I have used IG for many years now and found them to be very good. Slippage was a major problem but my experience it is less so in recent years. (Others may have a different experience). I have occasionally challenged them on slippage on entry or exit and so far they have been able to demonstrate that the underlying security did indeed 'gap' and I was able to cross verify this from other sources.

So far the trailing stops (on cable) have worked accurately and timely. I have recently asked them why there is not a trailing stop feature on orders to open. I will post their response.

I only really use IG Index for trading Gold (which was it's original market) and I have held an account with them for nearly 3 years. Overall, I like their 'Puredeal' trading platform and the charts are also excellent. However, like a few other members here, I find that slippage occurs quite often, and sometimes it can be very harsh. Last week, during 'normal' trading conditions, I experienced an 18 pip slippage on a limit order. Rare, but it can happen.
Slippage aside, I have found them an honest company to deal with and the spreads are competitive.

Dave

Ive now had a response from IG on including a Trailing Stops facility in Orders to Open:

"We have been looking into the possibility of adding this feature to our platform, however, we cannot currently guarantee that it will be implemented in the near future. We have not received a great deal of demand for this feature, so for this reason it is not a priority; should we receive more requests then this may speed up the development process." IG

So if anyone who uses IG thinks this is a good idea you need to email IG Support

Hi Daviewg,

Thanks for that, we do and we have.

I've got a small heads up on IG - if you've enabled the advanced charts and then decide to go to a different broker but you don't close your IG account, do remember to disable the advanced charts in your preferences. If you don't, you could be stung for £30 per month for not trading twice.

Stop the presses! IG seem to have released a rival to BetOnMarkets - IG Custom Bets. Not sure if it's as extensive as BOM but it's going to put a squeeze on them for sure. It definitely does 'No Touch' etc so it will do for those of us on Fix The Markets (or FX Friday or Ten Minute Trader come to think of it).

EDIT - It seems the Custom Bets are only for the current day, therefore nowhere near as good as BOM. Hey ho, this isn't the fixed-odds firm you're looking for. Move along.

This post is not really an assessment of IG Index as they are the first broker I've done and regular trading with - though I prefer their set-up to those of Capital Spreads and the now defunct Party Markets who I did use a couple of times in the past - but more to say that I was at an IG Index Seminar here in Edinburgh last night. Really excellent presentation and well worth attending at any venue near to you (they do mainly London but also regional) especially if you're relatively new to spread betting and financial markets. I came away with a lot of food for thought, and you don't have to be a client to attend, it's not any kind of sales pitch.

Fatchance - Thanks for the post - Wanna share your food ?

Yes, of course, too much for even me to eat by myself!

Basic message: keep it simple! Think support and resistance, trendlines, divergence; forget (especially multiple) indicators. Trade selectively, the ones who lose are usually the ones whose fingers are pressing the "fire" button multiple times per day.

So in summary, all of us subscribing to this forum should be heading towards being in the winning minority, if not in it already. Plus I got a free pen.

I am a newbie who has recently opened an account with IG. I would like to access the advanced charts but before I pay the £30 I would like to know if they offer a facility of crossover alert that can give an alert on cross of two ema's via email?

Does anybody use this and if so what are your experiences?

By the way I have found this site an invaluable source of information

Cheers