Correct me if I'm wrong but I heard that one of the differences between MMs and ECNs is that MMs show you different data from what the pair is actually being traded at. I've had OEC and OANDA up before at the same time (both MMs) and their quotes were at different levels. OANDA's .9 pip spread on the EURUSD is cool, tho. Are there any charting programs that are compatible with them? I hate their interface. I don't like having a little box represent my exits. I much prefer the way OEC does it better, where it's a thin horizontal line and you can see exactly where it is. But I don't want to use OEC as my broker cuz their FX Demo platform has been giving me issues.
Sorry, for some reason ET no longer sent me an email thread update alert. Hovering around 4-5 right now, perhaps lower during the London overlap. 12 on Oanda currently.
Thanks for that. It's quite a difference even taking commission into consideration, I think the best it's been on Oanda today was 10
Dose anyone have any suggestions for a good forex broker, THROUGH THEIR OWN EXPERIENCE based on the following parameters? --- No need for micro sized orders, 0.5-1.0 size. ---Tight spreads and no fixed commisssions that are ideal for scalping. ---Must use Metatrader 4 software. I would appreciate any responses.
Hi Cabletrader, Why do you advise against using a MT4 broker? I have IBFX. Hopefully they're legitimate with the prices and the movement of the currency pairs... thanks, Walt
Hi Walt Most MT4 brokers keep some strange market hours, they close early on Friday and open late on Sunday which can mean missed orders and big gaps. Also I don't particularly like MT4 for trading. It's ok for charts but too clunky for trading compared to some platforms out there. Then there's the controversial 'virtual dealer plug-in' from Boston Technologies, and last but not least I don't think their spreads or interest rates are competitive. I guess at the end of the day it's personal choice, none of those things may be important to some people.
True. And one of the bucket shop tricks is to have a nice, slow, demo feed with almost never a requote that makes it seem easy. Then you open a live account and you see your stops get nailed and constant requotes when it only hurts you by not getting filled.
I guess it depends on which bucketshop you use, they're not all the same you know! Seeing as I've posted hundreds (if not thousands) of trades to show some bucketshops do actually work extremely well, I expect you'll be posting screenshots of these stops getting nailed, constant requotes (which are actually a better option than slippage by the way!), and orders not getting filled to support what you claim and show they don't. You will be doing that, right?
Dude, you have serious issues. Why are you so emotionally invested in "proving" everyone else wrong? Who gives a fuck if you are happy with Oanda? Good for you, now get a life! You are like a rabid evangelist about this. I just posted this fact of my experience with one demo-converted-to-live that was dissapointing. I noticed a distinct difference in the behavior of the demo vs. live executions and volatility. I could even see the prices changing about 50% faster on the live vs. the demo. The demo was obviously muted to appear smoother. And you don't have a clue about ECN model, I don't even use it for FX and I know that there is no fixed spread, just best bid/ask. When you get filled at a limit or market order via ECN, you are not automatically down 1 or more pips that you pay each side of the trade. You can split the bid/ask with a limit order and pay no spread at all. When you get filled, your price is your price, period. And you don't have a spread you have to trade past just to get to B/E. And on ECN you can more effectively scalp if you want to. You only have to get out one pip from entry price and you make more than the commission paid. You can't do that with a MM broker. On IB for example, as I understand their commish web page, it is about $80 comission per million traded round trip - whereas even at one pip fixed you are paying $200, $100 for each pip on entry and exit to trade the same 10 full lots. That means on a fixed spread, even with a limit order, you pay more than 2.5 times higher cost. This really adds up big and fast if a person turns a lot of size. Many thousands per month in some cases. When this is combined with some requotes and news spike manipulation, like all market-making brokers are prone to do by definition of their business model, it just ain't that great. If it works OK for you, then use it. But stop shoving it down peoples throats. "Me thinks thou doth protest too much!" So do some math and quit ranting about why Oanda has to be the best thing since sliced bread. By all accounts it is a halfway decent market-making broker but there are a few others that are OK too - and a bunch that are not, according to what folks report. You are the one who recently started an Oanda complaint thread, as I recall. Now you are practically sucking them off.