CMC Markets have just launched a new service to new and existing clients called countdowns. The new countdowns service is essentially a binary options trading platform that is delivered through the existing CMC Markets next generation trading platform. We like CMC markets here at total spead betting and think that the new countdowns binary options trading functionality is a great addition to the services offered by CMC Markets. However, is the platform any good and is it worth looking at against other more traditional binary options solutions?.
Countdowns from CMC markets are essentially a form of binary trading. CMC describe the trading service as a straightforward, fast and exciting way to trade with limited risk on the short-term price movements of financial markets. Countdowns and other binary options trading solutions are essentially fixed-odds trades based on whether the mid-price of a product will be above or below the current price at the end of a range of short-term timeframes.
With CMC Markets countdown solutions you are able to place trades on FX, indices and also commodities. As of July 2015 there are 21 different products that are available withing the platform.
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Each of the different products offered have various payouts levels bu most are between 80% – 85%, which on the whole is pretty good and better than similar services from other spread betting providers like IG for example.
Using the countdown service could potentially provide you with additional shorter term trading opportunities when maybe there are not the correct markets conditions for your traditional trading strategy.
The expiry times seem to vary for the different products and we also noticed that the expiry times also vary on the same product at different times also. This is not an issue it just means you need to be aware of the times and payout before you enter into a trade.
If you are familiar with the CMC markets next generation trading platform then you will probably be aware that it is pretty solid. One of the best features is that the countdowns platform is delivered within the main online spread betting platform, so you don't need to have multiple applications open alongside your normal trading layouts. What we did was use one to the five available layout slots in the platform and just maximised the countdowns window. That was pretty neat.
you can us all the normal charting features in the countdown window!
All of the main functionality you need is provided from the countdown binary trading panel. This allows you to do everything you need in the same place. The image and description below cover off all the main elements of the countdowns panel.
1. Product grid
First, launch the product grid to see which products you can trade and what timeframes are available to trade over.
2. Sort products
Sort the product grid by alphabetical order, by products with the best or worst performance, by payout or by strongest up or down trend.
3. Product squares
Each square shows the current level 1 mid-price, the product’s performance, the payout and whether the price was up or down over the previous ten intervals.
4. Expiries
Change the expiry timeframe here. Payouts and trend data are updated automatically.
5. Trend analyser
This useful tool shows whether the product’s price has been up or down and by how much over the previous ten intervals of your chosen expiry timeframe.
6. Open positions & history
Click ‘Positions’ to see all your current open trades and ‘History’ to see the outcome of completed Countdowns.
7. Launch an order ticket
Click a square to open an order ticket, enter your stake and execute your Countdown.
As well as the web based trading platform CMC Markets also offer multiple platform support for all of your devices so you will be able to trade countdowns as you like. CMC Markets offer the following trading platforms as part of their service:
The range of features and functionality is as you would expect overall satisfactory. Even if some features may be a little intimidating to traders new to binary options, it would still be a good idea to experiment with the charting.
Should I Use CMC Markets as my Binary Options broker? You will have to make the final decision on a binary options broker based on your own analysis. CMC Markets are not a specialist binary options provider and the countdowns service is probably more of an added value item to the traditional platform. If you are expecting to find features such as smaller bet sizes (the minimum for countdown is £20) or more dedicated features like variable return % that you can set yourself, then you should probably look elsewhere. We particularly like Binary.com for their excellent range of binary betting combinations.
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