Shares trading

Share trading in the underlying market involves buying and selling company shares, with the aim of making a profit. Shares represent a portion of ownership of a public company. With us, you can trade CFDs on shares, without actually owning the underlying share. Learn more about share trading.

One of the advantages of trading CFDs is that you only need to deposit a percentage of the full value of your position to open a trade, known as trading on leverage. Remember, trading on leverage can also amplify losses, so it's important to manage your risk.

When you trade CFDs on shares on our platform, you don't buy or sell the underlying share. Instead, you're taking a position on whether you think the company's share price will go up or down.

With CFD trading, you buy or sell a number of units for a particular instrument. For every point or unit that the price moves in your favour, you gain multiples of your stake, and vice versa.

The main difference between CFD trading and share trading is that you don't own the underlying share when you trade on a share CFD. With CFDs, you never actually buy or sell the underlying asset that you've chosen to trade, but you can still benefit if the market moves in your favour, or make a loss if it moves against you. However, with traditional share trading, you enter a contract to exchange the legal ownership of the shares for money, and you own this equity.

You can trade CFDs commission-free on over 80 US shares, including the 'magnificent seven' of Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla, in the pre-market session from 4 AM EST right through to the close of the post-market session at 8 PM EST Monday to Thursday, and from 4 AM to 5 PM EST on Friday.

The core or main US session trading hours, when the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ are open, is 9:30am to 4pm (Eastern time).

Yes, there is a higher risk when you trade outside of the core trading session hours (when the underlying exchange is closed). There is likely to be a greater level of price volatility, due to lower trading volumes. This is because there are fewer participants than during normal market hours, resulting in less liquidity, which means that markets are more volatile as a result.

These market conditions mean that prices are likely to fluctuate more rapidly than usual, and some trades could be more difficult to execute, owing to the lower trading volumes. Our spreads may also be wider compared with the main trading session.

Our order types and execution function as normal during extended-hours trading, although we lower trading and position limits compared with the main trading session. This helps us to manage risk during periods of lower liquidity in the market. Account liquidations also function as normal, so it’s important to ensure that your account is properly funded, and that you allow enough time to deposit funds, if required.

There's no cost when opening a live trading account with us. You can also view prices and use tools such as charts, Reuters news or Morningstar quantitative equity reports, free of charge. However, you'll need to deposit funds in your account to place a trade.

Yes, CMC Markets Canada Inc. is a member of the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO). CFDs are distributed in Canada by CMC Markets Canada Inc. acting as principal.

As a CMC client, your money is held separately from CMC Markets’ own money and is held on trust in segregated bank accounts with a Canadian bank. This account is opened and maintained in the name of CMC Markets Canada Inc. We do not use client money to hedge our positions or to meet the trading obligations of other customers. This offers you financial security and you can rest assured that your money with us is protected.

Our income primarily comes from our spreads, while other fees, such as overnight holding costs, make a minor contribution to our overall revenue.