Demo question on profit and loss

[Astrochamp]

I've just started and I'm using a demo account. When I had a share, and it said profit of £2.56 at the top of the screen, I sold my share. However, my money went down by around £9. Does anyone know why?

[Caseynotes]

33 minutes ago, Astrochamp said:

I am using a CFD account and trading on Netflix, so it's quite likely it is the commission fee. Is this fee equivalent to the Margin shown next to profit/loss?

Hi @Astrochamp,  the commission is the cost of the trade while the margin is the minimum amount you need in your account to open the position and may be expressed as an actual amount in £ or as a rate in %.

https://www.ig.com/uk/help-and-support/spread-betting-and-cfds/fees-and-charges/what-are-igs-shares-cfd-product-details

https://www.ig.com/uk/spread-betting-cfds-margin

 

[JamesIG]

Which market and which account type are you trading on @Astrochamp ? I believe this is likely to be commission (if you are on a CFD account type) so you need to take this into account when you are looking at your trading. For example, if there is a commission of £10 to get into a deal, you make £7 profit, and then you sell to close for another £10 commission, your costs are £20, profit on the trade of £7, so in fact you have lost £13...

If you let me know about the above, I should be able to assist further. 

[Astrochamp]

On ‎6‎/‎20‎/‎2018 at 9:05 AM, JamesIG said:

Which market and which account type are you trading on @Astrochamp ? I believe this is likely to be commission (if you are on a CFD account type) so you need to take this into account when you are looking at your trading. For example, if there is a commission of £10 to get into a deal, you make £7 profit, and then you sell to close for another £10 commission, your costs are £20, profit on the trade of £7, so in fact you have lost £13...

If you let me know about the above, I should be able to assist further. 

I am using a CFD account and trading on Netflix, so it's quite likely it is the commission fee. Is this fee equivalent to the Margin shown next to profit/loss?

Edited June 21, 2018 by Astrochamp

[xnox]

Margin and trading fees are separate.

Everything in CFD accounts has Margin;

some items have further fees for trading in/out;

most items have financing charges too.

 

Your PnL will not take into account fees & charges, which one needs to track separately to work out overall trade profitability.