Trading

Typically the minimum deal size for most instruments ranges from 50p to £1 but can be as small as 10p per tic/point on some instruments.

To place a trade (market order) click on the trade button of the contract you wish to spread bet and complete the deal ticket that appears on the screen, by filling in the stake size, and then place your trade by clicking on the buy or sell button.

We are open from Sunday 23:00 until Friday 21:15 UK time. For full details of the trading hours of our markets please see either the market information sheets or the ‘i’ button next to each market on the trading platform.

When you place a market order it will display a message that your order was successful, together with trade reference details. This message can be closed by pressing OK button. The trade will also appear in your open positions folder. You should also get an email notification if you have this feature set up on your account. When your limit order or stop loss is executed, ETX Capital will send a confirmation message to your email account.

Margin (or initial deposit) is required for each and every trade you have open. It is usually calculated by multiplying the stake of the trade by the trade price and multiplying this with the Margin Requirement (in %). This is the margin required to keep the trade open. Margin can be reduced on most products by attaching a stop order to the open trade although a minimum margin amount is required. The Margin Requirement and Minimum Margin information can be found on each products ‘i’ button.

If you want to rollover a position into the next contract you need to contact customer services confirming the contract you wish to rollover and if required your required stop loss for the new contract. Then we will close out the current contract at the relevant buy or sell price and re-open the position in the new contract at the mid price.

It is important to note that when rolling over the position it is actually settled for any profit or loss incurred on the current contract.

Yes, as long as the minimum bet size is left on the account.

Markets will be suspended on the trading platform when a price exceeds the previous price by an amount defined by us for each specific market. The reason for this is to ensure that the new price is correct and not just a bad feed. This is to protect against stop levels being activated by a rogue price. Often a market will only be suspended for a few seconds whilst the price is being verified but if it is longer than this and you wish to trade you can call our dealing desk on 020 7392 1434 to see if this is possible.

Positions are adjusted for dividends once a share goes ex-dividend. For UK shares, if you are long you will be credited 90% the net dividend per share times your stake size. If you are short you will be debited 90% the gross dividend per share times your stake size. Shares listed in other countries may have different tax rates.

Index Future markets are not affected by ex dividend events as any anticipated future dividends are already reflected in the price. However, any daily rolling index positions held on account after market close the day before an ex dividend event is adjusted for the weighted effect of any stock dividend within that index. If long you will receive an index dividend adjustment, if you are short you will pay an index dividend adjustment.

Financing charges are only ever incurred if a Daily Rolling Bet trading position is held overnight. All future dated contracts such as the Quarterly Bet have the finance charge incorporated in to the quoted price.

Margin products such as spread betting, and FX allow investors not to have to put up the full value of the position. Essentially clients are borrowing money from the margin provider to take larger positions in the market. As in normal life interest is payable on any money borrowed and in this case it comes in the form of a Finance charge. However, it is important to remember that customers can ‘short‘ the market and if so they may actually receive interest from the margin provider.

Financing is calculated on Rolling Bet positions held overnight and is credited or debited at the end of the trading day.

Daily finance costs are applied to the account at the end of the trading day and can be calculated using the following equation;

Notional Size of Position x Finance Rate x Number of days position is held ÷ 365 days

i.e. £10,000 x 2.5% x 3 ÷ 365 days = £2.05

At ETX Capital all spot FX bets are automatically rolled every evening at 20:00 (London Time).

Rolling over a spot FX bet involves the closing of the current days bet and the re-opening of a new position for the next days trading. The overnight charge (known as TomNext) plus an ETX Capital admin charge is applied to the account the following business day and appears as a cash ledger credit or debit.

Rolling Spot Worked Example

Client buys ( goes ‘long’ ) GBP/USD £1 per point at a price of 1.5000. Assume UK Base rates are currently 2% with US rates at 1%. Hypothetically position should earn 1% (+ 2% on the GBP holding minus 1% on the USD). GBPUSD TomNext = Short -0.7 ; Long -0.6 Client closes GBPUSD position at 1.5000 Having bought (gone ‘Long’) GBPUSD the charge would be calculated thus; Long GBPUSD TomNext + ETX Capital Admin Charge

-0.6 + 0.45 = -0.15

In this example the client would receive 0.15 pips (ignoring the minus sign) which when multiplied by the stake shows the client would receive a credit of £0.15 for a single night roll. Over a weekend clients are charged/credited for each day they hold the position (3 days) but will only incur one ETX Capital admin charge.

The TomNext is a market tradable swap rate which is more than just an interest differential. The TomNext swap price also encompasses market sentiment and future interest rate expectations. This rate often fluctuates constantly even when interest rates are stable.