# Anyone trading profitably with CMC?



## vivazebull (18 June 2009)

I'm being hassled by a CMC rep at the moment (after applying for a demo account), he maintains spreads are exactly the same as DMA's.
Does anyone have any tips or success stories about dealing with market makers? Particularly I notice there is no commision on index, forex or for that matter any trades other than share CFD's. The spread on index seems wide.
The more I read, the more the whole CFD derivative seems like a 21st century version of the 'bucket shops' mentioned in Edwin Lefevre's "Reminiscences..." I mean, christ... Variation margin? Jesus! 
If anyone trades profitibly with these guys, have you received a phone call asking you to please lose a few trades? How much can you gain before they get cranky? Or do they just silently send the besuited leg breakers to your address...

Mr Burns: "Smithers I've discovered the perfect business! People swarm in, empty their pockets and scuttle off."


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## white_goodman (18 June 2009)

the whole problem with the market maker setup is that it isnt in their interest for you to be profitable just like the old bucket shops... as they hedge/trade against your position...


dma's are different they just want a heap of commissions, hence prefer if your profitable


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## IseMalakas (18 June 2009)

Stay away, I spoke to a broker that use to work for them! What he saw he said shocked him! Its a business model to get your money as quickly as possible, most of the time they don't even trade the real market, and they bet against you!! I lost *$16,000 in 3 months* after a profitable 'practice run'.
Geez I'm so sick on crooks & scammers.


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## Family_Guy (20 July 2009)

Oh Dear.....this thread scares me. I want to have a look at CFD's and gave my details to CMC last night. The post from IseMalakas worries me a little. And can someone tell me what DMA's are?

Cheers


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## mazzatelli1000 (20 July 2009)

DMA = Direct Market Access


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## ThingyMajiggy (20 July 2009)

My father turned 5k into 25k in 2 months with CMC....he then went on to lose it all doing a foolish trade, which was his problem, not CMCs. 

So genuinely can't complain here.


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## Timmy (20 July 2009)

FamilyGuy, have a read of these two articles explaining the difference between a DMA (Direct Market Access) CFD and a MM CFD (Market Maker).

Hope they help.

Comparing Direct Market Access to a Quote-Driven Service
Wikipedia article


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## Family_Guy (20 July 2009)

Thanks Timmay. Did a bit of reading this morning and i thank you for your links.

Nearly fell over when i got a phone call around lunch time from CMC......buggar me, these guyz are quik and already i want to tell them to get lost. It was this ph call at lunch time which put the nail in the coffin for my CFD trading. Not because they were pushy, but to check if i'd rec'd the email after i registered at 2am this morning. I gotta learn to use false names.

I hate being pushed into anything, all i wanted is their how CFDs work email, thats all, but will write about my experiences with them as it happens. Cheers.


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## MONEYKING (20 July 2009)

I used CMC its market makers try Man Financial they are the best CFD providers so far .I am using them they have a good trading platform.If you need more info on CFDs i will be happy to show you my platform setup.


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## el caballo (20 July 2009)

MK,

So you are trading both DMA CFD stocks and SPI?


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## skc (20 July 2009)

Family_Guy said:


> Oh Dear.....this thread scares me. I want to have a look at CFD's and gave my details to CMC last night. The post from IseMalakas worries me a little. And can someone tell me what DMA's are?
> 
> Cheers




Worry not about _where _IseMalakas lost money, but _how _the money was lost. The same result could happen with another MM, DMA, the real market, the casino, the race course, on the streets, in the bed room, over the internet...

Personally I use both DMA and MM with IG. There are times where the MM model works for me. E.g. want to short 500 shares but there are only 200 available in the DOM. I may choose the OTC (Over the counter, i.e. market maker) option so I get a fill at a volume that is not available in the real market. In this instance IG's internal liquidity was a plus to me.


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## Frogacle (20 July 2009)

vivazebull said:


> I'm being hassled by a CMC rep at the moment (after applying for a demo account), he maintains spreads are exactly the same as DMA's.
> Does anyone have any tips or success stories about dealing with market makers? Particularly I notice there is no commision on index, forex or for that matter any trades other than share CFD's. The spread on index seems wide.
> The more I read, the more the whole CFD derivative seems like a 21st century version of the 'bucket shops' mentioned in Edwin Lefevre's "Reminiscences..." I mean, christ... Variation margin? Jesus!
> If anyone trades profitibly with these guys, have you received a phone call asking you to please lose a few trades? How much can you gain before they get cranky? Or do they just silently send the besuited leg breakers to your address...
> ...




I started a CMC account at the start of 2007 and turned $30k into $200k up until the end of 2008. I was mainly making position trades on the SPX500 which typically lasted days (and sometimes even weeks).

I have not once received a phone call asking me to lose a few trades. Though, I did wake up one day to find a horse's head lying next to me, but that could have been anybody.

While CMC has served me quite well there are a couple of things to look out for. Firstly, filling orders of a decent size can take a while, and in certain circumstances the requotes can get pretty ridiculous. Secondly, don't even think about trading at or around big news events like GDP or interest rate announcements, it is virtually impossible.

Generally speaking, the spreads on the indices I traded (US markets, HK, ASX200 - during market hours) were quite good. We're talking 0.5 pts on the SPX500 and 2 on the ASX200. Off market hours though these ballooned pretty quickly to spreads that were impractical for trading purposes.

It worked quite well for me because I wasn't a frequent trader and my trades had enough meat in them to absorb the inefficiencies. I was simply looking for access and leverage to the S&P500 market. I am certain, though, that there are providers out there that can provide better service than CMC does for more frequent traders.


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## MONEYKING (21 July 2009)

el caballo said:


> MK,
> 
> So you are trading both DMA CFD stocks and SPI?




Yes i use there platform during the day for there charts and to track the whole market but i trade only the SPI using MT TRADER PRO.It is better to trade the SPI much easier.


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## nunthewiser (22 July 2009)

MONEYKING said:


> Yes i use there platform during the day for there charts and to track the whole market but i trade only the SPI using MT TRADER PRO.It is better to trade the SPI much easier.




hi,

disbeliever here

i too can place entrys/exits on a chart and show how good i was 

how about some calls now?

but yes re -cmc 

i use MFG and IG for other purposes ,as i gave up with CMC goalpost games ..........that was 4 years ago ...........things may have changed


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## Garpal Gumnut (28 August 2009)

Thanks guys, every now and then I'm tempted to go cmc and then I sit down and go through the asf threads.

gg


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## caribean (29 August 2009)

The way i see it it is a win/win situation for a broker, DMA or MM,
what is stopping a broker from following in the trades of a proven profitable trader, and  "taking the other side" of a proven loser?
DMA's earning the spread only? anyone here savvy on how much in commisions an Aussie DMA broker can earn in a week? i would really like to know, even rough estimates will do.


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## caribean (29 August 2009)

IseMalakas said:


> Stay away, I spoke to a broker that use to work for them! What he saw he said shocked him! Its a business model to get your money as quickly as possible, most of the time they don't even trade the real market, and they bet against you!! I lost *$16,000 in 3 months* after a profitable 'practice run'.
> Geez I'm so sick on crooks & scammers.



With your choice on name i'm not surprised you lost a heap, it is an insult more to a non Greek speaking person, and to myself as a Greek/Australian citizen, this is an official complaint from me to the mods.


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## rollercoaster (27 October 2009)

I started trading CFD using FP markets just over 2 mths ago. I did a lot of research with other providers before selecting FP. I read a lot of horror stories on CFD providers (most are on CMC, that's why I didn't join them) before finally decided on two: FP and MF. I went with FP because MF never called me back.

FP is DMA their commission is not the cheapest (DMA providers are usually more expensive) but I rather pay a little more in commission than loose big with doggie providers. Their software (webiress) is so far flawless when it comes to executing trades, whether webiress program is practical? yes for beginners and for experienced people I think it can be limiting. Their customer service so far is very good although I have not taken any money out yet. I would recommend FP markets. 

I do agree with _Frogacle_ that different providers suits different people. My only advise is starts off small $ at the beginning to test the provider. Often what you see in their trail software is not the same as when you join. Good luck to all who join CFD.


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## jono1887 (31 October 2009)

I've recently applied to open a Comsec ASX CFD account. They also use thr IRESS platform, cant wait to try it out..


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