if forex is a scam, why are the authorities letting it alone? perhaps there are just some who wants to take advantage of others. Forex is not a scam but it did become a breeding ground for it.
The OP made some valid points. I am sure there are ways to get around it. Jesse Livermore did made money in a bucketshop. PA
Here is an inside look at how FOREX brokers use secret technology to spike, stop run, and generally ripoff traders. Notice that the trading keyboard is custom made and has the large red execution button. The Ever (Seriously Folks) VIPER http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wD9RqaDvEpc&feature=related
Just curious: Are we sure that the spikes are caused by the broker? I somehow got a feeling that Central Banks are behind this to deter speculators from trading. Could someone either confirm or deny this? Thanks! PA
Spikes are rarely if ever caused intentionally by the broker (we're talking regulated, reputable, mainstream brokers here, not some dodgy outfit out of Cyprus or somewhere), a spike you see on one brokers platform and not another's is usually the result of an unfiltered erroneous quote from one of their liquidity providers or the fault of fat fingered staff! When it happens it's a nightmare for brokers to sort out, the last one on Oanda took 3 or 4 days to correct! Spikes in the market are just the result of good old supply and demand, usually around unexpected fundamental data releases, nothing to do with the broker. Stops get hit along the way which adds momentum and before you know it there's a 100 pip spike. Some traders have the skill and dexterity to exploit them, others lose because of them, 'one man's trash is another man's treasure' as they say! Although central banks dislike speculators because of the volatility they can cause (Trichet's always banging on about an 'orderly' market) intervention is for fundamental reasons. Sometimes rhetoric and the threat of intervention is enough for them to dissuade the market beyond a 'line in the sand', BOJ, RBNZ, SNB, ECB, they all do it, a few years ago selling Yen at certain levels really was a no-brainer, so if anything they helped speculators more than deterred them! Whether intervention is effective anything more than short-term is debatable, ultimately the market decides price and central banks seem prepared to accept that fact as long as it's orderly. Except for the part about skewing/shading price the rest of the OP's copy&paste was pure conspiracy theory garbage propagated by unsuccessful wannabe's who don't know how to trade and not backed up with anything tangible, it rarely is!
Now, Cable, be nice! Don't think of them as unsuccessful wannabe's. I like to think of them as my own person liquidity providers. Week after week they continue to provide liquidity in the form of an increase in my equity. They are an integral cog in the machinery that pays us profits.