Financial Spread Betting - Computing Requirements

In this article we will look at the hardware and software requirements you will need for online financial spread betting.

Actually, if we take one step back, let's be clear that you don't actually need access to a computer at all to get in to financial spread betting. You can open a phone account and keep a manual record of all your trades if you really wanted to. But then you would be missing out on so many of the benefits that come with using a computer. If we examine those benefits briefly, they include:

* Instantaneous access - online means you don't need a phone rep to become available to speak to you. It's the ease of self serve. * Access to market data - whether you pay for premium services or simply make do with the free information out there (and already provided by spread betting companies) * Automatically updated and retained records of all your trades, both open and closed. Do you really want to keep a manual record? * 24/7 access to your account

If we accept, then, that we want to go down the computerised route, what are we looking at? Well, the answer is surprisingly undemanding. By reading this article it's assumed that you have both a computer and access to the internet. The reality is that you probably already have enough 'computer power' to run an account with most financial spread betting companies. You may want to check on the website of the firm you are considering, but it is widely accepted that you normally only need the following in terms of computing power:

* 0.8 Ghz processor * 256k RAM * 100 MB free disk space

As the spec of most computers made in the last 5 years significantly exceeds this, most homes will already have a computer that's good enough.

In terms of software, you don't need anything specific, but many people like to have a spreadsheet (such as Excel) for keeping track of ins and outs into their account, but you can get along very well without it.

Equally the best online experience is going to come if you have broadband. The UK has some of the best broadband coverage in the world, and the cost is coming down each month. Definitely a good investment for the online trader.

Stuart Smith writes extensively on Financial Spread Betting subjects and is the owner of leading website www.spreadbettingftse.co.uk