Spook1304

Hi, I'm looking at using options to supplement my trading. I've watched a fair view videos (both from IG and other sources) and (thought) I was comfortable in how they operate, at a very basic level. I was trying to do a straddle on my demo account - I bought a PUT and a CALL at the same strike price (10890) at 0.5 per point on the DAX/Germany 30. From everything I've read, it seems the trade will be unprofitable if the market stays stagnant, but should profit either way if the market moves up or down more than my premium. The problem I'm having is calculating at which point my break-even is, what my maximum risk is and at what part I would start to profit. Using this video as an example: https://www.ig.com/uk/options-trading/what-are-options-how-do-you-trade-them It advised the maximum you can lose is the premium you paid for the Option but mine seems to have went above that (or I have misinterpreted what the premium is). EG, these are the Options I purchased last night. after I bought them, both were sitting at -£6 from my interpretation of the things I've watched, I expect £6 to be the maximum amount I can lose. The market has since taken a nose dive so I expect the Put to be in profit but the Call to be at a loss. At the moment it appears the Call is losing far more than the Put is gaining. When I select either of the orders below it shows it on the chart (I can't view both orders on the chart at the same time) and the chart also flips vertically depending on what order I select: Is anyone able to shine some light and tell me: Where can I find the maximum amount I am risking with this trade? Using the trade above, at what point would I break even (as above, the chart shows % instead of price levels)? Using the trade above, at which point would it start to become profitable? Thanks in advance for any replies.

I only signed up to PRT 5 days ago (7th May 2020). I'll let you know at the end of the month if I get a charge. Although it is active for my Live account I haven't even launched the platform. I've only launched it for Demo. Worst case I'll get a £30 charge but we'll see.

Just to note, on the web platform at the time, the minimum stop was 2 points and the spread was 1 point.

Hi, I recently signed up to use PRT on my demo account. I plan to use it with my scalping strategy but have run into an issue with minimum distance. Either the visual of the ask/bid price is incorrect or its simply forbidden to place an order so close to the current market prices. I have added an image below to illustrate an example. I'm trying to place a limit order to buy at a certain level if the market drops and meets my order. I've put my limit in and tried to move it up and keep getting this error. My scalping strategy requires fast execution at prices close to the current market and this error is blocking me for the majority of my trades. Any help appreciated. Thanks.

There is no confusion. I will let you know at the end of this month. I had the same question and couldnt find the answer anywhere. I wanted to practice with the PRT platform on a demo account (for free) but the message suggests you will be charged £30 if you use PRT regardless if its Live or not. I took the plunge anyway as it seems to be a good platform with decent reviews. I'm using it only on demo just now so will find out if I get charged for it at the end of the month. (I have zero funds in my live account so we'll see what happens).

Hi, I'm looking for some info on whether to use CFD's or SpreadBets. I am newish to trading (on and off) and I'm looking to practice with a small £500 account. While I think demo accounts are great, I believe its too easy to be careless because its all pretend and I find I'm far more cautious when trading live (even if its just a few pounds here and there). I am looking to trade the E-Mini S&P500 Futures. While I know that can't really be done on IG (or really in the UK easily) without a massive deposit. What I can do is trade on IG using the US500 Futures. I can bet as small as 50p per point using my spread bet account but on my CFD account the lowest I can trade with is $50 per point as per the normal S&P500. Since spread betting is technically me VS IG (I gather they act as the 'bookie' here) I see this as a big conflict of interest being my broker but also the market maker for my orders. I know there are a lot of horror stories with bucket shops that "stop hunt" their clients to make profits which is why I chose IG as it appears to be one of the most trusted brokers in the UK. My question is, if I were to use my CFD account, is it still the same circumstance? are my orders actually being dealt with at an exchange (thus more thoroughly regulated) and IG solely acting as my broker or are they still acting as the bookie here? I'll be spread betting in the short term anyway due to account size and will be signing up for ProRealTime. I understand I may not get a concrete answer here. I'm just curious from other peoples experience if they have ever been successful in spread betting or if "the house always wins".