A bond is a fixed-income instrument, or debt security, and represents a long-term lending agreement between a borrower and lender – effectively an 'IOU'. The bond issuer is often a corporation or a government, and the funds are used to finance a project or operation. Learn how to trade bonds

There are a number of costs to consider when spread betting and CFD trading, including spread costs, holding costs (for trades held overnight, which is essentially a fee for the funds you borrow to cover the leveraged portion of the trade), rollover costs (on expiring forward positions) and a guaranteed stop-loss order (GSLO) charge (if you use this risk-management tool – the cost is refunded if the GSLO isn’t triggered). Find out more about our trading costs

As well as ‘cash’ instruments, you can also take a position on forwards (based on the underlying futures price), which are an agreement between a buyer and seller to exchange a treasury at a set price at a future date. Learn how futures work.

Spread betting offers a tax-efficient way* to trade on a huge range of financial markets, including rates and bonds, up to 24 hours a day, from Sunday night through to Friday night. Spread bet from a desktop PC or mobile device, with leverage.

*Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and can change or may differ in a jurisdiction other than the UK.

One of the features of spread betting and CFD trading on commodities is that you only need to deposit a percentage of the full value of your position – your margin requirement – to open a trade, known as trading on leverage. Trading on leverage amplifies your profits and losses equally, so it's important to manage your risk.