Shares trading FAQs
- What shares can I trade at FOREX.com?
- Which platforms can I trade stocks/equities on?
- What are stocks CFDs?
- Can I go short on stocks CFDs?
- What is the margin for stocks trading?
- What are borrowing costs?
- When will I receive or pay a dividend adjustment?
- What is a corporate action?
- Do corporate actions affect my account?
- How do corporate actions work on hedged trades?
- Where can I find the contract details for CFD markets?
What shares can I trade at FOREX.com?
You can access over 4,500 of the most popular company shares as CFDs with a FOREX.com account and over 400 on MT5. Shares are not available on MT4. Learn more from our shares trading page.
Which platforms can I trade shares/equities on?
Shares trading is available on the proprietary FOREX.com platforms and MetaTrader 5. Equities are not available on the MetaTrader 4 platform.
Existing MetaTrader 4 clients:
You can request an MT5 account via the Account tab in MyAccount by selecting 'Add an additional account’. Once the request is approved you will receive an email confirming the account information. Please note, you can’t log in to MT5 using an MT4 account and vice versa.
What are stocks CFDs?
A CFD, or contract for difference, is an agreement to exchange the difference between the opening and closing price of the position under contract, rather than buying and selling the underlying security outright.
Can I go short on stocks CFDs?
Yes, you can go either long or short on top companies from around the world.
What is the margin for stocks trading?
Margins for stocks vary depending on account type and stocks.
For more information on retail accounts, you may refer to Stocks on our Markets page.
What are borrowing costs?
Borrowing costs are incurred when you short a stocks CFD position, and reflect a charge incurred in the underlying market when the underlying asset is borrowed in order to sell and return at a later date. Very few markets will incur a borrowing charge, and to determine whether the market you wish to trade has borrowing costs or not, please check the relevant Key Market Information or Market 360 in the FOREX.com desktop platform.
When will I receive or pay a dividend adjustment?
Dividend adjustments are normally made on the ex-dividend date.
What is a corporate action?
A corporate action is an event initiated by a company that will affect all positions in that market. Some of these will have a direct action on the price such as dividends, some are indirect such as stocks splits and some have little to no impact such as a name change.
Do corporate actions affect my account?
Yes, your account is subject to any corporate actions occurring in the underlying market. All corporate actions (excluding dividends) will be emailed to you prior to the event. This is known as the instruction date. Depending on the corporate action, you may have to make a decision about positions on your account. You will have until the instruction deadline date noted in the email to decide. Corporate actions are free of commission.
Please note that in the event of any positions being closed and reopened, working orders will be cancelled.
How do corporate actions work on hedged trades?
Corporate actions will be applied on a per-trade basis, not as an overall value.
Where can I find the contract details for CFD markets?
On the FOREX.com downloadable platform, CFD specifications will located in the Key Market Information (the "i" box) available for each market.
On Web Trader contract details would be in the Market 360.
On MetaTrader, CFD contract details will be found in the Product Details page under Trader Toolkit.