OANDA to start offering CFD trading

Continuing the trend of Forex Forex Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest tradi Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest tradi Read this Term brokers trying to diversify their offering to clients OANDA is becoming the latest broker to start offering CFD trading.

Many brokers are now trying to see whether CFDs present lucrative enough opportunity for them to enter this market. CFD market is not that big however and is mainly popular in United Kingdom and Australia with IG Markets being by far the largest CFD broker.

CFD trading is illegal in the United States. FXCM is one of the largest forex brokers now offering CFD trading via its UK based firm (just like OANDA is doing here) using ODL's presence. In 2011 CFD trading generated 11% of FXCM's total trading volume representing around $30 billion a month.

Leading foreign exchange dealer provides European traders the opportunity to trade indices and commodities derivatives

LONDON, March 19, 2012 — OANDA Corporation, provider of innovative online foreign exchange trading, has added contracts for difference (CFD) instruments to its award-winning Trading Platform Trading Platform In the FX space, a currency trading platform is a software provided by brokers to their respective client base, garnering access as traders in the broader market. Most commonly, this reflects an online interface or mobile app, complete with tools for order processing.Every broker needs one or more trading platforms to accommodate the needs of different clients. Being the backbone of the company’s offering, a trading platform provides clients with quotes, a selection of instruments to trade, real In the FX space, a currency trading platform is a software provided by brokers to their respective client base, garnering access as traders in the broader market. Most commonly, this reflects an online interface or mobile app, complete with tools for order processing.Every broker needs one or more trading platforms to accommodate the needs of different clients. Being the backbone of the company’s offering, a trading platform provides clients with quotes, a selection of instruments to trade, real Read this Term.

CFDs are derivatives based on an underlying index or commodity. Among the new CFD instruments being offered on the OANDA fxTrade trading platform are index CFDs providing trading access to the Wall Street 30, US Nas 100, US SPX 500, UK 100, Germany 30, Hong Kong 33, and Japan 225; as well as commodity CFDs for crude oil, corn, and wheat.

CFDs allow traders to diversify their investment portfolios or hedge current holdings to better manage overall market exposure. Traders use CFDs to take long or short positions to potentially benefit from market movements in either direction. OANDA clients enjoy fast, reliable execution, flexible trade sizes, full transparency and a market leading web-based and mobile trading platform.

“OANDA has a reputation for innovation; our customers choose us because they value the competitive spreads, quality of execution, and trading experience enabled by our technology,” said Michael Stumm, CEO of OANDA Corporation. “By bringing OANDA innovation to CFD trading, we aim to disrupt this market the way we disrupted the forex market – with fair, transparent pricing, immediate trade settlement, real-time interest rate calculation on balances and open positions, and more.”

OANDA has made CFD trading available to its European clients first, with a plan to roll it out to customers in other regions later this year.

“We are delighted to be the first OANDA division to offer this exciting addition to our product range,” said Antony Broadbent, Managing Director of OANDA Europe Limited. “CFDs play an important role in European trading strategies and we expect our clients to welcome the opportunity to trade this asset class on OANDA’s proven platform.”