am considering opening an account with them... had good feedback on them in the past from respected ET members but would appreciate a refresh... and if any dirt, now's the time guys! my focus here will essentially be FX options, and a bit of spot... tia!
i traded with them: basically a bucketshop...yet if you are going to swing trade EU/UK products it's a good deal as it's tough for them to screw your positions. pro: 1] just 5% margins for UK blue chips; short or long 2] on some stocks like goog the intraday spread is tighter than the real market 3] limited risk capital commitment and even possible to establish and obtain a line of credit. 4] 1 year exp. spreadbets or cfds on adrs and on most UK/EU stocks are offered with a spread that reflects around 1.5-2% margins interest rates repayment. this as far as i recall back in 04/05, 5] guaranteed stop-loss. 6] tax free contro: 1] major conflict of interests inherent of any dealing desk quoting artificial markets prices. 2] unfair and quasi-legal practices on behalf of IG against your position and potentially against your account. 3] frequent changes in regulations 4] worthless protection under FSA, but that's the case on the LSE as well since FSA is itself worthless on top of being corrupt. might have missed something.... ahh...yeah, forget about daytrading.
bit, thanks for input but... plizzzz... the FSA worthless??????? am sorry but to my knowledge and my 20+ years experience on the markets including regulatory etc, there is just no sharper & better regulator around than the UK FSA... and i am no brit...
Bucket shop! Best avoided, unless you are desperate for the low margin requirements. In the UK people use IG Index because any winnings will be tax free (thereby making up for the higher costs, stop running, slippage etc) otherwise these types of firms would be pretty much out of business.
that these kinda companies are here made legitimate and "regulated" , should tell you plenty about the FSA fairness and "sharpness".
more seriously... and shifting etc type issues aside (standard industry practice)... seems to me they have a fairly flexible offering on FX options, starting v.low size at no disadvantage... liveable spreads... although not so many pairs on offer for daily options, but... thoughts?
yep, you got access to a wide range of spot and weekly binaries as well. min size is 1 unit/pip in either currency $, or £/Ã. spread on vanilla options is not that ugly...10 pips?
yep, so it seems, and i haven't found any significantly better, spread-wise, in the retail segment (8-10 pips at Saxo)
i tell you, for binaries and swing trading uk/eu stuff this boiler is attractive. you know what you best not do and what you can get away with it...typically it's n00bs attracted to this market cuz of the tax free saving illusion that are getting raped from d-desks. still, check and double, treble check your statements and trade deal confirmations, as an alien conversion seemingly carrying a positive balance yet having a negative effect on your equity/acct may "pop up" out of the blue. ror.