A CFD is a bet with a broker on price movement — you never own the underlying stock, index, or commodity, you just settle the difference between entry and exit. That structure enables leverage and short-selling anything, with costs and risks that deserve plain-language treatment.
How CFDs Work
Buy a share CFD at $100, sell at $110: the broker pays you $10 per contract. Short-selling reverses it — profit when prices fall, without borrowing shares. Leverage (5:1 to 30:1 retail) means small margin controls large notional. No ownership means no voting rights and adjusted (synthetic) dividends, and your counterparty is the broker itself — regulation quality is everything.
The Cost Stack
Spreads are the visible cost. The quiet one is overnight financing: leveraged long positions pay roughly a reference rate plus 2.5-3% annually, charged nightly — holding a leveraged CFD for months costs more than the equivalent margin loan at a stock broker. CFDs suit short-to-medium timeframes; long-term buy-and-hold belongs in real shares.
Regulation and Who Can Trade
CFDs are banned for US retail traders — US-facing 'CFD brokers' are unregulated offshore entities, best avoided. In the UK/EU/Australia, regulated CFD brokers must cap retail leverage, provide negative balance protection, and publish loss rates ('76% of retail accounts lose money' banners). Those disclosures are honest — treat CFDs as a trading instrument with defined risk budgets, never an investment vehicle.
Frequently Asked Questions
CFDs vs buying real shares?
CFDs: leverage, shorting, no ownership, financing costs — for trading. Shares: ownership, dividends, no decay — for investing. Different tools for different jobs.
Why are CFDs banned in the US?
They're off-exchange leveraged derivatives that don't fit the US regulatory framework; US traders access similar exposure through regulated options and futures instead.