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5 Best CFD Brokers & Trading
Platforms 2023

Interested in Daytrading? ✔ Low Spreads, ✔ Fast execution & ✔ Customer
Support are essential features for Day Trading. Our experts have compiled &
researched the Best CFD brokers in 2023

Best CFD trading platform for UK traders, Award winning xStation5 trading platform

XTB

4.8/5 ratings

Platforms

Regulated By

Year Established

Trading Instrument

Features

Spread

EUR/USD

GBP/USD

USD/JPY

USD/CAD

AUD/USD

1.3

1.8

1.4

2.2

1

Spreads

  • EUR/USD : 1.3
  • GBP/USD : 1.8
  • USD/JPY: 1.4
  • USD/CAD : 2.2
  • AUD/USD : 1

Risk Warning: CFDs are leveraged products 73% of traders lose money when trading CFDs with XTB

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Trusted Forex Broker for Over
40 Years

Table of Content

BlackBulll Markets

What is CFD trading? What are CFDs?

CFD is a powerful form of derivative trading, allowing you to take advantage of rapidly globalising economic trends and markets. 

With CFDs, predict the direction prices will move — buying if they are likely to rise or selling if you believe they may decline. You can benefit from this safe trade system as long as careful consideration is taken in order not to exceed losses. 

By entering into agreements between two people with contracts for difference (CFDs), one can leverage their exposure on assets like currencies, commodities, treasuries indices and shares while settling any differences via initial values stated within the contract when opened or closed.

A CFD (Contract for Difference) forex broker is a brokerage firm that aims at providing financial trading services for the trade of financial assets. 

XM & XTB- Best CFD Broker Platforms

XTB and XM are amongst the best CFD brokers that offer online CFD trading. Since the 1990s, many global financial markets and broker institutions adapted to the rapid rising of technology and the internet which meant access was not only available for institutions, banks, and hedge funds but to the retail market (i.e. the common person, or everyone who can meet the requirements of a CFD broker) in the form of electronic trading

These CFD trading platforms act as an intermediary between the market and the trader thereby making available functional trading platforms for the trade of CFDs. CFD providers have effective trading tools like technical analysis, advanced charting systems, and drawing tools.

Each Forex trading platform provided by CFD brokers is equipped with user-friendly trading terminals that simplify the execution of trade between the participant (i.e. Investor/trader) and the market instruments like stocks, currency, indices and commodities. 

In the past investors/financial traders had to place open orders or trades via. Telephone to their broker which meant the increasing possibility of not benefiting from executing a trade at the desired price; there was an obvious delay in communication. 

In today’s time, many brokers that offer CFD instruments allow instant execution by the millisecond.

Spread Betting Explained?

It is a form of conjecture which includes making a bet on the probable change in the price of an asset like security within a specified time. There are two prices quoted in spread betting: 

1. The bid: This is the amount that the buyer is ready to pay
2. The offer price: This is the price which the seller is asking for or offering

The investor does not own the underlying asset or security that is being betted upon. The investor just predicts whether the actual price of the main security is more than what the seller is offering or less than what the buyer is bidding. 

The Foreign exchange currency market is one of the more popular markets (with an average of +£5 billion dollars a day traded volume) for Spread betting and AvaTrade is amongst the best spread betting forex brokers. 

Spread Betting vs CFD trading: 11 Differences

Both CFD trading and spread betting are capable of providing the same kinds of advantages to the investor/trader in terms of cryptocurrency, commodities, indices, shares and currencies.

Let’s check out the major differences;

1. In CFD trading you are not the owner of the fundamental security or the underlying asset therefore so you don’t have to pay stamp duty, but you are subjected to Capital Gains Tax. Whereas there is neither stamp duty nor Capital Gains Tax in the UK on the profits earned by spread betting.

2.  CFD trading is available all across the globe to customers, whereas spread betting is available only for residents of Ireland or the UK.

3. Holding costs might be applied along with CFDs whereas holding costs might also be applied to spread betting, but an extra spread is added to the platform which is applied when any order is executed.

4. In CFD trading when trading shares, a commission is charged to the account when an order is executed which is additive to the spread whereas in spread betting there is no addendum commission which is charged.

5. In CFD trading whether you earn a profit or you lose depends on the multiplication of CFD units and the difference between the starting price that is the price when you executed and the exit price whereas in spread betting the loss or gain is decided by the product of your stake and difference between the entering and exiting price. 

6. In CFD trading, to open a position you have to pay a small part of the entire value of trade as the product is leveraged whereas in spread betting to open a position you need to pay a small part of the entire value of spread bet as the product is financially leveraged. 

For Spread Betting, trades are executed simply on Pound per PIP (Percentage in Point). For example, when trading Forex CFDs you are effectively buying and selling units of currency at specified Bid and offer prices these are referred to as Lots (1 rounded Lot of Foreign Currency is 100,00 units of that currency). 

7. CFDs have NO real expiry date (i.e. you have the freedom to hold the position for as long as you want subject to a broker’s condition), whereas in spread betting there is a fixed date of expiry.

8. Compared to CFD trading spread betting is more efficient in terms of tax.

9. In CFD trading, the currency in which trade is done varies according to the market in which buying or selling is done, whereas in spread betting trade will always be in your currency. In other words for CFD trading, you can open a real trading account in multiple-denominated currencies (e.g. if you’re in the UK you can open an account denominated in the US dollar). 

10. Spread betting takes place with the help of a broker on the counter whereas CFD trading can be done directly through the market.

11.  CFD trading losses can be used to compensate against other profits gained from assets, income etc. for Capital Gains Tax whereas in spread betting you cannot use losses to counterbalance profits made from other assets and income. 

Please use the following sites to understand the tax rates and conditions of Capital Tax in your respective USA and UK,

US Investor/Trader
UK Investor/Trader

There are both advantages and disadvantages of CFD trading as well as spread betting, but sometimes spread betting is preferred due to no compensations and low to no taxes on spread bets which are usually applicable to CFDs. There are risks involved where money is involved so be wise.

Full Disclosure: CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Between 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money

Top Three Featured Brokers

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