So, just what exactly is a contract for difference?
CFDs are a financial product, but not one designed for the ordinary person on the street, writes Barry J Whyte.
According to Tim Howkins, chief executive of IG Markets, a CFD and financial spread betting firm, the financial trading products known as CFDs are simple.
''Fundamentally, you're taking a view on whether or not [the market, or the underlying security or commodity] will go up or down. You buy it if you think it's going up. You sell if you think it's going down, Howkins said.
''And there's leverage, he pointed out. ''It's ...
