@leebut

I agree on many points. Trading and gambling can have many similarities. It actually depends on level of trader. More pro trader means less gambling in trading and less pro trader will rely more on luck and thus more gambling.

Actually I perfectly agree with what he says - to someone who doesn't practice risk management, trading is much riskier since you can lose much more than you intend to gain.  Whereas a roulette wheel you can make double on your bet with a slightly worse than 1:1 chance by betting on red or black.  Unfortunately in tradinmany people allow a far worse than 1:1 risk reward - some people allowing themselves to lose 100s of pips on a gamble to win 10.  No wonder bookmakers move into trading recently - the odds for them to win are so much greater.

Bookmakers moving into trading?  Which ones?

If you have a broker that trades against you or requotes you, get the hell out of there. They have an incentive for you to lose. Look for brokers with a 'no dealing desk' execution model, like www.fxcm.com. They only make money on the spread per lot.

Bookmakers in the UK now offer forex spreadbetting under a different trading name.  The prices are pretty much the same tbh, its very rare to see true stop hunting, the actual market plays enough tricks for the companies not to bother.

Perhaps they are, which ones?

Nevertheless, they need to be regulated by the FSA. I have expereicned Spread Betting, which has existed for years and provides tax-free benefites to UK residents. I am running a demo with FXCM's spead betting product. I prefer that to others as you can trade micro lots in exactly the same way as a standard account, rather than the minimum 50p per PIP constraints of other companies.

Yeah, the 50p per pip constraint is not that great - there are companies that do minimum of 10p per pip - which is 1.5 micros... I know william hill run one of the spreadbet companies.  2waymarkets is also run by a bookmaker.  Basically every big bookmaker runs a spreadbet company these days.

Originally posted by CFXsignals

Yeah, the 50p per pip constraint is not that great - there are companies that do minimum of 10p per pip - which is 1.5 micros... I know william hill run one of the spreadbet companies.  2waymarkets is also run by a bookmaker.  Basically every big bookmaker runs a spreadbet company these days.

I have less knowledge of spreadbetting. is it something like placing a bet on where will be the future position of the market?

Thanks for the company names. I'll look into them.

illiterate, spread betting is essentially the same as trading FOREX. It's just a different name and is only available to residents of the UK as the profits are exempt from certain taxes. It's tax-free because it's considered to be gambling by the UK government.

You can also spread bet on CFDs, banks, indexes, etc.

Thanks for the company names. I'll look into them.

illiterate, spread betting is essentially the same as trading FOREX. It's just a different name and is only available to residents of the UK as the profits are exempt from certain taxes. It's tax-free because it's considered to be gambling by the UK government.

You can also spread bet on CFDs, banks, indexes, etc.

Yep, its exactly the same as trading any pair.  You are taking a bet worth x amount per tick that something moves up or down.  Its essentially a derivative of a derivative.  Basically its superior in every way to forex because of the tax evasion.  Some companies (alpari for example) even offer spreadbetting through MT4, so its exactly the same.  Gambling is tax free in the UK, because its quite an important industry and would be crushed if it was taxed.