Learn about Spread Betting
Need help? Call 0845 077 1172
Online information and tools designed to guide and help you with financial Spread Betting
Spread Betting Academy
Spread Betting Simulator
Practice your trading strategies with our free no obligation tool
Spread bet pricing
Spread betting with Interactive Investor is priced to offer you the most cost-effective way to trade the markets of your choice. We offer highly competitive spreads and charges across all markets that we cover.
Spreads
The spread is the gap between the prices at which you go long or short on a particular market. If you are offered a spread on the UK 100 Index of 5017/5019, that 2-point gap separates the price above which you will profit from a rise if you go long from the one below which you will profit from a fall if you go short. Go long, and you will profit from every point that the UK 100 reaches above 5,019. Go short, and you will profit from every point that it falls below 5,017.
We quote narrow spreads across all the markets we cover, offering you the opportunity to profit from your predictions for market movements, whether you are going long or short.
For example, a Rolling Index bet on the UK 100 Index quotes a spread of 2 points during trading hours, with a minimum online stake of just £0.5 per point. We also offer 2-point spreads on the US TECH 100, the Germany 30 and the France 40, with a 4-point spread on Wall Street.
Our spreads on UK and European equities are quoted as a percentage of the price of the stock, and are equally tight. The spread for rolling bets on shares in the UK’s largest 100 companies is just 0.20 per cent of the share price, on shares in the top 350 UK companies it is 0.40 per cent of the price at most, and on European equities just 0.20-0.30 per cent.
Interactive Investor quotes similarly tight spreads across currencies, commodities, sectors, and all the other markets in which we offer spread betting.
Financing charges
Overnight financing charges are applied on rolling positions – positions that have no set expiry and close only when you choose. Financing charges apply to the value of the trade less your margin on account for that position.
On equity positions, for example, overnight long rolling positions will be debited a financing charge of LIBOR + 2.5%, while short rolling positions will be credited finance of LIBOR + 2.5%. Similarly competitive rates are applied across all markets.
Full details of our markets can be found in the on-line Market Information icons on our Trading Platform.
Order types
An order is an instruction to trade that will be activated only if and when your specified price level is reached.
Orders are flexible trading tools that allow you to fully or partially open, close, or amend positions. We offer a range of orders to help you open and close positions at the price you want to and as such they are one of the tools for managing risk when CFD Trading.
Limit orders
A Limit Order is an instruction to buy or sell a market when it reaches a price that is better than that prevailing, at the time of the placing the Order. It can be used to open a new position, where you anticipate a more favourable market price (buy or sell). It can also be used to close an existing Open Position, when a market reaches a certain level.
E.g. If our quote for UK 100 Rolling Spread is 5873.8 / 5875.8
To open a new position:
If you thought the market was going to reach 5700.5 and then reverse and go higher, and you had no Open Position in the market, you would leave a new Limit Buy Order at 5700.5. If the price reaches 5700.5 or lower, then the Order is activated and you would have a new long (buy) position in the market.
To close a position:
If you were long (had a buy position) in the market and wished to take your profit when the market reached 5950.8, you would leave a linked Limit Sell Order at 5950.8, which would activate when the Sell price
hit 5950.8 or higher. If activated, this Order would close your position and realize any profit (or loss if you opened your position above 5950.8.).
Stop orders
A Stop Order is an instruction to buy or sell a market at a price which is worse than that prevailing, at the time of placing the Order.
It can be used to open a position if you think a market could move even higher once it moves above a particular level (when buying), or even lower if it moves lower than a particular level (when selling).
Stop orders can also be used to close a position (a tool for managing risk).
E.g. If our quote for Australian 200 is 5100 / 5106
To open a new position:
If you felt that if the market traded up to 5150 and it would continue even higher, then you would leave a new Stop Order to Buy at 5150. If the Buy price hit 5150 or higher, the Order would execute and open a long position.
Stop loss orders
A Stop loss order is an instruction to buy or sell a market at a price which is worse than the opening price of an open position (or worse than the prevailing when applying the stop loss to an existing open position). It can be used to help protect against losses.
E.g. If our quote for Australian 200 is 5100 / 5106
To close a position using a stop loss:
If you were long in the market and wished your position to be closed if the market went beneath 5000, then you would leave a Stop Loss Order linked to that position to Sell at 5000. If the price fell to 5000 (or lower) then the Stop would be executed and close that position.
Please note that there is a risk that market gapping may occur. If this does occur, the best available price could be significantly lower (or higher) than the price set on the order. In order to avoid this, Guaranteed Stop Losses may be used.
Guaranteed stop loss order
This is exactly the same as a Stop loss order, with the added benefit of a guarantee, that means even if the market gaps, you will close your trade at the exact price specified on your stop loss order. There is an additional charge for this service, and guaranteed stop loss orders are not available on all markets.
Open an Account
Opening an Interactive Investor account is free and simple
Acrobat Reader
To view PDF documents you will need the latest version of Adobe Acrobat reader.
Need help?
- Telephone: 0845 077 1172
- Find answers to your questions in the Knowledge Base
- Use our online support form