Posts from — January 2012

In mid-morning trade, FTSE 100 spreads have bounced back strongly and are trading near the highs of the day.

After yesterday’s gloomy performance that saw the index have its worst day in six weeks, the positive sentiment has returned today following a solid performance by US shares for most of yesterday’s session.

Apple supplier ARM Holdings is the biggest gainer so far after reporting a 37% jump in pre-tax profit.

The share price is trading just below 12 month highs and this has been quite a barrier to any progress.

As a result, some may end up treating today’s news as an opportunity to take some money off the table.

Looking ahead to the US open, pre-market trading suggests the Dow Jones is set to start around 70 points higher.

Spread betting carries a high level of risk to your capital. You may lose more than your initial investment. It may not be suitable for all investors. Only speculate with money that you can afford to lose. Please ensure you fully understand the risks involved and seek independent financial advice where necessary.

Financial Market Comments from Rupert Osborne, Futures Dealer, IG Index.

The above comments do not constitute investment advice and Clean Financial accepts no responsibility for any use that may be made of them.

Content provided by IG Index which is Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. FSA Register number 114059.

In mid-morning trade, UK shares spread betting markets are under some pressure with the FTSE slipping below 5700.

With the little local difficulty of RBS bonus payments resolved for now, attention has moved back to the bigger picture and the all too familiar concerns of European debt.

The latest European summit is set to start later today and the market seems to be starting to tire of news that a Greek deal is very nearly almost done. As a result, it looks like investors are happy to stand aside for now and see if any progress is made in the coming days.

There are signs of some defensive positioning going on with the likes of GlaxoSmithKline, Vodafone and AstraZeneca sitting near the top of the table, but this is doing little to counter the weakness in banking and financial stocks.

Looking ahead to the US open at the moment we are expecting the Dow to start around 60 points lower than Friday’s close.

Spread betting carries a high level of risk to your capital. You may lose more than your initial investment. It may not be suitable for all investors. Only speculate with money that you can afford to lose. Please ensure you fully understand the risks involved and seek independent financial advice where necessary.

Financial Market Comments from David Jones, Chief Market Strategist, IG Index.

The above comments do not constitute investment advice and Clean Financial accepts no responsibility for any use that may be made of them.

Content provided by IG Index which is Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. FSA Register number 114059.

Where to Spread Bet on Chemring?

You can spread bet on Chemring with any of the following companies:

• Financial Spread
• InterTrader
• IGIndex

Although note that you can also spread bet with other Spread Betting Companies.

Spread Betting on Chemring

Should you want to invest in UK listed companies like Chemring then one solution could be spread betting on the Chemring share price.

Looking at the Tradefair spread trading site, as of Friday, they were showing the Chemring Rolling Daily market at 381.2p – 382.8p. As a result, an investor could spread trade on the Chemring shares:

• Going higher than 382.8p, or
• Going lower than 381.2p

When spread betting on UK equities you trade in £x per penny. Therefore, if you invested £10 per penny and the Chemring shares move 5p then that would change your profit/loss by £50. £10 per penny x 5p = £50.

Rolling Daily Shares Markets

It is important to note that this is a Rolling Daily Market and so there is no closing date for this market. Therefore, if you decide not to close your trade by the end of the day, it will just roll over into the next trading session.

If a bet is rolled over and you are speculating on the market to:

• Rise – then you normally pay a small overnight financing fee, or
• Fall – then a small payment is normally credited to your account

For a more detailed example see Rolling Daily Spread Betting.

Chemring Rolling Daily Equities Spread Trading Example

If we consider the spread of 381.2p – 382.8p and make the assumptions that:

• you have done your analysis, and
• you feel that the Chemring shares look like they will go higher than 382.8p

then you may decide that you are going to go long of the market at 382.8p and risk £5 per penny.

This means that you win £5 for every penny that the Chemring shares push above 382.8p. Nevertheless, such a bet also means that you will make a loss of £5 for every penny that the Chemring market goes below 382.8p.

Looked at another way, if you were to buy a spread bet then your P&L is found by taking the difference between the settlement price of the market and the price you bought the spread at. You then multiply that price difference by your stake.

As a result, if after a few trading sessions the share price started to rise you might decide to close your spread bet so that you can secure your profit.

So if the market increased then the spread could change to 405.8p – 407.4p. You would close/settle your spread bet by selling at 405.8p. As a result, with the same £5 stake your profit would come to:

Profits (or losses) = (Closing Level – Initial Level) x stake
Profits (or losses) = (405.8p – 382.8p) x £5 per penny stake
Profits (or losses) = 23.0p x £5 per penny stake
Profits (or losses) = £115.00 profit

Financial spread betting can work against you. In this case, you had bet that the share price would rise. However, the share price can also go down.

If the Chemring stock had fallen then you might decide to close/settle your position to limit your losses.

So if the spread dropped to 362.7p – 364.3p then this means you would settle your spread bet by selling at 362.7p. Therefore, you would make a loss of:

Profits (or losses) = (Closing Level – Initial Level) x stake
Profits (or losses) = (362.7p – 382.8p) x £5 per penny stake
Profits (or losses) = -20.1p x £5 per penny stake
Profits (or losses) = -£100.50 loss

Note: Chemring Rolling Daily market taken as of 27-Jan-12.

Chemring Spread Betting – More Details

For more information on trading Chemring, also see Chemring Spread Betting.

Spread betting carries a high level of risk to your capital. You may lose more than your initial investment. It may not be suitable for all investors. Only speculate with money that you can afford to lose. Please ensure you fully understand the risks involved and seek independent financial advice where necessary.

Where to Spread Bet on Regus?

You can spread bet on Regus with any of the following companies:

• Financial Spread
• Tradefair
• IG Index

Although note that you can also spread bet with other Spread Betting Companies.

Spread Betting on Regus

If you are going to invest in companies such as Regus then one option could be to spread bet on the Regus share price.

Looking at the Capitalspreads site, as of Friday, they were showing the Regus Rolling Daily market at 98.9p – 99.9p. Therefore, you could spread bet on the Regus shares:

• Moving higher than 99.9p, or
• Moving lower than 98.9p

When spread betting on UK equities you trade in £x per penny. Therefore, should you decide to risk £15 per penny and the Regus share price moves 5p then that would be a difference to your P&L of £75. £15 per penny x 5p = £75.

Rolling Daily Shares Markets

It is important to note that this is a Rolling Daily Market and so there is no predetermined closing date for this market. You do not have to close your trade, should it still be open at the end of the trading day, it will just roll over into the next trading session.

Should your bet roll over, if you are speculating that the market will:

• Move up – then you will be charged a small overnight financing fee, or
• Move down – then you will normally receive a small credit to your account

You can learn more about Rolling Daily Markets in our article Rolling Daily Spread Betting.

Regus Rolling Daily Equities Spread Betting Example

So, if we think about the spread of 98.9p – 99.9p and make the assumptions that:

• you have done your research, and
• you think that the Regus share price is likely to increase and go higher than 99.9p

then you may decide to buy a spread bet at 99.9p for a stake of, let’s say, £20 per penny.

With such a bet you make a profit of £20 for every penny that the Regus shares increase and move above 99.9p. On the other hand, you will make a loss of £20 for every penny that the Regus market decreases below 99.9p.

Looked at another way, should you buy a spread bet then your profit/loss is found by taking the difference between the settlement price of the market and the initial price you bought the spread at. You then multiply that price difference by your stake.

If after a few days the stock moved higher then you could consider closing your trade to secure your profit.

So if the market increased then the spread, set by the spreads firm, might be adjusted to 103.9p – 104.9p. You would close your spread bet by selling at 103.9p. So, with the same £20 stake you would make a profit of:

Profit / loss = (Final Price – Opening Price) x stake
Profit / loss = (103.9p – 99.9p) x £20 per penny stake
Profit / loss = 4.0p x £20 per penny stake
Profit / loss = £80.00 profit

Trading shares, whether by spread betting or otherwise, doesn’t always work out as you would have liked. In this example, you wanted the share price to rise. Nevertheless, it might go down.

If the Regus shares began to fall then you could close your trade to limit your losses.

Should the spread fall back to 95.2p – 96.2p then this means you would settle your position by selling at 95.2p. If so, your loss would be calculated as:

Profit / loss = (Final Price – Opening Price) x stake
Profit / loss = (95.2p – 99.9p) x £20 per penny stake
Profit / loss = -4.7p x £20 per penny stake
Profit / loss = -£94.00 loss

Note: Regus Rolling Daily market taken as of 27-Jan-12.

Regus Spread Betting – More Details

For more information on trading Regus, also see Regus Spread Betting.

Spread betting carries a high level of risk to your capital. You may lose more than your initial investment. It may not be suitable for all investors. Only speculate with money that you can afford to lose. Please ensure you fully understand the risks involved and seek independent financial advice where necessary.

In mid-morning trade there is little change for the FTSE 100.

Honours are evenly split between blue-chip winners and losers so far today, with retailer Next topping the table and BT Group the biggest faller.

US shares had a sedate session on Thursday and it feels as if traders are taking their lead from them this morning, pausing after the Fed-inspired rocket yesterday.

Clearly though, indices spread betting markets are still on a bullish footing and the move to six-month highs by the FTSE this week has got some eyeing up the 6000 level as the next obvious medium-term target. In fact this doesn’t seem too ambitious over the next couple of months.

Looking ahead to the US open, after a slight drop yesterday, the Dow looks set to claw back losses today with a +25 start expected.

Spread betting carries a high level of risk to your capital. You may lose more than your initial investment. It may not be suitable for all investors. Only speculate with money that you can afford to lose. Please ensure you fully understand the risks involved and seek independent financial advice where necessary.

Financial Market Comments from David Jones, Chief Market Strategist, IG Index.

The above comments do not constitute investment advice and Clean Financial accepts no responsibility for any use that may be made of them.

Content provided by IG Index which is Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. FSA Register number 114059.