contracts for difference

easilyparted

Anyone here trading CFD's? I keep being called by companies suggesting I invest in these products but I am cautious and would like to hear from those who have made (or lost) money.

dryhat

CFD's are essentially spreadbets.

But for retail investors they provide the only easy method for "shorting" companies.

You can make money, but you can also lose a hell of a lot more than you started with so they should be treated with caution.

bowlhead99

I have made (and lost, but overall, made) money on both CFDs and spreadbets - the latter being a different type of instrument with similar characteristics which enjoys tax-free status in the UK.

The leverage offered can improve your returns if your investment choices are sound, while also increasing the risk of ruin.

They are a tool for sophisticated investors who understand the risks and pricing of such derivatives. In the world of investments there is no point having an ego and pretending you understand a product merely to "keep up with the Joneses" or to avoid "missing out on a great opportunity". That is the way to lose your shirt.

If you do understand the market for derivatives and the underlying asset class (equities, currencies, indexes, commodities), you can seek out any number of regulated and reputable CFD dealers or spreadbet firms and make some investments. The absolute last thing you should do is invest any money, or spend any money, with a cold-caller. Or take any advice from them.

Cold calling people to make financial promotions is against the financial regulator's rulebook so anyone doing that, particularly in relation to risky products, should be entirely ignored.

Out of interest, I wonder why you choose to launch a new thread having not responded to any of the twelve replies when you asked an identical question last summer?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/62364759#Comment_62364759

The cynic in me can't help thinking you abandoned the thread because your post count was too low to post links to your favourite cold calling scammers and everyone had roundly dismissed the idea of dealing with them. But some of your other posts don't look like spam so I give you the benefit of the doubt.

But what are you looking for in this thread that you didn't get last time? Exact amounts made and lost? On individual transactions? On a sequence of related transactions? Over a period of time? The answer would be different for everyone depending on their success of timing their investment transactions and likely some luck. And for some people it would be a gamble and for others an investing or hedging strategy and for others a career.

If you do a search on this board you will probably find various threads covering this type of investment.

easilyparted

As an occasional visitor to this site I had forgotten I had posted a previous question on the same subject. Thanks to all who replied, I have decided that CFDs are too speculative for me, an opinion shared by my stockbroker.