For those of us that want to delve in to spread betting but have absolutely no idea how this works - it’s a good idea to read whatever you can. You would be really surprised as to the amount of websites available online.
These websites have all kinds of informational blogs including; how spread betting works, basic principles, difference between spread betting and forex, etc. They even have hints and tips for the market which will be useful to you in the present or future once you really start getting into this. Here are a few blog titles I found on one website I found recently:
LS Trader: The Week Ahead
Currency CFDs: U.S. Dollar in Forex Trading
Financial Spread Betting Strategy: Oil Prices
These aren’t huge boring blogs like the ones you usually find online. Instead, they are very simple to understand with no hogwash included. Simply visit the blog of your choice and take a look at the “recent posts” or the “categories”. There will probably be a few different blog posts for each level of person - newbie or advanced spread better.
Personally, I would recommend looking at all the information on these websites. You never know what new and interesting tips and or tricks you might find out about!
Also, if you are interested in reading a few books (non ebooks) you might want to check out these: Successful Spread Betting (Paperback) by Geoff Harvey, The Beginner’s Guide to Financial Spread Betting, 2nd Edition: Step-by-step Instructions and Winning Strategies (Paperback) by Michelle Baltazar, The Financial Spread Betting Handbook: A Guide to Making Money Trading Spread Bets by Malcolm Pryor, Bets and the City: Sally Nicoll’s Spread Betting Diary by Sally Nicoll, Come into My Trading Room: A Complete Guide to Trading by Alexander Elder or Technical Analysis for Dummies (For Dummies (Lifestyles Paperback)) (Paperback) by Barbara Rockefeller.
I’m more of a reader when it comes to physical books. I don’t really like to read online, although you will find a lot of, how shall I say, unknown tactics on websites more so than in actual books. It really depends on what you want and what you are comfortable with.
In the end it’s all about learning everything you can. This type of betting can be incredibly lucrative but it’s also important to realize that its also risky. You need to learn the guidelines, rules and tactics but also the standard techniques of how spread betting works and what things you should or shouldn’t do.
A lot of these websites and books will also teach you about things that maybe some bookmakers wouldn’t tell you about such as the fee for Interest Rates. Of course it’s in their best interest to not to tell you something like this, which is why you need to take it upon yourself to learn anything and everything you can! Those little tidbits of info could save you a lot of money in the end and that is what spread betting is all about.
This Author is a huge fan of Spread Betting
Spread betting is an easy means to benefit from the foreign exchange (forex) market. The forex market is highly liquid (turnover has skyrocketed from approximately 5 billion USD in 1977 to a staggering 1.5 trillion US dollars today).
Its price drives are not dependent to bull and bear markets. From what I can tell after reading up over the Forex a few months ago, this stuff can become quite confusing if you have never done it before.
In this case, I would suggest hiring on a broker of some sort of a consultant that can help guide you through the way. One thing you are going to want to be knowledgeable about it the “hidden charge” that a lot of brokers don’t tell you about which is called - the interest rate. When your positions roll over it is done automatically so that’s nice but you really need to watch out for the interest rate because its fluctuation can be incredibly high.
Maybe it’s best to straight up ask the broker what he or she charges for the interest rate, this could probably end up helping you make a better decision as to who to go with. On most of the websites you can check out today you will find rates so that you can compare spreads but it’s also important to check if the spread is variable or fixed.
A fixed spread means precisely that - it will always be the identical no matter what time of day or night it is. Some brokers use a variable spread, which may seem to be nice and small when the market is quiet, but when things get busy they can broaden the spread which means the market must move more in your favor before you start to make a profit.
Fixed spreads are generally slightly wider than the variable spreads are when at their narrowest, but over the long-term fixed can be safer. In the case of spread betting, you really can’t have the best of both worlds. All you can do is study up and try to find out everything you possibly can about fixed, variables, forex, spread betting, positioning, etc.
Personally, it wouldn’t matter if I was betting $10 or $10,000,000 I would want to find out everything I could beforehand because, no one likes losing money! In the end, it seems that both spread betting and Forex both have their benefits and disadvantages. But I think the choice really depends on the person spending the money - you. Both of these options are medium to high risk, but if you do it correctly you could have a large return on investment.
One thing is for sure, neither of these options is for the faint of heart. The “numbers” seem to always be fluctuating. Just remember, in the end, it’s important that you don’t bite off more than you can chew. In other words, - if you can’t risk it, don’t!
This Author is a huge fan of Spread Betting
Most people resort to conventional trading options for retirement or other personal investments, such as 401k plans, IRAs or traditional stocks and bonds. However, spread betting is a method of trading that can give you more bang for your buck. If you already trade, then this idea is very simple to understand.
Spread betting is another derivative product of trading that allows you to bet on where you think the prices will be at a point in the future of a particular stock. You don’t actually buy the stock itself. A spread betting loss or profit is calculated as the difference between the opening and closing price of your bet, multiplied by your stake.
Spread betting grants you knowledge of the movements of the underlying stocks. It also can apply to bonds, commodity or currency. This is done without the need to actually own the financial security that is traded, giving you an upside on risk. When someone places a spread bet, the only prerequisite is that they deposit about ten percent of the total value of the trade.
Although you should also be mindful that you could lose more than the initial deposit if the margin goes against you when the stock goes downward. No matter what, an important rule to go by is to always trade decisively and don’t ever forget to utilize a stop loss.
A stop loss is an order to buy or sell a security once the price has risen above or dropped below a specific stop price. Capital gains taxes are applicable on spread betting and the tax amount depends on where you live and how much financial gain is made.
People can earn up to a certain amount sometimes and it is tax free! This is an important finance tidbit to know. Forex is a well-known gain capital group that provides many solutions for spread betting. Their techniques have been developed to assist anyone to become wealthier.
A major growth market in recent years, spread betting has risen in popularity with the number of gamblers growing steadily. The payout is based on wager accuracy, rather than winning or losing, which is known more often as money-line betting.
By pre-determining the range of outcomes, and knowing how and when to bet whether the outcome will be above or below it, anyone is capable of garnishing money from this system.
All you need to do is educate yourself on what to do next and go from there to start spread betting your own way to wealth! It’s simple and effective to acquire an account in which finances are managed where rapid growth takes place. There is no better way to invest in today’s market than to invest in the direction it is going in by spread betting!
This Author is a huge fan of Spread Betting
Spread betting is unlike every other form of betting out there. It isn’t done in Casinos like that of Blackjack and roulette and it isn’t done by sports covering like that of Football or Basketball. Instead, spread betting is usually done with non-sporting events and non-finance bets. For example, it seems that a lot of people do spread betting when it comes to that of election results, produce markets and reality TV shows.
There is another form of spread betting called Sports Spread Betting which does have to do with sports events. But in the case of Financial spread betting it usually has to do with events that are not sports related.
A so-called “spread” cover the most likely outcome of an event and will always consist of two “prices” which are the higher buy price and the lower sell price. Maybe you have heard of the two terms “go long” or “go short” this has to do with the predictions of the bookmakers (A book or bookmaker is a person or company that accepts bets against the lines created by lines makers).
If you believe the bookmakers ‘buy’ prediction will be exceeded by the result of the event you “go long”, conversely if you believe the ’sell’ position is too generous and that the outcome will be lower you “go short”. Spread betting does not involve placing a fixed stake but it does work as a pound per point basis which allows you to specify the amount per point that you would like to bet with.
Conceptually - the more right you are the more you can win. It also works the opposite way as well - the more wrong you are the more you will lose and owe the bookmaker. The thing that I really like about spread betting is that a lot of these online bookmakers give you a “space” to practice in so that you can better acquaint yourself with how this works and how you can use some of the techniques brought forth to you.
By familiarizing yourself with the involutions involved with this type of betting can be a huge way to profit. But with every profit comes a risk. That is why it is utterly important to really understand how this works. There is a huge gain but there is also a huge risk as well. Don’t spend more than you can afford to lose. This goes along with most other betting “games” as well, but it especially goes along with spread betting on specific events.
This Author is a huge fan of Spread Betting
The “spread” is the difference between the buy and sell costs. First created by IGIndex to trade Gold in the 70s it was used without having to actually purchase large physical amounts of metal. Simply put, financial spread betting is a tax free alternative to conventional trading! But I do believe it’s only tax free in the United Kingdom.
As with everything else - this industry flourished quite a bit because of the online aspect, although it simply cannot go to the mass market because of the somewhat confusing facets involved in something like this.
This isn’t just regular betting - anyone can learn tat even someone like me! But with spread betting the rules are a little more confusing and spread betting is also a “high risk” method that should only be utilized by people that can actually afford to lose (if they do lose).
Not to turn anyone off from this concept but with any type of betting there is always one rule that is the same. Don’t bet more than you can afford to lose. Remember this is high risk.
So if you need money quick and you need your chances to be probable - this probably isn’t a good choice for you. Go play poker or something else that can guarantee you a higher winning percentage and a lower risk of losing!
Okay so how does something like this work exactly? Well, if you expect a monetary value to grow, you would buy into it, or go long on the market. Likewise, if you sell, then you expect the price to go down.
The positions you buy from are at the upper or lower edges of the spread. For example, if you bought GBP10 a point on the FTSE at a spread of 4050-4055, then any effort of the FTSE above 4055 puts you in profit, GBP10 for every point traveled. Instead, if the
FTSE moved lower to 4040, then you will be liable for 15 points. With a lot of other betting techniques you either place bets over a short period of time or a long period of time. Whereas with spread betting you actually have a choice to place the bet for one day on up to a few months, it really depends on you and the market that you select.
Okay so if all of this is so confusing and so high risk, why do so many people do it? Its simple. It’s all about the money. The stakes might be high but so is the ROI (return on investment). This is because the bet is per point and the amount of points are quite large in some of these cases. If you can afford to “play” at this, then awesome - you should give it a go. If you cant, then I wouldn’t bother. In any case I think it’s important to study up on this. Don’t just jump right in!
This Author is a huge fan of Spread Betting