Fins have from today increased spreads by a factor of 3 on certain stocks.

When questioned as to why they have done this they are saying they do not want this business, it is not attractive to them i.e. they lose money and the punters win!

This is an absolute disgrace.

I only trade a couple of stocks this this account (which is quite small) but this just goes to prove that even if you can get past the constant sh*t they throw at you and make a profit they f*** you by hammering the spread.

Direct access will drive these crooks out of business and they only have themselves to blame. I always thought FINS were a bit different but no, true colours. This puts them on a par with the other biggest crook IG.

Avoid.

deal for free are the boys.good spreads and good service.they do make mistakes
though therefore keep detailed records of trades(i only trade on the phone)

Can name your top CFD brokers...?

i am a spreadbetter and was about to open an account with fins, but after your timely comment I am going to avoid them like the plague.We the traders keep them in business we can also bring them down.
can you recommend me some decent spread betting firms
please email me
zarif_virmani@hotmail.com

-- Velocity,

From what I hear, deal4free skew their prices far more than Fins do, so you're not just trying to beat the additional spread on the SB account, you're trying to second-guess the pricing mechanism of the dealer as well. Dunno if other CFD types do this.

Take your point about the variety of automated trades - Fins is particularly bad for this - their online stop mechanism sometimes doesn't let you add stops, for no readily obvious reason. For example, my last threee trades in GSK - 1st one allowed them online, 2nd didn't allow it and I placed them by phone, the 3rd didn't allow, I went without stops and lived to regret it :-(

zzaxx99 - that's my point. Imo it's almost laughable that the SB's get away with it, but it happens all the time, hence the reason I say I only use SB's for position trading, and cfd brokers which are transparent and cheap for everything else.

Spreadbet firms are ok as long as u know what u are getting into. Day trading sounds great but after costs/spreads etc is it that profitable ?? Some people obviously think so, but most will lose their capital/shirts over time. SB firms work if u don't trade all day long or only do a couple of trades a day.
Day traders just play into any brokers hands whether it's a sb firm, a CFD broker or an old school stockbroker. If a sb firm doesn't take a commission they've got to make their money either from crossing the spread all day long or taking on punters positions - why else would they be in business ?? Don't trade all day long => don't pay away spreads all day long => more money made over time - No ??