Before you can begin financial trading you need to set up an account with a spread betting company. Now, most bookies don’t handle any financial betting. Or if they do it is only the occasional bet, such as interest rate rises or exchange rates. Instead you need to deal with a specialist financial spread betting company.
There are a number of spread betting companies out there offering different services. You should select a spread betting company that you feel comfortable with; most companies have a demo online to give you a guide into their spread betting platform. I recommend having a look at them before making a choice.
The number of financial spread betting companies have increased over the last couple of years and there are now a number of well established and professional companies with which you can deal. Bookmakers often prefer to be called financial traders, but bookmaking describes exactly what they do. Unlike the High Street bookmakers you don’t need to call in to their office, you can deal with them by telephone, or even over the Internet, wherever you might live.
Spread betting platforms vary on the spread of the stocks, the execution of a trade and the execution speed. As we’ve said, in order to execute spread trades you first need to open an account with a spread trading company. For you own protection it is important that you choose a company that is registered with the FSA (Financial Services Act). When choosing the right company you should take the following into consideration:
- Ease of Use of the website, platform, orders, charts etc.
- Functionality
- Different types of platforms – need to download software vs all available online with personal log in
- Customer Service
- Range of Products and services
- Costs – spreads, daily rolling charges, margin requirements etc.
Once you have chosen which company it is a simple process of completing an application and providing proof of ID. It usually takes only a couple of days. Once you have your account the next stage is to place funds in it. Remember to only trade with funds that you can afford to lose.
Now you have your online spread trading account and funds available in it you are ready to trade.
Here are five of the main spread betting providers :
Capital Spreads
12 Appold Street
London
EC2A 2AW
Tel: (0)20 7456 7020
support@capitalspreads.com
IG Index
Cannon Bridge House
25 Dowgate Hill
London EC4R 2YA
Tel: (0)20 7633 5300
helpdesk@igindex.co.uk
Spread Co
22 Bruton Street,
London W1J 6QE.
Tel: (0)19 2383 2682
City Index
Park House,
16 Finsbury Circus,
London, EC2M 7EB
Tel: (0)203 194 1801
ETX Capital
Beaufort House
15 St. Botolph Street
London EC3A 7DT
Tel: (0)20 7392 1430
csmanager@etxcapital.co.uk
Personally I have used many of the spread betting companies currently on the market, and I have found IG Index, Capital Spreads and ETX Capital to be my favourites. At the end of the day it is your personal preference which spread betting company you choose – I have simply found these sites useful in executing trades fater than other spread betting companies.
Don’t consider this list exhaustive. New financial bookmaking services are setting up all the time. All work very much in the same way. It is a good idea to send for information packs from all of them and get the overall picture. Every company has a website you can view, and some even offer quotes and trading over the Internet if you wish to trade this way. If you wish you can set up accounts with one or more bookmakers, and then decide which one you personally feel happiest dealing with.
Remember: Most financial bookmakers are open on a 24 hour basis, excluding weekends and public holidays. However, remember that the financial markets do not trade on a 24 hour basis and vary depending on where in the world they are located.
Important: The bookmakers can give you information on the betting procedure and also accept your bets. However they can’t and won’t give you any advice on good bets to choose, or strategies to adopt. Also, although you will find lots of general information in their brochures and on their websites you shouldn’t take this too literally. It is free, so bound to be of limited quality, and also the same information is available to every other customer too. And remember, when you bet you are effectively betting against the financial bookmaker so they are not going to give you any information which will help you beat them – quite to the contrary in fact. When trading you need to rely on information which you can research yourself and, of course, strategies I will reveal in this book which are designed to help you beat the bookie!
Read up on the method of operation of each bookmaker carefully, together with their conditions and rules. Each has a slightly different way of operating, although the overall principles are exactly the same.