What is your first check before you trade an index CFD?

An index CFD tracks the price of a stock index without owning the shares, and it is usually traded on margin. The first check is therefore less about the chart than about the contract: how the index is quoted, how much margin is required, and what happens to the position when the market is closed. Leverage and margin explained sets out the margin figures brokers show and how they change with the position size.

Members who trade index CFDs often write down the contract terms before they open a position: the contract size, the currency of the quote, the trading hours and the rule for overnight charges. The terms differ between brokers, and a position that looks similar on two platforms can carry different costs. How to check if a forex broker is regulated is the starting point for checking the broker itself before any contract is read.

We would like to hear your checklist:

• What is the first item you check on an index CFD, before the chart?
• How do you compare contract terms between two brokers on the same index?
• Do you know the margin requirement for your index before you open the position?
• What have you found in the contract terms that you did not expect?

Please share your own approach and reasoning, not calls for others to copy. Posts that promise a direction or sell signals will be removed.