Webtrader offers trading in Contracts for Difference (CFDs) with the underlying instruments being 5600+ different stocks and Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) across on 26 international exchanges as well as 16 international indices.
CFDs are a flexible and dynamic tool for investing in any market conditions. They provide a way to hedge out the risk a portfolio is exposed to as well as to speculate when the belief is that the price of the underlying instrument will change. CFDs are leveraged instruments. This means that you are fully exposed to price movements of the underlying instrument without having to pay the full price of that instrument. CFDs therefore offer the potential to make a higher return from a smaller initial cash outlay than investing directly in the underlying instrument. CFDs require only a small initial margin to secure a trade.
Consider the benefits of trading CFDs with Webtrader:
Stock Bid / Ask spreads & Commissions
A Stock CFD tracks the price of an underlying stock, hence the bid/ask spread of the CFD equals the spread of the underlying stock.
When trading Single Stock CFDs on Webtrader a fixed commission in percentage terms is charged on the notional value of the trade with a minimum fee applicable for small trade sizes. For North American exchanges commission is calculated as cents per CFD.
Order Management
Market, Limit and Stop Orders are supported. Stop Limit and Trailing Stops (the order moves in line with the market) are also available on Webtrader. You can place conditional 'If done' and 'O.C.O.' (One Cancels Other) orders as well.
Market Orders
Standard Bank may choose to convert Market Orders into aggressive Limit Orders. This will be to, amongst others, comply with regulatory restrictions and/or its internal compliance requirements. Market Orders may also be subject to a conversion by our executing brokers for the same reasons.
Please note that it is the client's responsibility to check if the order is filled in the market after order entry. Standard Bank will not be responsible for missing fills due to the client's failure to check.
Exchanges Affected by conversions from Market Orders to aggressive Limit Orders:
Exchange |
NYSE MKT (AMEX – American Stock Exchange) |
Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) |
Athens Exchange (AT) |
London Stock Exchange (LSE_SETS) |
Oslo Børs/Oslo Stock Exchange (OSE) |
NASDAQ OMX Copenhagen (CSE) |
NASDAQ OMX Helsinki (HSE) |
Singapore Exchange (SGX-ST) |
BME Spanish Exchanges (SIBE) |
Competitive Bid/Ask spreads
When trading Index-Tracking CFDs on Webtrader, you only pay a spread, as a fee, on the bid/ask price.
Expiring Index-Tracking CFDs
Webtrader offers trading in the US2000 expiring Stock Index-Tracking CFD, which gives exposure to 2,000 small-cap US Stocks.
The US2000 Index-Tracking CFD tracks the price of the underlying Russel 2000.
Futures Contract and is traded with the Futures' market spread with a mark-up.
The US2000 Index-Tracking CFD expires quarterly. Once expired, it is cash settled on the expiration date. Any positions still open at the time of expiry will be automatically closed at the market price.
Manual roll of a position from one expiration date to the next may be done until prior to the expiration time (i.e. 17:00 New York time).
Trading Hours
You can trade the most popular indices in the trading session timeframe up to 22 hours.
See trading hours for each Index-tracking CFD under CFD Trading Rates.
Short Selling
Short selling of Index-Tracking CFDs is fully supported with Webtrader. See short selling CFDs above for more information.
Order Types
Limit, Market, Stop, Stop Limit and Trailing Stop Orders are supported.
A Stop Order to sell your position is triggered on the bid price and Stop Orders to buy are triggered on the ask price.
CFDs are traded on margin. This means that you are able to leverage your investment by opening positions of larger size than the funds you have to place as margin collateral. Margin requirements may be changed without prior notice. Standard Bank reserves the right to increase margin requirements for large position sizes, including client portfolios considered to be of very high risk.
Margin Calls
You must at all times maintain the required margin collateral as listed in the Account Summary on Webtrader. If at any time while a margin position is held, and the margin required to maintain that position exceeds the funds available for margin trading on the account, a margin call would be made. This can be done by either:
When you expect the price of a stock to go up, you can choose to take a long position in a Single Stock CFD.
In this example you expect the ABC123 Bank share price to rise from its current mid-price of £1.72. You have £10,000 to place on margin. With Standard Bank you have a 10:1 leverage on this specific underlying instrument, meaning you only have to place 10% of the trade amount on margin.
You decide to buy 50,000 Single Stock CFDs at the offer price of £1.73 which gives you a position of (50,000*£1.73) £86,500 in notional value.
Each day you hold the long position open you pay financing cost on the notional opening value of the position.
The interest rate used is LIBOR+3% (0.27144%+3% = 3.27144%). 10 days later, the ABC123 Bank price has risen and you sell the 50,000 CFDs at £1.85.
The trade details are:
Opening the position | How to calculate | Amount (GBP) |
Margin Available | £10,000 x 10 | 100,000 |
Notional Transaction Value | 50,000 x £1.73 | 86,500 |
Margin used | £86,500 x 0.10 | 8,650 |
Commissions on the trade | £86,500 x 0.10% | -86,50 |
Stamp Duty | | n/a |
Financing of position: | ||
Financing of margin | 3.27144% x 10 days x £86,500 / 360 | 78.61 |
Borrowing costs | | n/a |
Closing of position: | ||
Notional Transaction Value | 50,000 x £1.85 | 92,500 |
Commission on the trade | £92,500 x 0.10% | -92.50 |
Profit / Loss: | ||
Profit on trade | £92,500 - £86,500 | 6,000 |
Total Cost | £86.50 + £78.61 + £92.50 | 257.61 |
Total Profit | £6.000 - £257.61 | 5,742.39 |
Opening the position | How to calculate | Amount (GBP) |
Margin Available | £10,000 x 10 | 100,000 |
Notional Transaction Value | 50,000 x £1.71 | 85,500 |
Margin used | £85,500 x 0.10 | 8,550 |
Commissions on the trade | £85,500 x 0.10% | -85,50 |
Stamp Duty | | n/a |
Financing of position: | ||
Financing of margin | 2.23439% x 10 days x £85,500 / 360 | 53.07 |
Borrowing costs | No borrowing costs on ABC123 Bank | n/a |
Closing of position: | ||
Notional Transaction Value | 50,000 x £1.65 | 82,500 |
Commission on the trade | £92,500 x 0.10% | -82.50 |
Profit / Loss: | ||
Profit on trade | £85,500 - £82,500 | 3,000 |
Total Cost | £85.50 + £53.07 + £82.50 | 221.07 |
Total Profit | £3.000 - £221.07 | 2,778.93 |
Bonus Issues
New Stock CFDs are allocated on the Ex-date. Clients with short positions will be debited and clients with long positions credited.
Capital gain distribution
Cash payment is allocated on Ex-date for value Pay date.
Cash Dividends
Cash adjustments are booked on the Ex-date reflecting the market price movement on the Ex-date, but the actual value of the payment will be settled on the Pay Date.
Deletion of Open Orders as a Result of Corporate Actions
The day before a Corporate Action event is scheduled to take effect (the Ex-date), open orders are deleted for certain event types.
The following details the rules of behaviour:
Event Type | Never delete orders | Always delete orders | Rule defined below |
Tender offers | x |
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Stock splits | x |
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Reversed stock split | x |
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Bonus issues | x |
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Mandatory Mergers | x |
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Spin offs | x |
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Ticker changes | x |
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De-listings | x |
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Cash dividends | x |
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Stock dividends | x |
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Optional dividends | x |
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Right issues | x |
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