# CFD Brokers



## weatherbill (19 March 2010)

I am thinking of going with IG for my CFD broker.

Has anyone had any experience with them?

I want to go with them because they are very reputable and have alot of choice in what I can trade.

Are there other things to consider that I and others visiting this thread might not be seeing from you more experienced in this?

I sometimes hear of CFDs on OTC - if anyone can add to that  and what brokers offer such CFD trading, that could help.

With a better understanding from you more experienced at this, please add your experiences here....thanx


----------



## Trembling Hand (19 March 2010)

You cannot trade CFDs Bill. The Feds will lock you up as a US citizen.


----------



## nunthewiser (19 March 2010)

But  the worlds gunna end soon Bill.......

Pick anyone you like its not like you gunna have to pay the bill m8 

Glad i could be of assistance for once in a serious thread.


----------



## weatherbill (22 March 2010)

Well, it would be nice to hear from others with some CFD trading experience with CFD brokers....

Is there anyone at home?


----------



## SmellyTerror (22 March 2010)

I'm with IG.

They don't have stop-limit orders. When your stop is triggered, it dumps it in (usually a minute later) at market. It's killing me. Oh, and sometimes their chart data bears no relation to reality.

Otherwise they're absolutely great.  Nice interface, good availability, great margins. Honestly, if they had stop-limit orders I'd marry them. But they don't, so I'm looking for someone else.

OTC (IG has both OTC and DMA) is nice because of the crazy leverage you can get (margins down around 10% for pretty much everything). DMA is good for the (slightly) wider range of orders and the ability to bid inside the spread, at the cost of less available margin and slightly higher brokerage.

Get ye some demo accounts and muck about.


----------



## weatherbill (22 March 2010)

thanx for the bit on IG

I am also looking at CMC. They have low margins as well. Tried looking on the IG site for specific margins for specific stocks....cant find them.

the difference between a 10% and a 20% margin on the same stocks can be twice the price, so depending on your goals, its a huge difference


----------



## SmellyTerror (22 March 2010)

IGM margins: http://www.marketdatasystems.com/content/files/Tiered Margin IG Markets.xls

Note for example that AQA.asx is at 10% margin for 40000 shares or less. On MFG it's 50%.

I'm thinking of using IGM only for stuff that IB gives really bad margin on, and logging on during the opens to mitigate some of IGM's crapitude. Pain in the ****, but (though I'll look) I very much expect every CFD provider has some critically stupid feature.


----------



## raging (4 April 2011)

*CFD Broker*

G'day guys,

Has anyone used http://www.marketsplus.com.au for cfd trading ?

Cheers,

r


----------



## operandi (8 April 2011)

weatherbill said:


> I am thinking of going with IG for my CFD broker.
> 
> Has anyone had any experience with them?
> 
> ...




Why do u want to trade cfd's?

Risk? You can do the same thing with futures 
Return? If you get trading that will come.
Broker? do u want a broker to sit in between you and the market? are you sure?  
Reputable? http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/busin...s-for-difference/story-e6frede3-1226031989131  NOTE ASIC comments

IMO If your serious find yourself a futures broker, with a .net app that gives u direct access into the markets with no middleman, a simulator that is is as close to the real market to get skill ur up, ask them for some training or find someone that knows their way around how to read the order book cause order flow between buyers and sellers is what makes the market. Build your trading style around least risk cause chances are you'll be lose money until you get it and IMO leave cfd's to the dabblers. Thats unless you just wanna dabble


----------



## cynic (8 May 2011)

weatherbill said:


> I am thinking of going with IG for my CFD broker.
> 
> Has anyone had any experience with them?
> 
> ...




Before I give you my response to your question, might I direct anyone considering trading cfds to some very insightful comments on counterparty risks associated with cfd trading that may be found in the thread about ASIC's warning. In essence caveat emptor/vendor (buyer/trader beware).

I can only recount my experiences of trading with brokers and the opinions that I've formed. You will of course have to ultimately make your own decision about which broker (if any) is appropriate for your circumstances.

I was once very loyal to one cfd broker for years despite significant changes to their business practice (some of which happened to impact my trading activities at relatively short notice.)

I have used three different brokers for trading of overseas index cfd's including IG(IG index and subsequently IG markets), Commsec and City Index. My experiences with these brokers are somewhat varied and have at times highlighted the need for vigilance when trading cfds. 

Whilst I still have an account with IG markets, I have not placed any trades with them since the end of the previous financial year when I decided to find another broker.

For this current financial year I have been actively (and profitably) trading with two other brokers. 
I have had very positive experiences whilst trading with one of these brokers in particular (namely City Index).  My trading account balance has been in an overall uptrend for this current financial year (mostly due to the success of my City Index trades). Consequently, I intend to continue trading with City Index for now. After all  "the trading account balance never lies"  and "if it ain't broke then don't fix it".

Should circumstances change then I shall revisit my decision and again review available options.

I have intentionally neglected to mention the direction of my trading account balance and the success/failure rates of my trading activities in the previous financial year. 
Incidentally it was towards the end of the previous financial year that I decided to seek another cfd broker.

As you have probably guessed, the overall direction of my trading account balance in previous financial years and my decision to find another cfd broker were closely related.

Make of that what you will. As the old saying goes "where there's smoke..."

Each trader has their own preferred trading style and personality, i.e. one trader's instrument(or possibly broker) is another trader's waterloo, so you will of course have to make your own decision and be guided by your own trading experiences. 

It may also be worth noting that it has been rumoured that some cfd brokers have been betting against the success of their clients trading activities by choosing not to fully hedge the resultant market exposure.

In my opinion, the implications of these rumours deserve serious consideration.

I apologise for being so long winded in my response and not speaking more plainly.

When I meet people in person I feel able to give answers that are blunt and straight to the point. In writing on public forums I feel the need to be a little more covert and tactful in my responses.

But if you can take the time to read between the lines you will see that there is a definite answer to your question herein.


----------



## bluesjav (16 June 2011)

cynic said:


> Before I give you my response to your question, might I direct anyone considering trading cfds to some very insightful comments on counterparty risks associated with cfd trading that may be found in the thread about ASIC's warning. In essence caveat emptor/vendor (buyer/trader beware).
> 
> I can only recount my experiences of trading with brokers and the opinions that I've formed. You will of course have to ultimately make your own decision about which broker (if any) is appropriate for your circumstances.
> 
> ...




I like the SAXO platform since you can do more than just CFDs.U can trade Futures as well but personally I prefer Options so you can fine tune the risk that you take.


----------



## cynic (17 June 2011)

bluesjav said:


> I like the SAXO platform since you can do more than just CFDs.U can trade Futures as well but personally I prefer Options so you can fine tune the risk that you take.




Thanks for taking the time to read my post. 

I haven't tried SAXO, but from what you say it sounds like they're worthy of investigation. 

Have you been trading with them for long?

I'm always on the lookout for alternative brokers (just in case anything happens to the one I'm currently with) so I would love to hear more about your experiences trading with SAXO i.e. overall percentages with respect to profitability, reliability, customer service etc.


----------



## nichole (7 July 2011)

I am using CMC market for my CFD trades. Though it is not DMA but at least the range of counters aviailable for both long and short position is attractive enough to entice me. However, the requote is a serious concern. I have made and loss quite alot of money using CMC Markets and they have not acted against my interest so far. I lost simply because of poor risk management.


----------



## The_Bman (7 July 2011)

I’ve been with MFGlobal for about 18 months. 

I’m on DMA and they have excellent options for conditional / stop orders including trailing stops.

Reasonable trade charges and FX spread, there are cheaper options though.

Initially I found the WebIress platform complex however excellent with some use. The Excel plugin is also very useful. There isn’t much in the way for programming support, nothing I’ve seen on APIs.

I use Metastock EOD so still have a separate data service (Paritech DataDirector). In theory could use the WebIress Excel pluggin some macros and The Downloader though.

I’m usually only in the top ASX50 or ASX100 so usually around the 85%-90% leverage. Don’t get in if you want speculative stocks they will be 0%-50% leverage.

I haven’t focused on Index trades yet however jump in and out of FX sporadically, usually with Fundamental setups and Technical entry signals. At time oportunistic too. Not an area of strength for me, lots of focus though.

On occasion there have been brief server failures, maybe 1 or 2 a quarter, these have not been a problem for me. I did have to call once when shorting the AUDJPY and there was an error because of the trade value (The system thought I was putting in an AUD$500000 order but was Yen).

You also have to email them instructions to move your cash around.

My decisions to move to CFDs was based on short term trading plan, ease of shorting, access to Index and FX opportunities & leverage.

I looked at IG & CMC too, chose MFG & happy to date.


----------



## Diggs1 (27 September 2011)

Excuse my ignorance but what is 'DMA' when referring to CFD's??


----------



## skc (27 September 2011)

Diggs1 said:


> Excuse my ignorance but what is 'DMA' when referring to CFD's??




Direct market access... means you are trading in the real market. That is, you can place orders in the market depth, hit the bid/ask etc etc, just like real trading.

As opposed to market maker which is really you taking the price quoted by the CFD provider.


----------



## Diggs1 (28 September 2011)

skc said:


> Direct market access... means you are trading in the real market. That is, you can place orders in the market depth, hit the bid/ask etc etc, just like real trading.
> 
> As opposed to market maker which is really you taking the price quoted by the CFD provider.




Cool thank you. Obviously you'd want direct market access!!


----------



## young-gun (4 August 2012)

I'm looking at taking the plunge into cfd's in the near future. Can someone please recommend what they believe is the easiest platform to use? Or perhaps a platform that has a tutorial or something attached? There bloody everywhere and for someone that hasn't traded cfd's they all seem the same

I'm just looking for something that is simple to navigate and understand while I'm starting out. or are all the big players roughly the same? I understand the terms direct market access and market maker but is one better to trade than the other? after reading through dot point differences between the two I'm inclined to believe DMA is the preferred option.

cheers.


----------



## baa44 (5 March 2013)

Hi! I have been 'trading' shares for the last 2 years of my life and am looking into CFDs because of their leveraging options (I only have a limited ~$10K capital). Taking my due dilligence, I've decided to ask you guys as some seem to have experience with different brokers. I would use CFDs to make $1K investments, meaning I could margin and only invest say $100, freeing capital and trading cautiously. 

Which CFDs providers are (as admiral Ackbar from star wars calls them) TRAPS!

There have been other threads however they are quite old or ambiguous... 

From my current opinion:
IG sounds full of hidden fees and is hard to get money out of.
CMC... just no.
FP seems legit.
Commsec & Maquarie = $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$


----------



## Happy2be (23 November 2013)

Bump


----------



## Happy2be (24 November 2013)

A couple of questions please,  trading CFD's on ASX stocks

Which CFD broker / provider in Australia has the easiest to understand order types and best range of order types such that I don't have to be at the computer during the day as I also have a daytime job?  

I have been trading just ASX stocks(not CFD's) with Interactive Brokers for a few years now and have been spoilt with their easy to use and understand order types and have always been able to set up my trades the night before.

I however wish to trade my tested system and want to use another CFD provider in Australia for the ASX stocks.

Any help on this would be enormously appreciated.

Thanks in advance.


----------



## skc (25 November 2013)

Happy2be said:


> A couple of questions please,  trading CFD's on ASX stocks
> 
> Which CFD broker / provider in Australia has the easiest to understand order types and best range of order types such that I don't have to be at the computer during the day as I also have a daytime job?
> 
> ...




As far as I know, no one is nearly as comprehensive as Interactive Brokers in terms of order types. Any CFD provider with WebIress will have basic limit/at market/stop/trailing orders... ask for a trail and see if they have what you need. I think FP Markets have WebIress but there may be others.


----------



## Atlantx (25 November 2013)

Some CFD brokers, like IG Markets, will have charts on their platform showing market prices but the prices on which you trade are their in-house prices. Hence you can have a technical analysis buy signal on your chart but you cannot trade on that precise price.


----------



## Happy2be (26 November 2013)

Thankyou for your answers so far.
I shall continue with my research and hopefully find out what works for my situation.

I am leaning toward FP markets and IG markets in that order, although that may change once I am proficient in using the platforms and I sort out the cost difference and way it up with ease of use etc etc.
I may however go with someone completely different if suitable.

I am also leaning towards the DMA platforms from the research I have done so far.

Again thanks so far, 

I'd also like to point out to those that may follow in my footsteps that this(CFD's) will be another small part of my overall trading plan and that I do not have a sheep station riding on it.


----------



## Atlantx (26 November 2013)

> Which CFD broker / provider in Australia has the easiest to understand order types and best range of order types such that I don't have to be at the computer during the day as I also have a daytime job?




WH Selfinvest have 12 types of stop loss and one of them is Time Stop.
By choosing a broker i would check a few things:
Spreads
Foreign exchange rates and frequency(means do they allow you trade all currencies and convert them once a month in your account currency or is a trade based conversion which must be considered in strategy).
Minimum funds - if less than 2000 they are not your friends. You cant trade even 1 contract on reasonable risk of DAX(DE30 for example with less than 5000 ) Assuming you have half of that as at-risk(or even more) and 1% risk. So funding an account with 500 only drives you automatically to very high risk levels.
Commissions.
REAL Data chart and not IG like. 
and lots more but just few of them.

The mentioned broker above does not increase the spreads but instead charges you a flat amount for each trade and you got real tick-by-tick data.


----------



## Valued (21 January 2014)

IGMarkets seems good so far. I just opened an account with them in the last few mins! It took a few mins to open my CFD account and I am off and running. That's pretty cool imo. Beats waiting around for Commsec where you have to send your application in instead of just doing it online.


----------



## Wysiwyg (25 February 2014)

A warning about IC Markets. A Forex and CFD broker. *They reveal client positions to the market.* Exact stop positions and client positions held. I gave them a try for the tighter spreads but the commission on top of the 'varied' spread also add up significantly. They are now looking for a replacement sucker.


----------



## Valued (25 February 2014)

Wysiwyg said:


> A warning about IC Markets. A Forex and CFD broker. *They reveal client positions to the market.* Exact stop positions and client positions held. I gave them a try for the tighter spreads but the commission on top of the 'varied' spread also add up significantly. They are now looking for a replacement sucker.




How do they reveal client positions to the market?


----------

