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Lewis Charles Securities Interview Internaxx CFDs Interview Tradition CFDs Interview ODL Securities Interview Hargreaves Lansdown Interview First Prudential Markets Interview CFD providers compared Sounds too good to be true? Reviewing GNI touch, IG L2 Dealer and Etrade Professional CFD Platforms Latest Contracts for differences Industry News Berkeley Futures Interview The Jargon Contracts for Difference iDealing Review Sucden UK Review Saxobank Review GNI Touch Review MiniCFDs Review Contracts for Difference Set for Growth ETRADE UK Review CFD investments - tax implications Blueindex Review and Interview CFD Trading Roundtable Featured: How to turn £20,000 into £1m CFDs, spread betting, futures and covered warrants compared Dealings in derivatives and options (UK) - changes to the Takeover Code FSA - Investors cry foul.. Talking to Martin Slaney of GFT Global Markets UK Added 24th January Interview with David Jones of CMC Markets Contracts for difference provide an excellent vehicle for short term trading strategies and are the preferred vehicle amongst hedge funds and professional traders. Trading the UK stock market through more traditional means is both cost prohibitive and cumbersome. Financial spread betting enjoys a higher growth rate, and acts as an effective entry level product, allowing the individual a lower level of financial commitment. However, ultimately the more professional player will be unwilling to trade indefinitely on someone else's prices. Current estimates of CFD activity suggest that upwards of 25% of Stock Exchange transactions are CFD related. You should be aware, there are two different types of contracts for difference providers, one is more like a traditional spread better where you are trading with the CFD provider and have to trade on their prices. With the other provider, your contracts for difference orders or more strictly the hedge for your CFD orders is sent directly to the LSE order book. With the second provider you can send a limit order to buy on the bid / sell on the ask and avoid paying the spread if someone should decide to hit your bid / lift your offer. The first type of provider is more prevalent and will normally charge a lower commission, but you still have to deal with the normal spread betting bias issues there. "Proper" CFD providers like ETrade typically charge more in commission. With the spread betting type CFD the prices you trade on as the providers, with the direct CFD you are dealing on live prices from the market. It is important to understand the distinction.
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Contracts for difference offer all the benefits of trading shares without having to physically own them. Contracts for difference (or CFDs as they are sometimes referred to) mirror the performance of a share or an index. Contracts for difference are traded on margin, and the profit/loss is determined by the difference between the buy and the sell price. Because contracts for difference trade on margin, investors only need a small proportion of the total value of a position to trade. CFDs also mirror any corporate actions that take place. The owner of a share CFD will receive cash dividends and participate in stock splits.