Commodity trading

There's no cost when opening a live spread betting or CFD trading account. You can also view prices and use tools such as charts, Reuters news or Morningstar quantitative equity reports, free of charge. However, you will need to deposit funds in your account to place a trade.

There are a number of costs to consider when spread betting, including spread costs, holding costs (for trades held overnight which is essentially a fee for the funds you borrow to cover the leveraged portion of the trade), rollover costs on expiring forward trades, and guaranteed stop-loss order charges (if you use this risk-management tool). Find out more about our costs

Yes, Address: plc (registration number 173730) and CMC Spreadbet plc (registration number 170627) are fully authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK. Retail client money is held in segregated client bank accounts and money held on behalf of clients is distributed across a range of major banks, which are regularly assessed against our risk criteria.

Yes, your eligible deposits with ALFATRADING-MARKETS are protected up to a total of £85,000 by the Financial Services Compensations Scheme (FSCS), the UK's deposit guarantee scheme. If ALFATRADING-MARKETS ever went into liquidation, retail clients would have their share of segregated money returned, minus the administrator's costs in handling and distributing these funds. Any shortfall of funds up to £85,000 may be compensated under the FSCS.

As a CMC client, your money is held separately from ALFATRADING-MARKETS' own funds, so that under property, trust and insolvency law, your money is protected. Therefore your money is unavailable to general creditors of the firm, if the firm fails.

Our income primarily comes from our spreads, while other fees, such as overnight holding costs, make a minor contribution to overall revenue.

We never aim to profit from our clients' losses. Our aim is to build long-term relationships by providing the best possible trading experience through our technology and customer service.

A commodity is a physical good that can be bought or sold on the various commodity markets. Commodities can be categorised into either hard or soft varieties. Hard commodities are natural resources like oil, gold and rubber and are often mined or extracted. Soft commodities are agricultural products such as coffee, wheat or corn.
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The commodity markets are traded in a similar way to other types of financial instruments, but there are some points to be aware of in order to avoid any shocks or surprises when dipping your toe into commodities trading.
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One of the features of spread betting and CFD trading is that you only need to deposit a percentage of the full value of your position to open a trade, known as trading on leverage. Remember, trading on leverage can also amplify losses, so it’s important to manage your risk.

Spread betting allows you to trade tax-free on a wide range of financial markets 24 hours a day, from Sunday night through to Friday night. Trade on your phone, tablet, PC or Mac on a wide range of instruments using leverage. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and can change or may differ in a jurisdiction other than the UK.