Make a big profit from a small outlay – the concept of leverage is old, but the use of spreadbetting toachi eve it is relatively recent. Spread bets are ‘geared’ or ‘levered’ to be the latest way to get you the most bang for your buck. Much less money required to be committed or deposited, compared to traditional share deals, in order to realize the same potential profit, and this probably comes without duties or taxes in the UK.

To open a buying position through spreadbetting, we must consider what will be the duration of the bet, how much money will be needed to buy the spread bet, and if or where we will put a stop loss order to protect us in case shares go south. The duration or length is

often expressed in terms of its “expiry” date, and most bettors close their position before it reaches its market expiry date. The spread bets are usually defined in categories such as dailynbets (which start and stop on the same day), rolling daily bets (which stay open as long as you have funds in your account and can pay the fee to continue to keep it open), and long-term monthly and quarterly bets.

With rollover daily bets you are essentially borrowing the money needed to make up the balance of the investment, only a small amount deposited to generate the same profit as a much larger traditional investment. For spread betting purposes all that is needed is an initial margin that meets the minimum funding requirement to start the bet. Some portion of those funds will thus be tied up, but other money in your account with the broker will be active as your trading resources.

Anyone involved in spreadbetting is strongly encouraged always put in a stop loss order or entering into a buying spread bet. The reason is fairly simple – like other highly leveraged investments, the possibility of profit is very high, but the risk of betting wrong is also sizable, and the losses from miscalculating the direction of share is going to go can dwarf the size of the profits. A stop loss allows you to close the trade immediately or at a prearranged loss point, thereby acting as a safety net to protect you from the big losses possible in spreadbetting.