just so you know how the commission is worked out at mb ... if you trade cable. The commission on 1 lot (100K) GBP/USD is about $9.19 per side (at 1.838). This effectively adds almost 2 pips to your trade. I demo traded MB navigator and have to say they do have a decent trading platform and spreads. I seriously considered opening account with them but their commission structure is a raw deal. G.
MiamiHurricanes you don't need to reboot because of Fxtrade never...the absolute worst that can happen is that the Java virtual machine will hang itself and all you need is to kill the process. If you have such problems it's probably a Java version conflict and would be solvable by updating your Java to the latest version. Like said all your problems would probably have been easily solvable had you really been inclined to do so. Or wait, you're not using Win98 to trade are you? That'd be just silly, but with that even a system hangup could be possible.
bl33p, have fun with Oanda. Yeah #@% around with Java to keep FXTrade working - who give a %#@. I have the latest Java, for sure. I could not care less about this whole topic anymore. I will trade $0.00 notional with them. And I am running mutliple up to date PC's on XP Pro. So I am inclined to say Oanda, go %$@5 yourselves. I really have had more than enough of your "If am I inclined to do so" To quote Boiler Room "Who the #@$t is this? Yogi Biz?" "If I am inclined to do so" blah, blah, blah...
I've been using MB for a few months and am very pleased to date. The spreads are tight and often times during the NY session, the spread is 0. As for the commissions - I'd gladly pay them knowing my orders are placed as soon as I click. Can't say that for my previous broker experience. If you know how to manage your trades, the comm should be a non issue.
Ok ! It seems like I am getting used a little bit better to IB's platform. Though it passed only about a week. Would like to tell you guys, that speed execution at IB is great. No problems at all. I would say that I did not notice any difference between speed execution at IB and MB, it is the same as it seems to me right now. Today was an average day. I traded 10400 shares total. Now: the cost at IB is $0.0056 per share at MB: $0.0109 IB cost total: $58.24 MB cost total: $113.36 At IB I saved today $55.12, if I do it 20 days per month, I am saving abou $1100 per month. Thats why I switched to IB !
OK, I've got a few more comments. Yesterday, during the Bernacke (sp) breakout (60+ pips in about 90 seconds) I entered 2 quite substantial positions in both the euro and the cable. I bought the bottom at 0 pips on the euro and +4 pips already in my favor on the cable. Fills were instant. I exited both positions in full at the peak. Again the fills were instant and at 1 pip each respectively. No server outages, no platform freezes, no wide pip spreads like I saw someone mention in another thread and no BS. BTW, concerning the extra wide spread during big breakouts ... what bullsh!t that is. Isn't that just another form of price shading?! If the spread gets manipulated then it can be manipulated at will. I'd be spooked by that. If anything the Bid/Ask should *invert* during fast markets not widen. Widening the spread screws you out of YOUR money. So? Did I make what ... 5 pips, 7 pips, 10 pips more per lot than you? Another thing ... concerning the "commish". To those who can't wrap their heads around the concept ... here ya go ... lets take USD/JPY. The spread at MB is 1 pip (sometimes 2 during low volume). So that's either $1 on a mini or $10 on a standard lot. The vig is .50 per side on a mini and $5 per side on a standard lot. Let's do the math ... Hmmmmmm ... comes out to 2 pips. That's the same if not cheaper than the bucket shops. So the buckets build the vig into the spread, trade against you, shade the feed and basically bend you over and that sits well with some of you folks? Personally, even if it came out more I'd still gladly pay for the piece of mind know I'm not getting screwed over. To the dense folks who keep talking about how cheap such and such is on equity trades ... consider your BIG savings compensation for all the time you have to spend messing with buggy software, front ends, log in problems and various other crap. I don't know about you but my time is money. I also must have confidence in my platform, my feed from MB (WHICH IS FREE for FX, CBOT and CME) and my broker. To date I have confidence in all three. Also, I have absolutely no interest or association with MB other than being one of their many happy customers. That said, if they ever IPO I'd definitely want a taste because that dog will hunt once everyone else figures out what I already know. If you're happy with your broker and have no problems that is a good thing but if you're not happy there are alternatives to pissing and moaning. As always YMMV (Your mileage My Vary)