Advice on shorting and CFD account from those who use regularly

U

upandaway

Member
Hi guys,

Wondered if some of you who are comfortable with shorting and highly experienced would give me your views on opening such an account.

I am uneasy at the fact that it has to be done on margin. There are a lot of articles on the internet on shorting which I have been reading, but would like to know if you use an automated stop out why it is any more risky than a normal long trade? I realise you can get an unexpected gap down but other than this occurring should I be overly concerned with this method of trading?

I know options trades are an alternative, but this doesn't interest me.

Any advice would be appreciated.
 
I have used IG markets for about a year, did better with my short trades. The risk of gapping higher past your stop is real especially if there is a takeover offer. IG markets follow the actual market so if a stock jumps past your stop, the stop is triggered and you get stopped out at whatever the market is, so you can loose more than expected. As long as you are aware of the risk and can pick the right stock go for it.
 
imho, you only short a stock/fx if you know the market well or if you are an experienced trader.

My one and only suggestion....dont use CFDs if you are NOT comfortable with. Use comsec or Etrade for conservative approach. Your risk exposure can be 10 times larger with CFD if the odds go against you.

My rule of thumb: I generally use CFDs for short term trading and I inject 50% capital for my 100% real exposure.
 
I have opened an account a few days ago after playing around with demo account.
I only plan on using it for very short term trades (1 day maximum), when annoucements/events occur that are usually negative/positive for silver prices.
EG. no QE, go short as soon as it is announced.. QE announced go long as soon as it is announced.. etc etc.
Very simplistic but will give it a go.
 
I trade with IG quite abit but i don't personally look at going long or short for that matter specific stocks rather i speculate on currency's a fairly good trade is always the AUD/USD cross at 2:30 on the first Tuesday of every month.

Other things i like to spec on would be the VIX(volatility index) and things like Dow futures gold and oil are quite nice trades as well. Personally i wound't recommend trading silver on margin as it's just to volatile and you can get wiped out in a instant.

Stops are always important especially if you enjoy your sleep. I say this because if you don't use stops you better be prepared to stay awake lol
 
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