Spread Betting Firms: Who Are They?

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Before you can place a spread bet you need an account with a spread betting firm. There are many firms to choose from and they allow you take advantage of two way trading (so you can bet on the market going up and down), no fees or commissions on your bets, access to many different financial markets such as indices, commodities, shares and forex, and leveraged trading where you can increase your potential gains from a small investment (or conversely increase your potential losses).

As a beginner you will want to look for a firm with the following basic facilities:

Some form of offer for new account holders
The ability to apply for an account online
The ability to use stop losses
A fast, user friendly website with free charts and real time prices
Tight spreads
The option of betting with small stakes such as £1 per point
A low initial deposit, perhaps as low as £30
24 hour trading if this is important to you
Regulation by a governing body

The following popular spread betting companies are backed by reputable and sizeable bookmakers:

Financial Spreads – try to keep tight spreads to help with spread betters profitability. They are set up to offer competitive prices to both experienced traders as well as newcomers in many different markets. They use automatic stop losses and aim to keep things simple and friendly. They offer spread betting guides for beginners as well as the use of a demonstration account where you can try spread betting for free.

Capital Spreads – claim to offer better value financial spread betting. They try to keep permanently tight spreads and offer low margin requirements so you do not have to invest a great deal to start with. They also allow you to use stakes as low as £1/€1/$1 per point in most markets. Automatic stop losses are on offer as well as 24 hour trading. They too have a demonstration account so you can test your hunches with no risk.

IG Index – is the world's largest and longest-running spread betting company. It offers the usual large range of markets, tight spreads and low deposits. It is particularly good for beginners due to the amount of educational resources included on its website. There are step by step guides for beginners and free online seminars where you can pick up many spread bet tips. They also offer a guaranteed stop loss but perhaps best of all is the 6 week programme for beginners where they can trade for 10 pence per point.

All spread betting companies have their advantages and disadvantages. Those that offer the best spreads today may not do so tomorrow. Take a recommendation if you can or look at the various websites and see which you find the most user friendly. Then check on their spreads, stakes and deposits to see if they are competitive.