CFD Trading in US - Portfolio Margin paving the way?
I never really understood why US residents cannot access CFDs. CFDs are just like any other derivatives, why someone can buy and write options which are arguably much more complex but not CFDs is puzzling. However, when I learnt that the conservative margin requirements for margin trading in the US are regulated and resulted from the stock market crash in 1929. However, in recent times a new form of margining has been approved referred to as Portfolio Margining which allows clients to trade on margins that are significantly lower than 50% intital margin as is regularly required. This gives another reason why it does not make sense that CFD trading is not available to US residents.
Will this pave the way for CFD to take hold of US as well?
City Index CFD
City index CFD is offering 0% commission for CFD trades throughout June 2008.
Conditions Apply.
Visit their website for more details.
CMC Markets Understanding volatile markets - Free Education Seminar
CMC as part of their series of education seminars is providing a free seminar on understanding volatile markets. People who register for the free seminar will receive a free copy of Real Traders II by Eva Diaz.
http://www.cmcmarkets.com.au/en/content/education/education_seminar.jsp
FP Markets Commission Free Trading
FP Markets is offering commission free trading when you present a contract note from your broker between 11 Feb and 11 March 2008.
Go to their website for more information.
http://www.fpmarkets.com.au/comm_promo.html
The Trading Game
This is an interesting idea. This website runs a CFD trading game which mirrors the real market but lagged. This will allow traders to test their skills before they use real money. http://www.tradinggame.com.au/
ASX CFD Seminars
ASX is running series of free seminars commencing in February 2008.
Don’t miss these seminars as they a valuable source of useful information if you are a beginner.
http://asx.com.au/investor/cfds/education/seminar.htm
CMC Markets Starter Pack
Get a CMC markets starter pack worth $1999 when you open an account with CMC by end of February.
The start pack contain 6 CD ROM, a bonus $100 to use as rebate for commissions and financing cost. As part of the pack a 3 month free subscription to daily reports on market research.
Go to www.cmcmarkets.com.au
IG Markets Instructive Programme
IG Markets has introduced a six week training program called Tradesense to introduce new traders into the world of CFD trading.
The program delivered in three parts. The first part gives an overview of the financial markets. The second part introduces trading execution, leverage and margin. The third part delves into the psychology of trading.
http://www.igmarkets.com.au/content/sites/aum/en_GB/ts_whyjoin.html
Macquarie Prime CFD
Macquarie has introduced a new CFD trading platform that brings together potential tax and cost efficiencies for active traders.
One significant cost efficiency is achieved through offsetting funding of long and short positions. For example if you are long 500k and short 250k in Macquarie Prime you will pay interest on the net funding balance of 250k. The interest rate is a flat rate applied to the net funding position while in regular CFD providers there is a spread between borrowing and lending costs which is applied to the long funding position and short funding position separately.
For more details visit:
http://www.macquarie.com.au/emg/prime/home.htm
White Label CFD Providers
Some CFD providers are actually white label providers meaning its underlying trading platform is provided by another CFD provider. Fees and charges of the white label provider may vary to the underlying and other services and features may be layered to distinguish it from the underlying provider.
Check out the following website that indicates which providers are using white label arrangements.