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Ladder trading

Price laddering is when traders are given a range of price levels after entering a stake size that is greater than the normal market size. Our price ladder technology allows you to spread bet and trade CFDs in larger sizes with just a single transaction, and this comes with the added security of 100% automatic order execution. Learn more about price ladder trading on our Next Generation trading platform.

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What is ladder trading?

Ladder trading uses built-in technology that makes it possible to execute larger trade sizes in a single transaction without having to place multiple positions. Our platform uses price laddering to offer you more price levels to execute your trade at in order to reach your desired position amount.

When entering a stake size larger than the normal market size, or the level 1 price, which represents the average price on the order ticket, ladder trading uses technology to offer you different price levels, from a range of 1-10. The price ladder analyses the current market liquidity to then show you the range of price levels to execute larger trades in one transaction, rather than having to open multiple trades to get your full order placed.

Price ladder chart

Below is a screenshot from our platform with an order ticket for the Spain 35 index. The price ladder chart is displayed clearly with buy and sell prices, along with their stake sizes on either side. The level is displayed in the middle column. As you can see, a sell stake of 125 represents level 4, whereas a buy stake of 125 represents level 3.

Price ladder levels for the Spain 35 index on our platform

Price ladder analysis

The price of a market order, if larger than the level 1 price, will have a slightly wider bid-offer spread, depending on the size of your trade. As position size increases, so does the spread.

It’s possible to view up to 10 levels of price depth in your order ticket. Your chosen stake size is reflected on the right-hand side, so you can see how far down the ladder your position sits, between levels 1 and 10. The further down the price ladder, the wider the potential spread will be. Remember that this is still relative to the size of your position as the underlying liquidity in the market for this product.

As the price ladder uses real-time liquidity, your trade might jump between levels until you choose to execute your position. The rest of the order ticket will function as normal, so you can set your risk-management levels before executing your trade. The level 1 price level is still clearly visible, so you can compare it to your price depth. Once you are happy with your transaction, you can go ahead and execute your trade.

If you are setting a stop-entry or limit order​ of a larger size, a trade will be triggered once the product price reaches the level 1 price, but it will be executed using the relevant price depth. When closing out a trade with a position size greater than the level 1 price from the account section of the platform, the price ladder will display all 10 levels of depth again.

From here, you will see the position linked to a price depth level to execute your trade in one transaction. When looking in your history section, all trades executed using the price ladder are accompanied by the chart levels, as shown in the image above. You are able to see all 10 levels of price depth and the actual level you were executed at, relative to your position size.

Remember that the price depth should only affect larger trade sizes. We offer price laddering for both spread betting and CFD trading accounts.

Ladder trading strategy

A ladder trading strategy revolves around the buy and sell orders that hover around the actual market price. Traders that are perhaps most likely to use ladder trading are those that focus on frequent trades with large position sizes, such as:

  • Scalpers
  • High-frequency traders
  • Other types of algorithmic traders

The spread in a ladder strategy tends to be quite small. The trader, therefore, may decide to trade large volumes to ensure that they make sufficient profits to justify the risks involved.

Ladder trading platform

Our award-winning Next Generation trading platform* allows you to execute larger spread bet and CFD trades with our price ladder technology. You can choose between market, limit and stop-entry orders when placing a trade.

Open an account to get started using our price ladder.

*No1 Web-Based Platform, Forex Brokers Awards 2020; Best Telephone & Best Email Customer Service, based on highest user satisfaction among spread betters, CFD & FX traders, Investment Trends 2020 UK Leverage Trading Report; Best Platform Features & Best Mobile/Tablet App, Investment Trends 2019 UK Leverage Trading Report.

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