Choose a professional broker
Your broker will be your access to the market through the trading account. It will facilitate your trades, and on its platform you will spend numerous hours every day. However, with so many brokers offering a similar service, what should you look for?
Price - How competitive are the spreads compared to others? Some companies specialize in certain markets with low prices. However, they will then offer other markets at less attractive prices just to make sure they have a presence. Specialized forex brokers with spread betting may offer you a better deal than a jack-of-all-trades that doesn't dominate any firm. So do your homework and see if you can get the lowest spreads on the markets you are interested in.
Requirements - Make sure their margin, minimum deposit requirements and position size specifications fit your financial situation. You don't want to choose a broker whose minimum requirements will quickly put you out of the game if you lose your first few trades. For example, stocks often require a 10% margin. So if you're a high-volume trader, you'll need substantial capital.
Features - Does the exchange offer all the stops your strategy requires? For example, does it offer guaranteed stops and limit orders?
Markets - Does the spread betting broker offer the markets you want? Exotic currency pairs might be an issue, for example.
Customer service - Do you get quick help when you encounter problems? Is this done via online chat or by phone? Some providers offer 24/7 support in numerous languages. So check the reviews first. You don't want to sit in the dark for hours and lose money because of a technical glitch on their platform.
Regulation - Make sure they are properly regulated. They will be required by law to protect your capital.
Tools and Resources
Get access to free and easy-to-use trading tools and charts, such as volume indicators? Research materials and news feeds will also prove useful. For example, some spread betting brokers offer MetaTrader 4/5 trading, which is reliable and full of useful features.
Bonus offers - Does the broker offer deposit and account opening bonuses? Do they offer other promotions, such as reduced holding fees? All welcome bonuses are worth considering.
Place the orders in the trading platform
Once your spread betting account is set up and funded, placing a trade in https://exnesscom.com/accounts/ is relatively straightforward. Here's what you need to do:
Choose your market - This could be the Dow Jones, Dax 30, Vix, S&P 500, Brent Crude Oil, Nasdaq, Penny Stocks, Forex, Futures, etc. The best spread betting platforms for beginners offer a range of markets for you to try your hand at.
Decide on the price direction - Do you want to buy or sell?
Choose your position size - This is your stake per point or bet size. Make sure this fits into your money management system. You don't want to risk too much capital per trade.
Decide your price levels - This is your entry level, profit target and stop loss targets. All will help you stay within your strategy and prevent emotions from leading you astray.