Are You Better at Spread Betting Than Gordon Gekko?

Are You Better at Spread Betting Than Gordon Gekko?

LONDON, October 28, 2010/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Financial spread betting and CFD trading provider City Index
(http://www.cityindex.co.uk) is celebrating the release of the new film Wall
Street: Money Never Sleeps with a fun online game and a fantastic prize draw.
Simply visit http://www.cityindexwallstreet.co.uk for details of how you
could win an iPad, iPod touch or even GBP200 trading credit in your spread
betting account.

Here, in honour of the film's iconic lead, City Index takes a look at
four of Gordon Gekko's most famous quotes in order to ascertain how cinema's
most legendary investor would have fared in the world of spread betting and
CFD trading today.

"Greed, for lack of a better word, is good."

Wrong. In financial spread betting and CFD trading, greed is most
definitely not good. Spread bets and CFD trades both carry a high degree of
risk and can result in you losing more than your initial deposit. Knowing
when to cut your losses and when to let your profits run is essential and
relies on the strictest discipline, not emotion or impulse. For this reason,
it is advisable to operate - and stick to - a spread betting strategy that
outlines your entry, objective and exit from every spread bet or CFD trade
that you make. A spread betting demo account (
http://www.cityindex.co.uk/learn-to-trade/demo-account.aspx) represents an
ideal place to practice.

"I look at a hundred deals a day. I pick one."

Correct. Financial spread betting and CFD trading are not easy and even
the best traders get things wrong from time to time. Remember, standing aside
is a position. Only make spread bets and CFD trades that you are 100%
comfortable with.

"The most valuable commodity I know of is information."

Correct. It is absolutely vital that the spread bets and CFD trades you
make are built on a solid foundation of research and analysis. For example,
if you were to start spread betting on British Airways shares, you should
have learnt beforehand that a rise in oil prices would typically increase the
costs of an airline to fly its passengers all over the world and would
therefore put pressures on earnings. In order to react effectively to news
activity, you need to know exactly how the market in question moves, what
affects those movements, how volatile it can be and which forthcoming
announcements may affect it.

"Lunch is for wimps."

Wrong. Spread betting and CFD trading are demanding, draining and should
never be a priority. It is imperative that every spread bettor or CFD trader
has a life away from the financial markets.

In reality, Gekko would still have had a lot to learn about spread
betting and CFD trading - but with the range of free trading seminars
(http://www.cityindex.co.uk/learn-to-trade/seminars.aspx) and webinars
available at City Index, the achievement of his trading potential would not
have been beyond him.

See how you could improve your spread betting and CFD trading skills at
http://www.cityindex.co.uk/learn-to-trade/.

Take on City Index's Wall Street Challenge and enter the prize draw at
http://www.cityindexwallstreet.co.uk.

Spread betting and CFD trading are leveraged products which can result in
losses greater than your initial deposit. Ensure you fully understand the
risks.

Spread betting and CFD trading are exempt from UK stamp duty. Spread
betting is also exempt from UK Capital Gains Tax. However, tax laws are
subject to change and depend on individual circumstances. Please seek
independent advice if necessary.

Source: City Index

Contact: Joshua Raymond, City Index Group, Tel: +44(0)20-7107-7002, Email: joshua.raymond[at]cityindex.co.uk, Jonathan Smith / Alex Nekrassov, New Century Media, Tel: +44(0)20-7930-8033, Email: jsmith[at]newcenturymedia.co.uk / alexnekrassov[at]newcenturymedia.co.uk

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