Go back to Where can I Spread Bet?

Cantor Index - What's on offer online -:

Established in May 2000, financial spread betting organisation Cantor Index is part of Cantor Fitzgerald International, one of the largest bond trading companies in the world with over 55 years' experience as a wholesale financial intermediary. In 2003, it rolled out Cantor Mobile, a real-time mobile-trading device that now handles a significant portion of Cantor Index's trading. In a bid to make their service as unique & imaginative as possible, Cantor Index have recently introduced a movie betting system where investors can spread bet on potential US box office grossings a of newly released film.

General Points (we will strive to keep this review up-to-date)

  1. Cantor Index will allow you to open an account and use the platform, but you will not be able to place trades until you fund the account.
  2. Cantor Index state that they aim to hedge all client bets in the underlying markets, certainly the big bets. This should imply that they don't really mind if you win, so there should be no ‘mysterious web problems’ when you try to close a deal...etc.
  3. You can create your own watchlist of markets – in fact you can build up to 5 pages of your own with each page holding up to 26 products.
  4. The minimum bet at Cantor Index is £2 per point on single UK shares, £1 per point on foreign stocks and £3 per point on indices. The minimum bet accepted on the telephone is £10
  5. All daily bets are settled at the cash price unless they have the word 'Future' in them. For example the Daily FTSE will settle at the Cash price but the Daily FTSE Future will settle at the Futures price.
  6. Initial margin for single share betting is 10% on Cantor Index (FTSE350 shares).
  7. Cantor Index no longer offer credit accounts (at the time of writing they offer Deposit and Guaranteed Stop Loss accounts).
    8.  
  8. Cantor Spreadfair allows you to bet on house prices.
  9. Not possible to open an account with Cantor if you live outside of the United Kingdom and Ireland.
  10. Live Streaming Dow Jones Newswire.
  11. Cantor’s eSpeed trading platform is browser based so, and I have tried this, it can be accessed from most machines (internet cafes...etc).
  12. Interest: Cantor Index has a discretionary policy and pays interest only on large amounts.

Good Points

  1. Cantor’s eSpeed dealing platform and crisp, easy to see what is going on. The site is densely populated and yet easy to find your way around.
  2. There are a number of useful tools for the serious investor just as market charts and analysis and the latest fiscal news. Cantor’s website even features a 'chill out' room where stressed investors can take time out & gaze serenely at the various relaxing images of seascapes, landscapes & skies, listen to laid back synch music and let all their troubles drift away. Sports fanatics can also indulge in a quick game of clay pigeon shooting or golf online ;)
  3. Most bookmakers run daily or quarterly bets but Cantor Index accepts bets on ‘weekly shares’ as well.
  4. Trading with CantorIndex.com is available 24 hours a day (Sunday 11.30pm to Friday 9.15pm).
  5. Cantor will quote for small companies (AIM or whatever) as low as around £20m cap if asked (though they don't advertise it). Stock availability will restrict shorting at times on small less liquid stocks.
  6. Cantor Index has recently launched a market for stocks that you can’t even trade! Not quite as daft as it sounds, the latest offering provides a market for shares that have been suspended (i.e. grey market) so that those who like a gamble can speculate on what they think the price will be when they are reinstated. Note that if a company’s shares don’t make it back to the market Cantor will take the price as zero.

Bad Points

  1. Not the best spreads around. Wide spreads for forex trading although it has a few offers from time-to-time. For instance Daily Rolling Spot FX - June/July Specials have EUR/GBP and EUR/USD at 1 tick and GBP/USD at 2 ticks.
  2. Recently increased clients’ margin payments from 10 per cent to 20 per cent, this meant investors who put up €10,000 in cash could only take an interest in shares to the value of €50,000 - down from €100,000 as at last August. In a note circulated to investors, Cantor blamed 'current instability in the global credit markets and the potential knock-on effect that such instability may have on global markets' for the revised rules. The company believes this is a temporary measure and rates will return to usual levels when Cantor Fitzgerald believes that the markets have sufficiently stabilized.
  3. Cantor won't allow their standard non-guaranteed stop loss to be positioned closer than 20pts on the FTSE and 16pts on the Dow (same problem with IG but Capital Spreads allow you to put it very close).
  4. The P&L is based on the mid-point of the spread. It would be better if their screen valuations of open positions were calculated at the current exit price - like they are at IG - and not at an irrelevant mid-price. As a trader commented with IG he can quickly close a bet knowing that the figure in the valuation column is the same figure that will transfer to the balance column. 'With Cantor the latter will always be worse than the former and if I want to know how much worse I have to do a mental calculation based on glancing at a current quote. This is a tiresome nuisance.'
  5. None of the panels are resizable which could be annoying especially if I’m running with more than one company.
  6. It takes significantly longer to log onto Cantor and its platform than onto IG (more keystrokes involved and more cursor actions) - this can be a problem if one is in a hurry to get into a trade.

Regulation

Cantor Index Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

Market Information Sheets

Cantor Index Market Information Sheet (40 Kb)

If you are located in the UK you can request a free no obligations brochure from some leading spread betting companies and the products and services they offer by clicking here

Please note that here we are only giving an account of our experiences and readers comments/contributions, please do not take this as advice to open/close/avoid any firms - your experience might be different! Send us your comments by filling in the form below.

Comments Date
    By Bob2008-06-17 10:57:55

I have accounts with IG Index and Cantor Index. Cantor Index has fewer products, a poorer GUI and worse trading hours - but has tighter spreads. IG is open for online trading pretty much at all times the markets are open. I find the GUI easier to use and more flexible, and their "Trade Sense" programme for new clients is great for understanding what you're doing.
Name:
Email:
Comments :
 

Please do not copy/paste this content without permission. If you want to use any of it on your website contact us via email traderATfinancial-spread-betting.com (remove the AT and substitute by @).