Hi All,

First off Malcolm, great books, I've read the handbook, winning strategies and 7 charting tools. I really like your writing style, thorough explanations, methodical breakdowns and real-world examples.

I'm still very much finding my feet and have a quick question to the forum in general, apologies if I'm being a little simple here...

I've seen a number of providers quoting that bettors are able to bet on indices such as the FTSE100 24 hrs a day. such as in this quoted text here from IG Index

'Many of our bets on indices, including FTSE and Wall Street, are quoted 24 hours a day. This means you can respond to global stock market news and gain exposure even when the underlying market is closed'


Obviously, I'll grill any company I open an account with before betting, but I'm intrigued (and slightly suspicious) to understand how they can quote the FTSE or any other indices outside of it's trading hours.

I'm guessing it varies from company to company, but is it the individual firm that is quoting the expected price of the FTSE or is there really a bonafide 24hour market hidden from regular equity traders?

Thanks in advance.

Dave

Dave

There's no hidden 24 hour market unfortunately. You can trade FX 24 hours a day, and obviously other stock markets are open when the LSE is not.

All it means is that you can place bets outside trading hours, they will be fulfilled when the market is open.

Regards
Nyintaka

Hi, this has been confusing me a little as well. I signed up with IG a couple of days ago and the FTSE 100 Daily (amoungst others) seems to be open and the price changing all the time even during the evening, I just lost a few quid on it between the hours or 1830 and 1930, I wrongly assumed I was placing an order to open but it turned out to be a live position?

Can anyone explain???
Thanks for your help!

There is a market in FTSE100 Futures which is open when the LSE is closed, this is the market that the Spreadbetting companies use to make their price "out of hours" One such company that deals in "future" contracts is :http://www.euronext.com/landing/landingInfo-1896-EN.html
Have a look at the site.
The spread betting companies do usually cover themselves by widening the spread out of hours. Often to 6 points between 16:30 and 8.00
There are also futures markets in various other Tradable products including some shares, so you can effective deal in some major shares out of hours as well.
"G"

Yes, to correct an earlier post in this thread, nearly all the spread betting firms provide a 24 hour market in the indices; if you have an open trade with a stop, or if you place an order, the stop or the order will be filled based on the overnight market if it gets hit. Also to correct an incorrect statement in an earlier post in this thread any orders you place are NOT orders to be filled when the market next opens, they are LIVE orders based on the 24 hour market.

This is not just for spread betting by the way; there are 24 hour global markets for the major indices (Globex markets). The spread betting firms will continually adjust their prices based on the overnight movements on these 24 hour global markets.

The global markets for indices do shut over the weekend - and so do the spread betting firms (some stop quoting prices at 9pm on a Friday, some at 10pm and some at some point between).