Cantor Index

Cantorindex.com is the online spread-betting arm of, a division of the Cantor Fitzgerald Group, a well known intermediary (i.e. stockbroker, or in this case, licensed bookmaker). You can spread bet online on a wide range of financial instruments, including the early revenue generated by new films. Offline, Cantors will take bets on political events and economic data.


Spread bets are akin to Contracts for Difference in the sense that they are settled on a multiple (the stake per point) of the difference between the settlement and the original buy/sell prices and packaged as wagers so as to avoid capital gains tax. However, if you make regular gains over an extended period, there is a possibility that the Inland Revenue will attempt to tax them as income.



Readers who are not familiar with the basics of spread betting, should read our Introduction to Spread Betting, found in Articles on the Money Channel.



What Can You Bet On?


· Daily Indices (same-day expiry): FTSE, Dow; FTSE Futures, Dow Futures; S&P Futures, Nasdaq 100 Futures; DAX 30 Futures, CAC 40 Futures.


· Indices settled on a fixed date in the month: FTSE Futures, Dow Futures; FTSE/Dow Differential; DAX 30 Futures, DAX/FTSE Differential; CAC 40 Futures, IBEX 35 Futures, MIB 30 Futures, SOFFEX Futures, S&P 500 Futures, Nasdaq 100 Futures, Nikkei 225 Futures, Hang Seng Futures, Eurostoxx Futures.


· Single Quarterly and Weekly Shares: FTSE350 and others, Eurostoxx 50; US stocks, Dax 30 Futures.


· Economic Groups Indices: Resources, Utilities, Information Technology, Financials.


· Sectoral Indices: Mining, Oil & Gas, Chemicals, Aerospace & Defence, Beverages, Food Processors & Producers, Pharmaceuticals, Tobacco, General Retailers, Leisure, Entertainment & Hotels, Media & Photography, Restaurants Pubs and Breweries, Transport, Food & Drug Retailers, Telecommunication Services, Electricity, Gas Distribution, Water, Banks, Insurance, Life Assurance, IT Hardware, Software & Computer Services.


· Currencies: GBP/USD, EUR/$, EUR/GBP, USD/Yen, USD/CHF, GBP/Yen, GBP/CHF, EUR/Yen, EUR/CHF, Yen/USD, AUD,USD, CAD/USD.


· Interest Rates: Eurodollar, Short Sterling 3-month, Euroswiss, Euribot.


· Bonds: Bund Futures, Bobl Futures (German), T-Bond Futures (US), Gilt Futures (UK), JGB Futures (Japan), 10-Year Note (CBOT).


· Options: Indices (FTSE 100, Wall Street Futures, DAX 30 Futures, S&P 500, Nasdaq 100 Futures); Bonds (Bund, T-Bond, Gilt Futures); Interest Rates (Eurodollar, Short Sterling 3-month); Currencies (Yen/USD, CHF.USD, EUR/USD, GBP/USD all IMM); Metals (Gold, Silver); Oils (Light Crude).


· Commodities: Brent Cruse Oil, NYMEX Crude, Orange Juice, Corn, Cotton No.2, Live Cattle, Unleaded Gasoline, Wheat.


· Metals: Gold, Silver, Platinum.


· Movies: Wagers on the final movie revenue on the first weekend or four weeks, first weekend supremacy or four week supremacy (i.e. gross takings from first day of release, rounded up or down to the nearest half-million).



Trading



· Load the products that you wish to view or trade on your Product Page. Simply click on Add Product. Enter the first few letters of the product name, the ticker or the Cantor index code, and click on the Search button within this window.


· Click the Trade button adjacent to the required product in the Action column of the spreadsheet. This opens the Trade Box and enters the product name (e.g. FTSE Daily, Tuesday).


· Select whether you wish to buy or sell at the prices displayed. Choose your stake per point and confirm choice of currency (e.g. GBP). Indicate whether you wish to add a guaranteed stop, a normal stop or a limit. For a guaranteed stop, a new pair of buy/sell prices will be displayed adjusted for the cost of the guarantee and the closing spread.


· Stops and limits are automatically set at the nearest permissible price. If you wish to amend stops, limits and your stake per point, you go to the Client Exposure Monitor, click on the Edit/View in the Action column and use the toggles to amend the limits/stops.



Contingent Bets



Punters can control their risks by laying contingent bets:


· Limit: A controlled-risk bet, triggered once a specified buy or sell price has been reached.


· Normal Stop Loss: A controlled risk bet to close a position at a given price, but where the bookmaker does not guarantee to execute precisely at that price.


· Guaranteed Stop Loss: A controlled risk bet where you are guaranteed closure at a specified price, irrespective of market volatility. There is an extra charge expressed in terms of a wider spread.



Your first port of call should Be Market Information, which contains the terms and conditions of your account, as well as the details of each individual product; market/Cantor hours, minimum stake, spread, guaranteed stop cost, NTR factor (margin), contract term and last dealing day.



The danger is to take spread-betting at face value and treat it as a gambling rather than investing activity, with the real possibility that punters will be tempted to bet on complex and unfamiliar instruments like options. Just as you should never invest in any commodity or scheme that you do not understand, you should not gamble on any instrument with which you are unfamiliar.



For example, spread-betting on options is highly risky. The mathematics of fair valuation is daunting and gains and losses are 'doubly leveraged.' The option price is a fraction of the underlying and that the price of an in-the-money option moves one-to-one with that of the underlying, less time-value decay which accelerates as the option approaches expiry. This implies that the option may be disproportionately volatile to the underlying. On top of this, you are betting at £x per point. Only for the experts!