[OJFord]

> my broker? CFD gambling app

I don't think 'gambling app' is a fair description given it's a regulated security, any broker that truly offers CFD trading is (1) going to be legit; (2) going to be competing with the broker you were searching for for result space.

Of course to serve its users any app store should massively prioritise the word/brand (incl. typos) you actually search for though.

[jsheard]

Casino gambling is also regulated, there being some degree of oversight doesn't make it not gambling.

[OJFord]

Sure. This is a financial instrument used by industry professionals though, not just an 'app'.

You can (and some people do) call buying shares 'gambling' too, at some point it just comes down to what our definitions are and it's not very interesting.

[quickslowdown]

There are professional gamblers (pro poker?). I think I understand the spirit of what you're trying to say, but CFDs are absolutely a gamble, like most investing. It just doesn't have the same stink of "casino gambling," it's a fresh cut, cologne wearing, suited up form of gambling.

[OJFord]

> absolutely a gamble, like most investing

Yeah well like I said, definitions. If most investing is gambling then sure, I just don't find that useful.

Anyway the initial comment I was responding to was 'looking for my broker but got CFDs'; my point was they got a different broker. It's still a bad search result, but it's not a weird scam, it's just a competitor. It's not the same as looking for my bank but got crypto exchange at all.

[quickslowdown]

gambling (noun): the practice or activity of betting : the practice of risking money or other stakes in a game or bet

This is the actual dictionary definition of how I would describe investing to someone who'd never heard of it. Investing money is gambling. It's not a bad word or something to be ashamed of, and I'm not trying to be a pedant (I say as I type a long comment starting with a dictionary definition), I just think it's important to recognize & remember at all times so you don't lose everything.

I get what you mean about the broker app. App store searches are bullshit.

[Animats]

> any broker that truly offers CFD trading is (1) going to be legit;

Er, no. "Contracts for Difference" are the new binary options.

[pjc50]

https://www.fca.org.uk/publications/policy-statements/ps19-1...

They're in the category that, while they theoretically can be used by skilled investors, anyone offering them to retail punters is up to no good. Because those punters are going to lose money to them hand over fist.

[OJFord]

I'm not sure if you're writing from the UK or US, but while the latter has a more stringent 'Accredited Investor' qualification (skilled or wealthy, applied and granted) - and actually flat out doesn't allow CFDs anyway (options are much more common & are retail available) - in the UK this just amounts to a KYC type form where you tick that you understand the risks; they also have to tell you (I assume, because they all do) the percentage of customers that lose money trading them on that platform (typically ~75% from what I've seen).

But they're not 'up to no good', you may not like it, but this is allowed and fully above board. If you search 'HL' and get 'Trading212: shares & CFDs' that's a bad search result, but it's not a scam, they genuinely and legitimately offer that, and compete with HL (which doesn't offer CFDs except through some kind of tie-up with IG).