Spread Betting Firms

Post by JAM »

I am looking at opening a spread betting account...can anyone offer any independent pros or cons, or share their experiences with firms they have dealt with?
Turtle40
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Post by Turtle40 »

Hi Jam,
I have been meaning to post a reply to you for a few days, but had to get around to joining the forum first! Here in the UK there are plenty of SB firms to chose from. Personally I have held an account with CityIndex for about 5 years, and have had no complaints about their service. The others I use are FinSpreads and IG Index. There is one that I would definately avoid, and that is Deal4Free. If you look on the Trade2Win forums and search for SB you will find many varied opinions on this subject. Hope this helps.
John
JAM
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Post by JAM »

Thanks Turtle40, appreciate the feedback, and especially the reference site. My experience so far - Finspreads rejected my initial account application due to my being a Canadian resident and their need to be compliant with US tax law - although I was used to most Brits assuming I was American when I lived in London, the fact an FSA registered firm doesn't know that Canada is an independent country in North America has raised some questions...otherwise, TradeIndex has a good platform from what I have experienced, and I've been playing around with IG Index as well, impressed with their customer service so far at least...
Turtle40
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Post by Turtle40 »

Hi Jam, Yeah I'm not sure what SB firms can offer for non Uk residents. I use them because of the tax advantages, although the spreads can be wide and the markets offered are sometimes limiting. One problem that I have found with FinSpreads is that they won't accept stop orders outside market hours for things like SB or OJ. Only for the more global markets like currencies. I don't really understand this, as CityIndex will allow a stop order to be placed anytime. That's one of the reasons I still rate them as the best. As regards the Canadian/US thing I hope not all us "Brits" get mixed up! No one knows where the Channel Islands are...we are part of the UK..but are often accused of being French. Quel Horreur!
Best ,John
JAM
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Post by JAM »

I thought twice about using the term "Brits" - I should say most (central) Londoners, as for some reason the Welsh could always pick a Canadian out of a crowd, while outside Zone 1 experiences were mixed. Developed a real chip on my shoulder about it though!
J D Canning
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IG Index

Post by J D Canning »

Is anybody else on this forum using IG Index? I think they are just about the best SB firm - they certainly have the best trading platform that I have come across, especially when it comes to entering stop orders. They also allow bet sizes to be configured down to the penny, unlike other firms I have used, thereby allowing optimal position sizing.

Would be interested to hear others' experiences of SB platforms in the UK.
Medius
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Post by Medius »

IG I opened an account with but the minimum margin requirements at the time wernt competitive so I havent used it yet.

Have been using CMC, Selftrade and CityIndex the problem has been they only generally offer the front month.

After some pushing I have managed to get the occasional additional month added.

Choosing not to trade futures/months they dont offer is compromising the system so would be very interested to hear if anyone has found a UK SB platform that can cope with the TB system derived orders across all the futures.
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