I closed my account with these guys a few months after opening one, because they cancelled a trade. They also backed away from quoted prices in quiet markets. I wouldn't recommend them.
Correction - this was CMC's spreadbet service, not their FX (which is a separate department). I haven't had a problem with their FX, but they are a marketmarket/broker, so have the same problems as any such firm i.e. it's in their interest to gun your stops with artificial quotes, move the market against you if you have a big position etc.
The quotes for their SpreadBet and Forex/CFD sides of the business are supposed to be identical. However, having had both types of account with them open at the same time I found on many occasions that this was not always the case. They will definately move the spread around when the volume is not there. T32
I have been using the GFT demo. It really is very impressive. Now if I could just figure out which pairs to watch I might be really tempted to fund a live account. Other than the EUR/USD, I am not really sure what pairs are traded with the least chance of the dealer screwing with prices. Is it safe to assume the smaller spread pairs are more liquid and therefore more fair to the trader? I have tried too many demos to even remember. But nothing came close to GFT's platform. I do worry about the fact that there is no real central market though. So no time and sales. One night I had a long position in something (don't remember what, and it doesn't matter) on the GFT demo. I put in a limit order to sell like 90 pips above the market, and a stop (loss) a lot closer. All of a sudden, the limit order got done. It looked on the chart like my order was the only order traded at that price. The price came right back down. This made me wonder if someone watching the demos was just bored and wanted to get the order out of the way, or if maybe they were trying to entice me by making it look too easy I should have thought to look at charts from other providers, but I wasn't thinking clearly about it....it was some ungodly hour of the night. Anyone know how these things really work? Do the demos use the same prices as the live accounts? Or are they a separate thing with no necessary correlation to the "real" prices? Peace, RS
I am always surprised at the usually savvy folks who trade Forex. In my opinion, instances of "requoting", "adjusting quotes" and "backing away" from tranactions are much more common than we hear. This is an industry that attracts scam artists. I have some experience with currency transactions. My experience was exclusively with Germany's Bundesbank over a period of 10 years. Never had a problem there. When I need to transact in currency markets, I prefer to use currency futures or forward contracts first, and where no alternative exists, I will only transact with specific banks to minimize counterparty risk. I would encourage traders to avoid all Forex dealers, until that market decides to incorporate some regulatory oversight. Best Regards, Steve46