Financial spread betting is growing in popularity around the world, here is an introductory guide to financial spread betting.

Forex trading, also known as Foreign Exchange Trading or FX Trading, is a relatively recent phenomenon. In fact, until the collapse of the 1944 Breton Woods Agreement (initiated to keep cash from draining out of war-ravaged Europe) it wouldn’t have been possible at all. Today the foreign exchange market is the largest, most liquid and most influential market in the world.

A CFD (Contract for Difference) is an over the counter agreement between two parties to exchange the difference between the opening and the closing price of that contract. Sounds complicated, but it’s not really. This article explores contracts for difference in more detail and compares it with other forms of financial spread betting.

For many, financial spread betting typifies casino capitalism, the City of London and all the woes of the present world economy. At the end of the day, It’s high-risk, high-reward and remarkably tax-efficient way of gambling. The spread betting market remains the most attractive, relatively easy to understand and cheapest option for anyone who fancies the idea of playing the markets for profit.

Explores the rise in online trading during the global economic crisis, with a wide range of options for individuals to buy and sell shares on the stock market using online share dealing websites. Additionally looks at the growing popularity of financial spread betting and cfd trading, a way of trading on the stock market without physically owning shares, by betting on rises or falls in prices.