The fundamental distinction between Stocks vs CFD trading is that when you trade a CFD, you are speculating on a market’s price without owning the underlying asset. In contrast, you must own the underlying equities when you trade shares. CFDs are traded on leverage, which means you only need to put up a fraction of the entire deal value – the ‘margin’ – to receive total exposure. As a result, profits will be amplified, but losses will outweigh deposits. When trading shares, on the other hand, you must pay the total cost of your position upfront to avoid losing more money than you invested.