IG Index Review

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Spread Betting Broker Summary

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This review will cover the essential aspects of IG Markets, which is a UK based Spread Betting company that was founded more than 30 years ago to become the first spread betting brokerage to offer its trading facilities to a global audience. The company has maintained its leadership position within the industry with the rise of retail internet based trading and, with its listing on the FTSE 250 stock exchange, is still one of the best known names in the business, catering to more than 100,000 retail clients. IG markets platforms cannot, however, be used by US or Turkish based traders, as Spread Betting products cannot be legally traded in those areas._x000D_
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Trading Markets Offered

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IG markets offers one of the most diverse asset varieties in the Spread Betting industry. With 9 different types of asset instruments offered, Spread Betters can choose to invest in forex, commodities, stock indices or individual shares, binary trades (higher or lower positions), options, interest rates, industry sectors or even custom bets which allow investors to tailor trades in any of these choices to meet their individual trading plans. IG markets offers one of the most diverse set of tradable assets to cater to a wider variety of investor types._x000D_
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Trading Platforms

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The platform that is used by IG clients is a propriety web based program, called Pure Deal, which is a very well known and widely testing software program that has been available for years. The application can be used on the iPad or on mobile devices and is designed to set the industry standard in efficiency, security and accurate pricing. Using Pure Deal, IG claims that nearly 99.5% of trades are executed in less than 0.1 seconds, with 99.95% core platform uptime in 2010 and 2011. IGג€™s trading platform is designed to offer secure and reliable trading platforms to its clients, and these numbers represent the top level of the industry standard. No downloads are required for the trading station, so your trades can be accessed from any computer with a stable internet connection._x000D_
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Special Offers

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IG offers free seminars to its clients, and new traders can talk to experienced investors at these events before entering into real money positions. There is also a ג€œrefer a friendג€ which offers a ֲ£1 payment for each new trading member introduced to the platform._x000D_
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Learning Center

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Perhaps the best aspect of the IG markets product is the wide range of educational tools that are freely available. The regularly updated market analysis focuses on individual asset classes, which can be utilized by traders in forex, stocks or commodities. Research articles are offered session by session and these discuss the reasons for each of the latest market moves. Analysis is offered in either text or video form and is both technical and fundamental in nature, so trading styles of all types can benefit from these offerings._x000D_
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Charting Package

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IG markets offers objective, third party chart analysis of the latest patterns affecting price activity but there is also a comprehensive charting package that is built into the trading platform. This will be a major benefit for many traders focused on technical analysis strategies, as the charts offer a wide range of commonly used technical indicators and charting tools. Trades can be executed directly from these charts, and the well known charting pattern identifier, AutoChartist, is made available to clients._x000D_
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Site Strengths/ Weaknesses

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Site strengths include a flexible funding plan that allows for traders to deposit any dollar amount (there are no funding limits) and this can ensure that traders are never risking more money than they can afford. The educational offerings are also a major strength, as this area in unmatched by nearly every other major spread betting broker. Weaknesses can be seen in the lack of promotional offerings available to new traders._x000D_
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Conclusion

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IG markets lives up to the hype when traders are looking for a stable and reliable broker with an excellent track record. In addition to low spreads, traders are offered an excellent charting package, a reliable trading platform and different account types for different investor styles. Traders can access a vast library of instructional materials and, overall, there is little that can be said to discourage traders from choosing IG markets as their broker of choice._x000D_
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