Futures vs CFD: What Are You Really Buying?

Same gold chart. Two completely different deals.

A CFD is a contract with your broker: you settle the price difference, and the broker (or its partner) is on the other side. A futures contract trades on an exchange — COMEX — through one central order book, with a clearing house guaranteeing both sides.

That one difference changes everything: who wins when you lose, what you pay to hold overnight, how big your position is, and — most important for this channel — whether you can see the market's real volume.

Rules also differ by country: US retail traders can't access CFDs; EU/UK retail CFDs have leverage caps and negative-balance protection; futures losses can exceed your deposit.

Day 2 of "Volume Trading From Zero." Save this one.