which one of these is the best? I'm trying to find a reliable broker that charges a low cost for trading (tight spread) Which one of these would you guys considered? or if there are any other ones not listed, feel free to write them down here. thanks in advance
Cost examples for EUR/USD IB - pip spread from .5 - 2.0, mostly .5 - 1. Commission is $20/1MM USD discounts for more volume Dukascopy - pip from .5 - 2. Commission 18/1MM USD discounts for more volume InterbankFX pip 2-3 pips, no commission charged Saxo - pip spread 2-3 pips no commission
what should? i know i want a ecn broker instead of one with a dealer desk to avoid further manipulation and stop hunts.... but what else should i look for
There's a lot to be said for dealing desk fixed spread marketmakers, prices are 'smoothed', there's telephone back-up for trading, requotes, no partial fills, and they take pretty much everything thrown at them. Trading with an ECN-style broker isn't automatically the end of price manupilation, they have software to emulate the dealer instead. I can't really see the benefits of trading with an ECN, it seems to be more of a marketing and cost-cutting exercise for these companies than a level playing field for the trader. Getting your orders filled at the price you want is far more important than comparing a .5 pip spread + commission against a 2 pip fixed spread, in my opinion. I've traded with both and always ended up going back with a dealing desk. The novelty of thinking I was trading in the 'real' market soon wore off in favor of the sanity of smoothed prices and fixed spreads. There's a good thread discussing the subject here
The software you link to is for non-ECN brokers (all MT4 brokers) What dealing desk broker you use and what ECN broker you used ?
The point was it would be naïve to think that just because there's no dealing desk that there's no manipulation. I've traded with various marketmakers, GFT, Oanda, FXCM, CMC, it's not until you trade live with them and make some money that you find out what they're really like, and I've traded with Interactive Brokers.
I have accounts with both IB and Dukascopy and recommend them both (I'd advise having a backup broker, better security against broker outages, etc). Spreads and execution are virtually the same on both ECNs. I much prefer Dukascopy's P&L and interest handling vs IB's. Duka's P&L is settled in the account base currency, daily interest rollover is offset against a position's basis (in pips). IB's P&L and interest is debited/credited in the foreign currency for all non USD/xxx pairs. I still haven't checked my 1099-INT from IB yet, I'm a little nervous as to what kind of minefield it's going to look like..