Spread betting website's starter offers?

qwertyuiop said:

That's completely incorrect.
It does not go to the bookies like it does with traditional bookies.

Just because the term 'betting' is involved does not mean they operate in teh same way.

You are not betting against the spreadmaker - you are with him.

i.e. HE gives you a spread of say,5 points.
HE then piles all those bets together and lays that off on a larger 'bookie' with a spread of say,3 points, due to the large volume.i.e.e He gets it a discount for buying in bulk.

You can basically look on the spreadmaker as the corner shop that buys cheaper from teh wholeseller.

HE doesn't necessarily win if you lose !

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WorldSpreads has announced a 534pc rise in profit before tax of E1.31 million for the six months ended 30th September 2007.

I doubt this kind of profit was made in six months from the spread alone .

threeticks said:

I have not read and cannot find the terms and conditions for this offer.
But I will bet that you must make a min amount of trades and min deposit of funds to start with.
Lets say you deposit 1,000 and lose 800 over the period and they give you a refund of 300 then you will still be down 500 and they up 500.
Either way you lose.

I would like to see the terms.

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The point I am trying to make is that you will be the one out of pocket.
It dosnt matter who has your money.
What matters is that you wont have it.

Having said that I trade through a spread betting company.
Simply because I dont pay tax on my profit.

threeticks said:

The point I am trying to make is that you will be the one out of pocket.
It dosnt matter who has your money.
What matters is that you wont have it.

Having said that I trade through a spread betting company.
Simply because I dont pay tax on my profit.

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I'm not sure this makes sense.

If you are so convinvced that you will be out of pocket then why do you trade with spreadbetting companies ?

Brendan said:

Spread betting is gambling

CFD's are probably gambling as well and I will look into the posts on these and deal with them accordingly.

When you buy shares for the long term, you have a postive expected outcome. Of course you may lose, but it is not gambling.

Gambling is where you have a negative expected outcome over a series of bets. Some few people will win. Most will lose. And the bookies will almost always win in the long term.

Brendan

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Brendan,

Some bad news for you. Spread Betting is a a forum being used more and more by the "buy and hold" fraternity. As a matter of fact it is actually a far more tax efficient method as it is not subject to capital gains tax.

What happens is the individual takes a position on a rolling contract without a stop loss (contract never expires). The balance of the money (capital less margin) is placed in a high-yield account for the foreseeable future. So the fees, charges relating to the movement of the stock are more than covered by (a) the fact that CGT of 20% is not charged on any gains when you sell the stock and (b) the interest gained from the high yield acount. The only downside to this method of "investing" is that the tax from losses are not offset against other income.

But according to the "buy and hold" fraternity 'shares will always go positive if you leave them [long enough]' so this approach would be appear to be 'better than the real thing'.

Would you like the opportunity to rephrase your originally statement now?

Regards,

EddieT

qwertyuiop said:

I'm not sure this makes sense.

If you are so convinvced that you will be out of pocket then why do you trade with spreadbetting companies ?

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I was referring to an offer of a refund from a spread betting company.

Not spread betting in general.

I have written a Key Post on the differences between Investing and Gambling to put the discussion of Spread Betting in context. It's at

http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=70918

qwertyuiop said:

I'm not sure this makes sense.

If you are so convinvced that you will be out of pocket then why do you trade with spreadbetting companies ?

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can anyone recommend any trading software for an inexperienced investor who is interested and am currently spread trading?

limerickmick said:

can anyone recommend any trading software for an inexperienced investor who is interested and am currently spread trading?

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You can set up a virtual account with delta index and worldspreads.