CMC Markets Review

CMC Markets have received awards for their training of new and more experienced traders. They include:

Webinars and seminars on aspects of trading. The seminars are usually only available in the locations of the company’s offices. They run specific courses on using the trading platforms called Platform Skills Workshops which includes practice on the interface, training at workstations in their offices.

Workshops for beginners, including one called Introduction to Trading which will equip new traders with the basic knowledge to work on one of their demo accounts before moving to a live account.

Webinars with their Chief Market Analyst once a week where he will talk about influences on the market, upcoming data releases and indications on prices.

Downloadable manuals and information packs on many aspects of trading. There are ten including a comprehensive trader’s manual and other booklets introducing aspects of the instruments you can trade with them.

Video Tutorials for those who cannot get to the live seminars. These cover many aspects of trading but focus on the use of the trading platforms. There are nine at the moment but they are being added to in order to increase the range of topics they cover.
London Trader Network operates out of a live trading room where active traders can meet and trade together, sharing tips and profiting together.

CMC Markets seem to believe that all bases are covered by their comprehensive education package. If you have any further queries after reading the manuals, completing the tutorials and attending the seminars, you can contact them on their office telephone number or by email. The system isn’t touted as a one to one help desk but the switchboards direct you to someone who can help if you telephone. Their response to emails has been described as patchy so if you desperately need advice, pick up the phone.

CMC Markets have received many awards in their time, many of them similar to those received by other companies for the same reason, adding fuel to the criticisms that the industry awards are meaningless. Whilst some of their offices receive positive comments from traders, a slew of negative reviews for others seem to indicate that they could do better. As a single international entity with subsidiary offices, the standard of service across all offices should be consistently high but that seems to not be the case.

CMC Markets is authored and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK so, whilst you are risking your money by trading, you can at least be assured it is protected under regulations overseen by the Bank of England.

CMC Markets claim they invented the trading platform back in 1996 and whilst it wouldn’t have been comparable to any of the platforms available today, they have some right to the claim. Today, instead of using MetaTrader platforms they have continued to develop their own in-house platform which has won awards (see above). The platform is flashy and comprehensive, easy to use and comes with many tools which are variants of those used by MT4 and MT5. As you’d expect, there are versions for mobile phones, IOS, Android and Windows as well as tablet versions using those operating systems. 

Reliability of the platform

The company says that their platform is 100% reliable but reviews from traders show that many have experienced reliability issues as well as incomprehensible movement in prices and stops which has led them to distrust the platform and in turn, the broker.

CMC Markets terms and conditions are not very clearly written so you should always clarify their position before making an assumption. They advise that under certain market conditions re-quoting may be necessary. But from our point of view, the most important was that spreads can widen and that the price you expected for a stop loss or take profit cannot always be guaranteed if there are rapid fluctuations in the prices.
The indication from their website is that they don’t offer Islamic accounts. Part of the reason is the way they deal with swaps where the interest on the overnight position is directly debited or credited to your account rather than being an adjustment to your entry price.
Leverage can be up to 1:1000 depending on the account type and the size and currency of the trade. They also allow Expert Advisor is available on MT4 accounts.

CMC Markets have reasonable minimum spreads which, when translated into typical spreads are still good. For the major pairs, dollar minimum spreads are 0.7 to 0.9 equating to a typical 0.825 to 1.384. The EU/GBP minimum spread is 1.0 with a typical spread of 1.662. Position margins are 0.2%. Extra charges are incurred for add ons to the trading platform such as expert traders and live trading tips etc and a full list of charges is available once you sign up for an account.

CMC Markets’ promotion is to offer rebates to clients each month on a sliding scale dependent on how much they trade. The deal is widely promoted and increases business and profits for the company.

They offer variable spreads which manage to keep costs tight. Other costs are reasonable. Their in-house platform shares similarities with MT4 and MT5 but might need a little getting used to if you are not familiar with it. The platform has some innovative features that might tempt you away from MT.
 Minimum balances have been removed from their accounts and you can activate with as little as £1.
 Getting started is easy and reasonably speedy. The company offers CFDs and spread betting as well as spot Forex. Cash rebates for traders each month dependent on the amount traded.

 
Cons
 Whilst the UK office has more positive reviews, comments online regarding the operation on the company’s subsidiaries seems to indicate that you should be very wary when committing to trades with CMC Markets. When there is a big news event, variable spreads can increase dramatically often impacting on trades. The company doesn’t offer MetaTrader platforms.