Identifier: C5T1L5 · Revision: 2026-10-26 · Classification: restricted

Decision and objectives

The practical task is to compare spot, CFD and futures on the same exposure and horizon. Make the decision reproducible: name the exposure, time horizon, cash requirement and comparison baseline before selecting a product.

Objectives: Compare spot, CFD and futures on the same exposure and horizon; Calculate holding-period cost break-even under supplied assumptions; Evaluate funding and ownership constraints alongside quoted cost.

Prerequisite: C5T1L4; completed Classes 1–4 and the Stock Market School foundation or Forex School foundation. Every example is hypothetical. Prices, dates, rates, fees, contract factors, policies and tax schedules are supplied teaching inputs, not current offers or legal parameters. No live account is needed.

Mechanics

Three routes can provide related price exposure but different rights and cash paths. Spot ownership requires principal and custody, a CFD requires a provider contract and ongoing financing, and a future requires collateral, daily settlement and maturity management. Comparing only initial margin makes the derivative look artificially cheap; comparing only commissions can hide financing or roll costs.

Use the same underlying quantity, base currency, horizon and execution assumptions. If one route is only a cross-hedge, show its residual rather than call it identical. Current Turkish access remains a separate feasibility gate.

Price and return drivers

Teaching total cost = fixed entry/exit costs + per-day funding × holding days + stated roll or custody costs. Break-even days solve equality only while rates, principal and contract access remain as assumed. It is a cost threshold, not a forecast of better investment performance.

Worked case

Hypothetical TRY 200,000 equivalent exposure. Spot: TRY 400 execution plus opportunity funding 24% actual/360. CFD: TRY 200 execution plus financing 36% actual/360. Future: TRY 300 execution, TRY 30,000 cash collateral funded at 24% actual/360; no expiry inside 30 days. At 30 days costs are spot 400 + 4,000 = TRY 4,400; CFD 200 + 6,000 = TRY 6,200; future 300 + 600 = TRY 900. The future's exposure match and assumed margin are fictional; its low cost does not give ownership or cap funding risk. Tax excluded equally; supplied custody is zero for this narrow illustration.

Adverse case

At two days spot cost is TRY 666.67 and CFD TRY 600, making CFD cheaper on these assumptions; their break-even is three days. If the future must roll after ten days with TRY 1,500 extra execution and TRY 50,000 additional peak collateral, the original TRY 900 estimate is incomplete. A spot investor who needs voting rights cannot substitute the cheapest future, and a cash-constrained investor may be unable to survive futures variation despite low expected carrying cost.

Practical use

Obtain permitted executable routes and full schedules, including custody, conversion, distribution adjustments, roll charges, margin stress, credit terms and tax under the actual investor. A fund alternative must account for expenses already in its unit price. Check cash required at entry, during a stress and at exit rather than selecting from a cost column alone.

Use permitted domestic access routes and the actual instrument documents. Verify intermediary authority, investor eligibility, order/redemption terms, settlement, custody and executable size before implementation. Reconcile spread and commissions, funding, collateral, custody, product expenses, conversion and exit charges; an amount already embedded in a fill or fund unit price is not deducted again. A published mark or product description does not promise an executable price or liquidity.

Tax is excluded unless a numerical schedule is expressly supplied as hypothetical. For actual rules record income year, residence and individual/corporate status, instrument and acquisition/contract dates, taxable event and rule effective date. The GIB investment-income guide, checked 2026-10-26, covers 2025 individual income; its 2026 publication date alone cannot settle a 2026 liability.

Decision boundaries

Choose the feasible route that meets rights, horizon and risk objectives after total costs. Reject an apparent saving that depends on a static margin estimate or unavailable financing. Retaining a smaller fully funded position can be preferable when derivative cash calls cannot be met.

Practice and references

Exercise: hypothetical spot fixed cost TRY 300 and funding TRY 80/day; CFD fixed TRY 100 and funding TRY 120/day. Solution: equality at (300 − 100)/(120 − 80) = five days. At eight days spot costs TRY 940 and CFD TRY 1,060. This ranking remains conditional on verified access, matched exposure and all omitted costs being truly equal.

Takeaway: Evaluate funding and ownership constraints alongside quoted cost with the cash dates, costs and remaining risks stated.

Product card: domestic-cfd. Formula: Two-route holding cost break-even. Glossary: Total ownership cost, Opportunity funding cost. Next lesson: C5T2L1. Topic test.

Sources checked 2026-10-26:

Additional product cards: viop-index-future.

Shared reference guide | Class examination