How do you make a profit with CFDs?

Profits in CFDs are made by banking a positive difference between opening and closing price (or a negative difference if you're going short), then deducting commission, financing costs and repaid leverage to show a return on capital. For traders who are going long, i.e. backing a CFD to rise in price, the CFD must become more valuable over time than when they bought it by a sufficient percentage to offset other costs in order for a profit to be made. The reverse is true of short positions, which rely on the closing price being lower than the opening price in order for a profit to be realised.