Savvy investors make use of CFD trading opportunities

Investors are increasingly trading on CFD platforms, according to recent research from Barclays Stockbrokers. One in seven online investors say they trade in CFDs (up five per cent to 14 per cent from the same time last year) and Barclays Stockbrokers has seen a 30 per cent increase in trading on its CFD platform over the past year. To accommodate the increased demand from investors, Barclays Stockbrokers today announces a series of updates to its CFD platform.

These updates form part of Barclays Stockbrokers ongoing active trader proposition, which launched with BARX in September 2007, providing private investors with access to Level 1 and 2 Equity trading. The spot FX platform on BARX launched in April this year; offering leveraged spot trading for the world's most liquid currency pairs.

Barclays Stockbrokers enhanced platform for investors wanting to trade in CFDs includes the following key features:

Access to new markets including Australian stocks through CFD and FST accounts plus wider coverage of Asian markets with more stocks added

Streaming tradable prices - Investors can keep up-to-date with the very latest price movements and act on them in real time. Through Barclays Stockbrokers trading platform investors have 24 hour access to prices across global financial markets

Firm quotes up to ‘Our Size' - For every CFD and spread bet market traded Barclays Stockbrokers will deal at its quoted prices up to a maximum size known as "Our Size" - providing execution certainty for deals within this size

Prices that track the underlying instrument accurately - Prices replicate those of the underlying instrument - investors can be sure their trade will be placed at the prices they expect

Comprehensive market news, research and charting - Real time news, prices, and market data provide resources to help investors make informed trading decisions while the professional charting package includes a range of indicators for technical analysts

Sophisticated order management tools - A wide range of order types including stops, linked contingent orders and ‘Guaranteed Stop Loss' tools allow sophisticated risk management. Advanced tools for trade closure and auto-rollover offer trading flexibility

Deal anytime, anywhere with web based trading - With no software to download investors can login to their account and trade whenever they want to and wherever they are

Barbara-Ann King, Head of Proposition at Barclays Stockbrokers, says: "Over the past year we have seen our clients increasingly using sophisticated products to gain returns in volatile markets. Through updating our CFD platform with improved functionality we are able to give our clients the ability to trade more effectively, the sophisticated trading tools will help investors make the most of global market opportunities exactly as they happen. We are committed to reviewing the platform regularly to ensure our clients are able to trade as efficiently as possible."