Category - Markets

Whatever market you wish to speculate on, there’s a good possibility that a CFD broker will let you do it. As well as major indices like the FTSE 100, and blue-chip stocks like Vodafone, most providers will offer CFDs on international shares as well as things you normally aren’t able to trade like Gold, Silver, Oil, Sectors, Government bonds, interest rates and forex pairs like the Euro against the US Dollar.

If you were try to do that in actual shares, currencies or commodities, you’d probably need at least a couple of different accounts to do so. With CFDs, however, you can do all this from one account on a single platform. Not only that but CFD commissions are typically considerably cheaper than dealing via a traditional stockbroker which means that you can trade more frequently for smaller price changes making contracts for difference extremely cost effective for short-term traders.

Since a CFD is basically a punt on the future value of an asset, it can (theoretically) be created on the underlying price of any asset. However there are a number of assets that are too hard or costly to price and/or don’t move quickly enough to be financially viable which is why most CFD providers will provide a standard set of instruments to trade. This standard can vary greatly or slightly depending on the broker you choose and their trading policies but there is slight standardization between the different brokers.

When determining the best CFD market to trade liquidity should be high on your priority list. It is pointless to see your trade gaining some 30% only to drop 20% as you attempt to exit the position due to low liquidity.

Do you plan to trade on a short-term basis? The best market for day traders to deal in is undoubtedly a fast moving one as it allows you to make profits quickly. You will also have to take into consideration the time you have available to trade. What is the right time frame for you to trade? This really depends on your personality. You have to feel comfortable with the time frame you are trading in. There is always some pressure when you are trading as there is the potential for loss or gain and that will effect you to some degree and this is why you need to dedicate some uninterrupted, quiet time where you can focus on your trading.

Many traders in the United Kingdom who have a 9 to 5 day job may find that the S&P500 or Nikkei are the best CFD index markets to trade as they are open after work. If you have young children, the forex markets may be more appropriate as they are highly liquid and trade round-the-clock which means you can trade them when the kids are sleeping. To sum up, if you have a proven trading system and a sound method of trading your chosen market, you should be able to take that approach and apply it to any time frame on a consistent basis.