dte, page-29

kungpowbeef

Re your post which included;
"... But I do not trust strockbrokers or large broking firms one bit. ..."

Given the performance of our sharemarket you could be excused for scratching your head about the entire industry.

Our world's best economy has one of the worst performing sharemarkets - an absolute disconnect because we worry about US house prices, Japan's tsunami, War in Iraq, Icelandic volcanoes, Greek debt, Spain's banks, rain in Timbuktu & solar flairs on Red Dwarf!

Of course CFD trading commenced on the ASX on Nov1, 2007 - the day our market topped out & subsequently disintegrated.

Before signing up to trial such products I was assured that I wouldn't be 'bet against', that my trades would be executed in a timely manner, that the prevailing price would closely match the underlying SP, that my account was secure, etc.

That was not my experience, but what happened at Man Financial still shocked me.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MF_Global

That explains my opinion that such instruments are mechanisms for the rapid transfer of wealth from retail traders & investors to those who determine where our markets are moving.