What markets are available for spread betting?

[Benjamin Schmitz]

[Justin Freeman]

As spread betting involves simply forming an opinion on whether something is over or under priced there is a lot of scope for making markets to trade. By using electronic platforms to enter the financial markets it’s possible to trade: forex, stocks, indices, commodities, options, cryptocurrencies, bonds and interest rates. In spread betting you won’t actually own the underlying instrument, but you will benefit from the losses or profits generated from price moves in the underlying. IG Index, a prominent broker in the sector, and reference they have over 15,000 markets available to trade using spread bets. Like other brokers they make the service available in desktop and mobile-friendly formats and also provide research and educational tools to help you develop a strategy. Most spread betting platforms incorporate commissions into the spread. For example ETX Capital has a fixed spread of 18 points in AUD / CHF but a spread of 7 points in GBP / USD. The more mainstream the market, the greater the liquidity and the tighter the spreads. City Index, that offers 4,000 spread betting markets provide an online educational center where the basics are explained. Source:cityindex.com Opening a spread betting account can require as little as $100. New traders would be well advised to read the disclosures and other literature regarding the risks involved and to start trading in very small amounts. Whether you’re trading a volatile market or not, the leverage on spread bet positions can lead to dramatic P&L swings and risk management is as a key part of the game as getting the actual bet correct.