CFD trading: A Professional Guide

Instead of owning the underlying asset, such as gold, the UK 100, or the EUR/USD, a CFD gives you direct exposure to the underlying asset through price fluctuations. As a result, you profit or lose money based on how the underlying asset’s price changes.  

Using CFDs, you may leverage your money to achieve returns beyond your initial expenditure, but you also risk losing more than you put in. Expert traders in the markets widely utilise CFD trading, but beginners are welcome to start with it.

Advantages of CFD trading

CFD trading offers multiple benefits for traders, some of which include the following:  

• Profit from a falling market: Instead of purchasing a specified number of CFD contracts, a short CFD position is opened by selling that amount. To complete the deal, you might sell the same amount of CFDs you purchased. This might further add a new dimension to your trading, allowing you to make money even when the market declines.  
• Keep your capital: Leverage is an additional perk of never having to own the assets you trade-in. With leverage, you can open trades without putting up the total value; instead, you put up a deposit or margin. This strategy can work wonders because you are not buying anything on the market. Instead, you are betting on how their prices will change in the future.  
• Trade in forex, indices, shares, and more: Typically, CFD brokers might give you access to asset classes like forex, indices, shares, and others to trade.  
• Hedging with CFDs: CFDs have the potential to profit from falling markets by taking short positions, which can be a beneficial strategy to hedge against the risk of losses caused by market declines.   

What to Do When Trading CFDs   

1 – Choose a CFD broker

If you are a novice in CFD trading, finding a reliable broker who may only instruct you to invest money once you are ready is essential. Remember that selecting a broker is a crucial step in your trading career. Make sure that the broker you choose fits your trading style. Pay close attention to the details.  

2 – Register your account with a CFD broker.  

Contracts for difference (CFDs) are derivative financial products not traded on exchanges but made by brokers in response to price fluctuations in underlying financial instruments. You might need a broker if you want to trade their CFDs.   

• Find the right broker: You must first find a broker whose trading style aligns with yours.  
• Provide your personal information: The following procedure is similar to signing up for an account at a financial institution or a social media site. Your name, physical and email addresses, and contact information will be required. Keep in mind that your details will be checked in the future, so please be sure to include accurate and up-to-date information. 
• Verify your account: To confirm your identity, you may need photo identification (such as a passport or driver’s licence) and evidence of residency (utility bill or bank statement). Manually verifying your information may take up to 48 hours. However, verifying your information is typically done much sooner.  
• Fund your account:  After your identity has been confirmed, you will have access to your entire account and all of its features and markets. Making the first deposit is required before you can begin trading. The minimum deposit required by various brokers varies widely, from $0 to over $300.   

3 – Master the fundamentals of contracts for difference trading   

If you want to make money trading CFDs, you need a firm grasp of the resources at your disposal. Contract for difference (CFD) trading and other forms of trading based on contracts end at a specific time. The following are the most important considerations before engaging in CFD trading: 

• Contract specification: You might need to research to find the broker whose requirements align with your needs. The number of CFDs, the level of stop-loss orders, the trading fees or charges, the leverage, and other parameters can all be set. 
• Leverage: You’ve probably heard that contracts for difference (CFDs) are a form of leverage. Simply put, a broker lends you money to engage in leveraged trading, which you have to repay with interest.  
• Fundamental analysis: This necessitates research into the elements of the financial markets that contribute to the ebb and flow of the underlying financial assets’ pricing. You could evaluate the assets’ worth by analysing economic and financial indicators from noteworthy firms.  
• Technical analysis: Technical analysis studies market behaviour using charts, reports, and other numerical indicators. You could use these methods to forecast the future value of a given asset. 

4 – Pick an effective strategy

To successfully speculate on and attempt to outperform the wildly erratic markets in which CFDs are traded requires your full concentration, attention, and time. To be on top of your company’s investment, you need to know what is happening in the financial markets and the latest news. Most professional traders who specialise in CFDs have their favourite trading techniques. So, when you feel comfortable with your abilities, you could follow in their footsteps and begin doing the same or develop your strategy.  

Since you can only buy or sell CFDs, your chosen strategy might heavily influence your trading actions. Intraday, swing, day, leverage, and scalping are all common CFD trading strategies that allow traders to close out their positions before the market closes for the day and avoid financing costs.   

5 – Start trading

After you have settled on a trading plan, you can open a position in your favourite market assets using CFDs. Most regulated brokers provide the resources you need to trade successfully, including market analysis and risk management resources. In addition, most CFD brokers provide new traders with guides and educational tools to help them get started. With the help of free educational tools, like live webinars, recorded videos, articles, and demo accounts, you can get a feel for CFD trading.   

Trading CFDs with a broker that offers copy trading might help you learn the ropes and increase your chances of making a profit. You can copy the trades of successful traders you watch by making the same trade simultaneously. Ultimately, it comes down to your expertise and strategy regarding which position could most likely yield gains. You should know that your initial trade could make or lose money. It would be best if you kept up because of this. Instead, it would be best to consider it a learning opportunity because even the most seasoned traders have bad days.  

Click here to learn what CFDs are and what strategies you can follow for a profitable trade.   

Disadvantages of trading:  

Higher risk:  

CFDs have a higher risk profile than other financial instruments because the funded component must constantly be considered, in addition to the increased losses that leverage might cause. The leverage portion of the deal must still be made up if the market declines a few points, in addition to finance expenses that don’t change, and any capital losses incurred during the trade. Due to the size of the potential losses from each trade, CFDs are a significantly riskier sort of investment than trading shares directly. 

Leverage:  

Understanding that leverage can have both positive and negative effects on CFDs is crucial. The main benefit can also be the biggest disadvantage. Leverage means a small deposit may result in a high exposure; however, the possibility for profit and loss may increase after you leverage the position. If the market moves in the opposite direction, the margin could fall below the predetermined threshold, necessitating a larger initial deposit. Leverage exposes you to a greater risk of financial loss. 

No ownership: 

A contract for difference does not include purchasing the underlying assets; instead, it involves gambling on price movements. As a result, although you may possess the contract, you could not own the stock or commodity it is based on. For example, dividend rights can be obtained by owning shares of a corporation, but with CFDs, there is no ownership involved. 

Trading firms frequently employ CFDs to take advantage of market volatility. However, before starting CFD trading, you should weigh the benefits and drawbacks of each. 

Costs involved: 

The shorter the duration, the better, because CFDs are so heavily leveraged. Every trading day, you keep an open position resulting in overnight finance fees, which might quickly add up if you want to retain the position for several weeks or months. While doing so can be a smart financial decision, traders looking for the long run are usually better off investing in other, more affordable ways to hold long-term exposure. 

Conclusion   

Trading CFDs can be a beneficial and profitable technique for hedging investments in the underlying shares and assets that the CFDs represent, especially in unpredictable markets. However, it is not without its risks and concerns, which must be addressed. You can also engage in CFD trading without any underlying assets or use CFDs as a hedge investment, even if you do not have any other investments. However, before trading CFDs, you should thoroughly grasp the dangers involved.

Disclaimer:

Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. The vast majority of retail client accounts lose money when spread betting and/or trading CFDs. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Marketing for CFDs and spread betting is not intended for US citizens as prohibited under US regulation.

Tax treatment depends on your circumstances. Tax law can change or may differ in a jurisdiction other than the UK.