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markets have both full-sized and mini-sized contracts, but the point

is that if you want to trade any contract, you must have in your

account the minimum amount of money required by the exchange for

each contract, no matter whether you trade large or small numbers of

contracts or whether you have lots of money or only a little money

to trade.

A different view

“Spread betting” takes a different

approach. Instead of buying or selling a stock or a futures

contract, you can bet as much or as little money as you want on your

opinion about whether the market will rise or fall. The difference

in prices between the time you buy and sell – or sell and buy – is

the sole basis for the bet. The amount you bet is up to you.

Although the term

is familiar to European traders, “betting” is not a term U.S.

trading industry officials like because of its association with

gambling; instead, they prefer to call it “speculating.”

Regardless what you