Tesco is a popular online retailer and delivery business based in England. Tesco was founded in 1919 and has grown to be one of the largest retailers around, offering a range of items that includes groceries, wines, home electronics, and DVD rentals. In 2007, Tesco opened its first store in the United States under the name Fresh & Easy.

How to Buy & Sell Tesco shares

To trade Tesco shares, you have two options. Either you can use one of the established stock brokerage firms or one of the CFD services like the brokers featured above. We explore the advantages and disadvantages of both of these approaches below.

Pros and Cons to Trading Tesco shares (TSCO) as a CFD

Contract For Difference, or CFD, is a method of trading financial instruments without needing to own them. Here the different pros and cons to trading CFDs when compared to traditional a stockbroker service:

Pros:

• The leverage that CFD brokers offer its clients it’s primary advantage. A trader requires an account that is a lot smaller in relation to his or her trade when compared to a typical share dealing broker.
• With CFD brokers, traders can go either long or short, meaning that a trader could gain from the markets rising and falling.
• Usually CFD brokers don’t charge traders a commission. Instead, their fees are included within the spread.
• The CFD brokers, such as AvaTrade, generally provide the MT4 platform, allowing clients make use of the expert advisors for automating their different trading strategies.
• The UK shares purchased as a CFD aren’t bound to the typical stamp duty of 0.5% that is payable with a regular share purchase (take note: tax laws could change and they are subject to specific individual situations).
• Unlike the traditional brokerages who offer only stock trading, the CFD brokers provide access to a variety of financial instruments, like commodities, currencies, and stocks.

Cons:

• As it was mentioned, leverage can enlarge both the gains and losses. There is also the possibility that the markets could shift against the traders.
• Typically, CFD brokers charge an overnight holding fee to hold a long position overnight. Essentially, the overnight fee is the cost to borrow money from a broker for purchasing the shares on margin. If you close the position on that same trading day, there is no overnight fee; this is only a problem if you aren’t a day or intraday trader.

To find out more information about trading stocks as a CFD, look at our “The Basics of CFDs” page. It’s essential to remember that leverage works both ways, magnifying both gains and losses.

Tesco: Important Stats and Background Information

Tesco share price is priced at £182.42 currently, after it opened the day at £185.00. As of 04/06/2017, Tesco has 8,188 million shares available, which brings its market cap to £14,936 million.

• With this market cap, Tesco is the 36th biggest stock on the FTSE 100 index by the market capitalisation. The Tesco share price, in the past month, has increased by 1.66%, starting at £179.45. In the last 90 days, there has been a decrease of 4.14% in the Tesco share price, from £190.30 to £182.42, its current price.
• Regarding trading activity, on the FTSE100, Tesco is the twelfth most traded stock. It has an average of 13,064,109 shares traded each day.
• Tesco had a profit after tax for the 2016 financial year of £216 million, a growth from -£5,664 million loss for the 2015 financial year. This is an overall change of 104% in profit after tax.
• Tesco paid a dividend of 0.00p in 2016, a decrease from 11.29p in 2015.
• Tesco was first listed on the London Stock Exchange on December 23, 1947. Today, traders can trade Tesco shares on Monday to Friday 8:00-16.30 GMT (UK local time).

How To Choose The Best Online Stock Broker

With all the different options available in the trading industry for online CFD Stock Brokers, making the decision on who to trade with seems like quite a complicated and daunting task. This guide has a few main points to have in mind to help you reach an educated decision on picking the best broker for you to help you buy stocks:

Regulation

Each country has their particular regulatory body. It is in charge to make sure that the rules and regulations are followed to help protect and maintain the integrity of the market, traders, investors, and the brokers themselves, such as the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK. These regulatory bodies help members meet regulatory responsibilities. To avoid any potential safety concerns with regards to the deposit, you should always make sure that your accounts are with regulated trading firms.

Customer Support

Before choosing an online CFD stock broker to buy stocks, you’ll want to see how complete their customer support department is. For your security and peace of mind, you will want to be able to reach and get the help you need without waiting too long to be answered. Some companies offer 24/7 customer support with a live chat option or even a local phone number.

Withdrawals

You will want to look at how long it can take to withdraw your funds once you have completed your trading and buying stocks. Some online stock brokers have fees for withdrawing remaining balances. Some also have long waiting periods for the balance to be withdrawn.

Account Types

Depending on what type you are interested in opening, you will need to know the different account options offered by each online stock broker. While some offer a broad range of accounts, others have a single account type available. You may want to look for a broker who has different account types for beginner, intermediate and advanced traders.

Tradeable Assets

While selecting a stock broker, it’s possible to just concentrate on buying stocks. However, you should keep in mind there are countless types of investment alternatives offered. Such as Cryptocurrency, Forex (FX), ETFs, CFDs, or trading in futures, options or precious metals, to just name a few.

Interest

An online stockbroker should provide you all the necessary information about the interest charged when you take leverage. Although there isn’t a huge difference in the interest rates between online stock brokers, it is something to be aware of when choosing a specific broker.

Platform Types

Most traders who are just starting out don’t know how they will be trading. However, most advanced traders know that they’ll be trading while on-the-go, so they look for an online broker with an excellent mobile platform. It is best to know what your platform requirements are before signing up and investing funds.

For more information on selecting the right trading platform for you, please see our tutorial: What To Look For When Choosing A Trading Platform