as soon as euro fx, bp or jpy get out of whack with the cash, the arb players like getco will jump on it pdq, bringing it back into line. just like stock index futures v cash. arbing futures v cash (ie true interbank market, not poxy bucket shop market) is big business. perhaps the only advantage of trading at a bucket shop is the wider choice of pairs to trade. imo, eurofx, bp, jpy and swiss franc are the only ones with liquidity for daytrading with no slippage - if slippage is an issue. (maybe canadian dollar too) having said that, a lot of pro traders would rather specialise in 1 or 2 markets anyway - so futures wins hands down. i dont understand why people would trade at a bucket shop either - but they do. thats the power of marketing. remember people bought britanny spears cd's once too - Lord only knows why!!!
well i made my first fxfuters trade friday. I usually trade 3 lots through gft cost $120 spread. Opened an account with globalfutures and i traded 6 contracts ( equal to about 3 lots ) total cost with the small spread total cost $52 . I got no slippage and was filled easily . There must be a catch ? The only disadvantage i see is if i wanted to trade london hrs maybe it harder but over a month the $ i could save in spreads is quite a bit.