Spread Betting Account

Spread Betting Account

Where to Spread Bet?

It depends upon a number of factors including:
  • What level of service you are looking for
  • What markets you are looking to trade
  • What trading apps you want
  • What trading order you prefer to use
  • etc.
In the tables below we have listed which companies offer the popular shares, indices, forex and commodities markets.

We have also listed which companies offer services such as charts and automatic stop losses as well as the companies with new account offers.


Spread Betting Services Comparison

Financial Spreads ETX Capital Spreadex IG City Index
New Account Offer Financial Spreads Spread Betting Account Offer? ETX Capital Spread Betting Account Offer? Spreadex Spread Betting Account Offer? IG Spread Betting Account Offer? City Index Spread Betting Account Offer?
iPhone App Financial Spreads iPhone App? ETX Capital iPhone App? Spreadex iPhone App? IG iPhone App? City Index iPhone App?
iPad App Financial Spreads iPad App? ETX Capital iPad App? Spreadex iPad App? IG iPad App? City Index iPad App?
Android Apps Financial Spreads Android Apps? ETX Capital Android Apps? Spreadex Android Apps? IG Android Apps? City Index Android Apps?
Candlestick Charts Financial Spreads Candlestick Charts? ETX Capital Candlestick Charts? Spreadex Candlestick Charts? IG Candlestick Charts? City Index Candlestick Charts?
Credit Accounts Available Financial Spreads Credit Accounts Available? ETX Capital Credit Accounts Available? Spreadex Credit Accounts Available? IG Credit Accounts Available? City Index Credit Accounts Available?
Deposit Accounts Available Financial Spreads Deposit Accounts? ETX Capital Deposit Accounts? Spreadex Deposit Accounts? IG Deposit Accounts? City Index Deposit Accounts?
Stop Loss Available Spread Betting Stop Loss with Financial Spreads? Spread Betting Stop Loss with ETX Capital? Spread Betting Stop Loss with Spreadex? Spread Betting Stop Loss with IG? Spread Betting Stop Loss with City Index?
Stop Loss (Automatic) Financial Spreads - Automatic Stop Losses? ETX Capital - Automatic Stop Losses? Spreadex - Automatic Stop Losses? IG - Automatic Stop Losses? City Index - Automatic Stop Losses?
24 Hour Trading Financial Spreads 24 Hour Trading? ETX Capital 24 Hour Trading? Spreadex 24 Hour Trading? IG 24 Hour Trading? City Index 24 Hour Trading?
FCA Authorised and Regulated Financial Spreads - Regulated? ETX Capital - Regulated? Spreadex - Regulated? IG - Regulated? City Index - Regulated?
The above spread betting services / markets may also be available with other companies. Also see Comparison Table Notes.


The most popular market with spread betting account holders? The FTSE 100 – see below for a worked spread betting example.


Spread Betting Indices Comparison

Financial Spreads ETX Capital Spreadex IG City Index
FTSE 100 Daily Financial Spreads FTSE Daily ETX Capital FTSE Daily Spreadex FTSE Daily IG FTSE Daily City Index FTSE Daily
FTSE 100 Futures Financial Spreads FTSE Future ETX Capital FTSE Future Spreadex FTSE Future IG FTSE Future City Index FTSE Future
Wall Street (Dow) Daily Financial Spreads Wall Street (Dow) Daily ETX Capital Wall Street (Dow) Daily Spreadex Wall Street (Dow) Daily IG Wall Street (Dow) Daily City Index Wall Street (Dow) Daily
Wall Street (Dow) Futures Financial Spreads Wall Street Future ETX Capital Wall Street Future Spreadex Wall Street Future IG Wall Street Future City Index Wall Street Future
DAX 30 Daily Financial Spreads DAX 30 Daily ETX Capital DAX 30 Daily Spreadex DAX 30 Daily IG DAX 30 Daily City Index DAX 30 Daily
DAX 30 Futures Financial Spreads DAX 30 Future ETX Capital DAX 30 Future Spreadex DAX 30 Future IG DAX 30 Future City Index DAX 30 Future
S&P 500 Daily Financial Spreads S&P 500 Daily ETX Capital S&P 500 Daily Spreadex S&P 500 Daily IG S&P 500 Daily City Index S&P 500 Daily
S&P 500 Futures Financial Spreads S&P 500 Future ETX Capital S&P 500 Future Spreadex S&P 500 Future IG S&P 500 Future City Index S&P 500 Future
Other Indices Financial Spreads More Indices? ETX Capital More Indices? Spreadex More Indices? IG More Indices? City Index More Indices?
The above spread betting markets may also be available with other companies. Also see spread betting comparison notes.


Spread Betting Shares Comparison

Shares

 Financial Spreads ETX Capital Spreadex IG City Index
FTSE 100 Shares Financial Spreads FTSE 100 Shares ETX Capital FTSE 100 Shares Spreadex FTSE 100 Shares IG FTSE 100 Shares City Index FTSE 100 Shares
FTSE 250 Shares Financial Spreads FTSE 250 Shares ETX Capital FTSE 250 Shares Spreadex FTSE 250 Shares IG FTSE 250 Shares City Index FTSE 250 Shares
Wall Street Shares Financial Spreads Wall Street Shares ETX Capital Wall Street Shares Spreadex Wall Street Shares IG Wall Street Shares City Index Wall Street Shares
S&P 500 Shares Financial Spreads S&P 500 Shares ETX Capital S&P 500 Shares Spreadex S&P 500 Shares IG S&P 500 Shares City Index S&P 500 Shares
NASDAQ 100 Shares Financial Spreads NASDAQ 100 Shares ETX Capital NASDAQ 100 Shares Spreadex NASDAQ 100 Shares IG NASDAQ 100 Shares City Index NASDAQ 100 Shares
DAX 30 Shares Financial Spreads DAX 30 Shares ETX Capital DAX 30 Shares Spreadex DAX 30 Shares IG DAX 30 Shares City Index DAX 30 Shares
CAC 40 Shares Financial Spreads CAC 40 Shares ETX Capital CAC 40 Shares Spreadex CAC 40 Shares IG CAC 40 Shares City Index CAC 40 Shares
Irish Shares Financial Spreads Irish Shares ETX Capital Irish Shares Spreadex Irish Shares IG Irish Shares City Index Irish Shares
Other Shares Financial Spreads Other Shares ETX Capital Other Shares Spreadex Other Shares IG Other Shares City Index Other Shares
The above spread betting markets may also be available with other companies. Also see financial spread betting comparison notes.


Spread Betting Forex Comparison

Financial Spreads ETX Capital Spreadex IG City Index
Dollar/Yen Daily Financial Spreads Dollar/Yen Daily ETX Capital Dollar/Yen Daily Spreadex Dollar/Yen Daily IG Dollar/Yen Daily City Index Dollar/Yen Daily
Euro/Dollar Daily Financial Spreads Euro/Dollar Daily ETX Capital Euro/Dollar Daily Spreadex Euro/Dollar Daily IG Euro/Dollar Daily City Index Euro/Dollar Daily
Euro/Sterling Daily Financial Spreads Euro/Sterling Daily ETX Capital Euro/Sterling Daily Spreadex Euro/Sterling Daily IG Euro/Sterling Daily City Index Euro/Sterling Daily
Sterling/Dollar Daily Financial Spreads Sterling/Dollar Daily ETX Capital Sterling/Dollar Daily Spreadex Sterling/Dollar Daily IG Sterling/Dollar Daily City Index Sterling/Dollar Daily
Sterling/Euro Daily Financial Spreads Sterling/Euro Daily ETX Capital Sterling/Euro Daily Spreadex Sterling/Euro Daily IG Sterling/Euro Daily City Index Sterling/Euro Daily
Other Forex Financial Spreads Other Forex ETX Capital Other Forex Spreadex Other Forex IG Other Forex City Index Other Forex
The above spread betting markets may also be available with other companies.


Spread Betting Commodities Comparison

Financial Spreads ETX Capital Spreadex IG City Index
Gold Daily Financial Spreads Gold Daily ETX Capital Gold Daily Spreadex Gold Daily IG Gold Daily City Index Gold Daily
Gold Futures Financial Spreads Gold Future ETX Capital Gold Future Spreadex Gold Future IG Gold Future City Index Gold Future
UK Crude Oil Daily (Brent) Financial Spreads UK Oil Daily (Brent) ETX Capital UK Oil Daily (Brent) Spreadex UK Oil Daily (Brent) IG UK Oil Daily (Brent) City Index UK Oil Daily (Brent)
UK Crude Oil Future (Brent) Financial Spreads UK Oil Future (Brent) ETX Capital UK Oil Future (Brent) Spreadex UK Oil Future (Brent) IG UK Oil Future (Brent) City Index UK Oil Future (Brent)
US Crude Oil Daily (WTI) Financial Spreads US Oil Daily (WTI) ETX Capital US Oil Daily (WTI) Spreadex US Oil Daily (WTI) IG US Oil Daily (WTI) City Index US Oil Daily (WTI)
US Crude Oil Future (WTI) Financial Spreads US Oil Future (WTI) ETX Capital US Oil Future (WTI) Spreadex US Oil Future (WTI) IG US Oil Future (WTI) City Index US Oil Future (WTI)
Other Commodities Financial Spreads Other Commodities ETX Capital Other Commodities Spreadex Other Commodities IG Other Commodities City Index Other Commodities
The above spread betting markets may also be available with other companies. Also see spread bets comparison notess.


Why Spread Betting?

All forms of speculation or investment, from trading stocks and shares to having a pension or buying a house, have a negative side. If you spread bet you can lose more than you initially staked.

However there are number of interesting benefits:
  1. Spread betting profits are tax free*

  2. As shown above, spread betting offers a large variety of markets on which you can speculate including indices, foreign exchange, commodities and equities markets.

  3. Spread betting lets you trade in both directions. You can bet on markets to go down. If you think that a stock or share will go down you can speculate on it to go down. If you think that a stock market index like the FTSE 100 or Nikkei 225 will go up, you can spread bet on the index to go up.

  4. There are no broker’s fees or commissions on spread bets.

  5. Many of the firms now offer a variety of free data to their clients. As well as candlestick charts, some firms also offer technical analysis and analysis on companies sectors and companies.


How to Spread Bet

The most popular market with spread betting account holders? The FTSE 100.

The current price of the FTSE 100 Index (December) market is 5128 – 5132 with Financial Spreads.

With a spread betting account you can speculate on the future value of the FTSE 100 to rise or fall. With this FTSE 100 Index (December) market, which closes on 18-Dec-09, investors can speculate on:

a) the FTSE 100 to finish higher than 5132 on the expiry date, or
b) the FTSE 100 to finish lower than 5128 on the expiry date.

Note that with the FTSE 100 market you trade in £X per point, where a point is 1 point of FTSE 100 movement. As a brief example, if you invested £4 per point and the FTSE 100 moves 8 points then your bottom line would change by £32.

FTSE 100 Index (December) Spread Trading Example

Considering an example, let’s assume you see the real time price on a UK spread betting website and it gives a spread of 5128 – 5132. So, having done your analysis of the markets, you might come to feel that the FTSE 100 index will go up and settle higher than 5132 on the expiry date. Therefore:

  • You believe that the FTSE 100 should rise
  • As a result, you decide you are going to ‘buy’ the market at 5132 and you bet £2 per point
  • The FTSE 100 value increases. You leave your bet to run to the closing date of 18-Dec-09
  • The index closes at 5176
  • You initially bought the spread at 5132
  • Profit / loss = (Closing Price – Opening Price) x stake
  • Profit / loss = (5176 – 5132) x £2 per point
  • Profit / loss = 44 x £2 per point
  • Profit / loss = £88 profit
Spread betting does not always go to plan. If the market failed to move as predicted, and had the FTSE 100 index decreased, settling at a lower than expected level of 5090, then you would have made a loss rather than a profit.

  • You bought the spread bet at 5132
  • Profit / loss = (Closing Price – Opening Price) x stake
  • Profit / loss = (5090 – 5132) x £2 per point
  • Profit / loss = -42 x £2 per point
  • Profit / loss = -£84 loss
(Spread betting prices correct as of 05-Nov-09)




User Questions and Answers on Spread Betting Accounts

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