Spread Betting Guide to Going Short on the FTSE 100 Index

LONDON, May 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

The FTSE 100 grazed uncomfortably closed to the historic 5500 level just before close on Wednesday 9 May, while the Dow Jones Index finally scuppered its sixth straight day of losses in the US, ending its longest losing streak since August last year.

The impending Greek default and prospects of the country's exit from the eurozone, coupled with Spain's plans to nationalise Bankia, the country's third-largest bank, is giving traders sleepless nights the world over.

While many traders are faced with the uncomfortable prospect of whether to exit their trades and cut short any losses, spread bettors are actually finding themselves able to net a healthy profit from the current volatile scenario.

Benefit from falling stock prices with City Index

Financial spread betting is an alternative to conventional trading in the UK, offering traders the ability to net tax-free profits* profit from rising as well as fall stock prices. Placing a spread bet is easy: one simply needs to open an online account with a spread betting provider, for example Finspreads, and start trading.

With spread betting, you place a long (buy) or short (sell) trade on a market (for example the FTSE 100 or Wall Street index). In the current scenario, if you felt that the FTSE 100 will fall in the face of growing pressure from the eurozone, you would go short (sell) the index. Conversely, you would go long if you felt that the FTSE will buck the current trend and rise in the near future. If you were right and the market moved in the direction you had predicted, you would net a profit. If not, you would make a loss.

Learning to spread bet is easy and providers such as Finspreads offer numerous spread betting tools and resources to help traders learn the ropes at their own pace.

Take a position on the 4 major indices

Finspreads offers 1 point spreads on the four major indices (Wall Street, FTSE 100, France 40 and Germany 40) during market hours. Finspreads offers prices on a range of markets including stocks, indices, currencies, commodities and more, enabling traders to take a position on thousands of global markets.

You can also take a position on thousands of individual instruments, including shares, currencies, commodities, metals and more.

Find out more about the benefits of spread betting with Finspreads.  

Spread betting is a leveraged product which can result in losses greater than your initial deposit. Ensure you fully understand the risks before you start trading.

*Spread betting is currently exempt from UK stamp duty and Capital Gains Tax (CGT). However, tax laws are subject to change and depend on individual circumstances. Please seek independent advice if necessary.

About Finspreads:

Finspreads is a leading online financial spread betting  firm, offering access to thousands of instruments on the world's financial markets.

The company pioneered fully interactive online spread betting in 1999 and continues to invest in technology to ensure that its service remains amongst the market leaders.