Understanding the Types of Financial Spread Bet

One of the main features of financial spread betting is to be able to trade in a wide range of market types and geographical locations. Once, dealing in foreign stocks could have been very difficult logistically, but the internet has changed all that by giving traders online access to markets in different locations and in different time zones.
Financial betting on spreads takes these spreads a step further by allowing you to trade products from all over the world from a single trading platform – which means you can build trading strategies for just about anything.

Here are the main types of spread bets:
Commodity bets: These have been around for quite some time, but have become more popular in recent years as the commodity boom has drawn the world’s attention to this investment category. Commodity bets enable you to trade products like crude oil over the course of a long trading day, making these spread bets extremely convenient. Commodity bets also provide good portfolio diversification for traders.
Forex trading bets (forex, forex):This is a very popular trading tool offered by most of the providers. You are dealing in this market in the relative value of two currencies (the exchange rate). The market is very liquid (which means that it is very easy to enter and exit trades). Forex spreads bets are available for trading 24 hours a day, and often six days a week, so you can trade any time you like.
Index bets: Index spread bets have become very popular because they allow traders to get exposure to the broader market in a single trade by placing a bet on an index. This could be something like the FTSE 100 Index or the Dow Jones Industrial Average in the US. Spread bets are usually available to trade all day and all night.
Interest Rate Bets: Interest rate (or money market) spread bets give traders access to a market most traders may not have dealt with before – the interest rate stock market, with a particular focus on short-term and long-term bonds. While the underlying instruments may have a specific term (for example, ten years), this is not an issue with spread betting, as you are only concerned with capturing price movements. Interest rate bets can offer real benefits to traders in the form of diversification.
Cross Bets: For budding spread bettors, cross bets are probably the first step, as they are the most widespread betting similar to a market you should already be familiar with – the stock market. Participation bets enable you to trade price movements in the local and most large foreign markets. Share bets are available to trade during the same hours that the underlying market is open – so if you want to trade the US markets, you’re late at night.