If you want to loose your shirt, pants and maybe your house. Get a CFD account. The only time I would get a CFD account, is when you can see a blatant bubble developing in an industry that is going to end in tears, i.e listed property, banks. And only after alot, and I mean alot of research. There is a hedge fund manager in the U.S who during the whole time of plenty during that property bubble, CDO fiasco, had shorted alot of the big U.S banks, massive short positions!.
I cant remember his name but I remember reading a story about him, He and his associates went to the high priests of the market: Moody's Corp, to see if they could explain these ridiculous ratings on these CDO's. To cut along story short after talking with the second in charge at Moody's and being recieved with such contempt for questioning their ratings process, he stopped this coo mid conversation and said you are F&*8ing joking and walked out of the boardroom, leaving his associates to appologise and they said politely that you are going down in flames. And increased his short positions in all the big players in the crisis after that meeting. That took nuts to short Citi, Fannie May. And he somehow even shorted the derivatives involved? I think it is pretty obvious he made a killing, it was weird he felt somewhat guilty to be involved in the whole destruction of a system, but as he said they needed to be taught a lesson.
A bit off topic, but illustrates my point of solid research and having a trading edge, thats why I will never do a B.Com
