Financial Spread Trading - Account Details
A spread bet is an agreement between a client and a provider to exchange the difference between the opening and closing value of the bet at a future date – this date may or may not be specified depending upon what you are trading. You are speculating on the direction of the future price movements in an underlying instrument and you indicate the amount you want to bet on each point movement. Your profit or loss is simply the difference between the opening price and closing price of your bet, times your stake. You can bet on a variety of instruments including major indices, currencies, commodities, individual equities quoted on leading exchanges, and their associated options.
Advantages of spread betting with Barclays Stockbrokers Financial Spread Trading
- Competitive margin requirements
- Instant execution
- Fully interactive online dealing
- Extended trading hours (for certain markets)
- Limited risk bets (Guaranteed Stop Loss Orders) available on certain markets (subject to the payment of a premium fee)
- Small minimum stake sizes (from £3 per point)
How spread betting works
If you’re used to traditional equity trading you’ll probably only have been able to buy shares with a view to selling them at a later date. Spread betting is different: as well as being able to “buy” shares with a view to “selling” them at a later date when the share price has risen to make a profit (going long), you also have the opportunity to take advantage of a falling market by “selling” shares and then “buying” them back at a later date when the share price has fallen. This is known as shorting (or going short).
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
As with share trading, spread betting quotes one price at which to sell (the ‘bid’) and one price at which to buy (the ‘offer’). The quote is adjusted to take account of financing costs, any expected dividends and our market making spread.
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
|
For more detailed examples about how spreadbetting works and many more examples of the instruments you can trade, please download our brochure.
For more information on Financial Spread Trading read our Frequently Asked Questions.
Market Information
Please download the Market Information Sheet in order to see the latest detailed information of our markets, including our rates and charges
To download this form you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you don't have Adobe Acrobat Reader, you can download it for free from the Adobe website.
