Best CFD Brokers

CFD definition : What does it mean?

A CFD stands for Contract For Difference, it is a way of trading on financial markets without owning the underlying asset. A CFD is a derivative product: the trader does not take ownership of the underlying asset. The profit or loss is the difference between the price when the CFD was opened and the price when the CFD is closed.
You can trade on multiple markets, such as:

• Shares in companies
• Foreign exchange
• Indices, such as the US Dow Jones, S&P 500, Nasdaq, UK's FTSE 100, Canada's S&P/TSX, Australia's S&P/ASX, South Africa's FTSE/JSE indices...
• Commodities, such as gold and silver

CFDs are leveraged derivative products. Broker could offer high leverage, sometimes as high as 1000:1 or more. It allows traders to control larger positions with smaller budget. Consequently, it is possible to make bigger profit or bigger loss with a smaller amount of money. The leverage is illustrated in terms of multiples – so 500:1 indicates leverage of 500 times the deposit. The equivalent margin would be 0.2%.

How does it work?

When you want to make a trade, you get two prices, the buy price and the sell price:

• If you predict the value will go up, you could buy a number of CFDs.
• If you predict the value will go down, you could sell a number of CFDs.

If the market moves in the direction you think, you could make a profit, in the opposite, you could make a loss.

Trading and Margin explained - Example

If the price of a CFD stock is $100 and a trader buys 8 CFD stocks at the current price, the total transaction will cost $800. If the broker allows a margin of 4% (also called leverage 25:1), the trader will put $32 for the trade. If the share's price increases and reaches a price of $105, the 8 CFD shares can be sold for a profit of $40 for an initial deposit of $32. In the opposite, if the share's price decreases at a price of $98, the 8 CFD shares can be sold and you will loose $16.

Pros and Cons - CFD vs Shares

Unlike traditional trading, CFD trading provide higher leverage, it means more potential gains but increase loss risks as well. CFDs allows the trader to short sell with ease. For instance, CFDs can play a hedging role: if you hold shares in a company, short selling CFDs based on the same shares can offset any loss from your portfolio.

What is a CFD broker?

CFD trading is performed via brokerage accounts designated for this purpose. CFD trading brokers can offer you an access to a trading platform to trade currency, commodity, stock, index CFDs. There are a lot of CFD brokers on the market. On this website, you can find the most suitable and affordable broker for you.