Commodity CFDs

What are Commodity CFDs?

CFD stands for Contract for Difference. A CFD is a financial instrument that gives traders exposure to price movements of an underlying asset (such as gold, bitcoin, shares etc.), without the trader needing to hold the physical underlying asset.

CFDs are available for thousands of assets, covering commodities, cryptocurrencies, local and international stocks, ETFs and more.

Commodity CFDs give traders exposure to the price of commodities without needing to pysically handle commodities. For example, if you buy gold CFDs, you will profit if the price of gold increases, or incur a loss if the price of gold decreases, without ever actually holding gold.

Traders can buy and sell commodity CFDs from reputable CFD exchanges such as Plus500.
Plus500 offers CFDs for several commodities, including gold, crude oil, wheat, platinum and several others.

Problems with Trading Commodities

The physical purchase of commodities requires transport and storage, both of which carry risk and incur costs.

Imagine you want to trade gold. Without CFDs, the most straightforward approach would be to physically purchase gold bullion or other gold items, such as gold coin or jewelry.

Transport
Commodities need to be transported, whether it's to a storage location, or to a marketplace for sale. In the example where you are trading gold, you might need to arrange specialized transport at a cost depending on how much you buy. How long are you planning to hold the asset? Transport is time consuming. If you're looking to sell within minutes or hours depending on the price, this might not be possible with the physical asset.

Storage
Commodities need suitable storage. For example if you've purchased a large amount of gold, you might need to rent a secure vault for a monthly fee. If you've purchased a small amount of gold, you could save on vault fees by keeping under your mattress or wearing it in the case of jewelry, both of which come with risk of theft or loss.

Advantages of Trading Commodity CFDs

Commodity CFDs avoid storage and transport costs
Since traders in CFDs do not hold the underlying asset, commodity CFDs allow traders to bypass the hassle of physically handling commodities, all the while giving them similar price exposure.
Commodity CFDs offer exposure to the prices of commodities that many traders otherwise wouldn't have.

Commodity CFDs allow for shorting commodity prices
If you think the price of a commodity will fall, you can benefit from this by short selling the commodity's CFD.

Disadvantages of Trading Commodity CFDs

CFDs are not suited for long-term investments. If you wish to invest long term in a commodity, it might be more suitable to hold the physical commodity, or to invest in stocks of companies that deal in the commodity.

Trade Commodity CFDs

After careful evaluation of several CFD exchanges, we recommend Plus500 for their

Simple, intuitive platform

Plus500 offers one of the best trading experiences on the market
Low fees

Plus500's fees are low, and there are no hidden fees
Huge range of CFD instruments

Plus500 offers a huge range of instruments to trade across cryptocurrencies, commodities, stocks and forex. If you're looking to capitalise on breaking news, chances are Plus500 has an instrument that meets your needs.
Regulated in major jurisdictions

This might sound boring but it's super important. When you trade, you entrust the exchange with your capital. It's important to know your capital is in good hands. Plus500 is regulated in major jurisdictions including the UK, Singapore, Australia and several other countries

TRADE ⟩

CFD Service. Your capital is at risk. 77% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with Plus500. CFDs are innovative and can generate wealth, but as with all financial instruments, it is important to understand the risks. It is advisable to have a strategy and keep a level head. Plus500 offers a demo account with free virtual cash to practice trading and refine your strategy.