Financial-Spread-Betting.com : Education for Serious Spread Betters

Questions Answered by the Experts. The following questions address some of the common, important, and/or interesting spread betting issues related to margin and financing:

Q.	I still don't get initial margin requirement - what is it?
Q.	How much is a comfortable 'margin' for spread betting?
Q.	I do understand the advantage of leverage trading but could one pay in full for the shares bought...?
Q.	When you place your spread bet you must have enough in there to cover your loss?
Q.	Will a spread betting position save me on interest charges if I were to open the same position by borrowing the money from a bank?
Q.	How does a spread betting company make its money?
Q.	When you take on a spread bet you're taking a bet against the spread betting provider...Is that correct?
Q.	How are the spreads determined for stocks?
Q.	Why do spreads sometimes widen or tighten?
Q.	What about Futures? How are the spreads calculated there?
Q.	What is a margin call?
Q.	About margin calls how much time do they allow before they close a position when it just dips slightly into the red?
Q.	Can you please send me more info on provider's margin call close-out policy?
Q.	My spread betting provider has asked me for additional margin without any prior notice?
Q.	What is financing?
Q.	Is there a financing overnight fee if I roll over a position and decide to hold it overnight?
Q.	Does spread betting carry a financing charge if i go long on a position?
Q.	But why is the rolling fee charged on rollover?
Q.	How is financing calculated?
Q.	Is financing and cost of carry the same thing?
Q.	What is LIBOR?
Q.	How do providers calculate the bid-offer spread for shares?
Q.	Why does the spread in individual shares vary?
Q.	Do the bid/offer spreads offered by spread betting companies vary from company to company?
Q.	Suppose I place a bet at +100 point on PartyGaming when this was trading at 201 - what would be the equivalent holding in shares?
Q.	Show me some examples of spread bets with USA shares...
Q.	I can't seem to understand how betting on US stocks works - I want to bet on Google!
Q.	I am mainly interested in trading the U.S markets, are there any substantial differences between the USA and UK markets?
Q.	Please help me work out my exposure/leverage for each of my positions below...
Q.	Suppose I were to buy 20 points of Betsson at 185 SEK - what would be the equivalent holding in shares?
Q.	Why am I charged a rollover fee?
Q.	Why are the share futures prices different from the underlying price?
Q.	Can you close a quarterly spread bet any time you like?
Q.	Which are most cost effective - rollovers or next expiries?
Q.	If I buy into the September contract while the June contract is still open is the spread wider?
Q.	When you place a bet, can you keep it open indefinitely or will it be closed after a set number of days?
Q.	What is the difference between Market and Limit Orders, Trailing Stop Orders, OCO and Parent and Contingent Orders?
Q.	What is a guaranteed stop loss?
Q.	When are guaranteed stop losses particularly useful?
Q.	I was wondering why IG have the limited risk account which uses wider spreads when you could just use a plus account and put a stop loss in?
Q.	What is the difference between using 'Market' stop losses instead of stops based on 'Our Quote'
Q.	Are there any companies that allow me to use the market prices to trigger the stop and limit orders, which would then transact at the firms prices?
Q.	My FTSE stop was hit when the underlying markets were closed!!
Q.	Suppose SP = 3.15p and I buy at £100 per point, the maximum I can lose is my stake + £215?
Q.	Is it realistic to start with a meagre £75 / £100. Is it realistic to aim or expect to make £50 per day?
Q.	Is £500 sufficient for starting out?
Q.	Can you offer any suggestions as to what I should look for or avoid in a spread betting company for my first account?
Q.	Do you know of a company that offers lower stakes than €1/£1 per point?
Q.	I enjoy low value trading on IG Index, but i am worried, soon the minimum stake will go up to £1...
Q.	I am a poor student - primary objective is to make money!

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