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Contracts for Difference (CFDs) are versatile products that have become popular short-term investment tools. They provide effective methods for maximizing profit while diversifying your portfolio or hedging your trades.
Let's take a look at some benefits of CFD trading before starting!

What Are the Advantages of CFDs?

Speculate the Asset’s Prices in Falling and Rising Markets

Generally, these contracts are based on underlying assets. Traders can’t own these underlying assets, but they can speculate their price movements. This means that traders can make cash in both bullish and bearish markets.

When the market is rising you can go long and vice versa. You can purchase a CFD and then sell it on a later day when its price has increased.

No Stamp Duty

Since you don’t have to own the assets to trade CFDs, you will never have to pay stamp duty. This means more profits for traders. But this will depend on circumstances and can change in the future.

Higher Leverage

One of the significant advantages of trading CFDs is trading on margins, which grants you leverage. You can trade various assets without paying the full amount of the positions.

The standard leverage for CFDs was initially a 2% maintenance margin (50:1). But it has now increased to 3% and can even go as high as 50% giving you a leverage of 2:1. These lower margin requirements help you free up more cash.

Global Market Access

Most CFD brokers grant us access to several global markets that would be hard to access with traditional trading. You can trade commodities like oil, silver, gold, and other indices without purchasing the assets.

No Borrowing Stock or Shorting Rules

Most markets have some unique rules that prohibit traders from shorting traders. Traders must borrow the assets before going short. Some even have different margin requirements for opening long and short traders, but that’s not the case with CFDs.

You can short CFD contracts any time you plan on trading since you don’t have to own these assets.

Professional Execution of Trades Free of Charge

CFD brokers offer the same services as traditional asset brokers, such as limits, contingent, and stop orders. Some even offer guaranteed stops for free and make cash from the spread. All brokers charge a fee every time a trader opens a position.

When purchasing an asset, traders pay the asking price and a bid price when shorting a position. Depending on the market’s volatility, the spread might be huge or small.

No Day Trading Requirement

Most markets require day traders to have a specific capital or limit the number of trades to day trade. Fortunately, this does not apply to CFD accounts. CFD day traders can trade as many times as they want every day.

Related articles:

What is CFD trading?

Trading for beginners

Day trading

Position trading

Swing trading

Risk management

Trading instruments

  • Advantages of CFDs FAQ 8
How do CFDs allow traders to profit from both rising and falling markets?

Since traders don’t have to own the assets to trade, they can speculate the price in rising and falling markets. The value of their trade doesn’t include the asset’s price. This means more profit for the traders.

What are some examples of the diverse markets accessible through CFD trading?

CFD brokers offer currency, treasury, index, stock, commodity, and crypto CFDs.c

Can you explain how leverage works in CFD trading and its advantages?

With lower margins, CFD traders enjoy higher leverage while trading. This means they put up a smaller portion of the trade price and earn more profit.

What are the potential risks associated with using leverage in CFD trading?

When the leverage you’re using is higher, and the margin supporting your trades is also higher. If the margin is less than 10 to 20 times the trading costs, your likelihood of losing increases rapidly. The costs can eat your margin.

How do CFDs offer cost-efficiency compared to traditional investment instruments?

CFD brokers don’t charge fees every time a trader opens a position; most of them benefit from the spread.

Are there any restrictions for CFD trading benefiting traders?

CFDs have fewer restrictions than traditional trading, but some jurisdictions offer leverage restrictions to limit losses.

How does the accessibility of CFD trading platforms benefit traders?

Convenient and user-friendly platforms allow you to access more trades.

What are some common misconceptions about trading CFDs, and how do you address them?
  • You don’t need a huge capital to start. Traders can start with as low as $100, but for you to earn more you’ll need to increase your stake.
  • CFD trading is the same as trading shares. You don’t have to own the assets to make a profit; traders only speculate the market price.