What Is Spread Betting? The Beginners Guide

Financial spread betting is a form of investing by means of betting on the movement of global financial markets. In other words, it is trading on markets, rather than trading in markets.

In very general terms, spread betting is making a prediction about the movement of the market either up or down. If the market moves in your favour (in the direction that you predicted), you will make a profit, with your stake multiplied by each point that the market moves in the desired direction. Similarly, if you are wrong, your loss will equal your stake multiplied by the number of points with which the market has moved against you.

Just like any form of investing, spread betting carries risks and is therefore not suitable for all investors. Nevertheless, it is considered one of the quickest ways to make a profit on the basis of market movements. For that reason it has become a popular alternative to other more traditional forms of financial trading.

I. Spread betting markets

Spread betting covers a wide range of markets and underlying assets, which is among its main benefits. Investors can bet on the movement of shares, with spread betting brokers usually offering the option of betting on shares of companies such as Vodafone and Apple, which are well-known even to the less experienced trader. Investors can also bet on the movement of indices such as the Dow Jones and NASDAQ, as well as spread bet on forex currency pairs.

Spread betting commodities is another popular underlying asset category, with investors able to bet on the movement of crude oil, precious metals (gold, silver, etc.), or on the market performance of agricultural commodities such as coffee and wheat. Although less popular, financial instruments such as options and futures can also be used for financial spread betting.

Choosing a particular asset over another should depend mostly on the knowledge and experience of the trader. Investors should keep in mind that when betting on a given asset, following any news and developments which might influence the asset price is a must. Tension in the Middle East for instance is likely to have an immediate impact on the price of oil, while news about the financial performance of major companies will influence the price of shares as well as the performance of major market indices.

Different brokers service a range of, or very specific, markets. In order to trade you’ll need to find a spread betting broker. Our guides rank the best broker platforms:

• Best spread betting platforms
• Forex spread betting brokers
• Crypto spread betting brokers
• Spread betting using commodity platforms

II. How does spread betting work?

As already noted, spread betting is making a prediction or rather a bet, on the price movement of a given underlying asset such as an index or a share. It is very important to understand that in spread betting, you don’t own the underlying asset that you have bet on. Instead, what you own is a position for that asset with a spread betting broker.

So, how does spread betting work? A spread betting broker quotes two prices for a given underlying asset: a ‘bid’ and an ‘offer’ price. The bid price is the price that you can sell a position at, while the offer price is the price at which you can buy a position. The difference between both prices is referred to as the ‘spread.’

If you believe that an underlying asset is going to rise in price, you place a ‘buy’ bet, whereas you place a ‘sell’ bet if you think that the underlying asset is going to fall in price. This is known as ‘opening a position.’ Positions that have been opened must be closed at some point, with the investor either banking a profit or accepting a loss. Although you generally close a position by yourself, it is also possible to set a certain level that will automatically close a position if the market moves against you.

The movement of the underlying asset is measured in points, as you can place bets of different value against every point of movement, such as £1 per point, £10 per point, etc. So the profit (or loss) equals the difference in points between opening and closing your position, multiplied by the value of the bet you have placed per point.

III. Spread betting examples

Perhaps the best way to grasp how spread betting actually works is by means of discussing several spread betting examples with different underlying assets.

Shares

An investor chooses Vodafone shares as an underlying asset, with the broker quoting spreads of 120-120.5. The investor thinks that Vodafone is going to rise and places a buy bet at 120.5 for £10 per point. Later on, Vodafone rises to 125-125.5, at which point the investor decides to close his position and makes a profit of £45 (4.5 points x £10). If the investor has bet on the prediction that Vodafone would fall, closing the position will result in a loss of £50 (5 points x £10), since the investor has placed a sell bet at 120.

Indices

An investor decides to bet on the movement of the NASDAQ, which is offered at 7530-7532 by the broker. The investor is convinced that the NASDAQ is going to rise and makes a buy bet at 7532, for £5 a point. Let’s say the index falls and the daily NASDAQ spread with the broker is 7500-7502, at which point the investor decides that it’s time to close the position and accept the loss. The loss in question will be calculated as with betting on shares – the point difference, multiplied by the bet value – or in this case, 32 points x £5, resulting in a loss of £160. If our hypothetical investor had instead decided to place a sell bet, his profit would have been £140, based on multiplying the point difference of 28 points by the £5 stake.

IV. Commodities

As noted at the outset, spread betting can also be applied to the price movement of various commodities, such as precious metals. So, let us look at the example of betting on the price movement of gold.

The gold quotes offered by your spread betting broker are 1560-1562. Based on your market research you think that the price will rise. You decide to risk £20 per point and place a buy bet at 1562. The gold price rises indeed, and the spread quoted by your broker reaches 1575-1577. You sell your position at 1575 and make a profit of £260 – your £20 multiplied by a 13-point movement.

Now, let us imagine that you were wrong in your assumption and the gold price fell to 1550-1552. In this case, if you decide to close your position at 1550 before the price drops any further, your loss will be calculated by multiplying the 12-point difference by your bet, or you will lose £240.

Spread betting relies on the same principles, regardless of the underlying asset on which you decide to bet. It is thus very easy for an investor to switch not only between underlying assets from the same category, but also from one asset category to another. The simplicity of transactions and the access to different markets allows investors to easily bet on a variety of assets with the purpose of diversifying their portfolio.