In the SCVP recently Paul Mentioned many of his positions were leveraged. Not something I am looking to get massively into at this stage but I’d like to do a bit of research on providers and wondered if people would mind sharing who they use. Thanks
I've invested for a while but mainly in funds that are multi-asset and that you put your money in and then not do much more! I am now looking to progress and take control of my own investing. As a newbie I have a lot to learn I am sure, but looking forward to it. more »
Ig is probably the best though there are cheaper ones to use. What ever you decide, stay away from sh(city Index) and plus 500.
IG for me. Checkout Naked Trader website as I am sure his fortnightly commentary gives some guidance on which ones are best for smaller spreads on small-caps vs a wider choice of companies on others.
FWIW my experience over the last 12 months has been very mixed. I've dabbled, but am not convinced and have had a number of shockers so am looking at some point to shut up shop and stick to the long-term investments I hold across SIPPs and ISA's.
If I had one learning to share it would be to 100% use stop-losses. It is too easy to see SP's drop, believe they will come back and then the next thing you know they have continued to drop and you have either been wiped out or lost a bundle.
Others use it to mirror their long-PF and simply try to increase their profits, but in a choppy market at the moment who knows which way things are going to go and its very easy to suddenly end up with a big loss, or even a margin call.
Its confirmed for me that leveraging isn't right for me and I'll give it a miss - I am sure others will be far better/more successful than me.
The Naked Traders book on it is quite a useful read.
IG for me as well. I tried Spreadex, several years ago, but found the interface clunky and slow as compared to IG. The spreads also seemed wider for most things. That may have since been updated though so my views could be outdated.
With IG, they have a test account if you want to test out how the interface works and applying various leverage etc. It will also allow you to get familiar with your choices, such as daily funded bets (DFB), or 3/6/9 month contracts. I think it gives you £10,000 worth of fake money. Obviously, the real test is starting with actual money.
I've personally stopped all spreadbetting. I actually fortunately did ok out of it over a five year period and had some good years (in fairness, likely more luck, as some over-weighted positions such as Rockrose made up for the laggards). But I found it was beginning to stress me out and to over trade as I was checking my spreadbetting account too regularly. It's much easier to ignore swings and volatility in an ISA/SIPP, whereas with spreadbetting your P/L is much more visible and present. You can of course spreadbet with no leverage, but I still found that a negative experience.
Good luck with whatever you choose. All the best, Will
IG are terrible when it comes to shorting. If the company goes bust which is probably what you are expecting when you open the short, they don't pay out for years. Basically the bet is frozen until the liquidator confirms nil value. Some liquidations take up to ten years to sort out, so you can see the problem with IG s stance. It is obviously rubbish in most cases because there is virtually never a positive value for shares after liquidation. To compound the insult they continue to charge short fees. My average for getting paid is about three to four years, hopeless.
I stopped using IG due to this, Spreadex pay out on a company in liquidation after about a month, so are much better.
