The Australia 200 is an index of the 200 largest companies on the Australian Stock exchange, and is a good representation of the health of the Aussie economy. For the daily rolling spread bet, IG Index are currently quoting at 4211.0 – 4215.0. You take an optimistic view of the index, and decide to place a bet of £4 per point for the index to go up. Your bet is placed at 4215.0, the “buying” price.
Your bet works out, and the index rises to a level of 4303.6 – 4307.6. You close your bet at the “selling” price of 4303.6, and proceed to work out how much you have won. Here is how you do it: –
- the number of points you gained is 4303.6 less 4215.0
- this is a total of 88.6 points
- the size of your bet was £4 per point
- therefore your winnings are 88.6 times £4
- which works out to total of £354.40
Whenever you are betting on the financial markets, you may find that the bet goes against you. Suppose instead of increasing in value, the Australia 200 index started to fall. To keep your losses small, you decide to close your bet when the index drops to 4193.2 – 4197.2. Again, you close at the “selling price”, which in this case is 4193.2.
How much have you lost?
- The number of points you lost is 4215.0 less 4193.2
- this is a total of 21.8 points
- the size your bet was still £4 per point
- therefore you lost 21.8 times £4
- which is a total loss of £87.20
IG Index also show an Australia 200 future style spread bet at a price of 4211.0 – 4216.0. This does not close for another couple of months. Notice that the spread is slightly wider, at five points, and this covers the fact that there is no daily interest charged on rolling over the bet from day-to-day.
You decide this time that the Australia 200 is going down, and place a sell bet, or a short bet, at the selling price of 4216.0 for a value of £7 per point. After watching the market for a week or two, you decide to take your profit when the index falls to 4078.6 – 4083.6. You close the bet at the buying price of 4083.6.
Here is how you work out your winnings: –
- the number of points you gained is 4216.0 less 4083.6
- this is a total of 132.4 points
- the size of your bet this time is £7 per point
- so your profit is 132.4 times £7
- you have made £926.80
However, again the index may have gone against you, and forced you to close the bet to minimize your losses. Say it went up to 4243.2 – 4248.2, and you closed your bet. This would be at the buying price of 4248.2. The amount you would have lost is: –
- points lost equals 4248.2 less 4216.0, which is 32.2 points
- with a bet size of £7, your total loss is £225.40.
How to Spread Bet the Australia 200
The Australia 200 index is made up of 200 companies from the Australian stock market. The index is independently managed by Standard & Poor’s, as a ratings agency, and the Australian Stock Exchange. In the last 20 years it has swung between 1300 points and nearly 7000 points, and in the last year moved 400 points, that’s around 10% of its current value.
The most interesting aspect of the Australian 200 index is that it is largely disconnected from the Western markets that have been in so much disarray. Just looking at the figures, such as the latest unemployment rate which is 5.2%, and the national interest rate which is 4.75%, shows how far removed it is from, for example, the US market with 9.1% unemployment and fractional interest.
That is not to say that the Australian stock market is totally detached from world affairs, simply that it has reacted differently.
The other difference that may make you want to consider spread betting on it is the complete time shift from other popular markets. While some spread betting providers will allow betting in certain markets outside the opening hours, usually there is a penalty in terms of the spread that they require when the bets cannot easily be covered. If you are attracted to the idea of betting at a different time of day because it fits in better with your schedule, then the Australia 200 may prove ideal.
Some of the companies covered by the Australia 200 include Woolworths, Qantas, Coca-Cola, and others which are in several countries. To qualify to be included in the Australia 200 the company must be in the list of the highest value companies in Australia, but also be active and regularly traded with at least a third of the shares available to the general public. The index is market capitalization weighted, which basically means that the company’s contribution to the index is proportional to the share price and the number of shares available to the general public, although there are some fudge factors used once the company is in the list so that the index only reflects changes in share value, not, for example, a company issuing additional shares. The list of companies in the index changes regularly, reflecting any changes in share prices.
So the Antipodean (to the British) index has a lot to be interested in, and if you’re thinking of spread betting on the Australia 200 it will be a good idea to do some homework on the markets. Regardless of the fact that the index behaves differently from those that you may be more used to trading such as the FTSE and the Dow Jones index, the fundamentals still apply in terms of managing your risk, position sizing, and limiting your losses. The Australia 200 index offers further proof of the validity of technical analysis in the financial trading markets, and you should research its reaction to the various technical indicators in the timeframe that you want to bet, so you can make informed spread trading decisions.