Hello all, I have another question for the board. I asked something like it in the "Forex brokers" section but didn't get much of answer, so I will try here. I am looking to get with a broker who isn't going to screw me or do all the horrendous things that you read about guys like Forex.com doing to you. The answer seems to be an ECN broker or at least a No Dealing Desk broker. I'm looking at Interbank FX and Hotspot FX. Does anyone know about these firms, or have any experience with them? I'm looking for tight spreads and good service. Thank you in advance!!
IBFX and Hotspot FXr are both bucketshops, same as all the others. Why not try Oanda, they've been pretty reliable lately and their spreads are usually competitive.
Agree on IBFX. Haven't heard anything negative about Hotspot FXr, usually positive reviews. Oanda is great for beginners, but they tend to not be as competitive as the ECNs. They're showing 3-5 wide on EUR/USD and 5 on AUD/USD as of this post, while I'm seeing 1-2 and 2-4 for those pairs elsewhere. I recommend IB, but read the reviews on here in the broker review section for more opinions.
I didn't mean bucketshop in a derogatory way, I think bucketshops are great and I much prefer them over ECN's. Don't forget to add commission to your 1-2 and 2-4 spreads, but Oanda will narrow spreads during the day, usually Eur/Usd is .9 Interactive Brokers forex platform sucks in my opinion
Interbank FX should not be denominated "IB FX", since Interactive Brokers is widely known as IB here on ET. cabletrader, I agree - the forex part of IB is not really well designed. However, IB has a very good open API which can easily be extended. Also, for trading currency futures - IB is very good, as with any futures and most markets they provide.
Hi cabletrader, thank you for the response! What I don't understand is when I look at the reviews of Forex sites online, literally every single one has half the reviews sayings its a scam and half saying its fine. The most common thing I see is people claiming their brokers are stop-hunting them. With a market-maker as your broker I can see how this is a possibility, but how can people claim it against an ECN or a No Dealing Desk broker? As far as Interbank FX's Forex platform, I was planning on using MT4 with them... is that not good? Also, I thought bucketshop was ALWAYS a derogatory term?
I have both Hotspot and Oanda accounts, in the end it only matters who provides the better pricing (Oanda has a slight advantage there). I doubt Hotspot is lying in there 'Best Execution'-statement as required by the regulator in Europe about being a agency-only broker, but in the end it doesn't really matter. Good thing about Hots is executions are really nearly instantaneous and its rock solid (never a single disconnect, more that can be said about Oanda).
Hi lindec Never trust forex review sites, especially not Felix's 'Forex Peace Army', half the reviews are written by complete morons from what I've seen! There's a good article about MM's vs ECN's here, it's worth a read. You're right, IBFX (IBFX-Interbank FX as opposed to IB-Interactive Brokers) uses MT4. Great for charting and running automated strategies (Expert Advisors/EA's) but I couldn't get along with it for intraday trading (scalping) but it may suit your style. IBFX's spreads aren't the most competitive though, and their Sunday opening and Friday closing times are different from some other brokers, it can mean some big price gaps. Choosing a broker depends a lot on how you trade, and with how much equity, and even where you're located can be important. One broker might be ideal for swing/positional traders but be totally unsuitable for scalpers or news traders if you see what I mean.
I've got nothing against IB really, it just didn't suit my trading style whereas bucketshops are a near-perfect fit. I've read too many stories like this, I don't like the 'real' market, they don't play nice