IB traders

Jackthepipper · Aug 11, 2016

Piptaker said:
I think your really going to struggle to find a spot retail broker being a US citizen and your only options are to offshore with either fxcm, oanda or forex.com. Be aware these guys may be counter party to your side and I've had issues myself with money going missing so I would be extremely careful in putting all your funds in the account just use the high leverage with the smaller trading account to protect yourself. Have you thought about futures?
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Thanks for the reply. I'm confused though. I figured worst case scenario I could just open and FXCM account. Why, being a US citizen, would I not be able to trade spot FX on an FXCM account. They have an active trader qualification that lowers commission rates it seems (still $18/million which isn't great but better than $40!). Why do you say my only options are offshore?

Piptaker · Aug 11, 2016

Yes my mistake you can open fxcm being a us citizen, some US clients go offshore to operate under less stringent regs not sure what their sizes are though

Jackthepipper · Aug 11, 2016

Piptaker said:
Yes my mistake you can open fxcm being a us citizen, some US clients go offshore to operate under less stringent regs not sure what their sizes are though
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Ok great. Do you have an opinion on FXCM vs Oanda personally?

Piptaker · Aug 11, 2016

I know a US fxcm client who is an excellent fx trader personally , he left them recently and moved to a futures account, they started making things hard for him, I don't have the details sorry. No experiences with Oanda sorry.

justrading · Aug 11, 2016

Outside the US I've heard some say good stuff about Dukascopy. One under EU regs and another operation in Eastern Europe with looser requirements. No personal experience and no first hand reports, so do your own due diligence.

I use OANDA Singapore for FX. I just wanted some of my funds outside the States and in a different regulatory environment.

koolaid · Sep 1, 2016

Jackthepipper said:
Here is a screenshot of my activity so far today. I've heard all the criticisms of overtrading but with my career background in spot trading/market making, I have always derived a benefit from being involved in the price action. Trading around a theme or view in an attempt to improve a position average gives me a better feel of the market. I am in no way advocating this type of trading, but it works for me. I think it keeps me sharp and focused, but it certainly requires pretty fierce screen stamina.
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This is definitely a paper trade account. Very convenient that you left the top bar off the screen shot.

propwarrior · Nov 23, 2016

conduit said:
So you make over 100 trades a day with an average 4 million order size. That still sounds incredibly unbelievable.

Apologies for my earlier typo re the numbers I put up. In any case anyone trading 400 million a day should definitely look elsewhere than IB. With that size you can easily push down commissions to less than 10$ per million traded in (I reckon even 7 dollars is doable) while not only accessing 1 liquidity pool but 5 or 6. Baxter comes to mind and a few other PBs. Don't know about the quality of Baxter services but at least they have the infrastructure in place and are willing to negotiate commissions.
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ha just read through this thread. Conduit you obviously have no idea about how market makers operate in FX. good to see you got owned when the guy posted the screenshot. these guys looks for small liquidty pockets and work of an av price.

propwarrior · Nov 23, 2016

Jackthepipper said:
Here is a screenshot of my activity so far today. I've heard all the criticisms of overtrading but with my career background in spot trading/market making, I have always derived a benefit from being involved in the price action. Trading around a theme or view in an attempt to improve a position average gives me a better feel of the market. I am in no way advocating this type of trading, but it works for me. I think it keeps me sharp and focused, but it certainly requires pretty fierce screen stamina.
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hey. good work. are you still trading through IB? I concur with what others have said in that you may be able to get your comms a little lower given the volume however IB execution is a good deal for the clip size you are working. The best options for execution from here in the UK before stepping up to Prime are IB, LMAX and Dukascopy. As you know prime is only good as the LPs and banks offer grades of liquidity, with your clip size being relatively small for prime and being point and click trader you should be able to get great execution. Many traders here in the UK trade via an offshore vehicle (company or trust), I am sure you can do similar to get around these pesky US FX restrictions. A key benefit is the gross roll up within the vehicle and ability to change your residence in the future for a cash out although US citizenship may be problematic.

GL