ODL Markets Review

Starting out in the United Kingdom in 1994 Options Direct Limited, ODL Markets is an independent FOREX, derivatives, equity and commodity trading house. Affiliate activities now encompass operations in Australia, Japan and Turkey. ODL employs over 200 staff around the world.

On its website ODL Markets Limited lets one know that it is authorized and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. It is a member of the London Stock Exchange and NYSE Euronext.

ODL Markets is somewhat unique in the versatile services it offers to clients on its website. These services include trading in Foreign Exchange (Forex), Gold, Oil and global indices in one account. Involvement in global markets can include spread betting. Spread betting is essentially what it sounds like.

Spread bets do not involve the purchase of a commodity, a stock or a share. Spread bettors bet on the direction that the market or share price will go in within a particular market. Bets are placed in pennies or in points. The spread is the Sell (Bid) and Buy (Offer) price quoted by a spread betting company. This price is determined by calculating the live (or the estimated future) market price of a financial product.

In keeping with the variety of trading opportunities available ODL Markets offers a variety of software platforms to facilitate those opportunities. These include MetaTrader 4, a common choice for Forex trading. Strategy Runner is geared toward letting futures traders access futures markets in the UK, Europe and USA, all from a single login. My Broker sports live streaming of multiple market data including technical analysis, as well as fundamental company data and news sources. Institutional platforms available include Currenex, Integral, Hot Spot and Lava for working with ODL Capital, which is the prime brokerage division of ODL Markets Ltd.

Demo versions of most platforms are available as well as demo accounts for Forex. Also available are introductory educational materials designed to prepare traders for real-world trading.