Yes, sure ticks in futures. Can you trade $12.5-tick contracts via IB? I thought they offer only Minis with $6.25 tick. Yes you can place orders inside the spread, and this makes currency futures vs FX cheaper, IMO.
FX firms make money "lending funds to customers" in the case of FXCM they charge $1 per mini lot for overnights(on wednesdays it's 3 times the normal rollover fee to account for the weekend)) unless you choose to be restricted to an account with a higher margin requirement (50:1). With 100:1 you don't get interest on rollover either if you are long the currency with a higher interest rate. You have to dig a little bit to find out about some of these "catches". On these firms sites they will only tell you how great FX is, "especially if you come for equities", 24 hour market, no commissions, earn interest, huge moves and liquidity, daytraders dream bla bla.... Check out the recent ET chat hosted by a purported FX trader promoting FXCM and advising you to trade off the 5min and15 min.chart. Bwahaha Beware of stops. They are triggered not on sales but on bid/ask, I saw a stop taken out in a flash, without even seeing a bid at my trigger, their market was 3 pips higher and then bounced right back.
Indeed they would like to take advantage of those people who are used too day trading with small time frames, which is just what ForEx is unsuitable for. Smart people wouldnt just assume they could change markets without observing differences however and would bd able too adapt too a new style. FXCM acknowledged that ForEx cant/shouldnt be done on 1min/3min etc charts, but they didnt want too put off people who are used too this method, it was a marketing exercise for them after all.
You're right. Trading fx on 5 min candles with 4 pip spread is a suicide for the trader and a dream for the broker.
I read the log of that chat. The impression was deffinitely given that you just trade it the same way you do stocks or futures. That would be total suicide - I've figured that out in a nanosecond. Even a fairly brief look at it all has led me to believe that the timescales are more like 5-10 times those that were suggested. I found that the best blend of charts were 30 min 60 min and daily and taking signals from those with big stops and even bigger targets... I feel a little misled by that chat session and am reminded that a healthy dose of scepticism in all things trading related is deffinitely the traders best friend... Best Natalie
Agree with you, people, thats what they would like you to do. I cant beleive thats what they said :eek: Do they really think theres noone actually familiar with this market ? 5 min chart...ha....
And here's what thr person from that thread I linked earlier to says after his stop was "shaved": quote --------------------------------------- "Regarding contacting FXCM, I did. I called about 2 hours after it happened as I was not at the computer when the trade took place. I was told that eur/usd traded higher for about five seconds and multiple trades took place at that time. I complained about how could the market go 20 pips higher for 5 seconds and then come back down to everybody elses bid/ask. I was told that the prices shown on the dealstation are what FXCM is willing to deal for and that these are independent from anybody else. I knew I could not get anywhere with them as their reason is correct, they can place whatever price they want on the dealstation. So the call ended there... -------------------------- Though its not that correct - I doubt they can stretch for more than 20 pips..... Make your judgments, ladies and jents.