# Typical fees for CFD trades?



## babajo (3 July 2015)

Hi.

I'm currently trying out the demo version of the CommSec CFD trading platform.

I've made a $700 profit, of which $307.30 was deducted in commissions. That's almost 44%!

Is that fairly typical of what brokers are charging these days? 

Does anyone know of a more fairly priced (but still reliable and reputable) broker?


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## VSntchr (3 July 2015)

babajo said:


> Hi.
> 
> I'm currently trying out the demo version of the CommSec CFD trading platform.
> 
> ...




We don't know how many transactions you made - hence cannot answer your question.
What is the minimum transaction charge? And what is the % clip that they take?

Most CFD brokers will be around 0.10% of transaction value with at least an $8-$10 minimum.


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## skc (3 July 2015)

babajo said:


> Hi.
> 
> I'm currently trying out the demo version of the CommSec CFD trading platform.
> 
> ...




It's got nothing to do with the amount of profit you made.

You could have made a loss and they'd still charge you commission.

As VSntchr said, 0.1% on shares is the norm on Australian shares. I am not sure what Comsec charges but I doubt they'd be the cheapest.


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## pixel (3 July 2015)

With CFDs, you also have to consider the cost of the margin, spread, whether it's synthetic or strictly live-market based. So, as previous respondents suggested, you'll have to give more details.


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## AlterEgo (3 July 2015)

As others have said, 0.1% of trade value, $10 min, is typical. FPmarkets do 0.08%, no min, and no platform or data fees if you have at least $50k in your account. And this is for DMA CFD's.


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## babajo (3 July 2015)

Thanks for replying and making clear what should have been included in my original post.

That amount ($700) was made over 2 trades (4 transactions), one short and one long.

I opened and closed both positions in the same trading session (i.e. intraday). 

CommSec also says it only charges 0.10% commission. 

In its example trade on its Website, they just calculate this (0.10%) commission, but then add, at the very bottom (of course): "Please note funding costs will apply to this transaction."

The trade wasn't DMA (if that's of any relevance).


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## pixel (3 July 2015)

babajo said:


> Thanks for replying and making clear what should have been included in my original post.
> 
> That amount ($700) was made over 2 trades (4 transactions), one short and one long.
> 
> ...




It's not the profit on which the charges are calculated, but the value of each position - GROSS VALUE that is.
OK, so you made a $700 profit. Let's assume the profit was 2% of the trade value - probably a rather generous assumption for intraday trades. That means your total exposure was at least $35,000. 0.1% commission comes to $70; note that you have to pay one commission on the way in, another one out. That leaves some $200-odd for two lots of funding charges. All in all quite a reasonable cost, I'd say.


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## Habakkuk (3 July 2015)

Wouldn't it be $75,000 position size rather than $35,000?
4 x $ 75 brokerage. The $700 profit would only cost 70 cents' worth of comm., leaving $6.60 unaccounted for.
Maybe I'm displaying my ignorance of CFD trading but why is there a funding charge if he closed both positions in the same session? Do those sessions go over night? They might very well, of course. It's only a demo account. Even so, interest at 4.5% on $150,000 adds up to $18.50.

So many questions. Just curious how it works, not planning to trade CFDs.

On a completely different topic, pixel, while I've got your attention, you're using Pulse from OpenMarkets. Can you display multiple charts in windows over 2 or 3 monitors and how many charts can you display? Web-IRESS has a limit of 10 which is OK.
I'm planning to sign up for a demo account one of these days.


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## pixel (3 July 2015)

Habakkuk said:


> you're using Pulse from OpenMarkets. Can you display multiple charts in windows over 2 or 3 monitors and how many charts can you display? Web-IRESS has a limit of 10 which is OK.
> I'm planning to sign up for a demo account one of these days.




Now you've got me, Habakkuk;
I've got lots of windows spread across my monitors; many different watchlists, all symbol-linked to depth, trades, fundamentals; but I'm only using one chart window where I change templates as required.
I know you can use multiple charts, but I don't know the limits.


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## babajo (3 July 2015)

Thanks for all your replies.

Each trade was worth very close to $20,000 - total: almost $40,000.


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## Habakkuk (3 July 2015)

pixel said:


> Now you've got me, Habakkuk;
> I've got lots of windows spread across my monitors; many different watchlists, all symbol-linked to depth, trades, fundamentals; but I'm only using one chart window where I change templates as required.
> I know you can use multiple charts, but I don't know the limits.




Thank you, pixel. Definitely getting the demo now.
Apologies for derailing the thread. It's a bad habit I've got.


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## babajo (4 July 2015)

A friend of mine who's using Interactive Brokers says he can't believe those fees, and feels they're an absolute rip-off.

Is he justified in saying that? Does anyone here trade CFDs with IB and feel the same way (i.e. that IB is much better value)? 

Does IB provide the same quality of service as CommSec? Any ideas or comments?


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## kushi212 (4 July 2015)

babajo said:


> A friend of mine who's using Interactive Brokers says he can't believe those fees, and feels they're an absolute rip-off.
> 
> Is he justified in saying that? Does anyone here trade CFDs with IB and feel the same way (i.e. that IB is much better value)?
> 
> Does IB provide the same quality of service as CommSec? Any ideas or comments?




Hi,
I am a newbie and just looking to open an account with a broker.
From what I have read on aussiestockforums, Australians are not allowed to open a margin account with IB.
We are also not allowed to trade IB CFDs. We can only open a cash account and trade shares or futures in it.
I want to trade in CFDs, hence I am planning to open an account in cmc markets. It has got 7$ min brokerage for CFDs. Commission rate is 0.09%. 
As far as service is cocerned, I would assume that interactive brokers would be far more advanced than other Australian Brokers.


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## dead trader (7 July 2015)

If you're looking for a CFD broker, I have traded with TradeDirect365 - and they are really good. Commissions on ASX CFDs are $5 a side. Withdrawals are processed is usually within 24 hours.


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