ETrade Financial Spread Betting

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Financial Spread Betting Guide Frequently Asked QuestionsRefer A freind 
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

MARKETS

Range of Markets

E*TRADE Spread Betting offers the facility to spread bet on a wide range of products from the UK and international financial markets. These include major indices, currencies, equities, commodities and treasuries.

We quote Futures markets as well as Daily and Rolling Daily bets. Please click here to see a full list of the products we offer.

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What are Rolling Daily bets?

Our Rolling Daily Bets provide a cost-effective solution for short-medium term trading. Rolling Daily Bets are even more cost-effective than other daily bets as you will find that the spreads are significantly narrower.

Any corresponding orders are also rolled over automatically. An overnight financing rate is applied on a daily basis.

The standard benefits of spread betting still apply, such as the ability to go long or short and tax free profits.

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Advantages of Rolling Daily Bets

- Tighter spreads
- Available on indices, equities and FX markets
- Cost-effective solution for short-medium term trading
- Potential payment due to overnight financing
- Automatic order rollover facility
- Familiarity of trading underlying market but with benefits of futures-style trading

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Overnight Financing

Rolling Daily Bets incur a charge or income for each day that they are held overnight.

For a position held on a Friday or prior to a E*TRADE Spread Betting non-business day, financing will be applied according to the number of days until the subsequent E*TRADE Spread Betting business day.

For example, for a position that is rolled from a Friday to a Monday, financing will be applied for 3 days. Any profits/losses are realised when the bet is closed.


Overnight financing calculations for Rolling Daily Bets?

The overnight financing for a rolling position can be calculated using this formula:

F = [ (price / u) x stake x i ] / b
F = overnight financing
p = closing price
u = bet unit risk
s = stake
i = applicable interest rate: long bets: RFR + 2%
  short bets: RFR – 2 %
b = day basis (365)

Rolling Daily bets, Relevant Funding Rate (RFR):

· Shares & Indices: The RFR is generally equivalent to the base rate of the underlying currency of the country of the market concerned. If you are long of a share/index contract, this equates to real market cash exposure and so interest may be charged on this cash value for each day that the position is held open overnight. If you are short of a share/index contract, an interest return may be paid on these equivalent cash funds.

E.g. the RFR for a short rolling daily bet on Google may be based on the US Fed Funds Rate minus 2%.

· Currencies: The RFR is calculated as the base rate corresponding to the 2nd currency minus the base rate corresponding to the 1st currency. E.g. the 1st currency of GBP/USD is sterling and the second is the US dollar. Therefore, the RFR for GBP/USD can be calculated as follows: 2.0% (USD) minus 4.75% (GBP) = a negative differential of minus 2.75%.

If we assume the base rates as follows:

GBP: 4.75% EUR: 2.0% USD: 2.0%

The RFR of the following currency pairs would therefore be calculated as:.

FX Pair RFR  
EUR/GBP 2.75% (4.75% - 2.0%)
GBP/EUR –2.75% (2.0% – 4.75%)
EUR/USD 0% (2.0% – 2.0%)

Note: Remember to add 2% to the RFR for long bets and minus 2% for short bets.

Bet unit risk: The smallest movement on the relevant contract that equates to a profit/loss change that is the same as your stake. E.g. on GBP/USD a movement of 0.0001 in the price would mean a profit /loss shift on your bet of the full stake (bet) amount and so the bet unit risk would be 0.0001.

WORKED EXAMPLES

1. Equities

· UK Equities

BUY £10 Rolling Daily Bet – HBOS

Bet unit risk 1 (4.75% + 2%)
Applicable interest rate 6.75%
Closing price 750.10p

A £10 long bet on HBOS which has a closing price of 750.10p would be equal to £7,501 market exposure (this equates your bet to the number of shares you would have to buy from your stockbroker to create the same market risk, a £10 bet = 1000 UK shares).

(750.10 / 1) x 10 x 6.75% = £506.32

This is the annual cost of borrowing £7,501 at 6.75%.

Divide this by 365 to reach the daily charge:
£506.32 / 365 = £1.39

As you are long of an equity, your account would be debited this amount for the overnight funding.

· US Equities

BUY £10 Rolling Daily – Microsoft

Bet unit risk 0.01 (2% + 2%)
Applicable interest rate 4%
Closing price $26.49

[ (26.49 / 0.01) x 10 x 4% ] / 365 = £2.90

Your account would be debited £2.90 for the overnight financing.

2. Indices

· UK Indices

SELL £10 Rolling Daily - FTSE Cash

Bet unit risk 1 (4.75% - 2%)
Applicable interest rate 2.75%
Closing price 4722

[ (4722 / 1) x 10 x 2.75% ] / 365 = £3.56

Your account would be credited £3.56 as overnight financing.

· US Indices

LONG £1 Rolling Daily – Wall Street Cash

Bet unit risk 1 (2% + 2%)
Applicable interest rate 4%
Closing price 10350

(10350 / 1) x 1 x 4% = £1.14

You are charged £1.13 for holding this position overnight.

3. Currencies

· LONG £10 Rolling Daily GBP/USD

Bet unit risk 0.0001 (2% – 4.75% + 2%)
Applicable interest rate – 0.75%
Closing price 1.8550

[ (1.8550 / 0.0001) x 10 x – 0.75% ] / 365= –3.81

Your account would be credited £3.81 as overnight financing.

Normally, for a buy bet you would be charged the overnight financing but because this calculation has returned a negative number, you will actually receive this amount.

· SHORT £5 Rolling Daily GBP/USD

Bet unit risk 0.0001 (2% – 4.75% – 2%)
Applicable interest rate – 4.75%
Closing price 1.8550

[ (1.8550 / 0.0001) x 5 x –4.75% ] / 365 = –12.07

Your account would be debited £12.07 as overnight financing.

Please note that as with the previous example of a long bet, this has returned a negative number but in this case, as this is a sell bet, instead of you receiving the money you will be paying it!

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Dividend adjustments

The morning after a share goes ex-div the price of the share will drop approximately by the amount of the dividend. Dividend adjustments are credited to long positions and debited from short positions held at the close of business on the day before the ex-dividend date.

If you are long, you will receive 80% of the dividend and if you are short, you will be debited 100% of the dividend.

Payment is credited/debited to your account on the ex-dividend date. Dividend adjustments apply to equity and index bets.

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How do you calculate your Daily FTSE and Wall Street prices?

This is a common question for Spread Betting companies as it does cause some confusion with clients.

All major indices quoted by E*TRADE Spread Betting have a Futures market related to them (i.e. the FTSE 100 has the LIFFE FTSE Futures market). This Future trades at a price which reflects the underlying market plus some adjustments. These adjustments are calculated from the theoretical value of dividends payable between today and the expiry of the Future AND the cost of carry for the index over the same period.

This Adjustment is called the 'Fair Value'. E*TRADE Spread Betting will adjust the Daily Cash price of each index by it's own Fair Value number each day. E*TRADE Spread Betting links the 'Daily Cash' quote to the relevant future concerned and offsets the quote by the current Fair Value. Therefore the Cash Daily price is moved by the Futures price and not vice versa, this is because the cash price is a lagging market indicator which does not react in a timely manner to market moving news.

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Spread bets carry a high level of risk so you should only speculate with money you can afford to lose. Stop-losses are automatically allocated with each bet you make. All stops are not guaranteed. You can lose more than your initial deposit and stake. Before you open an account, please ensure that spread betting matches your investment objectives, familiarise yourself with the risks involved and if necessary seek independent advice. Click here for a full risk warning.
E*TRADE Securities Limited is a company registered in Scotland No. SC103238 with its principal place of business at 42nd Floor, One Canada Square, London E14 5AA, United Kingdom. Registered Office: 24 Great King Street, Edinburgh EH3 6QN, United Kingdom. E*TRADE Securities Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority and is a member of the London Stock Exchange. For purposes of spread betting, E*TRADE Securities Limited introduces you to E*TRADE Spread Betting which is a trading name of London Capital Group Ltd registered in England and Wales no. 3218125. Registered office: 4th Floor, 12 Appold Street, London. EC2A 2AW. London Capital Group Ltd. is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.