Financial Spread Betting News Information Tips

Dennis Moore Hopkins asked:




Although there are various financial spread betting companies around, every individual basically possess their specific demands in terms of choosing the company they intend to deal with. Generally, there are a couple of factors that you may need to consider before you decide upon the firm to be your betting provider.

The very initial step upon selecting the company you think is best for you is to open an account with their firm. Most spread bet firms would provide offers for the opening of a new account. However, these promotions would certainly be held with a list of term and conditions. The scheme of their offers and rewards will be done according to the deposit value. Another factor is the firm’s stability and regulation. These are deemed to be one of the most significant factors to be considered. This is because the reputation of the company you deal with may reflect their services – if they would offer a consistent and reliable trading channel for you. Therefore, it is always a wise action to check out if the company you select has undergone regulation and authorization under the Financial Service Authority.

Besides, look out if the financial spread betting companies allow the activation of “stop loss”. This is an important attribute to aid in risk reduction. It could be extremely vital during capricious market conditions where the market fluctuates against your bet, resulting in the closure of your bet once the market fell onto the state of stop loss. But beware about the particular rules of the stop loss facility as they may differ from one company to another. You should also take into the account the firm’s range of market, general functionality and narrow spread. Of course, most companies do offer bonds, foreign exchange, stock indices, interest rates and other market selection but you should examine the company you select thoroughly.

Undeniably, all spread bet firms are linked to their respective advantages and disadvantages. The decision would fall upon your preferences and the company’s reputation in the market. A firm that suits your demands will lead you to some of the best bets.

Lance

Andy Richardson asked:




Spread betting in Ireland enjoys many of the same advantages that it does in the UK. As a result, financial spread betting in Ireland has been on the increase over the past decade. This article looks at the benefits of spread trading in Ireland and who the main spread betting companies are.

Advantages of financial spread betting in Ireland

The benefits of spread trading in Ireland are much the same as those in the UK:

- Your profits are free from Capital Gains Tax.
- Your transactions are commission free and do not attract Stamp Duty. The only price you pay for each bet is cost of the spread.
- From one account you can trade a staggering variety of markets and instruments. You can bet on equities, forex, indices, bonds, commodities and interest rates.
- You are not exposed to any currency risk when you bet on the different markets around the world. All your bets are based in Euros.
- You do not own the underlying instrument, you are merely betting on its future price movement. As a result you only need deposit a fraction of the funds that you would need to own the instrument. This means that your capital is highly leveraged and you can make higher value trades with the same capital than you could with standard share dealing.

Main Irish Spread Betting Companies

There are a number of spread betting companies that specifically focus on Ireland. The following companies allow you to trade markets around the world using your base currency of Euros. Note that other companies will accept customers from Ireland, but you may need to trade in dollars or sterling for some markets, thus exposing yourself to currency risk.

WorldSpreads were the first Irish company to offer financial spread betting. Founded in 2000, they have been offering a wide range of markets and tight spreads for nearly a decade. They offer a EUR10,000 demo account and plenty of new trader education resources (including a free one to one tutorial).

Delta Index were founded in 2001. Featuring a good range of markets and tight spreads, they offer controlled risk accounts, a trading simulator account and also publish a weekly trading strategies and opinions newsletter.

Paddy Power, Ireland’s leading book maker, has been a latecomer to the world of financial spread betting, but they have entered the arena with some force. They offer good tools and educational materials for the new spread better and have no minimum deposit on their accounts. They insist that all trades use a stop loss to limit your risk, but they do not offer guaranteed stop losses at this moment in time.

CMC Markets Ireland have been operating since 1989, but the office in Dublin has only been in existence since 2008. They offer a wide variety of markets and have a great execution platform. You can open an account with as little as EUR300.

Conclusion

If you live in Ireland and are interested in financial markets, then spread betting represents a tax efficient, highly leveraged way to profit from movements in the markets. As with all leveraged instruments, you can stand to make large gains but are also exposed to potentially large losses. Ensure that you fully understand the risks inherent in each and every bet you place.

Kathryn

Abi Ola asked:




What is spread betting?

Simply put, financial spread betting is a tax free alternative to conventional trading!

Spread betting is a very easy concept to understand. Indeed, if you already trade anything at all then you should have no trouble understanding the idea of spread betting.

Don’t get confused. For those of you out there who already trade derivatives, well, spread betting is just another derivative product. You don’t actually buy the underlying stocks, you just speculate (bet) on where you think the prices will be at a point in the future. When you look at spread betting in this way, it becomes obvious that is basically the same as your
regular trading in any other derivative instrument. When you close your position, your spread betting profit or loss is calculated as the difference between the opening price and closing price of the bet, multiplied your stake.

What are the attractive features of spread betting?

o Spread betting is a derivative

As I explained above, spread betting is just another derivative instrument. Like the typical derivative, spread betting gives you exposure to the movements of the underlying stocks, bonds, currency or commodity, without the need to actually own the financial security being traded.

o Spread betting is a margin instrument

Typically, when you place a spread bet, you are only required to deposit about 10 percent of the total value of the trade.

This means that you get a bigger bang for your buck. Of course, you should be mindful that you can also lose more than your initial deposit if margin acts against you when a trade goes wrong. Whatever you do, always trade with discipline and never forget to use a stop loss.

o Spread betting is capital gains TAX FREE!

Your ability to benefit from this particular feature of spreadbetting depends on the current legislation in your country. For those in the UK for instance, spread betting is classified as a ‘bet’ and as such, is free from capital gains tax. So, you keep every profit you make.

For this last feature alone, I think spread betting is simply AWESOME!

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Judy