By far the easiest way for a beginner to get a grasp of the workings of spread betting is to follow some of the introductory spread betting webinars that are available online. A number of spread betting providers are catching onto the popularity of this style of presentation and starting to build up libraries of archives. Spread betting webinars are typically free of charge and you do not usually need to be an existing client of the spread trading broker to access them. It is then a good idea to go into a bit more detail by working through one of the online trading guides.
“The spread betting market is very competitive and providers are always looking to enhance their services in an effort at attracting more clients. Aside from expensive advertising campaigns which now include publicity about mobile phone applications, other recruitment and retention strategies include in-house presentations, web seminars, educational forums and demo accounts.”
Web-based seminars, or webinars as they are commonly referred to offer a good video presentation of spread betting that can be watched at your leisure. Some of the webinars revolve around spread betting in general whereas others are intended to provide an overview and help you navigate around the broker’s spread trading platform.
The spread betting webinars themselves represent a level of convenience that cannot simply be matched by in-house trading seminars. As opposed to conventional spread betting seminars where a trader typically has to to make some travelling – and may involve long train journeys for some investors, especially if they happen to live outside the City, a webinar’s only requirement is a desktop computer and a decent internet connection.
“Play, pause, rewind, fast forward and review your spreadbetting education with a trading webinar. Whether you are a total newbie or have already dabbled in spread trading, you will probably find a training course, spread betting webinar or other package that suits your needs.”
Education and Training
A spread trading webinar can actually work better than an actual live presentation as you play and listed to it at your leisure. In this instance spread betting company City Index has proceeded to introduce a number of free online videos which are designed to help you learn more about spread betting. The webinars are open to City Index account holders as well as non-account holders, so really all you need to get started with the 8-minute webinars is a computer and a good internet connection.
Spread betting webinars and seminars also differ from each other as regards the different ways of interaction to traders. Seminars provide traders the opportunity to ask questions to the host leading the workshop, allowing them to tailor the seminar experience to their own particular spread betting needs. Webinars, on the other hand allow spread traders to learn spread betting at their own pace. So basically webinars lack the human touch and interactivity of a seminar class but offer the distinct advantage of being available whenever the client wishes to learn, and viewable from all over the world if the customer has an internet connection.
Your spread betting demo account can also be employed during both seminars and webinars, giving traders the chance to practice what they learn on a real-time trading platform with a virtual cash balance.
On the other hand, spread betting seminars involve more interactivity than webinars as they allow for face to face interaction. Unlike webinars, spread betting seminars will also be attended by a host of other traders, and the different opinions, questions and levels of experience that they bring to the table can sometimes help to enhance your own knowledge. A seminar will also give you the chance to meet some of the staff at your spread betting provider and in this respect can be helpful to get a feel of the daily business and whom you are dealing with.
GFT for instance offers a range of live webinars, free trading guides, in-office seminars and daily analyst commentaries. These cover a number of diverse topics, including tutorials on how to use their DealBook platform, risk management, understanding charts, utilising technical analysis and analysts views on market fundamentals.
IG Index is also known to host regular one-hour ‘webinars’ (online seminars), as well as more comprehensive two-hour real-life seminars covering the foundations of financial spread betting. These seminars don’t carry a signup-fee and are run by David Jones, who is IG’s chief market strategist. City Index’s webinars are hosted by in-house market strategists Joshua Raymond and Ashraf Laidi and focus on market happenings and insights.
Duration
Whereas spread betting seminars may last for up to 2 to 3 hours, webinars are usually much shorter and may not require more than 8 minutes viewing to complete them; these range from a basic introduction to more specialised topics like commodities, the mindset of a trader and commodities. This means that the webinars aren’t particularly time-consuming to watch and it is quite feasible to watch the same webinars a few times to make sure to digest the information. The regular twice-weekly online webinars look at the market happenings ahead and important price levels to keep an eye on.
At the end of the day, the best way to improve your spread betting knowledge might be a combination of seminars and webinars. City Index in particular offers animated webinars and seminars on various topics ranging from the basics of spread betting to technical analysis, candlestick patterns and more.