There are currently in excess of ten companies offering Contract For Difference services and it can be baffling for someone new to trading when deciding which company to sign up with.  For this very reason, I have decided to write this short guide to highlight the best providers to sign up with.  The following three companies are the most professional on the market and provide the best overall product offering.

1.  InterTrader. Supported by London Capital Group and BWIN.Party, is a leading London Based CFD and spread betting company authorized and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.
InterTrader offers advanced trading options, tight fixed spreads, a TradeBack program, where you get a rebate of up to 10% of your trading costs and additional special offers. The company also offers traders a learning program, which includes free webinars about trading given by world-class traders and educators and professional live support.

2.  IG Markets.  IG Markets is the arm of IG Index – the world’s leading spread betting company.  Not only they offer extremely tight spreads but they also provide first class support, great charting packages and a wide variety of markets to choose from.

3.  ETX Capital.  ETX are another very popular CFD company that also offer spread betting services.  Their two main selling points are that they provide second to none training that is worth £500 and also offer new clients a free £250 safety net.  This safety net means you can trade with the peace of mind that if you end up in a losing position, they will return your loss to you, up to the value of £250.  ETX Capital, like IG Markets are also very competitive with their buy-sell spreads and are very professional whenever you need to contact them.

Although I have listed these as the best companies out there to trade CFDs with, you must make your own mind up.

Each company has a different product offering and what is important to you, might not be quite as important to somebody else.

For example you might be looking to make a number of small trades, in which case the spread will not be so important to you; you might be more interested in the training facilities the company offers.  Another, more serious trader might be looking to place hundreds of trades each week, in which case spreads will be extremely important to them.

I must say though, if you do decide to use any of the three companies discussed above, you should not come across any problems.  I know many traders that use the services of IG Markets, ETX Capital and City Index and I rarely hear about any bad experiences.