Do not invest more money than you can afford to lose.
CMC Markets (LON:CMCX), an online brokerage of forex and contracts for difference (CFDs), said on Monday it has launched a binary options trading service on its Next Generation platform. The broker offers fully automated trading in forex pairs, indices and commodities.
The move is part of the broker’s mid-term development strategy, which also envisions the launch of many other new products within the next 18 months, the broker said, without elaborating.
In binary options, investors guess whether the price of a certain instrument, would go upwards or downwards within a pre-determined time frame. Once the time is up, the option is deemed expired and the bet is settled. Depending on the outcome, a trader either collects a profit, or loses money. CMC Markets offers four types of binary options:
- Up/Downs – provides traders the opportunity to speculate on whether the settlement price will be at or above the previous period’s close at the end of the binary expiry
- Range – traders can speculate whether the settlement price will be within a specified range when the binary expires
- One Touch – allows traders to speculate on the settlement price reaching a specified strike price during the binary timeframe
- Ladders – A popular binary product that allows traders to speculate on whether the settlement price will be at or above a chosen strike level, in a certain timeframe
CMC Markets’ offering includes five-minute and one-day binary options, according to data from the broker’s website.
“I’m really excited about our new binary offer which has been completely developed in-house,” said David Fineberg, director of trading at CMC Markets. “Our ambition was to offer clients an intuitive, feature-rich experience that worked across all devices via one account, combined with the exceptional levels of reliability and servicing that clients expect from CMC Markets,” he added.
CMC Markes’ binary trading service also features over 80 technical indicators for analysis. Trading in binaries will be allowed even at times wen the markets are flat when investors can benefit from the low volatility. Clients of CMC Markets can trade in binary options using their existing accounts.
CMC Markets holds a license from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The brokerage got listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) in February this year, raising about £218 million. It serves retail and institutional clients and has offices in 14 countries with a focus on the markets in the UK, Australia, Germany and Singapore.
CMC Markets offers trading via its proprietary trading platform Next Generation, accessible via both desktop and mobile devices, in more than 10,000 financial instruments, including forex, shares, indices, commodities and treasuries through CFDs, spread betting, and now binary options.
Binary options are the closest thing to gambling in the online forex trading world and are forbidden in some countries like the US, while Israel is heading in the same direction. In Canada, there are no binary options brokers authorized by the relevant authorities. In other countries trading in binaries is strictly regulated and authorities often issue warnings against scammer or unauthorized binary options service providers.
Meanwhile, some brokers that provide binary options, including Alpari and RoboForex, have been putting a stronger emphasis on this type of trading.
Source: CMC Markets
